What a test of Character and Faith!

Today my faith was tested and that of my husband.

Sunday is one of the most important days for the members of the Iglesia ni Cristo or Church of Christ like us to go to church and attend worship service. The other day is Thursday so that means we attend worship services 2x a week.

Today was no different except that we left my key which my husband inserted to the keyhole last night. He always does that for double safety purposes. He coudn't find his key and so he used mine.

This morning before we left, he asked me if I have my key I said no and was about to find it.. but he said "no it's ok just go". So I went and he locked the door and that was when he realized the key was still there.

We had 3 visitors yesterday who slept over and they were the first ones to step outside, had it my husband, he should have seen it and have gotten it but....

He was really pissed off... I didn't say anything, I wanted to say "why did you use my key when you are always using your key?" I wanted to blame him.. I wanted to say "it's your fault" but I shut my mouth to avoid any arguments.

We arrived at the locale and seeing the brethren and attending the worship service made us deal with the situation easier.

We went home. Ton planned to open it with a plastic card... tried several times but to no avail.

We searched the internet for a key technician and found one which told us that we had to pay 100 euros. Ton asked if they can send us the bill after the repair but they want it paid today and unfortunately we didn't have enough.

So he tried to call another one. The person on the other line said he will arrive in 30 to 50 minutes. He didn't mention about the price. Ton never bothered to ask.

After almost 4 hours of waiting the technician arrived. He used a very thin plastic foil and after trying 3x ... voila.. it opened. We were relieved.

Until we were charged. Ton and him were talking in dutch and I heard he said.. because it's weekend the charge is double.

I said "How much is that then". He used his calculator and said ... 353.00 euros.

I said "Oh my God".. and shut my mouth. I can't say anything anymore. I was shocked.

Ton didn't say anything. He just agreed. What can he do? He showed us the amount to be paid on a weekday which is 159.00 euros and it is double this amount on weekends.

I can't even managed to say thank you to the technician but forced myself to do that.

After he left, Ton said something like this ... "please don't say anything."

I actually don't want to say anything. What's the use?

Why was it a test of character and faith?

The whole time from arriving to our place ...to trying to open it... to wating several hours for the technician to come .... we managed to keep our cool amidst the "crisis".. but most especially my husband.

We kept our positivity, Even after the 350 euros charge for a small simple task that those people are so expert with...

But I can't avoid thinking this "How can such people take advantage of the situation?"

And that there are really people who are capable of doing it and are only after the gain (purely business) they can get.

Such people has no heart for people in need.

But our faith is not at all affected. The truth is that my faith got even stronger. My husband is new to the faith and it made him stronger. Was it a test of faith for him? I wonder. Maybe...

But money lost can always be earned.

And to people whose business is solely dependent upon "taking advantage of the situation" and setting aside the person's real need will not be very successful in the truest sense of the word.

This experience taught me a lot and my trust and confidence to my husband in handling any problems got even stronger.

I stay positive and I believe that our situation will be better with the help and grace of our Almighty God.

Not to forget and of enormous importance is to TAKE ACTION.

Have a great weekend.

Kind regards,

Arline