There were only $1 bills in the stack. That was a bit disconcerting... until I realized that there weren't any other stacks with bigger bills. They were missing. I had money hidden in another part of my room, and I went to look for that. It was gone - the envelope from Bank of American Fork missing from its place.

I asked my brother if he had borrowed money from my room. He hadn't.

Which means that I had been robbed.

I learned that this hasn't been the first occurrence. We've lost money in the past, and the couple of times that I thought I had just displaced money before depositing it in the bank? It was just gone. It adds up to thousands of dollars in losses.

Last night I didn't want to deal with news like that. I'm in a financially frustratin position - most of my money is tied up in the business, and all the business's money tied up in meeting orders for big new customers who don't have beneficial (to us) payment terms. I'm hiring my friend to work for me full-time in a little more than a week (he put notice at his current job) and to ensure that I have enough to pay him I've stopped buying things that aren't necessary altogether.

So realizing that money is gone... has just left me in shock. I prayed last night for whoever has done this to us... but part of me, for the first time ever, began questioning humanity at large. I'm an incredibly trusting person, even with strangers. Most of the time, when I trust people, they reciprocate with amazing results. But I'm realizing that reality doesn't always match my ideal.

So what to do? Our doors were always unlocked so that if people needed to come see us, or have a place to stay, they could use our home. We've have many people who have done that in times of need, and we were glad that we could help. But leaving doors unlocked makes it easy for anyone to come in to our home, whether we're here or not.

I always wanted to be one of the people who lived in a community where you never had to lock your door or worry. When we bought our home, we spoke with policemen and they said that it was a quiet neighborhood. But we live on the edge of that quiet, right next to a massive 24-hour gym and the mall, bus stops and busy streets. Our neighbor across the street was burglarized badly a few months ago. I guess we'll be locking our doors. And never keeping cash on hand.

The loss I feel for my stolen money is one thing. But the loss I feel for my shattered ideals... that's what has left me reeling. Everything I have belongs to God. It's been dedicated to Him, and I'm just the steward ensuring that the blessings I have are used the right way. And now I feel... betrayed, used, frustrated, and parts of me are turning to guilt. "I should have deposited the money." "I don't need to keep cash on hand for emergencies." "I should have locked all our doors every time I re-opened them."

I do know one thing. I don't think I'm ever going to keep cash at home. It will make buying things from people on KSL difficult, but I don't really need to buy anything anyway. We can take cards for the business, or require exact change, and deposit money each day. For tithes and other offerings I can find a check or get one printed at the bank.

...

My idealistic image of society and people has been cracked. I'm not going to let it shatter... and slowly I'll put the pieces back in place. I'll also be a better steward of the things I have, and better safeguard them against loss.

And I pray that whoever was in so much need... can feel God's love and find His help in their life.