A Laptop Death Threat

A homeless person can become a habitual hoarder

who will plunder anything just to have something.

My laptop was beside me as I sat in the drivers seat of our van. I was taking some young people home on our nightly neighborhood cruise after we close the Youth Center. I knew I would have to leave the van and escort a young girl up to the 8th floor apartment where she lived. I reasoned that it was safe to leave my computer case in the van because I trusted several of the young people in the van. There was one guy that I wasn't sure I could trust. I lost more than my computer that night.

After I escorted the girl up to her grandmothers apartment, I climbed back into the van. I saw that my computer case was still there and I even lifted the case to see if still had my computer in it. Once again my faulty reasoning told me that if the case had weight, that my computer must still be in there. After driving everyone home, I walked upstairs with my case and went to bed. Early the next morning, I had a strong urge in my gut to check the computer case. My laptop was missing. In it's place was a quart of oil that had been in my van. I had been fooled through a weighty deception.

This pelican is stealing a fish that we intended to release back in to the ocean!

 

It was easy to figure out who took the laptop. It is not easy to prove it and get it back. The people in the van that I did trust and believed that they would not steal from me told me who took the computer. They said that their lives had been threatened if they snitched. A death threat is something we take seriously here in the hood. I have watched people die. I have stood in the streets and watched hooded figures fire guns at their fingered targets. The people in the van would talk to me but not the police. Perhaps, I thought, if I talked to family members before I went to the police, they might persuade him to give it back. I was not looking to press charges at that point, I just wanted my computer back. I waited a couple of days but the family was unable to persuade the young man to return my stolen computer.

I did go and file a police report. They were not very adrenalized by the opportunity to retrieve my computer. After I filed the report, I never heard another word from them. I saw the young man on the side walk a few weeks later and I pulled over to talk to him - he ran. I was confronted by a young family member who told me I was not safe outside the Youth Center. He said this was his territory and I had disrespected his boy. He moved toward me in a threatening manner. I looked at him and said the same thing I've been saying for over 10 years: "There is something you need to know. Jesus put me here and only Jesus can take me out. If you think He's going to use you to take me out, go ahead because I don't care. If I die today - 'Cool beans!' It doesn't matter because I know where I'm going if I die today or I die when I'm 115 years old. I'm going to heaven!" At that point he backed off and another guy said this wasn't his fight and that he should just leave. I saw that young man several years later and he is doing good in life. He even gave me his business card. I never saw the thief again.

There are some people in life who we cannot trust. Sometimes in our Youth Center, we are on high alert when certain people walk in. We watch our phones, purses, wallets and anything else that can easily be pilfered. A reputation of being a schemer and a thief is like having a label on your forehead - nobody trusts you. As far as I can remember, that laptop was the last thing I ever had stolen from me at the Youth Center. I've developed a lot more wisdom that helps me identify potential schemers and thieves.

Today's Wise Saying is from Proverbs 24:8-9

 Proverbs 24:8-9

New International Version (NIV)

Saying 24

⁸ Whoever plots evil
    will be known as a schemer.
⁹ The schemes of folly are sin,
    and people detest a mocker.

Proverbs 24:8-9

The Message (MSG)

23

^8-9 The person who’s always cooking up some evil
    soon gets a reputation as prince of rogues.
Fools incubate sin;
    cynics desecrate beauty.

Proverbs 24:8-9

Amplified Bible (AMP)

⁸ He who plans to do evil will be called a mischief-maker.

⁹ The plans of the foolish and the thought of foolishness are sin, and the scoffer is an abomination to men.

Proverbs 24:8-9

King James Version (KJV)

⁸ He that deviseth to do evil shall be called a mischievous person.
⁹ The thought of foolishness is sin: and the scorner is an abomination to men.

Heart-Storming Challenge:

• Can you identify untrustworthy habits?
• Do you cut off scheming people from your family?
• When do you let go when you are in a dangerous situation?
  

Thanks for your time. Go do something nice for somebody.

Jesus loves you and so do we.