Thieves come to steal, kill, and destroy

Robbers, bad guys, and crooks

Of course I had to add getting robbed on my list of firsts in Southeast Asia. It's only natural. Most of the time, our house feels pretty safe. We have bars on all the windows, a super heavy gate that's got a big lock on it, and sturdy fences around our yard.

Unfortunately, high class robbers have figured out a way to maneuver around the bars in our windows. They got some kind of contraption, stuck it thourgh the bars, and scooped up my roomie's Ipad in her bedroom. They didn't enter the house... this time... But they had to have been watching for me to leave the house, becuase I don't leave it often in the mornings. On this particular day, I wanted to go on a bike ride and hit up the wet market for some eats. They were waiting for the moment, man. I was only gone for 45 minutes at most, but that was just enough time to do the deed and peace out.
I can't help to feel a little unsafe, violated, and stalked. Unnerved and uneasy also come to mind.

I guess I can cross "getting robbed" off of my bucket list now.

I personally have nothing valuable here, especially after giving my laptop a bath. But this experience got me thinking... What if I didn't have God? What if I didn't believe in him and was clinging to all my material possessions? What if I had no source of peace and rest after getting broken into? My treasures are in heaven, but what if they weren't? I'd be a basket case if I had all my treasures tucked away in this house. I'd think... They're gonna come back when I'm not home! And I'll lose everything! I'm not worried, though. I was angry for a day solid at the intrusion, but I'm not worried deep down. I have no fear of losing everything materially valuable to me.

Anyways, I just wanted to let you all know that getting your stuff taken isn't the end of the world. My roomie has impressed me with her ease of mind in this situation. Her peace in having lost an Ipad. It's not the end of the world. We live and learn. Granted, we're going to hide our stuff better next time and take more security precautions with our house. But, what matters is that in the end, even if the ramsack the place and strip it of everything, we are OK. Out hope lies elsewhere. Our value lies elsewhere. God gives good gifts, and the hope of life that He promises outweights anything on this earth we could lose; even our own lives.

MIA

Sorry for being missing in action!

Here's an update: I spilled a cup of water on my MacBook Pro a couple of weeks ago. Tragic, I know! It's been harder to get internet access as of late. Right now, I'm using a computer at the school I work at. Thankfully, we have them!

Anyways, my posts will probably come less often because of my little mishap with H20.

SOCCER UPDATE!

Some exciting things have happened lately, though! My soccer team got to play a legitimate soccer game on a really nice field in town. One that you have to rent out to play on. It was fake grass, goals with nets, and lights for playing at night. They looked so cute with their matching uniforms on, and we had the biggest group of girls we've ever had show up at one time ALL show up to play on the cool field.

The British Ambassador came to town for the weekend, and he was there to watch us show off our lack of skills. I must say, though, the girls are improving greatly! I remember the first time I made them practice dribbling around cones... Disastrous. But now, they can actually pass and know what the layout of the game looks like. I'm one proud coach!

After our game, we all went to eat fried rice together. About halfway through the meal, the girls started chit chatting about wanting to go skating. See, recently, some people inherited a bunch of really old, really smelly, and really used 4-wheeled skates. They poured some concrete, smoothed it out, and decided to charge a dollar for people to skate all day. All my girls are about 15 years old and not a single one of them has ever worn a pair of skates. They wanted to go.

I couldn't resist their eyes that were swimming with excitement, so we went! I was the only one who didn't fall. I also had to take turns trying to explain to each of them one on one how to skate, and I'm no professional skater myself. Each girl took a turn clinging to my left arm for about 15 minutes each. I held up their entire body weight and helped them balance, and friends, it almost killed me. My back and left arm were so sore the next day!!! Gosh!! But it was worth it to see a few happy faces that managed a nice cheesy smile even when they fell flat on their butts. Too cute.

LIFE UPDATE!

I'm almost to the point in my term where I'll start to count the months down until I leave. In October, the countdown from 12 to 1 will begin. Last year at this time, I was heading off to training and royally freaking out inside. I cannot believe it has already been a year since then. Time flies by, it really does. Life is short. Next thing you know, I'll be thinking of what I'm going to do when I get back. The thought is scary. But, more than the thought, the pace of life is rapidly speeding as of late; the speed is more terrifying than anything else. Does it feel like I'm racing? Or do I feel like a turtle who's getting bypassed by all the other runners? Honestly, I don't know how to feel most days. I just know that somehow, I have a year left in Southeast Asia. And two facts cease to remain:

1. This one year has been so filled with events, changes, growth, hardships, struggles, healing, and being turned upside down that it feels like 10 years versus 1. (Fast)

2. My life has significantly slowed down and is pretty turtle-paced and relaxed to a point that is un-American enough to make me feel like the world is racing by me. (Slow)

Such a conflict of speeds meet at a weird point for me. I feel like molasses and Jeff Gordon at the same time. Maybe this is what happens when you get older. Don't hate me for using the term although I'm only 23. I'm always aging, just like those of you who are 53 and a bit ahead of me. The feeling is just strange. What I really hope is that upon my return to the states, people won't have changed so much that I cannot find some way to relate and fit in again. The flip side of that hope is that I hope to never really fit in again. I have such a strange combination of ideas that contradict each other at the core, but hopefully an ounce of sanity will remain.