Wounds of a Friend?

Faithful are the wounds of a friend,
But deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.
-- Proverbs 27:6

What about the wounds of one you thought was a friend?

My son had his wallet lifted. It was later found where he first missed it. However, in the meantime, two charges were made on his debit card. Due to various events, my son traced the loss back to a friend he has known several years and led to the Lord. Or at least we hope he did. Right now, the fruit we can inspect isn't smelling very sweet. The friend is still denying having anything to do with the lost wallet. Evidence strongly suggests otherwise.

The bank can reverse the charges, so the loss will be temporary. The wallet was recovered, so identity theft is unlikely. Important documents don't have to be replaced. That is a blessing.

How would you handle a situation like this? This young man committed fraud against my son and refuses to acknowledge his guilt. Would you report him to the police? Give him one last chance to repent? Let it slide? There is the desire for retribution or justice to be done. But aside from that, what will help this young man the most? Getting away with it? Getting caught? No matter what, it's bound to be messy.

Please pray for our family to have wisdom in how to deal with this. And please pray for this young man. More than anything, we'd like to see him confess, seek the Father's forgiveness, and choose to follow Christ.

Relaxing!

After an intense last week of school, summer school has begun and things are slowing down. Yes, I'm still working as secretary. As a matter of fact, the first couple of days of summer school had us running around like crazy, looking for all the things the teachers were supposed to have left for their students. Things like Paks (the curriculum), score keys (for the Paks), tests, and test keys. But we've gotten it pretty much under control, and the first week (of three) is under our belts. I've even begun putting together a database of next year's students. It's amazing what I can get done when I don't have to worry about lunch (and all the record-keeping that went with it)!

My work hours for summer are shorter. Plus, I get Fridays off. It's nice getting home earlier and being able to get more done around the house. My house definitely needed the attention. I just hope we can make it on the reduced paycheck.

I restarted my diet and am trying my hardest to only eat allowable foods. I hope I see some progress so that I will get some motivation to stick with it. I think the first few days are the hardest.

How do you motivate a guy who doesn't want to be motivated? I've tried praying, bribing, threatening, intimidating, coercing, breaking goals into smaller pieces, painting the big picture -- you name it. Three weeks isn't a very long time. I guess we'll see if he gets motivated to finish his work, or if he will repeat fourth grade. Suggestions welcome!