“I’m sorry about the massage.” Our tour guide, who was taking us up Cotopaxi (the third largest, active volcano in the world), kept repeating this phrase as we bumped over the dirt road. Normally, we would have been laughing and having a jolly good time. Instead, shock and disbelief filled the truck.
You see moments before this we found out that we were robbed; our money and cameras were gone. A man on the bus with a friendly smile aggressively helped us put our bags UNDER THE SEATS, and he also buckled us in with a grin. Al and I chuckled at these endearing actions. He seemed so eager to help us out, and because he worked for the bus we thought it was protocol. Safety first amirite?
But did you catch our mistake? We put our bags, zippers behind us, under our seats. We happily abridged while his buddy behind us robbed us blind. We sat there watching a cute baby pooping and taking selfies…dumb.
Here’s the icing on the cake. Al found out that her camera was gone before we left the bus. Naturally, we thought that she left it on the couch. We were bummed that it was left, but it was whatever. Holy Spirit then told me, “Turn around and ask the man behind you for your cameras.” Internally, I decided that that was a terrible idea and probably just me thinking, not Holy Spirit. We left the bus without our possessions, oblivious as ever.
After finding our tour guide to trek up the volcano, Al looked into her wallet and gasped. I will never forget her face. I quickly checked mine and realized what had just happened. Five years too late.
Anger, Denial, Sadness, Helplessness, Guilt
All these emotions flooded in and I did not know what to think. On one hand, it’s just some stuff; everyone is fine and no one is hurt. On the other hand, I felt taken advantage of and helpless. But, I think the worst emotion was the thought that I didn’t obey when Holy Spirit prompted me to obey. I have been asking God for more; I ask to hear Him more clearly every day. And He spoke; He answered. Yet I did not listen.
As humbling as this situation is, it is also sweet. It was a good lesson on how to hear His voice over all the other voices. It also taught me how obedience is harder than it appears in some cases, but it is all the more important to obey at those points. I thought I had obedience down. I dropped my life and went on this mission trip, right? Haha, humbling. I also learned how I am still infatuated with material possessions. I learned how important it is to quickly process emotions to get out of the funk, even if you do not want to. I learned how to forgive myself. I learned how to have joy in a trial. Finally, I learned the basics of being a smart traveler. Lots of lessons came out of this one.
A beautiful God and friend filled day was muddled by human sin. God, thank you that he needed it desperately and his family was feed because of it. Because dang, how frustrating of a lesson. How frustrating that people do things like that. How frustrating is sin? It makes me want to press into the Lord more and more to get as far away from the gross as I can.
So, I am sitting here on my bed trying to process this event. I want to be angry at this man, but the Lord sweetly reminded me that he has the same love for him as he does me. This made it a little harder to stay mad. The Lord is good and He heals.
As for Cotopaxi, the whole rest of the trip was flawless, beautiful, invigorating. It was a fun, physical challenge with great rewards like reaching the highest place I have ever been ~16,750ft. We saw wild horses and birds and just a lot of God’s glory. Thank you Papa!
