“I think we need to step it up.” Those were my exact words years ago to my friend.
We were walking home in one of the “better” neighborhoods one night. I’m not sure why, but I turned and looked behind us. I saw 2 figures walking quite a ways back. For whatever reason, a few minutes later, I turned again and the figures had moved significantly closer and that’s when I told my friend we needed to step it up.
She turned and looked and didn’t think too much about it, but I was extremely uncomfortable and next thing I knew they were right behind us. Whipping our heads to look behind us, we both saw what no one wants to see on a dark night in a quiet well-off neighborhood. I don’t know how she did it, but my friend who earlier drug her feet along as if to be walking through mud now managed quick as a whip to run off and leave me with the 2 hooded men.
I had taken this class in high school. It was called Individual Freedom and Law and was taught by a police officer. It was one of my favorite classes and I have to say, I learned quite a lot about myself from the teachings in that class. So glad I didn’t day dream through that one. It helped my brother was also taking the class and the officer liked to “pit” us against each other. Couldn’t very well let my younger brother do better than me, now could I?
It was in this class, the officer taught us a few things about self-defense. While several stories he told us in class stuck with me, this one no doubt helped me in a way that still floors me. He told a story of a girl at a dance. She happened to step outside and a man approached her and demanded she come with him. She asked if she hadn’t seen him in the dance. He said she had and she told him, she had thought so and followed him outside to see if she could meet him. She said she was glad she found him, but that she needed to go back inside to get her purse so she could leave with him. Amazingly, he let her go. As you can well imagine, when she got back inside she sought help.
The officer told us, she threw him off his game. All she had done was go along with what he wanted and at the first opportunity was able to escape. The officer also told us about a few other tactics we could try, like pushing in an attacker’s eye balls, and well you get the picture.
As soon as my friend ran off, I was grabbed by the back of my hair wrenching my neck backwards. I was told to tell her to get “back here.” I could see they had a night stick and what appeared to be their hand in their pocket as if to be a gun. I calmly told them, she was gone and I would have to do. In my mind, my friend would be back in no time with help. I told them I didn’t have any money, to which they replied, “you know what we want.” Chills went down my spine.
They told me to turn around and start walking in the opposite direction…away from the direction my friend ran off into the darkness. The opposite direction was not where I intended to start walking.
I kept walking in the same direction we were going and told the two men I was perfectly happy walking in the direction we were heading. The one who held my hair in his one hand and the night stick in my back yanked my hair back harder. It was then I stopped dead in my tracks. I was thinking where was my friend? Why hasn’t she come back with any help? I was stalling.
When they asked what I thought I was doing, I told them I was perfectly capable of walking on my own. I told them I knew there was nowhere for me to go and I wouldn’t put up a fight or scream, and I would even turn around and walk the other way, but I insisted they let my hair go. When he didn’t release my hair, I then asked him to please let my hair go. And just like that….he let my hair go.
I took off like I was on fire. I ran! I ran as fast as I could in the direction I had seen my friend run. I never looked back and I had no idea if they followed me or if they were going to shoot me, I just knew they had let my hair go and I had to take the opportunity to run for my life.
I found my friend. The reason she had not come back with any help is because she was so afraid of them coming for her, she was barely tapping on the door of the house where she had stopped. In my unbelief, I started banging on the door screaming for help. An older couple came to the door and had already called the police because they thought my friend was trying to break into their house.
They let us into their home while we waited for the police. I don’t remember much during that time. When the police arrived we drove around looking for the two men…boys…to be honest, under those hoods and from the sound of their voices, looking back I think they were just as scared as we were. We didn’t find them. The police took us to the station where they let us call our mom’s.
My friend’s mother would not agree to come pick us up. Said we hadn’t gotten ourselves into this mess, we could get ourselves out of it, and this wasn’t the first time my friend had pulled this “kind of thing.”
Let me tell you, I had no idea what my mom was going to say or do and I was amazed at how she was at that station in a New York minute, and not only did she show compassion, when we dropped my friend off, she told her mother a thing or two and I was left wondering….who is this woman and what did she do with my mom?
Back in those days, I didn’t have a personal relationship with God. I don’t even remember praying or making any deals with Him if He would just get me out of that mess. Not even sure I thanked Him for getting me out of there. So, God..thank you for saving me and my friend from a night that could have turned out so very differently. Even when I wasn’t looking to You, You were looking out for me. I may not have known then, but I do now. How awesome is He that He cared about me, when I didn’t give Him much thought at all? I was a lost sheep…and like a good shepard, He came looking for me. He’s looking for you as well. Are you answering His love call?
Take a look at Luke 15:1-7
“Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.”
Did you get that part? More rejoicing in heaven over…one…sinner!! He’s looking for you, and heaven’s waiting to rejoice. I can only imagine!
Blessed to be Broken 
WOW girl! Isn’t it nice to look back and see where the hand of God has stepped in and saved us when we were lost 🙂 Thank you Lord!