Racing Against Time

It was the day before our wedding, December 16th. It was my wife's birthday also. So I wanted to do something special for her. We were at peace, the wedding was all prepared, and I just thought it was going to be a nice smooth day. It was a nice day, but not smooth. I went to the mall in the morning to get a cake and a gift for my wife but when I went to get some money out of the bank at the ATM my card got declined. Thank goodness I was able to get the cake and some food to still celebrate her birthday with the cash I already had but the next day was the wedding and we still needed to pay for the venue. Needless to say, we got a little concerned. I couldn't contact my bank, because it was in the middle of the morning in the States. So we had no clue how to pay the venue for our wedding.

Instead of just panicking like crazy, her brother was with us and it was his birthday as well. Yeah, they have the same birthday. I think that's neat. Anyway, we ate some good Chinese food along with some soft drinks, and some birthday cake to celebrate. After the meal, it was back to the thinking board. "How in the world will we pay the rest of the money for our wedding that is scheduled tomorrow morning?" Then we came up with an idea. There is a service called Xoom where you can send money to a person and pick it up at the local bank. So we made a transaction and sent money in my brother-in-law's name. So after searching for the directions to the bank, my brother-in-law and I went out to receive the cash. Then we kind of got lost and had a fun adventure running the streets of Manila. We knew we had to get there before it closed at 6. It was around 3, so we were not that anxious. We finally got there at 4 just to find out the bank closed early that day. Now what? It was 4 pm, bank closed, card declined, and my bank in the US closed. Only thing to do, which honestly we should have done before, was to pray.

So my bro-in-law, I, and my wife just went back to the condo. We waited out the night and I called my bank at 11 pm, 10 am in the States. I told them that my card was declined and I needed the money for our wedding tomorrow. They thought it was fraud when they saw money being spent in the Philippines. Lesson: remember to tell your bank when you travel to another county. I knew I should have done that, I just didn't remember. So the Customer Service agent asked me to verify my information, SSN, bank account number, address, etc. Finally after a long chat on the phone my card was authorized to be used.

It was a little stressful but looking back it wasn't actually that bad. Plus, there is a lesson to learn from this. One, If it is God's will that something will take place, then it will work out. We must not stress, but bring our anxious thoughts to Him. We must trust that God has good purposes in our obstacles, big obstacles or small. Even if my card did not work the day of the wedding, I would still need to trust the Lord and praise His name in that situation. Two, learn from your mistakes. If I told my bank before hand, none of that would have happened. I will always remember to tell the bank before I travel, because I experienced that failure. When it comes down to it, we must have the mind of James when he writes,

"Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit'— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.'” (James 4:13-15)

We never know what will come up in life. So we do business, we make plans, but always remember your God in the midst of it. It is only when God wills it to be that your plans flourish. So in every little accomplishment or successful event in your life give God His rightful praise. And when something seems to be failing, depend on God, learn from it, and praise Him anyway for His awesome wisdom.

#Lifelessons