Not a Bank

Last week, after the big talk with Erika, I was sure things would go on as normal. My friend who is also a missionary warned me. She had to have the same conversation with girls she discipled and most of them faded out of her life after that.

I remember she threw a birthday party for a girl she was discipling. The girl wanted a cell phone for her 16th birthday, and not just any cell phone. She wanted a specific, expensive one. My friend invited the girl, her friends and her family for a birthday party. The girl was insulted because my friend made a homemade cake and served pizza. The girl thought my friend should have paid for a cake and made something other than pizza. She was even more angry when she didn't get the cell phone she wanted. That was the end of their relationship.

I believed Erika would be different. But, today marks one week that I have not talked with Erika. Normally we talk several times each week, usually initiated by Erika. I am disappointed.

In the end I have to be okay with letting go if that's what she wants. It wasn't healthy for us to only talk when she or her family wanted things.

Last Saturday I ran into some kids in Los Pinos who haven't joined the Impacto Juvenil Club yet. I know that Karla still had two spaces left, so I called Karla to ask if she had room for these two kids. I had been telling her about them for a while, so I was really excited to see them that day. Karla said it would be great to have them in her club. I called one of the mothers and told her that her daughter is invited to be in Karla's Club.

Yesterday my phone rang and it was that mother. She told me a long, crazy story about someone being assaulted. She said they are okay, but they were scared and needed to go to the doctor for their nerves.

Fany was standing right next to me listening to the whole thing. She said, "Tell her you don't give out money!"

I asked the lady if she could go to her local clinic where it only costs 50 cents to be seen by a doctor. She said she didn't have the money. I told her I don't give out money to anyone.

As soon as she heard that I wasn't going to give her money, the chatty lady hung up the phone. She didn't even say goodbye. I felt bad. Fany pointed out if she had money to make that phone call, she had money to go to the doctor. She wasn't looking for help, she was looking for money.

Today my mechanic called me. He tried to steal from me a couple of weeks ago. It was a real bummer because I always trusted him. Lately I caught him in a few lies and his work has been slacking. When I talked to him about it, he got mad. He finally talked to me today and said he will give me back what he owes me, but that I suddenly owe him money for work he did weeks ago.

I figure my best bet is to give him the money and cut my losses. I found a new mechanic last week. It's the person who works on all of the cars that the security men drive for work, so I don't think he'll rip me off. Finding a good, reliable mechanic here is really hard.

Lately I feel like a bank. It's not fun feeling like a bank.