Cherokee County Man Died of Natural Causes

Oh I totally agree with you. I try to teach my children that family is all you will ever have. My children have had some of the video game consoles but I hate them! Actually we only have the Wii now because our entire family can play it together. I use our dog walking as a time to get out together away from the television. Not to mention the physical benefits it has for both myself as well as my children. My husband and I both refer to our childhood days when we had to “go outside!“ I have been blessed enough to be a stay at home mom and the benefits are unlimited! Granted, there are days when I think I could more easily handle 50 full time jobs I have been blessed. While we spend time at home we also try to spend time out doing “free” things. Last week we just hiked NC falls. I cannot stress enough how important I feel it is to spend time with family. Old fashioned as it is, my family is required to sit down together at the dinner table.

LinLin- your grandmother in deed sounds like she was a wonderful woman. True, it is all too easy to say we don’t have time and get caught up in our everyday lives so much so that we overlook the small things. It is the small things that count. Don’t sweat the small things… enjoy the small things.

It is my hopes that SOMETHING good can come out of this situation. If by any means, I made one person think more about God & reestablishing their relationship with him then I am grateful.

To Hootie and Clemson, I must say that both of you have great ideas! I am happy to see such a great response to all of this and after reading both of you post I have came to one conclusion, We all need God in our lives and we should all pray daily not only when something bad happens. However God will be glad to hear the prays offered up by people who have be slack in that area. All of this is happening for a divine reason in Gods eyes, sad as it is. Maybe it is to gain the attention of those like myself that need to work harder to gain a relationship with him. Before my grandmother passed away after a battle with cancer she said if my suffering will bring just one of my children to God it will all be worth it. She was a great woman! Also we all know by looking around our community that we all are guilty of being too busy to go by and check on mom or to spend a few hours at the park with our kids or even spend quality time with our spouse. It work, home, house work, yard work, and the out to eat, then back home, shower, finally off to bed just to do it all over again the next day.  Maybe this is also happening like clemson said to show us how we have also forgot how to spend much needed time with our families. I know my self I will be working on both of those things from now on. Again thanks for both of your post they make people think. Have a safe night to all.

I am sure that everyone feels afraid and that’s perfectly normal and expected. Though I am scared & very aware of the situation I am one of the people who (to some degree) refuse to be a prisoner in my own home. You have to look at the situation from a different perspective. First, we have strength in numbers. This applies to police and it applies to civilians as well as followers of God. It is not a matter of pride. I would somewhat agree that it is that we will not be controlled by this person. Yes, I would much rather stay home to assure my loved ones are safe if I was certain he would be caught. God forbid… what happens if this person is not caught as quickly as we have hoped? If you look at the murders in Chesnee 4 or 5 years back- they are still dealing with the unknown every day of their lives. However, they are not letting their lives pass them by. They are constantly out and talking about what happened and building their numbers as much as possible. Life is precious and sometimes it takes something drastic for people to realize this. Everything has its reason & you or I may not be able to understand it but I fully believe God uses everything- even the bad for HIS good. I’m sure you have heard it said and it will forever ring true: How many times have we dismissed God from our lives, our schools, our public events and in the wake of a tragedy expect God to provide an immediate answer? Often, people turn to God after the fact. Whether or not it is legit is not for us to determine. People may seek solace in God for the wrong reasons but God can use this to his advantage. The great thing about God is that he forever waits on us. He does not force himself upon us but he waits patiently for us to come to him. Its up to us whether we come to him before its too late.

I always THINK I pay attention to what is going on around me. I try to keep an open eye but this just shows us that we have let our guards down. It seems that this man is taunting police (& us) moving closer into the city that we will not catch him. Up until this point, he has not targeted random people on the streets, he is going into their homes & their businesses. Should everyone stop working? For how long should we hole up in our homes afraid to step outside and live our lives? I do not mean go out with a blindfold and a sign saying “aim for my head”. We are ever more careful this last week but at some point people are going to have to begin to live again. Life goes on whether you are ready for it or not. I have felt scared and aware but I do not feel gripped by terror. It is my belief that if it is your time to go, you will go whether it be in a car, plane, train or just standing in your own home. I believe it is not OUR family, it is God’s family and he has a plan for everyone of us. Though it is the hardest thing you can ever think to imagine we must think of the story of Abraham in the bible who was willing to sacrifice his child because that was God’s orders. In the end God chose not to take his son from him. I hate to think of losing one of my loved ones but I try to teach my children that they should live so that if it is your time you are sure you will live with God. If we think this is bad, we should think about the alternative. I do not pretend to know everything there is to know about God & the bible. In fact, I feel inadequate and to some degree incompetent for the job of witnessing but that is what God wants for all of us. I truly believe that God does not intend for us to be paralyzed by fear of this, or any other, evil person. That is the devil’s work. During a trying time where my faith seemed a little low and everything was going wrong I had a great friend tell me “the closer you get to God the harder it will be”. It will be hard, there will be many fights and many heartaches but we cannot lock ourselves away and wait for someone else to do the work for us.

Again, my heart goes out to all the victims & I pray God gives them the understanding and healing they need to deal with this. Their lives are forever changed. There is no going back from that now. To some degree all of our lives are changed. I can only hope we all use it to better ourselves and be more aware of the people surrounding us.

May God bless us all! Stay safe!

From Mike T:

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Hi keef!  I am glad that you feel you know me well enough to classify me as a “self-styled yahoo vigilante”.  On what do you base this assumption?

  For your information, back in 1996, the SC Legislature wisely saw to it that a law aptly known as “The Law Abiding Citizens Self Defense Act” was enacted in our state.  This law allowed everyday citizens, not just those with political connections or who were well-to-do, to obtain Concealed Weapons Permits which allowed them the means to protect themselves and their families from criminal attack while out and about.  I happen to possess one of those permits as well as other credentials which allow me to legally carry in most places.

Part of the reason such a law was needed is because the police cannot be everywhere at all times.  While I think they do a great job, especially considering their relatively few numbers, I also know there is a lot of truth in the saying, “when seconds count, the police are minutes away”. 

I fully agree with you that we don’t want, need, or desire anyone going off half-cocked and shooting an innocent person because of the current tragedies.  This would only add to the grief and horror of what is already a bad situation.  In fact, I even commented to that effect on another thread related to this one within the last day or two.

My comments were regarding people who have the permits or other lawful credentials and who have undergone training in gun safety, legal issues, and marksmanship, which are requirements before one can obtain one of these permits.  They also apply to people legally carrying in their own homes, business, or cars, with or without a permit.

I have noted for some time that the incidence of violent crime is on the rise everywhere and that the day when we could all shrug it off as always happening to “the other guy” are fast coming to a close.  The fact that I was armed has kept me from becoming a statistic on more than one occasion and I have friends and family members who have also avoided tragedy because they were prepared to deal with ugliness of the highest order when it came to them.

I am sorry if you misunderstood my original comments, but I stand by them.  I would urge you to look up the definition of vigilante.  There IS a difference in that and self-defense. 

Have a nice day!