What the Thief Didn't
Get
The thief cometh not,
but for to steal, and to kill, and
to destroy:
I am come that they might have life,
and that they might have it more
abundantly.
-- John 10:10
My good friend was an overworked,
underpaid, fulltime mother with "TILT!" in her eyes over all she had to do that
Christmas season.
She left work late one night, got
into her vehicle in the icy parking lot, and thought, "That's funny. It's so
cold and breezy in here."
Yeah. Well, the passenger-side window
had been bashed out. All of the Christmas gifts for her son's first Christmas
had been ripped off.
She had so carefully budgeted $200 for
them. She had worked so hard to find each special bargain.
Not only that, but she had recently
gone back to college to help make a better life for her son. Her expensive
textbooks had also been stolen, as well as her leather briefcase containing
homework and extensive research notes for her final paper.
So, too, was her daily planner. It
was her command center, with all kinds of important information. With a chill
up her spine, she realized that her family's Social Security cards were also in
there - ripe pickin's for identity theft.
Their insurance wouldn't cover the
window nor the stolen gifts . . . this, on top of worrying about the quality of
her son's babysitter . . . and working overtime at a job with nasty people . .
. and the stress of starting a new job for less money to get away from them . .
. and she was nursing her seven-month-old and thoroughly exhausted. . . .
So she fritzed out. By the time she
got home, her stress was planetary-sized.
She collapsed into the rocking chair
with the baby playing on a blanket at her feet. Her eyes locked onto his
toothless grin as he gazed up at her adoringly.
What was she so upset about? She
hadn't been mugged, the baby was OK, and at his age, playing with a few bows
and boxes would be plenty of fun for Christmas, anyway.
Suddenly, he reached up for her, his
smile widening even further.
It was like a neon sign meant for
her, straight from heaven, straight from God: "Here I am . . . reach for Me!"
So she reached, both up and down. She
leaned back, cuddling him and rocking, closed her eyes, and did what she wished
she'd done right off the bat. She prayed. "Dear Lord, if you can do
anything to ease my mind, just save my planner and Social Security cards.
Everything else is replaceable. I give it to You, Lord."
She felt a wave of peace. She said,
"I had a handful, but He was saying, 'I'll carry you. Pay attention to what's
important.'"
Two minutes later the phone rang. It
was the police. Someone in an apartment complex near her office had happened to
look out their balcony and saw someone tossing a black briefcase into a ravine,
then laying scratch out of the parking lot.
The cops raced over. One went into
the icy water to retrieve the papers floating around. They got her research,
the planner, the Social Security cards, the briefcase . . . everything except
the gifts.
In another two minutes, brrrrring!
Her mom called. She insisted on giving her another $200 to go right back to the
stores and replace everything - just come straight home this time.
She brought the police a great, big
box of chocolates, and prayed over and over for blessings for that Good
Samaritan who spotted her stuff going into the drink, and didn't just blow it
off. What amazing luck. But she knew it wasn't just luck.
What she found that night was worth so
much more than what she'd lost. She said, "God was saying, 'Just give it to ME
. . . have faith in ME . . . let ME into your heart and life, and I will bring
you comfort and peace."
Those are this
season's glad tidings - tidings that money can't buy, and nothing and no one
can ever take away. †
