Samsung Note 7

The Lord can use any situation and turn it around for your good.

I was sick over last weekend and had my night of snot and chills in the early hours of Sunday morning. I was not fully recovered by Monday, but pushed through regardless. I dropped my son off (the one who sneezed on my face to begin with) and started my drive to work. It soon became rainy and hard to see other cars on the road. A driver of a jeep was in the middle lane rolling with no lights on. I really dislike that as well as people changing lanes without signalling.

I'm driving and get to the ez pass lane to find it won't open. I'm made by the toll collector people to turn around and get cash from the closest atm a mile or 3 back which of course is cutting into my already slowed commute time combined with the heavy rain. God had his reasons. Now I read the news that morning about the terror attacks in N.Y. and NJ and I wondered if there was something else going on (ez pass malfunction....but it turned out my credit card just expired and I had to replace it in the ez pass website for Auto deductions).

I parked and walked to work with that blue umbrella with a slight hole in the top so water still drips on you. I was not able to do the amount of work I wanted that morning before heading out to my meetings. I have been behind all week actually.

I left for my meetings, parked my car in a garage and noticed that my tires were not straight. I was on the passenger side of the vehicle because I put my heavy bag on that side.  I reached through and straightened the tires, turned the car off and went to my meetings. At the meetings, I couldn't find my phone. I imagined I left it in the magnetic holder by the air vent and hoped no one would break into the car for it. I finished my meetings in perfect time regardless of not having my Samsung s5.

I returned to the car and with a now lighter bag, only entered from the driver's side. I turned the car on and didn't see the phone, but my sync system connected via Bluetooth so I heard the familiar songs I had on the phone and knew it was around somewhere.

I drove about maybe 3 miles and got into an especially busy 4-5 lane area of road way that does not allow for anyone to stop except for a major accident if you want one. I merged in front of this white tall van and picked up speed all the while, still looking for that phone.

I approached an overpass asking out loud where my phone was and when I was under it, I looked in my rear view mirror in time to see a rectangular shaped rock bounce off my car. I thought a rock fell from the overpass, but then quickly I realized, the music stopped playing. Sync then announced "phone disconnected".

I kept trying to connect my phone hoping I was wrong, but I knew I wasn't. My phone, pictures, Contacts, shopping list memos, Pokemon go, the electronic extension of my self...my GPS too, was gone.

Definitely not retrievable after hundreds of drivers are rolling over it with rain residue.

I had no access to my email, to make a call, to the internet to finish my work in the car. I decided to drive to the AT&T store in my town 40 minutes away to see if I could either get a replacement s5, or look into a Samsung galaxy note 7 if they were still on shelves. I heard about the recall and exploding phones. They said owners with the faulty battery  (1% of the population in the US) needed to return their phones stat. I arrived at AT&T and there were no note 7's in the floor. I decided since I paid off my s5 a few months ago  I should get the 7 edge today and not wait. I previously  wanted the note 7 in about 6 months. I was about to get the 7 edge when the sales guy found a s7 note that was cleared for sale in the back.

The note7 was what I originally wanted to get in 2017. I have Insurance on my devices and could have waited until 2 days later to get my replacement phone, but I was in the road all week and needed a phone immediately. I did not want to use my son's tablet for GPS and be unable to make calls. He has my s3 at the grandparents house and there was no time to run there and back to temporarily activate it.  I needed a phone that could do the job and handle my life so I walked out the store with the s7note still in shock from the events earlier in the day.

I updated and paid my ez pass account (Didn't take real effect out in the wild until yet another day which I would come to realize). I did lose all of my pictures so I shared some from my MacBook and got some sent from my mom. I have a lot of phone numbers I have to try to re-add.

The point of all this. I started out with a bad day, but God helped me through it and for me to get exactly what I needed and wanted at the end of the day. The phones were announced to be sold on August 19th, the defect was discovered for that bad batch and a recall was issued. The good phones were available for resale but the first date that came out for it was September 19th. I bought my phone on that day. Then there was another announcement for the 21st and more information about the always green battery icon and update. I checked and tested my phone despite the AT&T guarantee and I have the green icon and Samsung scan of approval.  God is good.

I also worked so hard during the week that I ended up only having to work two hours yesterday. I was trying to leave a meeting when I got into a discussion about how to celebrate Christmas and shared my faith with someone who is Baptist and grew up around many Adventists in her native land of Haiti
It was great to have an opportunity to talk about it, even if to a tiny degree.

