Opening Doors

In the past two months, we have had two people come to our door after dark. The first a tall man asked to use our phone to call for pizza--to what later we found out was a fake address. Then on Friday, a woman came to the door asking for money for gas. My husband lives with cynicism and genuinely tries not to be. So, both times he opened the door. And both times, we felt robbed of our sense of peace afterwards. The second time, I simply prayed for protection for my husband. You see, the local paper has run several articles lately about people getting broken into or harmed by people taking advantage of the kindness of people like my husband. Later that night, I realized we should have called the police right away and made a report. If it ever happens again, 1) we won't open the door and 2) we will call the police.

The interesting thing is that the incidents in the paper have been reported all over the county--not simply the less expensive places to live (like ours). It isn't concentrated where we live. And actually, none of the incidents that I've read about have been where we live.

It grieves me to be robbed of our feeling of safety in our home. It also grieves me to have that belief reinforced that we can't trust people. But, we have to be shrewd and wise of snakes in the grass. It doesn't mean we can't trust people--just that we have to be wise about it. I thank God for protecting us in both of these incidents--and I believe that He did.

Also, dear friends, please be careful about opening your doors up after dark if you don't know the person.

There is a reason why we as people want the right to bear arms to protect our homes and have dogs. And no politician will ever be able to nullify that reason--because people are sinners and do horrible things. I agree with the mantra that it is not guns that hurt people, but people that hurt people.