Hi Everyone! Sorry it's been so long since our last posting. I think we all have those times when we promise ourselves we're going to make a habit of doing something whether it be exercising, eating right, reading our Bible, brushing our teeth...... and the like, but often we start off strong for a little while, then things get busy or it slips our mind, and it dwindles until it's every once in a while or non-existent. This is my attempt at keeping our blog updates from becoming non-existent.
Jesse and I have been doing quite well. We're feeling quite settled into our apartment and neighbourhood in Vancouver now, and are starting to do more things with the people around us. For the month of May, every Tuesday, after work, Jesse will be staying down town and playing soccer with some of his co-workers for an hour or so. He had the pleasure of doing this this past week, and while he was a bit nervous about just how rusty he'd gotten in the last while, he managed to enjoy himself quite nicely. I (Abby) was able to join him and watch them play, as well as chase after a rogue soccer ball every now and then. I guess they were slightly impressed (only slightly, mind you) by my soccer ball chasing abilities that they invited me to play with them next week. :) I think I just might take them up on their offer, and discover just how rusty I have become at playing the wonderful game called soccer, or as Jesse's Irish co-workers call it: "Football".
While playing soccer was very fun for Jesse, we discovered something not so pleasing after the play was finished and people started filtering away: Jesse's backpack was missing. We racked our brains and distinctly remembered bringing it with us and placing it amongst all the other players bags before playing, but now it had disappeared. Unfortunately, the park we were playing in was near East Hastings, which is the low income area of Vancouver, where many homeless people live. Apparently someone was very desperate for some food, because upon making some phone calls, we discovered that someone had used Jesse's credit card to eat at a pizza place and an A+W - neither of which we had done. We found it a bit ironic, and sad that someone stole Jesse's entire back pack in hopes of finding a wallet and being able to get some food, because if they had asked us if we could buy them some food we would have gladly bought them as much as they could eat. But instead we ended up filing a police report, cancelling our bank cards, looking into how to replace many other cards, figuring out what we need to do to re-lock/key our apartment (his keys were in the backpack too), and several other things. On a slightly lighter and more amusing note, though it's also sad in it's own way - Jesse's favourite pair of work pants were also in the backpack :( So we bid them farewell as well.
Something good did come out of the whole ordeal, though. For one, we both were reminded of what forgiveness really is: Taking on the consequences of the others actions, and not hold it against them. It took me a while, but I think we are both at the point where we can say that we have forgiven whoever took Jesse's backpack.
Another blessing, that we realized after happened when we were walking around the park fields, just to see if anyone had dumped the backpack after finding the wallet, and we came across a group of young people. One of them had hurt her ankle quite badly falling down some stairs and needed a doctor. Unfortunately her friends were so intoxicated that they refused to let her call an ambulance, and wouldn't call one for her. That's how we found them - one girl in tears, and the others so drunk that they could hardly talk coherently or stand up without swaying. I'd never been in a situation quite like that before, and I look back at it thanking God for His grace. We were able to call an ambulance for the girl and wait for it to arrive. Jesse waited by the street to tell the aid people where we were, and I got to sit with the young women who was hurt. One of her friends was very argumentative and pushy, and I was afraid he might try and do something violent. I was thankful that God gave me words to say that were calming that he couldn't argue with. Eventually he calmed down and sat off to the side with the other friends while we waited for the ambulance to come.
Afterward, I was kicking myself mentally, wondering if there was anything I could have said to them to share the gospel. How do you evangelise to people who are drunk and won't remember what you say the next morning? After worrying about it for quite a while, God gave me peace that while we hadn't necessarily spoken God's word, we did show Christ's love to them, and He is able to work with that. I can only pray now that He does, and that they may come to know Him and His love, and love Him in return. Maybe we will meet them again and be able to share. If not, they are and always have been in God's most capable hands.
I think that's all for now. I need to go get some housework done before the hubby comes home. ;) Have a blessed weekend, all!
~The Groenewold's