I had plenty of time to get my car inspected by the state and it passed. I thank the Lord for that accident. Because if it had not been, I would have failed because of lots of work I needed to get done prior to the lady slamming into the back of my car. The partial settlement money was enough to fix the damage plus everything else and left me some cash over for other things. By receiving and transferring an additional 2k that I thought would be for the car, I used that money to pay off an overwhelming debt I bulked up over two months.

I have these things happen, either of my own stupidity and lack of attention, some one else's mistakes and the Lord still manages to turn it around for my good.

I thank the Lord and this is my testimony for this week.

God is Still There

It is another Sabbath and I am home at this hour with my son for more than one reason. He started school last week and now for week two, cold and flu season has begun for us. He seems to be recovering from a few bad nights. I on the other hand am just starting to have chest pain and congestion.

God helped me to have a successful week this week. I have been having issues with two providers related to my job and at times lack confidence in my ability to do the same task again for the next client and team with similar precision. I know how hard people can be and I see them going that way with me. It makes me question if this job is really where the Lord wants me to be.

But with all the challenges I deal with and sly remarks of people who pretend to be in my camp, I still like my job.

God woke me up all these days and restored my car to me. He fed me, clothed me when I didn't feel good about myself. Satan picked at me this week, but Jesus helped me make it through to the end. I had a meeting yesterday and did not do the usual prepping I do for those types. I prayed before heading in and did great. I thank the Lord for that.

There are other little things God has had my back on. Like for example: I was sitting at my kitchen table finishing up my work and happened to look to my right to notice a huge wasp dancing on the curtain inches from the left hand side of my face.

Of course I freaked and ran for my life. I realized the can of Raid Wasp/Hornet spray was sitting on the table that I just left. I returned after getting armor (ahem...blanket) and grabbed the can. The wasp stayed in the same place I left it, like a ram caught in a thicket. I got rid of it but I still don't know how they are getting in my apartment.

I was able to get bills paid thanks to the Lord.

God is good. I thank God that I am home this Sabbath with my son and with Him.

Searching For God

I had some interesting and awesome things I wanted to share about my week.

 On Saturday night last week after Sabbath ended.  I was watching some YouTube as I from time to time do and got the thought to check in on someone I used to be subscribed to but left when she started going the esoteric route of spirituality.  Prior to becoming a Christian myself, I was living the life of a wiccan so hearing what she said she was doing went against my new found values with Jesus and I had to bounce on up out of there. 

She was one of the earlier natural hair vloggers that I would watch for inspiration but I couldn’t stomach the spiritualism and unsubscribed.   Well last week, I peeked on over and she talked about a new hair journey.  I laughed to myself on it because I also knew how often she would change her hair and would not commit to a natural hair style or wig for very long.  She always liked changing her look and sometimes made drastic changes to her natural hair, leading to regret and a delayed journey to a new goal but always looking cute nonetheless.  I will say God led me to look at her again and click a second and what I thought final video.  She had a video posted in June talking about Jesus. 

 

Now this was the first time she mentioned him in any video of all the videos I’ve watched from her.  When I discovered youtube in 2009 and used it as a support for my natural hair journey which kicked off early 2008, I tended to watch everything and I mean EVERYTHING from any natural hair vlogger out there to get as much knowledge I could about providing better care for my hair.  This video she posted now talked about her not expecting Jesus to have anything to do with her plans, with her life, but she invited Him in her life and He changed it. 

 

All  you have to do is invite Him in and man, you will have an awesome experience!  I knew when she said she invited Him in, I had to hear what happened and I was so happy for her.  Her channel is taren916 if you are interested in seeing a true experience with Jesus. 

 

So after I watched the video, I prayed and went to bed. I want more of the Holy Spirit to be in my life.  I got up on Sunday morning and decided that my son and I should go to the park before it got too hot outside.  We went to the park and it was a beautiful time.  We went to the swings and slides and as I sat on the swings, this beautiful butterfly (huge and colorful but not a monarch I don’t think) came and flew circles around us and between us.  I had hoped it would land on me, but it didn’t.  Soon stinging insects were thinking it was time to come out so we moved across the field and my son chased away unintentionally large geese pasturing there.  We climbed the one large hill  that used to be steeper and jagged but smoothed out over the years of me living in and around the town the park was in and as we climbed, grasshoppers jumped and flew a short distance before us.  When we reached the top of the hill, a few of the geese flew dramatically  overhead and went on to land in the small manmade lake a short distance from the hill.   The intro to A Whole New World is fitting for that experience, you know the stringed instruments playing? We saw a hawk or falcon family.  We saw other butterflies, ants, squirrels and beautiful creatures and it was a wonderful teaching moment for my son.  I used to go to the beach and park to spend more time with God and I would like to do that more often.  The butterfly moment and really experiencing all of that was extra special.

