We Just Have a Few Questions, Ma'am

“Mom, there's some men here. I think it's the police.” Those words got my attention real quick. What on earth? I stepped into the garage to find two men in green uniforms standing with arms folded, two green pick-ups in the yard, and a very confused look on my face. Before I could process it, they said they were looking for Scott. “We just have some questions, ma’am.” At least they were unfailingly polite. After explaining that he was at work and wouldn't be home for another five hours, they said they'd wait. In my yard. For five hours. Things just got real!

It took some doing to find out what they even wanted, because Scott's the one they wanted to question. They told me they were there about the white turkey. I said ok. Ashley piped up and informed them it was a “boy turkey”. They seemed surprised and I started to understand. Yep, white turkey, had a beard, had some spurs, makes it a male, right? Not necessarily, they informed me. Thirty percent of hens have beards. I don't hunt turkeys. I'm a deer hunting girl, and if it has horns I WILL assume it is a buck and I will put it in my freezer. Turkeys are too much trouble for me but apparently you have to examine their tiny little beady heads to determine if it's male. From a distance, while they are moving around and while you are trying to stay hidden from an animal that has the best eyesight of anything we hunt, you are to check the head. Perhaps with a scope you could. We bow hunt.

The storm of the century, (well, the month anyway) was rolling in. Tornadoes had hit the day before and more were expected, so this worked in my favor. The game wardens didn't really want to sit in my yard all day and wait on the tornadoes. They let me know their boss wanted to verify the turkey wasn't on the premises. I told them, AGAIN, that it was in the freezer in Pine Hill and I would quite gladly take them to it. Nope, need to search my freezers first. I pulled open the doors and invited them to knock themselves out. I asked them to let me know if they found anything that looked interesting for supper. One of the freezers in the garage is full of hides that Scott donates to taxidermists. They examined each and every one of them. They went through the bags of meat we'd had processed, taking out every package, to be sure nothing was hidden beneath it. They were quite thorough. When they finished the freezers, they asked to be taken to the white turkey. They followed us to Pine Hill, and took the turkey out of the freezer to examine it, where they discovered that yes, indeed, it did have a beard and spurs. They couldn't get to much of the head, because it was frozen beneath the wing, but they finally decided that if it was a hen, it was an honest mistake and they'd let it go. This is when one of them pulled out a folder and showed me why they were there. Scott and Tim, proud of the solid white turkey which was quite legal, had posted pictures on hunting websites. Someone tipped the game wardens that it was a hen, and they had to investigate. Then they showed me the search warrants for my freezers. Search warrants people! Imagine how that feels. They thanked me for not making them use the warrants I didn't know they had. I told them we had absolutely nothing to hide. They said that was evident in the way I let them search. They let us go home where it took me hours to get my emotions in check. I was shaken, and annoyed, and thankful.

I knew we had not done anything wrong, on purpose. But there are so many regulations, it is easy to miss one. It's the first white turkey Scott had killed and he had looked it up before he killed it, but who knows what other laws we may not know about. Knowing they suspected we were criminals felt awful. Knowing they had gone to a judge and gotten search warrants? Wow, I can't even convey what that feels like. The whole thing felt like we were trying to prove our innocence when we didn't even know the charges. It was scary. Innocent people do go to jail sometimes.

I'm so grateful that God doesn't work that way. He doesn't sit back, trying to catch us sinning. He doesn't arrive on our doorsteps and demand we prove our innocence. He isn't vindictive or grudge-bearing. His desire when we've sinned is to restore a right relationship, not to punish. And His laws are straight forward and unchanging. I don't have to worry that I broke one that I had never even heard of or that had changed since the last time I read them. No, God is unchanging, faithful, forgiving, and compassionate.

The game wardens were professional and polite. They were doing their job. I have no hard feelings toward them. But I have a whole new view of those who are accused. Accusations do not equate to guilt. This is why our legal system demands proof. And though it is not a perfect system, it's still the best one out there.