Daniel, anyone?

" . . . so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. You know quite well that you were destined for them. In fact when we were with you we kept telling you that you would be persecuted. And it turned out that way as you well know." I Thes. 3:3-4

This is one of the scriptures that Christian used when he lead homegroup tonight. He was sifting through the scriptures and ideas of why we are here. All of us, the gringos in our home church, have very different yet very similar reasons for being here in Peru. But it is really good to reflect and remind yourself every now-and-again.

My purse was stolen yesterday. It was the final blow for me in a very tough week. Things here can just be very frustrating. No one ever does what they say they will do, and if they do do it, it will get done a week later than you requested. Trafic laws are non-existant. Life here is organized chaos at times. So, when you spend your day running around making photocopies of your id card just to mail a small package to the States and then the mail clerk slathers on a small line of glue to the copy, sticks it on the envelope and then wants you to put it in the slot where your id paper is just going to fall off , you can get a bit frustrated. . . . or you pull up to the gas pump and ask for 60 soles of gasoline, you give him s/60, the reciept says s/60 but then you look at the pump before pulling away only to see s/50 of gas had been pumped . . . .or you leave the park early because the kids need to use the bathroom only to find you got on the bus going the wrong direction only to end up in a part of town you've never even seen on the map.
Finally yesterday I was going out to have coffe with my friend Meghan and baby Mark (he is 3 weeks old). We went to this little coffee shop a few blocks from my house and had chocolate cake and cappucino. It was just what I needed after a frustrating week. We had a great time talking and catching up (I haven't seen much of her in the last 3 weeks) The cafe is very small and you have to walk down stairs to get inside. We sat near the back and I was sitting facing the door so i could see everyone coming in. For some reason my purse was really bothering my neck so I hung it on the back of my chair and leaned against it. The only people who could see it were the waitstaff and I was checking on it every 5 to 10 minutes. We were getting ready to leave aftering having been at our table for well over and hour. I asked for the check and checked my purse. All was well. A group of ladies entered the cafe and were talking to the workers about the cakes and wanted to buy one. As we waited for our check one of the ladies approached the table to see baby Mark - his car seat was on the chair opposite mine. She began to ask questions about the baby and then was telling us that something was wrong with the baby's chin. I stood up to see Mark's head and then the lady suddenly had to leave with her friend. I sat down and the check came. I went to grab my purse and it was gone and so were those two ladies. The other ladies in the store actually bought a cake, while the other two entered the store simlpy to steal something. My wallet with my id card, my drivers license, my cell phone, and my house keys se fueron (left). The worst part was I can't be sure that our address was not on a receipt in my wallet and thus the robbers would have my house number and house keys. It took all last night and most of today to get our locks changed . . . again (they had just been changed in March after the break in) - the locks are welded to the door. Not something you can do your self w/o a welder.
All is now fixed and I have to go to the police station tomorrow to get a report made so I can send it in to get new id papers . . . the sad part is I am scared about what the police station will be like. I am sure it will be a long drawn out process that makes no sense and then I will have to pay what ever the guy at the counter tells me. I doubt there is a standard price sheet at the counter.
If you can not tell I am having a hard time loving neighbor and my enemy right now since they seem to be one-in-the-same.
I know that as followers of Christ we are to expect hardship but I have to be honest things are hard right now and it can get pretty discouraging. There have been a lot of good things lately but they quickly get blocked out by the hard and ugly part of life. Please pray for us that we will see the world around us the way God sees it. We are all either lost or found and we all need compassion, love and mercy in our lives. That IS why we are here. We have the opportunity to share the love of God with the people around us. To show them and tell them that God prefered to become a human and die than to live forever without them. What an amazing love story. A story for all man kind - even the ladies that used my concern for a baby to steal my stuff.
We knew a head of time that by following Christ there would be hardships, and but leaving all that we know to head out somewhere new and different the hardships would be even greater, but when you think about them the way the James describes them in James chapter 1: that we should count it all joy when we face trials because the bring about maturity so in the end we will be lacking in nothing! (My paraphrase and exclamation.) I do want to grow in my faith and learn perserevence and become mature, but I am no Daniel. Just like when we were robbed I pointed out that I am no Job - I honestly am scared to keep maturing because it means more trials. Daniel was 80 years old when he was ready for the trial of the lion's den. He had been through much prior to that event and had been proven faithful , , so I pray to be proven faithful, but I am not sure I ever want to be "ready" to pass throug the trial of the lion's den.
No matter what happens I KNOW that God is good and faithful - unfortunately at times what I know and what I feel are at odds with each other. So God, I pray for and undivided heart. A heart thet seeks only for your honor and glory. Help me to love those who persecute me/ steal me stuff.