Plectrum

I wish to log another case of God's goodness to me and those around me.  We all got to witness His great power once again this afternoon!

I was at church centre doing worship practice at around 11:30AM.  Baby Sarah (Guy and Nikky's daughter) was upset at one point and started crying.  Nikky picked her up and I went over to show her a snowman guitar plectrum.  I let Sarah hold it to distract her from crying and I also played some music on my guitar as well as letting her strum some of the strings.  The crying ceased so the job was done.  I let Sarah hold the plectrum whilst we continued with worship practice.  At the end of the practice I realised I did not get the plectrum back.  So I asked Guy if he saw Sarah with it.  He said no.  Then he asked Nikky and they both looked for it.  Turned out that during worship practice Guy's mum took Sarah to See Woo to get a few things.  At that time they did see the plectrum with Sarah, but later Sarah dropped it and they thought it was just a sticker, or a piece of paper with cartoon on it, so they didn't think to pick it up.  I was a bit sad when I heard the plectrum was lost and I mentioned it was a gift from a friend, hence the significance of it.  Guy's mum, Guy and Nikky were shocked to hear that and Guy's mum said she'd drive back to See Woo supermarket to have a look for it.  I told Guy's mum not to go as it would be near impossible to find such a small thing in a big superkmarket.

I headed over to Findlay Church for the service and proceeded with the usual set up of church hall and sound checks etc.  Whilst getting stuff for set up I was talking to God, thinking in my head, telling God that I was unhappy the plectrum was lost.  I kind of felt there was lost hope because it would be near impossible to find a small piece of plastic the size of a thumb head, in a big supermarket where hundreds of people would walk into who might have kicked it, damaged it or unknowingly covered it up when putting something over it.  However, with God nothing is impossible, and I know that.  So therefore I was saying to God, if Guy's mum finds the plectrum I will definitely be standing up and sharing about God's amazing power and blessing to the EM at the five minute sharing time.

Just as I was giving up hope and wanted to let it go Guy's mum walked in to the EM hall and had a big smile on her face.  As soon as I saw her my heart leapt!  Guy's mum actually FOUND the plectrum!!!  =D  She told me she walked around See Woo supermarket four times and prayed asking God to help her find it.  On the fifth time of walking around the store she walked down the counter aisle where she paid for stuff earlier, and she found the plectrum wedged into the side skirt of the counter, only revealing a small edge of the blue colour.  Guy's mum picked it up and it turned out to be the plectrum!!  My my!!  The plectrum came up unscathed, no scratches or damages.  Amazing huh!!

So this is a very powerful testimony of how God can hear our prayers.  It is evidence that God cares for our issues however big or small they may be.  God cares about what we care about and He will answer our prayers if we truly trust in Him.  The plectrum is now safely tucked away in my plectrum holder.  It was already special but now it has a double significance =)

Training logs and Gymboss timer

Last night before going to bed I was thinking about my workout the next morning (this morning).  I then went to look for my training log (A4 sheets in a polypocket).  Usually when I return from the gym I empty my bag out and put the training log on the kitchen seat or back in my bedroom, under my gym bag so I don't forget to bring it.  However, when I went to look last night the training log was not in any of these usual places.  Uh-oh!!  Where was it?  I looked in the living room just in case I forgot I looked at it in living room and forgotten.  But it wasn't there.  So... could I have left it at the gym?  I looked up the PDF files and reluctantly had to print the two pages out for my current workout schedule and I put them into a new polypocket.  I then wanted to get my Gymboss timer from my bag and low and behold THAT was also missing.  Oh man!!  How did that happen?  Was I that forgetful that I left both these things in the gym?  I do remember bringing these two things with me, along with my water bottle, into the changing room and putting them on the bench before taking my bag out of the locker and showering etc.  However, I cannot remember putting them back into my bag before zipping up.  Aiyah!!  I must have left the training log and Gymboss timer on the changing room bench!

Will it still be there two mornings after?  Am I lucky enough to have someone hand it in to the reception?  Are there anyone nice guys willing to hand it in as lost property?  I doubted anybody would be so nice to that.  So I was quite disappointed in myself for leaving such valuable information at the gym.  I was thinking how somebody else may have benefitted from the training log which I paid for, and my Gymboss timer, which costs about £15 brand new.  I went to bed disappointed yet determined to go to the gym next morning and work out hard to make up for it.  I didn't even pray to God about this as I felt it was a lost cause.

When I reached the gym this morning I went to the reception to get my free towel from Michelle at reception.  By chance I thought I'd asked Michelle if by any chance anybody would have handed in a timer thing that looks like a pager as I left it in the changing room on Monday.  Michelle went into the office, guessing to check, then came back out and walked to another part of the reception desk and asked if the thing I was looking for was 'this?'.  From behind some folders she pulled out my polypocket and the Gymboss timer.  And the Gymboss timer was clipped onto the training log, exactly how I would normally clip it when bring it down to the changing room!!  Wow!!  I was sooo delighted when I saw it.  I thanked Michelle and proceeded to enter the changing room and thanked God for it immediately.

