Okay, so now I’m back in the shop and all gung-ho about implementing all the stuff that I have learnt from the publishers overseas (all this whilst trying to ignore the fact that I’m still half asleep after the trip!). Last week was going to be ‘orders’ week, but the Lord had other plans. He made it the patience and peace’ week.
Monday 5th started with a rude awakening – no Internet. Now I may be technologically challenged, but I do know the switch-off-and-switch-on principle. I tried all that I could before phoning Telkom. They made the necessary checks and said they would send a technician. Not comforting – you know that means days, not hours. Meanwhile my 3G data had expired just before we landed, so no back-up. Daughter to the rescue – she sends me data. We manage by switching 3G from the admin laptop to front-desk laptop when needed for customers. Not ideal, but this is the means by which patience plant is being nurtured.
We plod through Tuesday – patience plant has steady growth. In my post-trip fog it then occurs to me that the wi-fi printer isn’t working and that should be working even if the Internet is off. Perhaps the modem is faulty. Off to buy a new modem. However, I am currently without car because son’s car is broken down, so this shopping has to be done after work when my husband can fetch me. Patience plant is sending out some new shoots…
Wednesday: the new modem goes in, but of course the phone is not in my name and I don’t have the username and password details. Patience growth spurt. I call Garth, principal of our college and much higher up on the techno scale than me. He works a miracle and we are all back online. We have a couple of hours of catch-up time before we close. Relief carries the day.
On Thursday morning I am all revved up again to get things done. No power! Technical fault in the area and no telling when it will be fixed. Never mind about all the other things that are going on as well; suffice it to say, the little patience plant is now showing signs on needing to be a tree!
On Friday we sigh with relief when the power is back on (but the milk is sour) and the Lord enables us to get 2 days worth of work done in one, even if it is a very long one. One printer remains offline, but Dan comes to the rescue after church on Sunday. Now we are back to normal…Monday: our remote desktop server goes down. No access to the system, no emails, no search programme. All restored on Monday evening.
And that’s not even the half of it.
Through all this, a supernatural peace reigns. Left to myself… well, you know human nature.When we are willingly patient, peace ensues. (I can’t really take any credit for being willingly patient; I was just too tired to get upset.) There is a glorious freedom in not champing at the bit. Yes, we faced challenges and technical issues, but they were not an overwhelming burden. In hindsight, I see that in a sense the Lord gave me a recovery week – time to deal with all sorts of little things before focusing on the orders. What a privilege it is to be in Christ and to know the peace that only he gives!
Now available: Good news for many – Disciplines of a Godly Man by Kent Hughes is now available. For a long time there has been a rights issue with this title. Although Crossway publishes the book, they did not have the right to distribute in S.A. Anyway that has now been resolved and we now have the book in store.
Paperback; 304 pages; R130. Disciplines of a Godly Woman also available at the same price.
