PARENTING July 30, 2001 Issue

Major lessons from minor robberies

By Bea Roegge

"I'll never do anything like that again," our teenage son said as he plopped himself down dejectedly on the couch beside me. His father had just brought him and his bicycle home from the store, where he and a friend had been caught shoplifting ski wax. Our son had never done anything like that before, and, true to his word, he never did anything like that again.

At the time I wasn't too upset because he'd always been an honest child and because I'd had time to pray before facing him. This prayer brought the assurance that no matter what had happened, there could be lessons learned and something good could come from the experience.

Our son and his friend had been on a high adventure that evening, riding their bicycles farther from home. They went into the store just to look around.

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