A time for everything

Birthdays make me think more about time and how strange it is. So do deaths, and family leaving and not knowing when I will see them again. Since my last post my family came and has already gone. I really enjoyed the 10 day visit. It was good to catch up, and God knew exactly when I needed them here.
So, some good news: My God..the same God who permitted the death of Oswaldo also brought I don't know how many of his family members to church last Sunday night- I hadn't ever seen anyone from his family at church before. Dad preached last week and Amy translated, and all those family members got to hear a clear gospel presentation. The seed has been planted, and I am determined to pray and pray some more. Mercedes also went to church with me! That's her in the first picture. She's one of my favorite people, and I know a lot of people are praying for her and it meant a lot to her when my dad told her that.
Last week Amy, Eladio, and I were sitting in the back row of the bus. We were stopped at a light and a man got on the bus through the back door, grabbed my bag and started pulling. He pulled me out of my seat and Amy grabbed me to keep me from getting pulled over the railing and Eladio jumped up and started yelling at the guy. The bag was around me, so the guy couldn't get it and had to let go and run off. I had a pretty good audience from the whole bus, but I couldn't help laughing when thinking about the fact that the only things in my bag were 2 Bibles (one english and one spanish), a bottle of water, and a few left over papers from the day at school.
I didn't really feel nervous about what happened. I also know that Amy and I are in some dangerous situations and our skin and hair colors don't help us out any. But we are realizing more and more how much God is protecting us. There have even been times that we've had to walk by big groups of men we'd rather not walk by, and we notice we have a large dog walking with us...then it's gone after we pass the group. God has many ways of protecting us, and each time Satan attacks it's nice to notice the ways that God is way more powerful.
There are so many things I'm learning about God, suffering, trusting, asking when we don't understand, honesty, grief, and joy. It's amazing to be able to experience so many things at once, but I know that God uses each situation. We can take the trials and tribulations and feel like more pieces of our hearts are being ripped away...or we can use those trials and tribulations to learn and be made complete, to encourage others in their own trials. God, help me choose the second. I want him back, but more than that I want to be able to say with complete trust, "Nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will."