Open letter to the robbers...

dear robber(s)

we know you have our laptops and we understand you have reasons for taking them. but can you please, please, please burn a cd of all the files and photos on our hard drives and leave them in this envelope below. no questions asked.

thank you very much.

-----


Sunday afternoon at 4pm our home was broken into and, among other things, all our laptops was stolen. That night (with doors double locked and prayers said) I had this dream that I posted a poster/envelope with that letter for what i'll call our uninvited guests (though i've called them worse in my head).


Last night Mike told me a story about a woman's purse that was stolen from church right in front of a group of people. The robber just drove up, grabbed it and drove off. They stopped, prayed that the robber would experience conviction and return the old woman's purse. A few minutes later, he did (just drove up and gave it back!) 


Sunday night I prayed for a few things- peace as we fell asleep, safety as our heart rates increased at every little sound, and recovery of our stolen goods. I had a lot of praise for the fact that noone was home or hurt.


While I did fall asleep thinking about the robber and what kind of person he might be or why he's resulted to robbery... I mostly prayed his efforts would fail and his money making plans thwarted... but I didn't really think to pray he would be personally convicted (feel guilty) and desire to return what he took and what he did.


While one week later I still have flashing moments of hope that our laptops will be found...(mostly because of the irreplaceable photos and videos and files stored only on those hard drives)... I also pray that maybe this robber will experience a growing conviction that what he is doing is just wrong and does something to make it right.


And if he does show up soon to return what was taken, I will say 'thank you, thank you very much' ...but i will say this through my double locked mesh iron gates and tell him that sometimes the scars of crime run deeper than our pocketbooks and take longer to heal.