I actually did get robbed. I was walking back to the hotel we are staying at with some friends here in Cambodia and two guys on a moto came and snagged my wallet that was wrapped around my wrist.
Don’t freak out, none of us were physically harmed in anyway. I had my credit and debit cards in there, along with my iPhone and passport.
I got my family to cancel my cards and then the freak out started to happened. I realized my passport was gone and at some point I needed to leave this place, but now I had no way to leave.
My friends started calling the police and the US Embassy. The Embassy came to the hotel we were staying in, picked us up and took us to the police station to file a report.
Then, there was nothing else we could do until the morning except to rest.
Haha rest? There was no rest for me that night.
I kept thinking about what happened. I flipped through my wallet in my head and made sure there was nothing I was missing that needed to be cancelled. I just could not believe that happened to me and I was hoping that it was just a dream.
After the freak out subsided, I realized how thankful I was that the wallet came off easily because they could have hurt us pretty bad if it hadn’t.
The reason I tell you this because I started to get comfortable.
I thought that people wouldn’t actually steal my wallet and I could walk on the street feeling easy and breezy. I thought I was the exception to those situations. I thought I didn’t have to be aware of what was around me.
After I got everything cancelled and the passport process started, I finally got to sit down and realize how it correlates to my relationship with the Lord.
In my relationship with God, I have become very comfortable many times. When I get comfortable with the Lord, I do not see His goodness. I am not aware of His presence around me each day.
Then, He wakes me up and puts me in an uncomfortable situation, whether that is preaching in an international country or trying to get fifty people from country to country. Regardless of those things, I am pretty comfortable with my relationship with the Lord. It is not until I am uncomfortable that I have to FULLY rely on the Lord. I am not saying the He made someone steal my wallet for a reason or lesson because that is the enemy, but it does parallel to what happened.
It wasn’t until I was stripped of my comfortability, that I realized another characteristic of the Lord.
Throughout the race, the Lord has shown me different characteristics of who He actually is. He has previously shown me His goodness, faithfulness, love, comfort and now I guess He is showing me that He is my protector.
Ever since the robbery, I have replayed what happened more times than I probably should, and every time I knit pick the situation. At the end of the day I am just so thankful. Yeah, it completely sucks to not have a phone for two months and I have to bug one of my team members to get money out, but none of us were hurt. It is just inconvenient, but that is all. My friends and I have no scratches or any injuries. What a blessing! God showed us the He was our protector in that situation.
I have no idea why it happened except to realize how comfortable I was getting being in a foreign country and the Lord showed me He is constantly protecting me.
That happened day two of arriving in Cambodia. Not only did I get my wallet stolen, but that same day I got a new team. Nos Amis is no more but a blessing and memory. Don’t worry, I will still be life long friends with those people, but now I get to live with six other women.
I not only got changed from a co-ed team to an all girls team of 7, but I got a second team change as well.
The logistics team lost a member. If you did not know, I have been one of three logistics members for the whole squad since day one of the race. As a logistics member, we make sure all fifty people get from country to county as well as plan debrief locations and more. We had three members that called themselves the Legitsticks. Now logistics consists of myself and one other AMAZING woman, Kelsey. It is now two people who are running this show. Jon was asked to be a team leader, which he will be bomb at but it still hard to process.
I was only expecting one team change, which is hard enough, but I had two team changes. And then my wallet got stolen. So, the beginning of Cambodia has been a little rough, but hey, the Lord is still a good, good father. He is still good and I trust that whatever is happening is for the greater good of the story He has written for my life.
When I look back and realize everything that has happened, I am deeply saddened but also filled with a ton of peace. The Lord has his hand in everything and is going to do amazing things this month here in Cambodia!
I am still trying to process what happened with the wallet and team changes. Fun fact, I am not the best processor in the whole world so trying to process three big changes is a lot. So, if you can be praying that this processing will be fruitful and peaceful, I would highly appreciate that!
If you can be praying for me and my new team that we can be vulnerable with each other from the beginning, that would be great. Also, if you can pray that the process of actually getting my passport and visa to leave the country would go smoothly, that would amazing. Also, it is getting closer to Christmas and that is going to be very difficult for myself as well as my squad to be away from their family and friends back home so if you can pray that we can find joy, comfort and peace as this holiday season is coming that would be great!
Thank you again and I hope this holiday season fills you with much joy, peace and comfort!
Say goodbye to Nos Amis…
and my new team, 7 Wonders!!
