I’m in Ohio, visiting my Mom. It’s a bit more snowy here than in Tennessee. Today Mom told me a fascinating story…

When my Dad died, my Mom had a lot of trouble sleeping. Not surprising, but thankfully, she lives in a safe neighborhood surrounded mostly by older folks. But one night Mom was awakened around three in the morning by someone ringing the doorbell about 12 times quickly. She ran to the door and opened it. She was shocked to see some things she couldn’t identify piled on her porch. No one was there.

Mom was terrified. She locked herself in the bathroom and called the police. When the deputy sheriff arrived, Mom came out and he showed her that her yard had been thoroughly rolled with toilet paper. The things piled on her porch were her lawn ornaments.

The deputy, much to his credit, did a little looking around. By following some footprints in the dew, and by ringing the doorbell of the house where they ended, he eventually found the three teenage boys who rolled Mom’s yard (and who did more serious vandalism elsewhere).

When Mom got up the next morning and looked outside, the yard was normal. Had she dreamed the whole thing? Then she saw a pick-up truck pull up. Someone’s dad (who also had his doorbell rung at 3 am - by the deputy sheriff) sat in the driver’s seat while a couple of teenage boys dragged a ladder out of the back and carried it across Mom’s yard to get a few remaining high strands of toilet paper.

Some time later, Mom’s doorbell rang again - this time during the day. A middle-aged man stood on the porch with his teenage son. The son had been brought by to issue his official apology. His father assured Mom that if she ever needed any work done around the place, she could call his son and he would definitely be right over.

We have all done stupid things without thinking about what kind of harm we might causing. The lucky ones had someone to call us on it.

“He who spares the rod hates his son,
but he who loves him is careful to discipline him.” Proverbs 13:24