I received an email today of this interesting video clip. It is a news story from earlier this month of store owner Marian Chadwick from Frisco, Texas, who encountered a hooded robber that entered her store with a gun. The gunman walked up to the store counter and demanded money. The store owner pointed at him and commanded him, in the name of Jesus, to leave the store immediately. The gunman took a step back and told a customer to drop to the floor. The store owner repeated the commands. The robber slowly backed up and fled the store.
In an interview the store owner said that when the robber was leaving he started cussing at them, “as if Satan was walking out the door.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2YEO-_-Yhw
Interesting. I think he was surprised at her standing strong against him. Perhaps the invocation of the Savior’s name also caused him to think twice about what he was doing. I like that bit about a higher power giving her courage.
😀
While I was a zone leader in Ecuador, a sister missionary in my zone attempted to use the priesthood to remove a pack of wild dogs in her path. She did the whole arm to the square and invoked the power of the Melchizedek priesthood, too. Suprisingly, it worked. Even more suprisingly, she gave a detailed accounting of this story during a subsequent zone testimony meeting. Aawkward!
Did it really work? Who knows? But, if you have ever been to South America and had any contact with dogs, you know that simply raising an arm in the air will scare any dog away for fear of getting a rock thrown at them.
I’m stunned! Look how unconcerned both women appear in the video when a large hooded man walks up pointing a gun at them! I can’t beleive their moxie! They don’t cower or show any fear whatsoever. For me, I think it is safe to assume that anyone desperate enough to make an armed robbery attempt is automatically either 1. insane 2. unstable 3. High on something 4. All of the above. So, it would have been easy to think “why risk it – why not just give him the money”?!?! Her business insurance would have covered the loss. It’s one thing to have endangered her own life, but she was endangering another woman’s life,too! However, in this kind of situation, you have to rely on your gut instinct – she had milliseconds to react. To me, the real heroine here is the customer. She didn’t have the security of a counter between her and the gunman, nor anywhere to duck or hide if he started hitting or shooting. She’s literally inches away from him – and yet, She chose to be 100% on board with the owner’s reaction. She stands tall and firm the entire time, and became the powerful “second witness”. I beleive if she had reacted any less, the story could not have had this “happy ending”.
Bottom line, it is a miracle he walked out, and the immediate choice to do and say what she did is fascinating. Thanks for sharing!