Why I wanted to fight a sex offender on wednesday

Two days ago I experienced a parent’s worst nightmare. I got a call from my daughter 5 minutes after she was supposed to be on the school bus.

“Dad. Come quick...”
“A guy in all black is chasing me...”
“I ran into Kelly’s house and he’s banging on the door right now trying to get in...”
“Please come quick!”

The next few minutes were a blur. I bolted out the door in my PJ’s. I wasn’t sure what to expect but it didn’t matter. My adrenaline was at an all time high and I was ready to fight or take a bullet.

I knocked on the door. No answer. I banged on the door. No answer. I called. No answer. So I started yelling.

“Bebe, it’s me.”
“Bebe!”

Finally, she opens the door. Apparently they were hiding under her friends bed. She later told us what happened.

A black guy dressed in all black wearing a face-mask walked towards her while she waited for her bus. She yelled and ran when he started walking faster towards her. Then he too ran yelling ‘hey you stop’. She bolted in the house and a few minutes later he was banging on the door.

The next twelve hours were very revealing for my wife and I. We went online and found there were 12 sex offenders within a mile of our house. I wanted to go knock on all 12 doors to see if one of them chased my daughter. I wanted to hurt someone. Punch someone. Fight someone.

I was angry, disgusted and hurt.

At some point during the day, the thought ‘love your enemies’ came to mind and I honestly almost laughed out loud.

Really? Love my enemies? Sure I can do that.
But what if a sex offender just tried to get my daughter?
Am I supposed to love them too?
Couldn’t even conceive that in the moment.

Later at night, I got a call about a parent who saw the whole thing happen. Apparently Bebe’s bus was stuck in snow two streets over and the bus driver got out to inform the kids he was running behind. He was dressed in all black with a face-mask. Long story short, he was walking towards bebe to get her attention about running late and she did what we told her to do: Never engage strangers.

Saying we felt relief would be an understatement. We were thankful, happy and proud of how bebe handled the whole situation.

But I gotta tell you this little incident exposed parts of my heart that i never thought existed. I was so disgusted and angry, and to be honest I’m not sure how to process it all so I’m asking for insight.

What do you think?

Like I said there are 12 registered sex offenders around me. 12 people who in my opinion pose a threat to my family.

What do I do with this knowledge? Should I have automatically assumed the worst about them? How do I love them? Where do they fit in Gods story? How does the church respond? Out of sight, out of mind? What about my heart? If the story had ended differently, was I really supposed to love this guy? Should there be a difference between how I and my non-Christian neighbor responds to our sex offender neighbors? If so, what is it?

A ocean of questions today. Feel free to jump in anywhere. I really could use some insight.