Good from bad

It would seem reasonable to call the circumstances of being burglarized bad. David asked me to voice family prayer the night of the burglary. I asked God that we would be able to see the greater good that could be worked through this experience.

A few days later as we were reading the New Testiment as a family, we read the following in Mark 10:29 "And Jesus answered and said, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, (I added as I read, or laptops, or cameras) for my sake and the gospel's (or to go to church), But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life." I cried as I read that aloud and knew that the law of compensation would cover our loss.

Later that afternoon as I was ironing seams on the lining bodice of Cambry's prom dress, I had a question pop into my head with force: Were you dispitefully used and abused. Of course the answer was a solid, Yes! Then came the council: pray for them. There have been people with whom I have shared this story who think I exhibit a grand degree of character in my response. But this did not come of me, it would not be in any person's nature as we of ourselves are not capable of good.

But as I have considered these events, I can see that my response to the burglary will live with me longer than it will the burglar. Being able to pray for them made their capture a sweet experience, an answer to prayer. I hope they can make a change. I don't wish them ill, I wish them better.

Amy Gibb was arrested April 23 outside of Park's sportsman, 12 days after she burglarized our house. She had only that day's burglarized property on her. She is a 36 year old meth addict. She was part of an identity theft ring. Police arrested others in the following weeks. She was responsible for a number of daytime home invasions and vehicle burglaries in parking lots. She was linked to the burglary of the Thomases five houses down and a few days after ours. She had been seen at both locations at the times of the burglaries. She has a lot of charges against her and will be put away for a long time already. Police hope to continue expanding charges. We may not have our property returned, they may not even be able to solidly link her to our burglary and charge her for it. But she has a chance now. Of course, she's been there before and it yielded her new contacts for her crime life. But if God can prompt me to pray for her, He must not have given up yet. There is yet potential for good from bad.

Another compensation was that I changed all my passwords in a fit of addrenaline that Sunday night. I got into quickbooks at work later that week, but as the stress accelerated, I completely forgot the new password and the automatic reset wouldn't work. So I had a long conversation with a nice tech guy as we went through some technical hoops. As we were talking I learned that the 2007 version we've been using would no longer support some of the services I use. Plus a new laptop will likely run window 7 and the only Quickbooks compatible with that operating system is the 2010 version. Bad. That's a big upgrade for the entire company. A funny aside, as soon as I was off the phone, I went to log in and remembered the password I'd not been able to recollect for days. Within a few days, I got an email blast announcing a one-day-only half off sale on QB 2010. So you see, I was going to have to upgrade anyway, but may not have paid attention to the offer without that conversation. The savings covered the cost of my new laptop. Bad to good.

My dad got me set up and secure. I felt his love and protection. Bad to good.

And don't forget that I sewed a prom dress in A1 Vacuum and Sewing with help from Anna and Karen. Bad to good.

There is no power on this earth greater than the atonement of Jesus Christ. His atonement makes compensation possible to those who will turn to Him in all circumstances. Good from bad. There is hope for all of us.