December 15, 2014
Dear vandals in Ocean View,
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This past week, once again, you came into my home uninvited and unwelcome and have taken something that was not yours. What you took was something given to us, or something we took a long time to purchase, or something important to us. It doesn’t even matter what it was that you took, as the list of all that has been stolen while living here is too long to even compose. What you took was just some-THING but it wasn’t yours to take.
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I am tired of the stealing. I am tired of the break-ins. I am tired of wondering when the next theft will be. I am tired of looking at people and wondering if it was him or her. I am tired.
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But I want you to know that even though you took something of mine, I am not the victim. You are the victim. My treasures are in heaven and you can never steal my salvation and my joy in Christ. What is most important in my life is the love of my family, my heart given to Jesus Christ, the laughter that daily fills my home, the peace felt by those who enter my doors when they are invited. By far the most important things in my home can only be felt but never taken. I would invite you into my house or help you with whatever is hurting you, but you didn’t ask, you only came to take.
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I want to say to you who continues to steal and deceive: stop degrading the value of your life. Stop degrading this community. Stop degrading yourself. You are gifted and smart and strong and anything is possible in your life. Stop seeing the world as so small that you must take things from others. Stop living a life in the shadows. Stop living a life that isn’t what God created for you.
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Community of Ocean View it’s time. It’s time to speak up. It’s time to say something when you see something suspicious. Tell your neighbor when their window is open. Speak to your children about the value of their lives and how they degrade themselves when they steal. Pray for the criminals of Ocean View as they have very broken hearts. We must take back our community.
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Pray for Ocean View and God’s Kingdom to come.