Happy With Myself?

VANDALISM

Monday was a pretty normal day and I was looking forward to the evening, when I would meet some friends at Panera Bread for supper and Ladies Night Out. Quinn was supposed to get home at 5 to help with dinner for him and the boys and then take them to soccer practice. I was getting more irritated with him when he was not home at 10 after and I had not taken a shower. He called me a couple minutes later and said he was at the Roebuck house. His phone died as he was telling me the house had been broken into and things were stolen- click. No ladies night out. Oh well, what could they have stolen? There was really nothing of value there.

Later, Quinn called me from Alfa and told me what had happened. They broke in the house through the basement window and had busted the garage door because they couldn't figure out how to open it. They stole all the lawn equipment and tools downstairs and a TV that Heath Hillman had left in our basement for us to store for him. They went upstairs and ransacked the house, spraypainting the walls, mirrors, the piano, a guitar, and the ENTIRE kitchen. They emptied the closets, which had games and boxes of old letters. They made a big mess. They also clipped all of the copper pipes for our plumbing and gas in the basement.

I was very ticked. And afraid. I felt like a helpless child. I cried and was miserable. Quinn came home later and told me how he had gotten to share the gospel with the Alfa guy and how incredible it was. I just looked at him and told him that was great. Yeah, real great. Our house is NEVER going to sell and now it has been robbed, ransacked, and vandalized and he is telling the gospel to people. I slept fitfully that night and woke up early the next morning angry and bitter. I got the children ready to go to friend's houses for the day so that I could help with the cleanup and then I drove over to the house. Of course, during the whole morning and previous evening, I had truth spoken to me. As I am freaking out to Crissy Sharp, Chris (her husband) tells me not to worry, God will be glorified and to just trust Him. Maja Clayton and Quinn loved on me the evening before while I cried. There was a lot of prayer and I could feel it. I was trying to remember all these things while I drove to the house. I pulled in the driveway and walked in the house. One of our neighbors was there and Jeremy Soileau (who is always there when we need him) went to wait outside while Quinn walked with me. I cried as I walked around, mainly because it just looked bad. Some kids had violated my stuff. And it is scary to think of people just breaking into your house when you're not there. Quinn was very sweet to me (he really is topnotch) and Jeremy was great. He is our painter (he's got his own business called Miscellaneous Man) and wrote out an estimate for us for the insurance. We couldn't touch anything really because the insurance guy needed to see it to take pictures so we went to grab a sandwich. While we were out the realtor called and told us to come back to the house. A couple wanted to see it. Quinn did not want the house to be shown but the realtor said they were wanting to possibly make an offer. We went to the house and met the couple, who were newlyweds that had already been preapproved for a loan and had seen the house before. They were really not bothered by the vandalism and laughed with us at some of the spraypainted stuff. (Fish D Hoe was the phrase of the day). They made an offer two hours later. The insurance guy came and didn't bat an eye at any of the mess and is cutting us a check on Wednesday for the two estimates that we had for plumbing, painting, and stolen goods. I started cleaning up after he left, and Quinn and Jeremy started priming the walls and cabinets. Chris and Crissy came over and helped us which was fun. By the end of the day, my bitterness was gone and I was amazed that God would use me (again) to show me his grace. Because of the incident, the new owners will have new appliances in the kitchen, new plumbing, freshly painted kitchen cabinets, new kitchen counters, and new paint on the walls. We had a contract on the house before we went to bed. Praise the Lord.