"My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials..." James 1:2
Many people have been wondering how my kids are doing since the armed robbery attack we experienced on the night of September 25. Read the following paragraphs to find out:
The night of the robbery, Isaiah woke up rubbing his eyes and walked out of his room not knowing what was going on. I called to him from the corner of the kitchen (where the men had told us to stay) and
told him to come sit with me. He had no clue what was going on. I quietly pulled him to myself and told him that some thieves had broken in and we just needed to stay out of their way. He told me later that
his initial thoughts were of anger at the men. He was angry that they were taking all of our things and that they had broken into our home. In the days and weeks following, we've had some good family talks
about how we've been feeling and I'm very proud of the way my kids have been handling themselves. They've been very honest about their feelings and have been depending on God to help them deal with
them. Isaiah has recovered much more quickly than we expected he would. God is good and He is faithful!
We had been planning for some months now to be in Pemba, Mozambique, this week to attend a friend's wedding coming up this Saturday (October 13). But in light of what's happened here, we felt that it
would be wrong to leave everyone else here at this time while some are still trying to find peace and get rid of fear. So we've cancelled our plans and are no longer taking off a week to spend in Pemba, where
the kids were looking forward to spending time at the beach and taking a short break off of school. After quickly getting over his original disappointment, Isaiah pipes up and says, "Then, can we go to the lake
instead?" The lake is about 1 1/2 hours away from Lichinga and the kids have been begging us to go there for months now. When I asked him one day how he's been feeling since the break-in, Isaiah
responded with a smile, "Back to how I normally feel...thinking about my birthday Legos!" Grandma promised she'd send him some new Lego kits in the mail for his birthday. Last week, the Lord put a new song in his heart to play on his guitar. It speaks about how much he loves Jesus and declares that because Jesus is here, we can live happy, holy and eternal lives. It looks like things are getting back to normal
for my son!
That night, one armed man was in Amerel and Chayah's bedroom rummaging around looking for money and whatever else he could steal. I wasn't aware that Amerel was awake, but I soon heard her call,
"Mommy!" I ran to her room and pulled her over the side of her top bunk bed, ripping her mosquito net open before the man could get to her. He was shaking her bed waving his machete over the bed. One
of the female missionaries, who had followed me into the room, yanked his collar pulling him back and yelling, "She's just a child! She doesn't have any money!" Later, the next day, Amerel told me that she
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| Happy Birthday! Berasia turned 1 today! |
had been awake already when he came into her room and had said, "In the name of Jesus, get out of my room!" She then told me, "When that didn't work, I called Mommy." I got a good laugh out of that
one. That night after the thieves left, she was in the bathroom washing her feet because she didn't want to go back to bed with dirty feet after having walked around barefoot when I pulled her out of her bed.
While washing her feet, she said, "I love You Jesus!" She said all of the fear immediately left in that moment. The morning after the break-in, she shared with me that the break-in helped her to see how much
she really loves Jesus and how amazed she was that she felt she was getting closer to Him through this experience.
Well, what can I say about my youngest two children concerning their recovery after the attack? They both slept through the whole thing! Thank You Jesus! :)
Blessings!
Tiffany
