Thursday August 7th

Our internet has been having issues.  That's my excuse for not writing yesterday.  But it's a pretty good excuse because I had no internet access at all.  Yesterday afternoon the wireless went out, then the desktop didn't have any internet.  The laptop kept up the connection for a few more hours until I picked up the modem to see if there were any loose cords (there weren't).  That ended all internet in the house, so we were pretty sure the issue was with the modem.  By that time it was late at night, so we ended the day and figured tomorrow would come. 

And come it did!  This morning found me on the phone with a very sweet customer service representative for whom English was obviously a second language.  I told her that there was a problem with the modem, but I'm sure her job requires her to go through all the troubleshooting steps.  I spent at least an hour typing in codes, holding down buttons, and doing everything I was told to do.  Nothing helped, though, and finally she put in the order for a new modem which should arrive tomorrow.  (Or if not tomorrow, then Monday.) 

But then....    As soon as I hung up from talking with the customer service rep, Liesl said, "Hey, I have wireless!"  So I checked the laptop, and it had a connection!  I checked the desktop, and it was online as well!  Hooray! As soon as our internet came back on, I saw that I had a message from one of my old young women. (Old as in neither of us are in Young Women anymore, not old as in aged.)  She was asking me to go check on her mom, whom I visit teach.  She had sent the message just 35 minutes before the internet came back on.  I sent a message back saying that of course I would, and the day went from there.  Her mom isn't doing great, but I explained to her that anytime we try to make positive changes in our lives, Satan will do everything in his power to stop us.  She didn't want to talk about what was bothering her, but I assured her that God was on her side and had the power to help her through it.  She seemed to appreciate our talk, and I was able to send a message back to her daughter telling her that I thought her mom would be alright.

The internet is still working many hours later as I type this post, but I think we'll still replace the modem when the new one comes.  I'm pretty sure that our current modem is only working right now because the Lord needed me to receive that message today, and not tomorrow.