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Well, this certainly was a Christmas to remember….
Since I lost my photos, all I can
do is remember it.
But all kidding aside, let me tell you how God has shown
Himself in all of this.
When I returned back to the student camp after being robbed,
Doug and I went about cancelling our credit card, etc.
Caleb told me twice in the car, “Mom, I can’t read. You could have my Bible.” (He received a Bible for memorizing 10 verses
before he could read).
Life went about pretty normal for the next few hours except
when something would jar me into reality, and I would remember something else
that was in backpack.
That night, for the New Year’s celebration, I was missing
the glow sticks for my kids that were in my backpack, but wouldn’t you know…a
mom had sent glow sticks with her daughter to camp, and she shared with
everyone!
THEN…
The next night, before we left camp, I was in the bathroom
getting the kids ready for bed, when Karis heard a knock and went to answer the
door. She came back with what looked like a black book and handed it to
me. She said, “Someone brought this to
you.”
After further examination, I realized it was a new kind of
Kindle. I’d never seen one with a touch
screen before. I ran outside, and this
couple that came as volunteers with the team from Florida, were walking away
from my cabin. I said, “What is
this?” They waved me off with a smile
and said, “It’s yours.”
After getting the kids down, I went to find them with tears
in my eyes. When I saw her, I said, “I
can’t take this. Mine wasn't even this nice,” and she said, “Jesus told me to give it to you. It’s yours.”
I went from this:
I was a mess of tears…
I was overwhelmed by God’s love for me.
Never in a million years, will I get over that act of
kindness. Jesus is so good to me, even
in the little things.
But God didn’t stop there…
My birthday was two days later, and we were at a different
location in Kenya. We went to some
training for our company, and a sweet friend of mine who knows me well, knew what
else I needed replaced for my birthday… kleenex and a chapstick substitute. If you know me, you know these are much-used and
much-loved items!
I filled out a property claims report on my stolen articles,
and in the meantime, I started shopping for replacements on-line. I have a friend coming to Uganda at the end
of January, and I knew if I could get things ordered and sent to her, she could
bring them.
So…I ordered a new ipod and a new camera, new cases, new
earphones, etc.
The trick was the Bible.
I wasn’t really ready to give in to a different Bible, but I was getting
closer. Since my Bible is out of print
now, and it was listed for sale on Amazon for $400, I decided I probably could
live with a different version…
I tried writing the company to ask about any they might have
stuck back on a shelf somewhere, but I never heard back from them.
At the same time, my mom was hunting around on line, and she
found one on ebay, and the sale was going to be over in three days on a Sunday
morning right before our Sunday morning service. I got up that Sunday, bought internet time,
and waited.
And do you know what?
God let me win the bid on that Bible!
(And it was less than $400, you’ll be glad to know.)
AND a lady in my hometown gave me money to buy it!
I am now the proud owner of my very same Bible, sans notes
and underlines and highlights. But I
look forward to all the new ways God is going to show Himself fresh to me in
the coming years.
It still doesn’t end there…
People were so gracious to me after reading my last
blog. I had so many people offer to
help, but I knew that insurance would cover most of it (even though I’m still
waiting for a reimbursement amount). I’m really bad at asking for help or accepting
gifts.
A friend in Mississippi bought me a new backpack, and
another friend in North Carolina bought the kids two of the three card games
that were lost. A fellow missionary at
youth camp gave me allergy pills to take to my training meeting PLUS her hand
bag, as a replacement for my backpack. (I
think she felt sorry for me having to carry my things around in a plastic
grocery sack.)
As a cool sidenote, the Kindle Fire holds music as well, so
it has been a replacement ipod for the time being.
I got the sweetest note from the lady who gave me the Kindle
Fire. She told me that when she arrived
back in Florida, someone had bought her a new Kindle Fire, and it was waiting
there for her when she arrived!
God blessed both of us, and we are both overwhelmed and
grateful!
As a side note to the Kindle story: While in Uganda, before this trip, I had
tried to upgrade my older kindle. When I
did, it froze became of the lack of “whispernet” in Uganda (if that means
anything to you). I took it to Kenya in
hopes I could fix it in another country, and I had already ordered a
replacement, because that’s what amazon recommended I do.
WELL…my supervisor fixed my old kindle six days before it
was stolen! It was working fine. But I thought nothing of it. I knew my replacement kindle I had ordered
was being sent to my friend in Houston to bring to me. What I didn’t know was that there were
strings attached.
I received an email a few days ago from amazon telling me
they were waiting for the “broken” kindle to be sent back to them.
Oops!
I explained that the one they needed had gotten stolen, but
for some reason, I don’t think they believed me.
Anyway, I had my friend in Houston send back my new
replacement, AND JUST AFTER I DID…I received an email from a friend in
Mississippi who told me she had 2 old Kindles she didn’t use anymore. She asked if I could use them.
SO…she is sending those to me for the kids to use in
school. Since we don’t have a library
here, a kindle will be great for the girls to be able to get some of the books
they enjoy reading and my mom doesn’t have to pay to ship over books anymore.
Do you need any more proof that God will take care of you in
ALL things in ALL ways?
“He gives and takes away.
He gives and takes away. My heart
will choose to say, “Lord, blessed be Your name.”
