The "Queen of Mishap" Strikes Again

Being that it's the week of Thanksgiving (in America, of course, because Thanksgiving is not celebrated here), I figure it is a perfect time to share the story of my latest life experience and life lesson. As is typically the case with me, so it seems, what was supposed to be a fun experience turned in to another "Why does this always happen to you?" experience instead, and soon after, became another lesson from the Lord.

The past weekend was scheduled to be busy, but packed with fun events that I was excited about. Friday night I enjoyed time at a youth event with the kids from school. As usual, it's always enjoyable to spend time outside of class with students. Saturday morning we attended a local Christmas bazarre sale where we found some great bargains on souvenirs. Saturday afternoon I was able to call my grandparents, sister, and parents all at once, as they were all in Iowa celebrating my grandparents 60th anniversary. Saturday evening I set off spend the night with Sharon, the friend of mine from my semester here last year, who now lives with her Ugandan husband in a town about 40 minutes from here. She had asked me if I would run the Kampala 10k race with her, and I agreed. Early Sunday morning we arrived at the race ready to run. It was a fun experience overall, and quite hilarious to see some of the other 20,000 African runners participating in the race. You'd be amazed how many "runners" I saw in ballet slippers, or skirts, or jean shorts and flip flops. It was quite the sight.

We finished the race, waited around to watch some of the entertainment, and headed back to our car ready to head home and take a much needed nap. Unfortunately, when we reached the car we were in for an unexpected surprise. The locks had been broken and my bag had been stolen. Luckily, this exact scenario had gone through my mind the day before as I packed, so I had removed my camera, debit card, license, and extra money. I lost my backpack, my jeans, my Ohio State shirt (possibly the most disappointing thing of all :-) ), a book, my waterbottle, my classroom keys, my marathon kit which included a bag, a visor, and a water bottle (yea, all I have left from that race is the awful bright yellow mesh vest they made us run in) and somewhere between $40-50. Just like that, my things were gone. Disappointed, definitely. Just like that, the "queen of mishap" reputation had struck again.

The most disturbing part of the whole situation was the security guard who likely was in on the whole thing, or at least saw it happen. When we asked him if he saw anything, he smiled and said, "I was told to watch the first car, not the other cars behind it." Just another case of Ugandan police being, well, Ugandan police. Civilians will burn someone alive if they are caught stealing anything, no matter what it is, yet the police will stand and watch someone steal items from cars on the side of the road, and do nothing about it.

Last night at school we had a worship service. Several people sang and led worship for about 2 hours. It was an amazing experience, and very much needed, as we often don't get to participate in "normal" praise and worship during church services here. Music has always played a HUGE role in my life, and I know God often speaks to me most clearly through lyrics. I was thankful to be in the Lord's presence and being able to praise Him. We were singing "Blessed Be Your Name", and I thought back to an email I received about the line of the song "You give and take away, you give and take away, my heart will CHOOSE to say, Lord BLESSED BE YOUR NAME." Being joyful, and believing in God is a choice. It shouldn't depend on our circumstances. It shouldn't depend on what's going on in life. The choices is ours. We can choose to be thankful in all circumstances, or we can choose to let life's struggles get us down. Those words spoke to me last night.

Ok, so having those things stolen wasn't the greatest loss in the world. The scenario could have been much worse. I could have lost my camera, credit cards, or license, or we could have walked to the car during the robbery. It's disappointing, sure, and I wish I had my backpack back, and my Ohio State shirt, but I still have far more than the majority of people living in this country. I'm still blessed with health, an amazing home to live in, a wonderful (well, sometimes wonderful) job, and a support system back home praying for me and supporting me. I'm blessed beyond measure, even if I'm not backpack-less.

Needless to say, it really does seem to be the trend that "these things always happen to me." I guess these are the stories that make life "exciting," and without them, what would I have to write home about? I'm just thankful the positive experiences always seem to outweigh the negative ones, because honestly, I think I've had my fair share of negative experiences in this place!

So there you have it, another adventure in the life of Betsy. Two things learned: don't leave your bag in the car if at all possible, and always be joyful and thankful.

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in ALL circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." -1 Thessalonians 5:16-18