Three years ago today, our family experienced a crisis we wouldn’t wish for anyone to endure.
It’s family tradition that once our kids complete school for the Christmas season that we go out as a family to look at the Christmas lights in our area. This particular year, we had left the house, stopped at the Starbucks drive thru to pickup hot chocolates and were headed to pick up my husband’s parents when both our cell phones kept ringing with an unrecognized phone number. After the third or fourth call, I finally answered.
On the other end was a very sweet woman informing me that she had our dog who she found running up a very busy street near our home. I was VERY confused, as we had just locked our dog in the house before leaving. My stomach immediately plummeted. Something was wrong. Not knowing what that might be we turned around to head home and the woman graciously agreed to meet us back at our house so we could get the dog and move on with our plans for the evening.
Less than five minutes later she called again. This time the terrible feeling we had was confirmed. She informed us that she just watched two men run out the gate from behind our house and jump into a car and take off. Our home had been broken into.
Words cannot express how we felt as we pulled up to our house with our three children in tow. I had called 911 on our way back and police officers from three different jurisdictions met us at the house. We were not allowed inside until they were able to make sure the house was safe, and the scene was investigated thoroughly, which took a good half hour or more. The kids were scared, we were scared but were trying to keep it together for their sake. It was a full on violation of our home and our feelings of safety and security.
Knowing that the investigation could some time our parents came and got the kids while we waited. I’m so glad they did, because once we stepped into our home, we were completely devastated by what we encountered. It was like a scene from a movie playing out in real life. The house was a complete mess. They had broken our back door window so that they could enter our home and glass was everywhere. Drawers were open and contents spilled. Closets and cupboards open and rifled through. Within a matter of just a few minutes, they had cleaned out our entire home. They took pretty much everything of value; cash, gift cards, computers, televisions, speakers, camera equipment, our fifty pound safe, all our keys, and all the Christmas gifts.
The next few hours, even the next few days, were a blur. We worked with the insurance company to make a list of all that was missing. We had to fix our back door and clean our home so that we felt safe enough to bring our children back. We were trying really hard not to stress about the material things that were missing, but focus instead on the fact that we were safe, our animals were safe, and that’s all that truly mattered.
But then something amazing happened. People began to hear about our family’s story and the outpouring of love an generosity began. The local police department that was investigating the crime took up a collection for our family so that we could buy our kids Christmas gifts. Our school community did the same, and several of them came to our home the next day to help replace our broken door. Our family, friends, church family, and neighbors we hardly knew stopped by in a steady stream to bring gift cards and cash to help replace things that were stolen. Our kids received gifts from countless numbers of strangers that had heard what happened and simply wanted to bless them with an amazing Christmas.
It was an outpouring of love that we had never felt or experienced before. While we considered it a huge blessing that we were not home or harmed during this home invasion, we considered ourselves to be blessed further by a community that enveloped our family with such an outpouring of love.
I tell you this story, not so that you can feel bad for us. To be honest, we didn’t feel bad for us. If it wasn’t us, it would have been someone else on our street. Instead I want to tell you this story so you can see the beauty that can come from a very ugly situation. That Christmas, Christmas 2015, was indeed our worst, best Christmas. It is one that my family and I will never forget as long as we live. It is one that we will look back on and thank God for his provision of safety and his provision of help. It is a Christmas that will remind us that our focus should never be on us this time of year, but on those around us who are hurting or are in need. We’ve since added another member to our family and she will learn this story too. She may not have been here to remember it herself, but it’s important that she hear it and understand it’s importance to our family’s story. Because the story reminds us of the many blessings we have. Blessings we have that can become a blessing to others if we remember to open up our hearts. Not just at Christmas but all through the year.
May you and your family see the many blessings in your lives and remember to be a blessing to those around you this Christmas season and beyond!
The following are a few photos we took during that time to help us remember. No judgment on the quality! Remember, my camera was stolen so we had to use phones 😉
The original Instagram post from 12/22/2015
“To you, this is an ordinary door. To our family it is so much more. This is a testament of God’s protection, his abundant blessing in time of need. It’s a bittersweet reminder of things lost, but also many things gained. It’s a reminder of the true meaning of Christmas, that it’s not about gifts under the tree, it’s about the birth of a King and coming together as a body of believers. We are so thankful for this door and the family, friends, coworkers, neighbors, strangers and civil servants that have walked alongside us and lifted us up in many ways during this time. We are so very humbled by everything we’ve experienced and pray that when it’s our turn to help that we will do it 110 times over!”
