Expunged. This is the word that was received on October 6, 2009.
Donald Ray Hood's record has been ordered to be expunged... to erase, blot out, delete, cancel. It will be as if it never happened, but my heart knows better. In this fallen world I have been made aware that evil does reign sometimes.
There are those in this world who want power and position so badly that they will go to any extreme to achieve them. On the day Donnie was called before the grand jury for questioning he sat in the same room with the two men who would twist the truth against him. He spoke with them never realizing the motives of their heart. How could he know that a person who was in power and position would try to use this power and position to help someone win in an election? This would not be the person's first try at this election, it would be the third try, so desperation had moved in. They thought they had the answer. Donnie Hood would be the scapegoat.
On February 1, 2008 my birthday was celebrated. I received a card from Donnie saying he loved me more and more each day. A beautiful day filled with family and laughter. How could we know the storm clouds were forming? After a day of fullness we arrived home, as darkness settled we unloaded the truck. As I came through the house calling his name he was on the back porch and a large man with a scarred face was putting handcuffs on him. There is no way to describe the horror. Another unmarked car pulled up and people got out. The investigators of this office would come themselves instead of letting the Sheriff's department serve the warrant. I remember almost in a pleading voice asking where they were taking him. They put Donnie in the car and stood in the driveway and talked. Finally I was told to come to the Sheriff's department and I could put bond up for him to be released. Coming back into the house my prayer was for mercy. How strange that seems now that those were the words to come.
Power and position in this world seemingly can tip the scales of justice. Donnie was not at the Sheriff's department and would not be found for two hours. He had been taken to the office of the person in power and interrogated for hours. They had one question that was asked repeatedly, "did he know of any county employees who worked during county time on the person's home who was in the election?". He did not. The last thing he said at the interrogation was he would help them in any way he could as he always had but he did not take a flag and would not say he had.
The roaring lion raised her head. The records were sealed, a news conference called, his picture put in the paper and on the newscast. Sometimes a man can be defeated by taking his character and when you are in a battle with evil they don't play fair. For twenty-eight days darkness descended every day. After a fierce storm there is always destruction. On the morning of the arraignment we prayed, Donnie first and then me. At the arraignment they threatened to take Donnie's pension if they could get a conviction. Two days later Donnie would despair to such a degree he couldn't see life.
A kind, gentle man who loved God, loved life, loved his wife and children and adored his five grandchildren. Who can know the degree of despair in any human heart but God Himself?
Justice is turned back,
And righteousness stands far away;
For truth has stumbled in the street,
And uprightness cannot enter. Isaiah 59:14
This is in this world. There is always a bigger picture. God Himself sits on the throne. This is the hope that is stored in my heart. How could we possibly understand when tragedy comes except in the light of God's shadow?
