You and I are in the middle of a war for souls, whether it is other souls or our own. This blog encompasses a huge battle of this war from my race: Technology.
Smashed up against my team and probably 100 other individuals in month two of the race, on a city trolley, something happened. A man behind me reached around me with the craftiness of a snake, slithered into my purse, retrieving my team wallet protecting $100 in cash and my cell phone. This cell phone was not just any cell phone. It was a brand new iPhone 6s with 65 GB of data storage which was worth well over $1,000 in Quito at the time. Just a moment later, I looked down to discover the flap of my purse open. Immediately, I realized the team wallet was gone, but it wasn’t until 30 minutes later when we exited the trolley and quickly moved to the nearest McDonald’s with wifi that I discovered that he also took my phone. He is a lucky guy. I’m a not so lucky girl.
Though I lost some valuable things, God taught me about losing material possessions. He reminded me how many lost people are out there. For each thing I lost, God sent me a person to find and share the gospel with. Life changing lesson learned. I’m good. I’m ready to move on.
After this, I would randomly have the thought, “What would I do if I was to lose my computer? What if someone stole it? Or I left it somewhere?” I never got past those questions because I didn’t have an answer. “Let’s just hope that doesn’t happen. It will be ok. It’s not a common problem anyway,” I reassuringly told myself.
Fast forward to month seven of my race. We were in Nepal. Two and a half weeks in, things were going great. I was catching up on blogs and pictures and capturing my race for supporters back home. I went to a local coffee shop with Alex and Heather to get wifi and I had a whole list of things I needed to get done… I turned on my computer and connected to the internet. “Alright, let’s get this day started,” I thought to myself. Then, the unthinkable happened. My screen went black and a white apple and status bar showed up as the status bar began to fill. I called Paris, hoping his computer knowledge would help me solve the problem. He encouraged me that it was probably just an update. It should load in a few minutes. It then asked for a four-digit pass code. Mine didn’t work. I was locked out. I logged on to my iCloud from Heather’s device and next to my device labeled, “Macbook Air,” it said, “Erase started 27 minutes ago.” Instantly, I turned off my computer, told Alex and Heather what happened…and then I proceeded to freak out. “What? What is happening? Did someone hack my computer? How did they get into my iCloud? Did it erase everything? What about my un-posted blog and my pictures that were just saved on my computer?” The answers to my questions were exactly as I feared. It is gone. Everything is gone…my pictures from Albania and Nepal are gone. My blog I was just about to post is gone. Gone. Sobbing, I rushed to the bathroom. Tears strolling down the distraught look on my face were sure to attract the attention of the Nepali’s in the coffee shop, if my white skin, blue eyes and blonde hair weren’t enough to get their attention in the first place.
Later, I discovered it was all erased by the same man who stole my phone. He was stealing all of my information. He had hacked into my phone after it was erased somehow, and got my passwords to everything…he was slowly stealing my online identity. He was in my e-mail, my iCloud, my facebook, and I don’t know what else. The enemy’s goal is to steal, kill, and to destroy.
It took a couple days for me to see God working and then several weeks to understand it deeper. There is a reason for everything. God can use this for good. Though I lost a lot of pictures and information, I’m still ok and God is still good. Material possessions won’t last forever, including pictures and blogs. I’m investing in a kingdom that is not made of material possessions on earth. It is everlasting and each time I share Jesus love with someone, I am building that kingdom. It is definitely not fun and it is hard to be thankful for it, but if it wasn’t for my laptop being erased, I wouldn’t have had a month of rest in the Lord without the pressure of writing blogs or posting pictures. If it didn’t happen, I wouldn’t have been forced to move from a Martha mentality to a Mary mentality. Sit at Jesus feet. No matter what you have to do. Just sit there…and wonder at His glory, majesty, and beauty. Take it all in. He is the Creator and these things aren’t lost to Him. Loving Him and loving other people are the only two things that really matter.
My team-mate and friend Danielle encouraged me saying, “You shared the gospel in that blog that was lost. The enemy hates that and He wants to stop you. Don’t let this knock you down. You are an influential woman of God and with God on your side, the enemy can’t stop you.”
As Andy Mineo said…
“My God’s good, but He’s not safe!
They try to shut us down, and it ain’t gon’ slide
Only thing I fear is God and He on my side,
That’s the confidence of God, cause He got me,
That’s why I really feel like, ‘You can’t stop me!’”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WopyrETP-CU&list=RDWopyrETP-CU#t=0
