January 2, 2011 - a Sunday.

January 2, 2011...turned out to be a bad day!

It was a Sunday...we had family over to have a new years dinner - pork...sauerkraut...rolls...etc...

That part was all good...

After dinner - we sat & talked with family for awhile...

That part was all good...

After they left, we cleaned up...relaxed...talked some more...

That part was all good...

However, that all changed about 11 that night.  Shawn went to get ready for bed...when she went to put up her jewelry - the day went downhill fast & hard.

It was then that we discovered - like the 3 little bears - someone had been in our house while we were out that morning for church.

For, when she opened her jewelry chest - she saw that 38 - exactly 38 - of her rings were gone!  Over time, we discovered that not only rings...but one of my watches....and a few other pieces were gone as well.

We then went into CSI mode - "who dunnit" mode...and how?

We finally figured out that they were brazen enough to pop the locks on a FRONT window to our garage - lift the window (like you would open it) and simply came inside...with 2 dogs barking full steam - like they always do...we knew it had to be someone that we knew...someone that had been in our house before...someone who knew - our dogs aren't exactly the most vicious in town...they knew where to find Shawn's jewelry...they knew we were at church...they just knew.

So, we called Chesapeake's finest...they brought out forensics & were able to remove a print from the window.  That lead to our entire household going down later to have our prints taken as "elimination prints".  Sure enough - they had gotten a print of the person who came in our house...

Well, the reason you're hearing about it today...we went to court today for the 2nd time to see if the person would be convicted...

Turns out the person that came into our house - had attended Genesis as well as FAM.  A friend...

They have been found (plead) guilty...now sentencing follows...

The loss of "jewelry" is 1 thing.  The value of the jewelry lost is somewhere around $8,000 - 10,000!  However, the loss of anniversary rings & gifts...gifts intended to be from 1 generation to another...it's those things that can never be recovered...they are the toughest ones...you can't put a price tag on that stuff...but - it's all in the past - jewelry is all gone & there is nothing we can do to change it...nothing.

Other than move on - we cannot change a thing...not 1 piece of it.

So, we put this to rest...finally.

We will continue to pray with a pure heart - that God will do a special work in this person's life & that they will find their way back to the life God STILL has for them...for them to get to where they would do something like this - they weren't in their right mind...so - join with us in prayer - that they still find the Abundant Life God has for them...

People of the Second Chance...

b

ps - the way this thing worked out...it wasn't us bringing charges.  It was completely out of our hands...it was the state bringing all charges...we didn't have to get involved in anything other than being subpoenaed...we didn't even have to say a word...it was over before we went into court today.