Fundamental Lessons

By now you have probably heard the story from Indianapolis of the woman who works for the check cashing business who was held up, but fate stepped in and with a hug and a little prayer turned her nightmare into a blessing.


If you haven't heard or read what happened briefly here is what took place ~
A robbery took an unusual turn after the gunman came around the counter and the clerk began crying and started talking about God. The man said he had a 2-year-old child to support and asked for prayers about overcoming his hardships. The gunman spent nearly 10 minutes on his knees praying with the clerk at the check cashing business before fleeing with her cell phone and $20 from the register. At one point Gregory Smith tried to hand the clerk the gun and when she started to freak-out, he took the bullets out of the gun and handed them to her. He did this as gesture to let her know he really did not mean her any harm. Then when security video from the Advance America branch aired on the local news clearly showing the man's face during the stickup, the 23 year old man's mother convinced him to surrender.

Clearly this young man was desperate to do right by his girlfriend and child, but something in his upbringing and the real fundamentals of his being rose up and overrode the wrong he was doing that day.

Please don't think I'm in favor of Smith robbing people as a means of supporting his family. What I do support is his behavior after this was all done. Any videos you watch of Smith since he turned himself in clearly show he is sorry. Now I'm not talking about ~ I'm going to jail ~ sorry. I'm talking about the type of sorry that you know he learned as a child.

We all know it is important that we teach our children right from wrong. But there is something else we need to remember to teach our children and that is they need to respect themselves and others. I'm not talking about the material things they have. I'm talking about them as being. Sadly this young man has had some failures and this made him think robbery was his only option, but through all this the one who we can clearly see did not fail him was his mother's lessons during his up bringing.

For as tired as we can be some days and for as frustrated as we can get when we are talking to them and just when it seems to be going in one ear and out the other, a young man like Smith comes along. He really does reminds us that it's a hard job raising kids but the lessons we teach and keep reminding them day after day and will always be in them.

These lessons will become them.

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Contributed by: The Mind of A Mom