We all face our challenges, sometimes more than others.
We were finally able to receive plane tickets (See
Heathrow's Hunger Games), not
to our planned destination, but to Edinburgh. At that stage, anywhere in
Scotland was better than nothing!
As it was already past nine in the morning, and our plane would be leaving at
11:20, we would hardly have enough time to eat our breakfast, shave and
performing other necessities. We had decided to rent a car in Edinburgh and
drive to Invernes, and those arrangements took time. The problem was, we had no
lodging booked for that night, and with only ten minutes to spare, I somehow
succeeded in locating a room. I booked it immediately. When I received the
confirmation, however, it was a room for only one person. What about my wife?
We had no choice but to rush to the airport with our meager belongings, as our
suitcases were still not in our possession, where we were faced with another
huge line (The British certainly like those!). We eventually sorted out that
only people who were leaving within the hour could enter. Fortunately this
included us.
At the gate we had to scan our passport and look at the camera to get through.
My wife had no problem. Somehow I am always the one who runs into mishaps in
such circumstances. No matter what I did, the gate would not open for me. I
tried and tried, with no luck. I finally sought for help of an agent, and he
was able to resolve it with the help of another agent. Somehow, the picture
associated to my passport, according to the scanning machine, was a woman. I had
no idea I had changed gender! Perhaps these machines are good for more than one
thing!
Finally past security, my wife used some of the last battery power in our cell
phone to call the bed and breakfast I had reserved in haste, the one with only
one single bed. Unfortunately the manager wasn't in, and she was asked to call
back in 30 minutes... Half an hour later, she called again only to learn that we
would have to cancel our reservation online before noon, or we would be charged.
Our problem was that the only WIFI available to us was the unreliable 30 minutes
of free airport WIFI! That, plus the fact that they were already starting to
board our flight and the batteries on our laptop and my Ipod were almost dead,
spelled disaster. I tried desperately to connect with the airport WIFI, and only
after several tries did I succeed. As a result, we were the last ones to board
the flight, but the room was cancelled. Whew!
However, we still had no room in Inverness...
Those were annoying challenges that happen at times. However, these times are
nothing compared to what other people face. Imagine the adversity we would have
faced if we lived in an occupied land during the Nazi regime! Wouldn't we prefer
the tiny itsy bitsy challenges that we face everyday?
We are warned that we will have rough times, times when we will have no choice
but to choose who we will follow with all of our heart: "Then I saw three impure
spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of
the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. They are
demonic spirits that perform signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole
world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty." (Rev
16:13-14, NIV2)
"For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the
world until now-and never to be equaled again." (Matt 24:21, NIV2)
And even that, this is nothing compared to what we will inherit when we get to
our Heavenly Father's home: "I consider that our present sufferings are not
worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." (Rom 8:18, NIV2)
Once on the plane, out troubles were far from over... My wife and I were
separated, and the plane was full. Somehow a stewardess took pity on us, and she
arranged for us to sit together. Even amidst adversity, there is sunshine that
beautifies our lives!
Rob Chaffart
The Illustrator: This daily newsletter is dedicated to encouraging
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