Long week this week. Everybody has them. At the end of the day today, I took Bay for a walk in the woods. He was so excited to go. I haven't had him out since last Thursday - eight days ago . Last Friday he was at the vet for the procedure to make him sterile. The instructions from the vet were to keep him inside for a week and out of the water for ten days.
Bay is healing nicely. For the first couple of days he wasn't interested in doing anything. However, today he was full of energy. We walked through the woods. I don't know about others, but I wasn't meant to be cooped up in an office all the time. I have to get out. Bay is the same way. As we walked through the woods and over some of the rugged terrain, I see him nip at his hip. He still hurts a little, but he wouldn't trade it for staying inside. That is why we have to make him stay inside. He is just that way.
I reflected on our day today. My wife and I spent the majority of the day in the courtroom. After 14 months of pretrials, hearings, delays, trials, and more delays, the man who burglarized our  home over the July 4th weekend in 2006 was finally being sentenced. The judge that was officiating this case is a tough one, but we had seen her many times balance justice with mercy. In many cases she tells the criminal to read Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. She understands that many of these people have lost their focus on life.
The sentencing is an interesting process. The judge makes sure the criminal is able to understand their sentence, makes sure they understand what is expected of them, then she asks if there is anybody in the courtroom who wants to say anything before she issues the final statement. My wife and I were ready for this. We both had something prepared we wanted to share with the criminal and the court. After hearing the final outcome (before going into the courtroom), we both agreed that my wife (Sword) would speak and I wouldn't. She did and did an excellent job. She communicated to this man that we had reached out to him and accepted him into our home. We had trusted him. We had offered to love him. Yet he chose to destroy that. She discussed the impact his actions had on our children - how their safe home had been violated.
24:43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch the thief was coming, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken through.
After Sword was finished, the judge asked the criminal if he had anything to say. He did. He turned to us. I saw a 45-year old man, beaten, hurt, utterly destroyed by years of drugs. If he wasn't crying he was very close to it. He looked right at us and said "I am sorry for what I have done to you and your family. I will do everything I can to get your things back." He then proceeded to tell the court of his life. At age 11 he was molested. That action put hate and hurt into him. At age 13, he discovered alcohol and how a few drinks made the hate and hurt go away. He vowed to himself to do what was necessary in life to never feel that hurt and hate again. For the next 27 years, from California to Maryland, he stole to feed his alcohol and drug habits. He had been in and out of jail several times through those years. It was natural to feel pity for this man as he struggled to find peace in his world of hate and hurt.
57:18 I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him also, and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners.
When he was 40 years old, he hit bottom and cried out for help. He entered into a program in southern Maryland and after completing the program, this same judge had seen a change in him. She told him that there was little hope for him, but she did see a glimmer of hope. It was up to him to make it happen. He described how he stayed sober and clean, how for the first time in his life he had a job, was renting an apartment, and bought a car. He discussed how, for the first time in his life, he could look his mom in the eye and not see her pain. He was doing well. That is when he was on the construction crew that was working on our home.
Then, at the end of June 2006, he had a routine doctor's appointment. He had some blood work done and was told he was HIV positive. The drug life had caught up to him. This is when he made his worse choice of all. Instead of reaching in to the circle of people who had been supporting him, he ran out. He was angry again. The hate and hurt that had left him returned. He felt alone and abandonded. After all this time, after finally getting his life in order, he gets a death sentence. He chose to turn back to the drug scene that would make the hate and hurt go away. He started stealing to support it. His crime spree was very shortlived. He was caught quickly and put in jail. After 13 months of staying clean of drugs, he knows he made a very bad decision. He apologized to the court for his actions. He pleaded with the judge to give him one more chance.
51:1 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: According to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
It was a very difficult decision for the judge, I believe. She wants to believe what people tell her, but she has to protect the law abiding people, too. The judge described how he would be punished for his actions, but she was not going to slam the door on him. She would leave the books open for reconsideration at a later time assuming he does well in the prison and shows that his statements are sincere.
36:11 If they hearken and serve `him', They shall spend their days in prosperity, And their years in pleasures. 36:12 But if they hearken not, they shall perish by the sword, And they shall die without knowledge. 36:13 But they that are godless in heart lay up anger: They cry not for help when he bindeth them.
It was a long day. I felt totally drained afterwards - emotionally and physically.
 As I walked through the woods with my dog, I thought about the trial. Aren't we all just that way? We go through life doing things to cover the pains we have. Looking for ways to get through the next day. Hoping someday things will be better. I think we are all that way to some extent. I do believe that is where the analogy ends though. I know I won't have to stand before the Judge and beg for mercy. The price for my sins has already been paid. However, without that Grace, I would be the same as this 45-year old criminal was today facing his judge. He realized that with the HIV and the sentence he was facing, there is a good chance he could die in jail.
I prayed for him while we were in the woods. I personally don't really care if he dies in jail or out of jail. I do care if he dies without knowing the love of the One who already died for him. I prayed that, above all else, this brings him to the Savior he so dearly needs. While Sword was saying her  words to the court, she told him that she doesn't want him gone forever. She wants someday to see him in church and she will gladly come up to him, greet him, and welcome him. Yes, that is what I want, too.
I found a stick that was perfect size to play with Bay. I threw it. He bolted after it and brought it back to me. We only did it a few times. I didn't want him to rip the stitches. He was satisfied. As we walked down the dirt road to the house, he settled in right along side of me and we walked together...a man, his dog, and his God. |
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