 

I went to sleep that night and woke up around 3:00am.  I looked at my phone for the time and laid there talking to God (in the quiet of my heart).  Now my son has his own bed but lately he has been sleeping in mine and I need to work on getting him to sleep in his own especially because he is in pre-school.   Suddenly he stirred (I did not move or say anything) and he got up and went to his bed.  I waited to see if this was a fluke and waited a good 5 minutes and went to check on him.  He went to his bed and was fast asleep WITHOUT GRABBING HIS FAVORITE BLANKIE.  I brought the blankie to him and went back to my bed and thought more on why he even got up, thanked Jesus, and went to sleep. 

 

Tuesday, I drove him to his first day back to school.  He is not supposed to be getting the bus because of budget cuts and the address of pick up being too close to the school. He’s not supposed to be even going to that district, but that is another story for another time.  Later that day, I learned that he would be getting the bus and my parents won’t have to drive to pick him up each day.

 

Wednesday, I had successful meetings for two of my clients.  I was feeling hard on myself though but cheered up after receiving another package from amazon. I do retail therapy from time to time.

 

Thursday was my one year anniversary working at my agency.  I finished up with a meeting that left me feeling some kind of way (satan attacks when he can) and I drove on an interstate at a good speed thinking to myself that I wanted to see my car, and the progress the autobody shop was making on it.  Maybe by showing up, it would pressure them to work faster on it. Earlier that week, the mechanic said it would be soon but didn’t tell me how much it could cost or when.  I thought it was still at the shop that I dropped it off at.    I drove with that in mind as cars raced past me on my left and soon I came to a major slow down and 3 lane parking lot on the interstate.  I was driving my sister’s old car (last week I mentioned she got a new car and her old car was given to my parents to use, my name added on the insurance). Sitting in stopped traffic in the dead of summer in that car made me sweat bullets because that AC is only a fan with hot air and nothing more. I then received a call from the mechanic out of the blue and he told me that my car would be ready today and that he would text me the other shop address.  If he had not called, I would have went to the first shop I dropped the car off at.  I still didn’t know how much it would cost even after I asked him again.  I called my mom and told her my plans and where I was and she said I should pick up my dad and we go over there when I got to the house.   I roasted in the car  on the phone and then watched about 4-5 police cars and a fire truck drive ahead to what would be an accident involving 5-6 cars, and a tractor trailer.  I saw another tractor trailer drifting ahead of the bunch and seeming to be included in the scramble.  A man was sitting in the middle lane with an policeman applying pressure to a head wound. One car was in a ditch and the rest were either beat up in the front, rear ended, or had serious side damage.  I drove past and didn’t see other cars coming. I then received a random text from my sister asking about her car and I let her know all that transpired.  I proceeded as planned and saw my car looking gorgeous (her name is Suki).  Thinking about how I named this car I have to be careful not to idolize the things I use.  The rear was completely replaced and my mechanic fixed above and beyond.  I went to the bank and took out money for two new tires for the old car and the $4200 he quoted for my car plus an additional 300 to prevent me from having to use my credit card that I needed to pay off. I returned to learn he tacked on an additional 264 to the total and so I had enough to pay him in cash.  He didn’t have change to make $36 so he gave me back $40 and I drove off with my car looking brand spanking new.  I felt like a king, like a boss in that car, so much better. 

 

To top it off, I received my last package in the mail and took all of this in celebration of my one year anniversary at work.  I was amazed by God's timing in all of this. I know I don't deserve it especially after seeing the misfortune of those involved in the accident. The Lord gives and takes away, but with good purpose.

 

Friday (yesterday) was difficult though.  I had great days this week and then satan came in to make me feel dumb and worthless.  I felt so disconnected and didn’t do as well as I would have liked at this meeting I had, but pressed on any how.  Even though I had some good ideas and God helped me to form those good ideas, I just kept missing the mark.  I am my biggest critic and usually when I feel like someone is looking at me a certain way or judging me, I’m right.  I was hit with this throughout the week by other people too, but pressed on regardless.  Friday was low, but right before sunset, I checked my accounts again and realized I had enough money to pay off the nearly $3000 debt I racked up on one of my main credit cards, so I paid it off in full.  Jesus allowed me to do that because it was not something I anticipated on Thursday before when I checked the balance.

