Man Convicted of Murdering Real Estate Agent, Sarah Anne Walker, Sentenced to Death in Texas

Elizabeth - the human mind is a strange machine.  And with that being an absolute truth, it also follows that this machine influences the resiliency of our hearts - and the ability to forgive.

Some people confuse forgiveness for excusing a behavior/event.  It's not.  It is so much deeper than that.  

In my life I have forgiven people for various things - but in no way have I excused their culpability.  And even though I have forgiven them, I choose not to have anything to do with them.  It's my form of self protection.

This is a sad story, for sure.  But I maintain that no matter how heinous the crime, a sane and reasonable person could not conclude that this offender was firing on all plugs.  It just could not be so.

God bless you, my beautiful friend. 

Forgiveness is something you give when a person ASKS for it......

If they don't ask... you don't give.....

Praying for them is one thing...
forgiving is another totally....

;-)

What I have learned in my life is that forgiveness is a gift we give...NOT to the person who hurt us...but to OURSELVES.

This statement is the long journey I took through my whole life to get to. Forgiving self is a wonderous thing... I learned to move on with my life. Thank you for relaying more than just a story.

Elizabeth- I can't say what I would do in this father's shoes and I hope I never have to.  I do believe it takes much more than our own will or strength to forgive another of a heinous crime or really any hurt for that matter.  We may move on in life, but few of us truly forgive. 

Jackie

Elizabeth  - 

After 26 years as a police officer, I can vividly recall a few situations where I saw and came face to face with "absolute evil" in a person.  Life and death situations.  They had no remorse, no conscience, no regard for anyone at all.  I believe this evil criminal deserves and should get the death penalty, quickly.

I believe this victim's father has the right to handle this emotional crisis any way he desires. He needs to be allowed to grieve, forgive, pray or give it all to God if he wants.  We are not in his place or his heart. Personally I am not sure at this point if I would be big enough to forgive, fortunately I don't have to face this now.  I'm not sure how my position on the death penalty squares with my Christianity.

Our God knows the battle with this lousy evil criminal and God will ultimately prevail.  Of that much we can be sure.  These are entirely my thoughts and not judgements of anyone else's opinion on here.

List and Sell (and please be careful)  Gary @ RentonHomeFinder

Elizabeth,

How difficult it is to forgive. It's even more difficult to think ourselves forgiven sometimes, because we do know that it's undeserved. I pray that I never have to face a situation like this father has. I don't know how I'd handle it, but you're right, if we don't forgive it will only cause more pain and trouble in our own lives.

Elizabeth, thank you for this post on several accounts.  1)  I think that it is extremely important for Realtors to be careful, especially with floor  calls.  When I was in high school, one of my classmates mother, who was  a Realtor, was murdered after getting a floor call.  The case has never been solved.  I've worked with the agent that initially got the floor call.  She still thanks God that she didn't have time to "help" that caller.    

Secondly, I agree with your point about forgiveness.  In my opinion, that father realizes the only chance that he has to continue on in life is to try to forgive the man that murdered his daughter.   About 10 years ago, I had a preacher suggest that when you are really angry with someone that you should pray for them and to request the strength to forgive them on a daily basis.  He said that eventually one of two things will happen.  You will forgive them or you will forget about it.  I've always thought that has been some of the best advice I've ever received. 

God Bless You!!!!    

Hello Elizabeth - I never saw a photo of this REALTOR - how young - how sad - how Godly of her earthly father to forgive her killer - I have dealt with issues of forgiveness before in my own life, but never to such a grave scale - as Christians we are called to forgive, as a human I pray for help to live it! I suppose if you don't, your health & well being would be eaten up by the negative emotions of holding on to this type of grief & pain - I pray God comforts that family in this their time of need.

Blessings

Grace

Elizabeth, I too watched this story very closely because of the closeness to our area. I also believe in the death penalty. 

With that said, a few months ago, in fact the week before the trial was to start, the lead investigating officer on this case came to my county to hold a safety class for agents in this area. As horrible as the story was in the news, there were so many things that were left out until the trial was underway that made it even more horrific. He was able to relate just some of the details that the public had not been made aware of because we were not going to be in the jury pool and just so he could show us how placated we can become in our every day surroundings and situations.

One thing that REALLY stands out in my mind was the fact that he had deliberately targeted Realtors (Chanthakoummane's own admission), because of the implied wealth of Realtors. HE WAS AFTER HER JEWELRY! He had been watching her and the other agent for a couple of days and knew that they were sitting on this open house alone in an area that was going through revitalization. He saw the cars they drove each day and the "BLING BLING" as he put it. This made me rethink wearing every piece of jewelry each day. As the officer suggested, save the really nice stuff for parties, special functions and such.

PLEASE, PLEASE, just watch yourselves, be aware of your surroundings and let you instincts dictate your responses and decisions. If it doesn't feel right, it probably isn't. God gave us those "gut feelings" and the hair standing up on the back of our neck for a reason. Pay attention to those sensations.

                                                           NO AMOUNT OF MONEY IS WORTH YOUR LIFE!

Elizabeth,

Like you, anger wells up in me when I read about this man.  What a wretched soul he is, and how he really deserves lethal injection!  Then I look up in the mirror and the Lord freshens in my memory of all the things that I've done in my life that have hurt loved ones.  Not murder, but none the less the sins that in Gods eyes justifies his ultimate judgement!  I'm so glad He loves me, and sent His son to redeem me and all of us!!

Great post young lady!  God bless you! 

Elizabeth what Mr. Walker did was free himself.  Hate and anger turns you into a bitter hateful angry person and then the monster who committed the crime not only took the victims life but also the souls of those family members left behind.  I know from personal experience (nothing to this degree) that forgiving someone doesn't mean you have to forget or even like the person.  You've simply set yourself free from carrying that burden of hate or anger.  GBU!