They called him Ervin the Terrible. Harsh, but true. He’d been in foster care almost all his life, and he had been a trouble-maker just about as long. Nobody could keep him under control. He had been expelled from every school in the city. He had been in every foster home in the system, all except one.
The agency always kept Mr. B’s foster home as their last resort. Mr. B was a very wealthy man, and lived in a very big house. He owned several big companies in town, but also had a big heart for troubled kids. He already had three other very troubled boys in his care, and they were doing very well.
Now Ervin had worn out his welcome at another foster home. So the agency, grasping at their last straw, called Mr. B. After hearing Freddie’s story, Mr. B simply said, “Sure, I’ll take him.”
Ervin was used to new foster parents sitting him down and going over their rules. He expected the same when he was delivered to Mr. B’s house. “Ervin,” Mr. B said, “There are no rules, no regulations and no laws in this house.”
Ervin couldn’t believe his ears. This guy must be crazy, he thought.
Then Mr. B continued, “I ask only one thing of you, Ervin. Love those around you.”
Ervin knew there had to be a catch. He wasn’t fooled by Mr. B’s one rule. He knew it was one big, fat rule that contained all the other rules people had cooked up over the ages. “Love those around you,” Ervin repeated under his breath. He had no intention of loving anybody.
Then Mr. B gave Ervin a small, paper card. “This is a ‘Get Out of Trouble Free’ card,” he explained. “If you get in trouble, just give this to me, and I’ll get you out of the trouble you are in.”
Just fifteen minutes later Ervin handed his “Get Out of Trouble Free” card to Mr. B, right after he got into a fist-fight with one of his new foster brothers. Mr. B took the card, and then gave a fresh one to Ervin. To Ervin’s amazement, no punishment followed.
After that, Ervin got into regular fist fights with his foster brothers, just to break Mr. B’s one rule – to love those around him. And every time, Ervin handed Mr. B a new card, and all was forgiven.
Don’t think that was all that Ervin did, after all there was a reason that people called him, Ervin the Terrible. He may have only been ten years old, but he knew all about getting into trouble. For one thing, Ervin stole stuff – from stores, from his foster brothers, and even from Mr. B, who would have given him anything he wanted.
Ervin stole cigarettes, chewing tobacco, and beer from stores. And, of course, he indulged himself in all these temptations too. When he got a little older, he started getting into drugs and drinking very heavily. That was when he burned down Mr. B’s garage, with three cars in it! He was drunk, and was careless with a cigarette. That’s all it took. The garage and the cars were history, and Ervin turned in another “Get Out of Trouble Free” card.
Every tutor Mr. B hired for Ervin would quit within a few days after meeting Ervin. And on the day Mr. B announced that he would work from home so that he could home-school Ervin, Ervin thanked him by throwing a chair through the big picture window in the living room.
But every time Ervin did something bad, he just handed Mr. B another card. And Mr. B got him out of the trouble, and then gave Ervin another fresh card. Sometimes Mr. B’s lawyers had to do some fast talking to get Ervin out of the trouble that he was so good at getting himself into. But Ervin didn’t care. He just kept burning through the “Get Out of Trouble Free” cards.
But Mr. B accomplished what no other foster parent had been able to do. He kept parenting Ervin, no matter how awful he behaved. Mr. B just kept parenting him, and kept giving him those “Get Out of Trouble Free” cards.
When Ervin got old enough for a driver’s license, he failed the test 9 times. But Mr. B just kept on coaching him, and finally Ervin got a Temporary Permit. This allowed him to drive a car, as long as one responsible adult accompanied him. Of course, no adult was crazy enough to ride with Ervin the Terrible. And so, once again, Mr. B stepped in to help Ervin by being the responsible adult as Ervin drove the car.
One day Ervin ran a red light, with Mr. B sitting beside him. It was no problem, Ervin figured, he could just give Mr. B another card when they stopped. But as Ervin drove through the intersection, another car slammed into the side of the car Ervin was driving.
Mr. B was killed. Ervin was arrested and taken to jail. He was charged with manslaughter.
It was Mr. B’s chief lawyer who came to talk to Ervin at the jail. He sat down facing Ervin, and said, “Kid, you just killed the best thing that ever happened to you.” Then the lawyer shuffled through the papers in his briefcase for a very long time, letting Ervin think about what he had just been told.
Finally the lawyer started talking again. “For the last year and a half Mr. B. has had us working through all the legal stuff so he could adopt you as his son. That paperwork got the final approval just 3 hours ago. Mr. B didn’t even know this, but as of today you are Mr. B’s legal son.” He sat quietly while this news soaked into Ervin.
“Also, Mr. B had given us instructions that if anything like this ever happened, we were to give you this box.”
Ervin opened the box the lawyer handed him. It was a box of “Get Out of Trouble Free” cards.
“There are five thousand cards in that box,” the lawyer announced, “and Mr. B’s instructions are clear. If you use up all those cards, we will supply you with as many more boxes as you need.”
The lawyer continued, “If you want my legal team to help you with this trouble you are in now, you have to give me one of those cards.” Ervin quickly handed him a card.
As the lawyer got up and walked away, something finally, finally, clicked inside Ervin. Finally he understood.
It took the whole team of Mr. B’s lawyers to do it, but they managed to get the manslaughter charges dropped. Ervin was on probation, but he was released from jail.
Almost fifteen years later, the same lawyer came up to congratulate Ervin as he stood beside Barbara. It was their wedding day, and the lawyer had just watched Ervin and Barbara get married.
As they shook hands, Ervin asked the lawyer, “Do you still have more of those ‘Get Out of Trouble Free’ cards? If Barbara and I have children, I might need several boxes.”
The lawyer laughed. “You mean you used up all five thousand of those cards I gave you back when you were in jail?”
“Oh no,” Ervin answered. “I still have four thousand nine hundred and ninety-one of those cards left.”
“You really have changed, haven’t you?” the lawyer said.
“Yeah, I suppose I have. Until that day in the jail, I had spent my life breaking every rule and law I came across. After everything Mr. B had done for me, I just couldn’t go on like that anymore. Now I am very careful to obey the rules and laws, as a sign of who I love. Every time I obey, it is like I’m telling the world how much Mr. B did for me. I obey the rules and laws now, not because I have to, but because I want to. Mr. B gave his life trying to save my life. What he did has totally changed me.
Questions for Meditation, Discussion or Preaching
Copyright 2020. Robert D. Ingram, 32746 Jourden Rd., Albany, Ohio 45710 (dr.bobingram@gmail.com). Used by permission.
