Trust - Part 1

Are you a trusting person? I ask this question because I have discovered that I am not. In most situations, I question the authenticity and look for an ulterior motive. Why did that stranger just smile at me? Is he planning on turning right back around to murder me? I wonder if the repairman I'm letting into the house is a descent fellow or if he is a rapist searching for his next victim. I always lock the doors if I sit alone in the car for any period of time.

It's not that I live in a state of fear, because I don't. Maybe it's the pessimist in me who always thinks something bad could happen. Or maybe it's the superstition in me that figures if I imagine the possibilities in advance, I can prepare for them and they won't happen. But I feel that the real reason for my distrust is the lack of character in people today. I have heard so many bad stories that a sense of paranoia has developed in me.

A woman who works with Hubby was shopping at Wal-Mart on Christmas Eve. She turned away for just a second and someone snatched her purse out of the cart. How could someone behave in such an evil manner toward their fellow mankind? The woman lost all her money and credit cards. On Christmas Eve. It causes great anger to stir in me and I lose a little more trust in humanity.

A close friend of mine recently learned that her father-in-law molested his own granddaughter. Their world fell apart. Just a year earlier, she and her husband took this man into their home and allowed him to live with them and their two small daughters. The girls were often left alone in his care. Although she has been assured that her daughters were not harmed, she will always have doubt and guilt. Their grandfather now sits in jail. It makes me question trusting anyone.

When I was growing up, I was occasionally allowed to spend the night with friends. I thought my mother was extremely over-protective because she was very selective about where I could stay. A couple years ago, a story came out about the father of one of my friends. He committed a sexual crime against two young boys. This was a descent man with a good job and happy marriage. It made me decide to never allow my children to spend the night anywhere.

So no, I am not a trusting person. But I'm not going to be embarrassed or secretive about it. Rather than considering myself untrusting, I feel that I'm just realistic and cautious. If my kids never attend a sleepover, then they will never get molested at one. If I never take my purse off my shoulder at a store, it won't get swiped from the cart.

I don't know what caused me to write this today. Maybe I'm supposed to warn someone to be cautious today. Just stop and think about who you are trusting and why. It could eventually save you.