We've Been Robbed!!!

While out Saturday, I received a text from my husband asking if anyone had borrowed his gas-powered blower.  He went to do a little yard cleaning and it was no where to be found.  To my knowledge, no one had, but it's always best to ask the children.  I found none guilty, and since such equipment usually doesn't walk off by itself, it was determined we had been invaded.  The disconcerting part of this is that the thief had come in the daylight while I was home and walked right into my garage.  The "what if" rang in my head.  "What if I had walked out on him and startled him?"  And the other troubling spot is that any such tools cannot be seen from the road.  Therefore the officer who took the report said the perpetrator had probably been in the garage before and scoped things out before coming back.
So is it any wonder that my guard was up this morning when the fellow with the yellow hard hat carrying a box under his arm crossed my backyard?  I was quick to call our electric provider and ask if they had workers in the area changing out boxes.  And they did.  But as I was looking out the front window to see if I saw a vehicle, I noticed an SUV in the driveway across the street and a man dressed in black trying to shimmy the front door open -- with a credit card! 

Like I said, my guard was up.  And so, within a 24 hour period, I made my 2nd 911 call.  I was almost embarrassed when, again, the emergency operator quickly responded, "911.  What's your emergency?" 

"Well, it's not exactly an emergency, but there is someone trying to break down the front door to the vacant house across the street."  What I didn't mention was that there were papers on the front door stating that anyone intering the premises would be arrested on the spot. I described what the fellow looked like, what he was wearing and what kind of car he was driving, and then she asked for a license plate number, at which time I had to confess to using binoculars.  (Please let it be known these were bought for the sole purpose of bird watching.)  Before I could get through with all the information, an unidentified vehicle zoomed up and blocked the driveway.  I cautiously asked, "Have you dispatched a policeman, because a blue car just pulled up and two large men are getting out."  I think she got a little concerned as well and asked me what kind of car it was.  All I could say was, "Blue."  What can I say?  I'm a woman who doesn't know any make of car except the one she drives.  At this point, a marked police car pulled in behind them, and my thought was, "Lord, what have I started?"  Over and over, I kept apologizing, telling the dispatcher, "It's probably on the up and up, but I'm just very guarded right now."

And why not?  I'd been robbed.  And before that, my next door neighbors were burglarized when someone entered their home while they there, no less, and had stolen her jewelry ... heirloom pieces that could never be replaced.  A thief has paid us both a visit.  I think I had legitimate reason for caution and to make the call.

I don't know about you, but when I normally think of thieves, I imagine one dressed in a stocking cap pulled low with maybe a mask over his eyes -- as in the movies.  One who sneaks and tiptoes and enters cautiously at night.  One who is so quiet that we don't even know he's been there until we find a door open, a piece of jewelry missing ... or wake to find him standing over our bed.  Really, all a thief has to do is watch us for awhile, and he will find a way in, because he's normally very good at what he does. He violates one of our most precious illusions: that our homes, that we, are safe. 

A thief is scary, to say the least.

I guess that's why I have such trouble with passages of Scripture that allude to Christ coming like a thief in the night.  Matthew, Luke, Peter.  They all talk about it.  And then Paul writes it out plainly in Rev. 16:15 when he quotes Jesus as saying, "Behold, I come like a thief! ..."  Really?

I guess the question we need to ask ourselves is, "What is He after?" 

May I encourage you this Advent season to let this Beloved Invader have His way with you.  If we could get over the fear of His intrusion, I think we might find His desire is to empty His pockets and not fill them.

Just an ordinary moment...