On the Edge of Adventure

I’ve travelled quite a lot with my job. And I’ve led a good few mission trips. But it’s always the same, the day before you travel.

It seems unreal. Everything in you is waiting for the alarm to go off, for the drive to the airport, for the flight to take off….

This week I travel with a team of 10 to Slovakia, working with local churches there. It’s not real yet, but in a few hours it will be. New places. New friends. New challenges. On the edge of a new adventure.

Les Misérables - A Redemptive Story

A late night yesterday as Roh and I enjoyed our new dvd – Les Misérables.

Les Misérables is a powerful story. Not just the music and acting- but the story itself. It’s a story of redemption. Of someone getting a second chance. Of being given hope when there was none.

Every one of us has a spiritual ‘awareness’, a knowledge that there must be more to life. That ‘more’ can only be filled by Jesus’ redemption. If we are honest with ourselves, we have to accept that, like so many in the film, we are lost, poor, alone. Like the main character, we deserve nothing. History shows Jesus lived, died and rose again. Taking our punishment. That moment offers us our own redemption.

In a moment of love and forgiveness, the main character,  Jean Valjean, was given hope. The bishop who welcomes him into the church building on a cold night says ‘you need not tell me who you are. This is not my house; it is the house of Christ. It does not ask any comer whether he has a name, but whether he has an affliction. You are suffering; you are hungry and thirsty; be welcome . . . Your name is my brother.’

Valjean accepts the forgiveness and lives a selfless life as a result. His own forgiveness of his enemy is summed up in these words:

You are free, and there are no conditions,
No bargains or petitions.
There's nothing that I blame you for
You've done your duty, nothing more.

We can do the same. Live a life according to the maker’s instructions. A life that is whole, full and free. Generous and forgiving. Anything less is less than our maker intended.

There is power in love and forgiveness.

Dear BT (Part 5)

Oh, how I wish there were not a part 5, BT. You do manage to excel in the ‘own goal’ department.

Thank you for the bill. Yes, really. Thank you for the prompt delivery with the well explained text. I understood it entirely. It’s just that it’s wrong.

You have charged me for a delivery of the BT equipment for Broadband. Sorry to sound fussy, but you did that already. I know why it happened- you had to cancel the original order and reinstate it because you got the codes wrong. (Remember that? Send my regards to Sam, Julie, Jessica, Ahmed and Natalie by the way).

But what really got me annoyed is that you charged me for calling the BT help line number! You know, the one you asked me to call to sort out the problem that you instigated. That’s the one. Now I know I can be a bit of a pain to you, but when you start charging me for your mistakes, what do you expect?!

So, thanks to Sherif and Shalim for taking my grumpy call today and for changing the bill. I await the compensation…. Or do I have to call your (chargeable) help line for that one too?

Dear BT (Part 4)

Dear BT (Part 4)

The man came. He fixed a lead. It works. Anti-climax.

Dear BT (Part 3)

Dear BT (Part 3)……. Dear Caroline, thanks for the Facebook message asking how we got on yesterday with BT. It is becoming a bit of a soap opera isn’t it?

I was out yesterday when Sam called. (Yes, he has a definite name now). Roh took the call. In fact he’s not called ‘Sam’, he’s called ‘that incredibly nice man called Sam’. He charmed the socks off my wife. So long as it’s only the socks.

So, having exchanged recipes’ and holiday photos, Sam took Roh through what was now planned…. The old order is cancelled and the new one in place. We have been put on the urgent list, so we can expect a BT man in 10 days. (If he turns up of course: One cancellation and one no-show and counting....). I wonder what dictionary the incredibly-nice-man-Sam uses? Ten days?! Urgent means one or two days, a week at the most. Ah well, we’ve been this far on the journey. What’s another 10 days when you originally asked BT to switch to them nearly 6 weeks ago?

One more problem for incredibly-nice-man-Sam to solve though… I have an email from BT saying to return the hardware they sent as I had now cancelled my order. And then I got another saying they would be sending my new hardware next week. So, incredibly-nice-man-Sam, in case you are reading this, how about we call it quits and I keep the one you sent with the first order and you cancel the hardware on the second order? (What’s the betting that’s not possible?!)

Finally Caroline, I wonder whether you would be good enough to take Roh for a coffee. Simple message. Husband good. Toy boy not good. :-)

Dear BT (Part 2)

Dear BT (Part 2).

 

A big ‘hi’ to Julie, Jessica, Ahmed, Natalie and Dan. Or was that Sam? Not sure. You’re all very nice people. It’s just that your company are hopeless.

 To transfer from Virgin to you, you wanted a transfer code. I had to get that from Virgin. Fair enough. But when the code doesn’t work, nor does the system. Virgin tells me they get the code from BT Open who get it from you anyway.... So this is what has happened so far:

 I asked Virgin for the code, who asked BT Open who asked you. You gave it to BT Open who gave it to Virgin who gave it to me who gave it to you. You said the code was wrong. I went back to Virgin who went back to BT Open who went back to you. You said the code was fine. BT Open said the code was fine. Virgin said the code was fine. I said the code was fine. You said it wasn’t. With me so far?

 I then went back to Virgin for a new code, who asked BT Open who asked you. You gave the new code to BT Open who gave it to Virgin who gave it to me, who gave it to you. And it worked.

 Trouble is, over a month has gone by so the old order has to be cancelled and we then have to wait 24 hours before we can re-order. And we start all over again tomorrow when Dan-Sam phones.

 By the way Ahmed, ‘we can work this out together’ only works for me the first few times. And Sam-Dan, I’m not sure calling me ‘Ralph mate’ is going to do much either.

Dear BT (Part 1)

Dear BT. Hi. I'm your new customer. Not that you would know that it seems. Thanks for not coming over today. Thanks for cancelling the appointment without telling us. Yours sincerely, your not-so devoted customer.