It was such a relief when I got the training log back.  The 30-plus pages were back with me and not lost.  My timer I got to use right away too.  I was so happy to get back the originals that I kept them inside the bag in the locker and only used my two new pages.  Don't want to risk anything happening to the originals anymore!!  Phew!

I want to thank the Lord for His protection over even this seemingly small matter.  He knows how important these A4 sheets are to me, and my Gymboss timer.  I am even more thankful when I know that I have not been that close to God in recent weeks and have not made much effort in spending time with Him etc, yet He still loves me so much.  Or at least that is how I feel.  So I want to record this down.

Nothing you can do, will make Him love you more.
Nothing you can do, will make Him love you less.

One in, one out

This morning I had a pupil Nelson sitting his driving test.  As we approached the test centre I got a text message from a new number.  She is called Ellen and said she was referred by my friend Esther for driving lessons.  I was joking to Nelson in the waiting room.  I told him "See, a message asking for lessons with me.  If you pass, I'll have room for her.  If not, she'll have to wait."  This was a friendly yet positive push for Nelson.  I was feeling positive about him and his test and was also quite glad with the examiner he got.  So off he went to sit his test whilst I waited in the waiting room, said a prayer for Nelson and later calling Ellen to discuss her requirements etc.  Again I told her the same thing, when my pupil passes I'll have space for her and will make arrangements.  Nelson came back about 40 minutes later.  I approached the car and I saw through the window the driving examiner was writing on the blue driving test pass certificate!  Whoo-hoo!!  Amazing!  Thank the Lord!  So happy for Nelson and he was so glad to pass too!  =)  What does "one in, one out" mean?  Well, I believe the Lord definitely provides for every single thing.  He knows what we need and knows just when to give it to us.  "One in" would be Ellen coming in.  "One out" would be Nelson leaving after he has passed.  I was originally going to title this post "One out, one in" as that is what usually happens.  However, this time God blessed me with before I was without.  Hallelujah!

Lesson of the Day: The Lord gives and takes away.  In any order He pleases.

Phone Hospital

I bought a new phone, Samsung Galaxy SII, from eBay at the end of January.  Less than two weeks in and I discovered a fault with it.  People were hearing loud echo-ing each time I called them and used the microphone, but things were ok on speakerphone.  This only affected my outbound calls.  Incoming calls were fine.  It was very strange indeed.  So off it went into S3 Interactive last Monday and I got it back Friday afternoon, around 4pm just as I was on my way to take mum for a carvery dinner.  I was so happy to get the call from Chris who worked there informing me it was back from Dundee.  I plugged in my sim card as soon as I got the phone and called my mum.  Mum was waiting in the car and said everything sounded fine.  Excellent!  Off I went back out and went to carvery and grocery shopping full with joy cos my phone is back with me AND is working!  I spent rest of the evening setting my phone back up logging into my Google accounts and other customised settings etc.  It was so cool to get back my Whatsapp, my Words with Friends and of course my Facebook.  Most importantly, I could view/ plan my lessons with my Google Calendar and my Gmail accounts.  =D

Saturday morning I called Kwik-Fit to check availability of a new tyre.  As soon as the guy picked up I spoke and the guy at the other end said he could not hear me.  Uh-oh!  No, please no!!!  Yup... the problem came back!  I had to complete the rest of the call using speaker.  I felt like a bombshell dropped.  No way!!  I did further testing calling mum on her mobile and our landline.  Same... Wth, do I really have to go back to S3 Interactive on Monday?!  =((

The bittersweet feeling of having my phone back stayed with me throughout yesterday and today.  And I was complaining to everyone about my phone having to go back for repair.  People suggested I get a new handset, which I wish I could but cos I passed the 'seven days after purchase timeframe' all faults are dealt with by manufacturers guarantee which means it gets repaired. I called a few people in church and they also heard themselves echo back and they could not hear me either.  How terrible.

Then tonight, just before going to bed, I was on the phone for a little while.  I was using the speakerphone and had the handset on my table.  Randomly I clicked on my Options and it brought up a few things including one saying "Noise Reduction - On".  I clicked that and it said, "Unable to turn on Noise Reduction when speaker is on".  So I then turned the speaker off and noticed a zig-zag looking icon with a line through it appear on the screen.  I brought up the Options and turned the "Noise Reduction - Off".  Voila!  Instantly the caller said they could hear me clearly and properly.  I asked whether they could hear any echo-ing.  No more!  That's fantastic!!  It seemed that the "problem" was so simple to "fix" in the first place, but I didn't think to push so many buttons, test so many options etc (guess in fear of making it worse).  But the worrying thing is, why did S3 Interactive not advise that such noise reduction could cause this interference?  On Friday they advised they "fixed the microphone support and performed software update" but had no mention anything was wrong or right with it.

I was sooo happy after that call that I called TWO more people and told them the same thing, about the Noise Reduction.  One person is actually an owner of the same phone.  They tried the Noise Reduction and it didn't cause any problems.  But then again it was I who called and not the other way round.  Nevertheless, I am right now delighted I will NOT have to take another trip to S3 Interactive in Clydebank.  It is not the most convenient of places to go to and definitely not a good use of time!  Whoo-hoo!!  I am so happy and I thank God for sudden urge to play around with the options, the itchy fingers and curiosity to try things out.  =D