For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
“Two things I will not tolerate in this house,” my momma would say, “Lying and stealing. And if I ever hear of you doing either one, there will be consequences!” Man, she was serious about those two things; you’d think I would have gotten the point. At a young age, I struggled with both, and she held true to her word about those “consequences”. One time, in particular, I got involved with the policeman’s son who lived across the street. He spent part of the summer teaching me how to steal from our local convenient store, which was owned and operated by Mr. Ketna. At first, I could hear my momma’s instructions ringing in my head. The fear of what she would do to me if I was found out made me apprehensive. But each time we got away with our stolen goodies, it got easier and easier. That is, until the day I got caught! Oh, I will never forget it as long as I live. I had begun to get sloppy with my thievery and momma picked up on it like Columbo. One morning, before school, I had gone down to Mr. Ketna’s for my routine “visit”. On my way out the door, I ran right into my momma’s 5’10” frame. She looked down at me with a gaze that sent chills through my chills! I knew it was over for me! This time she would surely kill me and tell God I died.