Since coming into this year, I planned to keep my credit cards clear and it was only during July into August that I racked up a huge amount with no plan to pay any of it off.  I have a 6500 credit line, 5000 credit line and 2000 credit line to my disposal and all of my cards at this time are clear.  I wanted to improve my credit score so I could qualify for buying a home, but instead, I rented and used much of what I saved in my home account to buy brand new furniture for the space.  Checking, my score is now 768 (went down 4 points on Equifax) probably because of that delay in paying the 3k.  I want to get it up to 800 again or higher. 

 

So this was my week.  God is too good to me.  I think about how my week started after viewing Taren’s video and my prayers to God about my life afterward.  I hope Taren continues to move forward with Jesus and tell more about the wonderful things she is seeing Him do in hers and other people’s lives.  Testimony encourages us to keep trying, keep moving, keep living.  It renews our hope and faith in God and His purpose for us.  Jeremiah 29:11.  God is a living God.  Jesus is here for us and the Holy Spirit works directly with us while we walk the face of the earth in the short time that we have.  We all need Jesus and as she said that the Holy Spirit spoke through an acquaintance telling her that Jesus was looking for her, He is looking for all of us.  God wants all of us to be with Him in His kingdom.  We need to open our hearts and never stop searching for Him and walk with Him.  It starts with searching and wanting something better and only Jesus can provide that. 

 

God is turning my mess around for me.  I don’t know if I will be in this apartment a year from now.  I don’t know if I will have another job, another car wreck, gain or lose 20 lbs, or feel the same way I feel about people and life today, but I do know that God can do anything and change it for my good if it is according to His will. 

 

God is awesome and He is right on time always.

God is Always On Time!

God is so good. Jesus is always on time.

I dropped my car off on Thursday so they could get started working on my vehicle. Now prior to all this, I expected my parents to go to NC on holiday and I would be stranded at home with no one to reach out to until they returned. They decided to stay home and I didn't have a reason to reach them during the week I was off. My sister bought a car the previous weekend and decided to leave her other car to my parents because the new one was all she ever wanted and could want. I then thought to ask her if I could borrow the car for Thursday and Friday this week to allow me to get to work while I waited on the shop to repair mine. She gave me some fluff about insurance, having to work overtime hours and never got back to me.

Now weeks ago, I was working out a plan to drop the car off, looking at rental car places, and figuring out how to get from point A to point B and had asked if she could drive me on Wednesday to the car rental place if my car was not fixed by then. She acted like I never told her anything and as the date drew nearer she huffed and hawed so I decided I would either have to take a taxi or uber.

I never took an uber ride and wondered at requirements to put a car seat in a strangers vehicle for a 4 minute ride around the corner in my town. I didn't want a taxi either. Later that day, I read in the news of a lady being sexually assaulted by an uber driver and that was about enough to change my mind. I checked the car rental place I dealt with closest to me and found out that they pick you up. The day before, I called to confirm this and decided to put in a reservation from 8/31 to 9/9. I called the car repair place and he said they would not have my car fixed in time and suggested it would be done by 9/7 because his mechanics would be off for labor day. I was fine with this.

Now on 8/31 at 12:30pm, I  planned to call Enterprise to come pick me up so I could get my rental at 2pm. My mother called me and I was annoyed because I told her what my plans were and it seemed as though she were trying to ruin them. She said my sister's car was in the driveway and asked me to use it. I reminded her of my sister's hee-ing and hawing and my mom said she thought my name was added to the insurance. She told me to hold on and she would call me back. I went about getting my son and I  ready  to call Enterprise and my mom called back at 11:47am to say I was on the insurance as a authorized driver. She said I could instead save the money I was going to pay out for the rental to buy new tires for the car which would be used by my parents to take my son out around town when needed. I accepted the offer. I hung up at 11:47 and at 11:48am, Enterprise called me.

That quick yall.

I told them to cancel my reservation and called my mom back at 11:49am to let her know how close of a call it really was. Her first call was 11:16am. I was feeling antsy and didn't want to wait thinking I could move the reservation time up to 1:30pm but the Lord had my mom contact me and actually get an answer from my sister when she was at work that day. My sister is the worst at getting back to people with her phone. I got the answer at 11:47am and a call from Enterprise at 11:48am.

I was able to use the car this week and have it for next week.

God is an on time God and God is good!