We have camp from Monday-Saturday morning. On Saturdays we usually have a team/squad day. For example, we have visited 2 different cities and also went to the beach on one of the Saturdays. The beach was actually our first off day. It was only $3 each and was like 10 minute bus ride, so was a great opportunity.
We brought our backpacks because we were hoping to maybe get internet to be able to skype our folks, blog, check our email,etc- since we had not had the opportunity to do that yet. Drew had locks for his bag but of course I lost my locks before we even left he U.S. (I get it from my mama! ha). So anyways, we started out under the umbrella with our stuff in between us. We then went out into the water and asked our friend to watch it for us.
At one point I get out and go talk to my friends. I think I'm just going to talk for a second. We are fixing to go eat anyways, so it really will just be a minute. Drew comes up next and we all start talking. I think we both thought in our heads, "we should go get our bags, even though we are just 25 feet away from them and were keeping an eye out."
Well, my friend Tiffany was sharing her powerful testimony. You know we could just listen to what the Lord has done in people's lives forever. So we are just praising God for all He has done in our lives and bonding as we are vulnerable with each other and sharing stories.
I see these boys (maybe about 12/13 yrs old) near our bags, but it looked like they were at the umbrella after and had their backs to our bags. Right then and there I knew I should go get my bag, but didn't want to interrupt our conversation. I didn't listen to my gut. -I know I know…Silly Maggie. My Mom taught me too well to always listen to my
gut/Holy Spirit. Always!
I mean my Mom was one of those Mom's who watches court tv all the time and is constantly training me how to be safe in every situation. "Don't hang out in parking lots. Look people in the eye when you walk by, because men go after women who are distracted and look vulnerable. Yell Fire and you are more likely to get help than if you scream help! If you're little and someone kidnaps you in the grocery store throw everything off the shelves and create attention. Never go anywhere if someone says they'll kill you. Let them just do it there. If someone wants your money, throw the wallet a different direction and run so they will have to choose-because they will most likely choose the money."
I could go on and on about the random things she taught me in safety. In fact when Liam Neeson dude was training us on safety, I felt pretty proud of my Mama, because I already knew pretty much everything. Go Mom! Anyways, I continued to talk! -(what? me???? yea, you saw this coming!)
In a hot second, the boys had turned around, grabbed our stuff and went DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS! They were little professionals. In fact, they will probably be the Ocean's 14th when they are older. They were walking very quickly but casually so you wouldn't know they had stolen anything. It didn't draw any attention to themselves. I didn't have my glasses, so I quickly asked Drew,"Is that my bag?" Drew says, "Yup."(Our friends later said it was amazing how calm we were about it)
Immediately, we both start sprinting! I run up to the boy and Drew ran more ahead so if he got past me Drew could get him. I yank my bag off and say, jo! (or no in Albanian.) I turn around and head towards the rest of our stuff to see what all was taken. The other boy was gone. Drew didn't see the other or probably would have chased him down.
When I grabbed my bag from the boy, he just continued to walk quickly to not cause a seen, and also to keep whatever else he had on him. I noticed he had my bracelet on his wrist. I didn't really care so just let it go.
We realized when we got back that the things that were stolen included my shorts (weird I know, … that was the 2nd pair stolen so now I'm down to only 1 pair), my bracelet, my wallet (that only has a bible in it so booya!- they could use it I think), drew's earphones and IPod (with all his good music, tear), and his pocket knife his dad had given him when he was little-this made him pretty sad because that's something you can't get back.
We saw that they have a group of them that work together. Once they take your stuff it gets handed off quickly to others who then hand it to others, so even if you reach the person who took your stuff they no longer have it. We saw the one kid who we thought took the stuff from Drew's bag and Drew asked him to look through it. There were tons of cell phones and wallets but none were ours.
Even though they got these things we still know God intervened and we were very blessed because the bulk of our stuff we got back. We had both our backpacks and all the rest of our electronics and our money. We praise God because we know it could have been so much worse. In the end-we are just reminded that stuff is just stuff.
We are not to have such a tight grip on "things" that it pains us so much to loose them. We have Jesus and we have each other. We have everything we need! I think about how when the apostles were sent out Jesus told them not to bring a bag, sandals, extra shirt, or money. Jesus didn't even have a place to lay His head at night. He is enough for us!
We are learning to be more kingdom minded and have our citizenship there. We are only here for a time so we realize that it is worth it to live for Him and let go of our possessions. He is our prize! How blessed are we??? eek!
I challenge you to run to Jesus with all you have today. Let go of your grasp on this world and rest in who He is. He is enough. He leads and He always provides! Boy do I love Him! 🙂
