Another Rollercoaster Ride

What a day it's been.

First, we got an email from our neighbour back home, reporting possible unauthorized occupiers in our flat (no one can tell if they're just visiting or staying over for a night or longer), banging of gate, loud conversations as late as 1-2 am. Already my bro-in-law tells us 3 pieces of our IKEA mirror composite in the dining room have fallen off since the tenants moved in. By the time we go home 2 years from now, the entire place would need to be renovated. We're really starting to regret renting out the place in such a hurry!

Lesson #1:
When deciding to rent, don't let your judgment be clouded by the rental income. Set your criteria (e.g. rent to family or expat professionals only) and stick with it. If you can't find the ideal tenant within your timeframe, extend the timeframe until you do. You'll save yourself a lot of hassle in the long term.

This morning, the washing machine sucked in water - and threw it out again. It's been acting up lately, spewing out half-done washing (the top few pieces are dry, the middle looks partly washed, and only the bottom pieces are actually damp). Hubby tried calling the shop we bought it from, but no one picked up the phone. Guess they're still having Christmas hols.

Lesson #2:
When buying used white goods, you're taking a risk that things won't work as well, especially if you have no guarantee to fall back on. Ours comes with a very short guarantee (6 months), and we mean to enforce it. $390 for a front loader is still $.

Late last night, my aunt called from Sg to find out if our things have arrived. She's worried that we're clocking up storage charges which will add to our financial burden, and offered to loan us the $ so we can get our things released. Bless her heart!

Anyway, we checked with the local shipper this morning, and found to our dismay that our Sg shipper has still not settled the storage charges that they promised to. (We had an understanding with them that they would be responsible for that as we had done everything on our end to expedite the documentation and any delay would not be our fault). So our 67 boxes are sitting in the warehouse clocking up storage charges, and we're stuck with no baby things, no extra clothes...Have just sent a strong email to the Sg shipper. Am really disappointed with them. We last heard from them 2 weeks ago and they'd promised to have the things sent to our home the week before Christmas.

Lesson #3
If anything can go wrong, it will. We're just thankful that we have managed so far with what we have, and hope we can monetize some of the excess when our things finally arrive!

Reflections
As I lay in bed this morning trying to decide whether to get up (any sort of movement these days hurts excruciatingly), I committed the tenancy situation to God and asked Him to take control. I admitted the situation was way beyond us, and sought His perspective on things because, well, from the human point of view, things just look so hopeless! I also asked Him what lesson He wants us to learn from all this.

The assurance I got was that this present adversity is just another aspect of our life here on earth, and is meant to teach us trust and to build our resilience. Just as He led us through many seemingly insurmountable obstacles when we first arrived in Melbourne, so He will continue to lead us in the days ahead.

The point is not whether the situation will be resolved (from the human standpoint). God is greater than our tenancy dilemma, our no-shipment dilemma, our washing machine issues. The point is that He will supply us what we need at the moment we need it and for a short time, until we have learnt the lesson He intends. Then we move on again - upwards and outwards in a new spiral of character growth. The learning curve is infinite and any light at the end of the tunnel is just....tunnel vision, because the learning and growing won't end till The End.

Wow. Did I really say all that??