Summer Rain, Failing Computers, & Prayers

So, yesterday we got to experience some of the more typical New Zealand weather that I was unaware of: rain. Although I had been hoping to do my homework outside, I decided that I'd much rather have rain on a study day than on a travel day. Besides, the rain sometimes helps me concentrate on homework. Bethany, Rachel, Katie, and I had a couple of Euchre breaks too, which was nice.

I have some unfortunate news, I'm afraid... my computer is no longer in service. I was working on it before class yesterday afternoon and had no problems. I put it on standby so that I could open it up quickly when I got to class... and no power. I figured that maybe it just needed to be plugged in, so after class, I quickly plugged it into a power source... and had no luck. We tried taking the battery out, plugging it in a number of different ways, etc. Brent checked my power cord to make sure it was working - no problems there. I hate to admit that I shed a few tears... it sounds so materialistic, I know. A few tears led to a few more and just feeling overwhelmed with many things. Katie Cline was very encouraging and comforting, as were several of the other girls. I felt so ridiculous for being upset about such a materialistic thing. God is teaching me a lot through this, I think.

We decided to let it sit over night and try it in the morning. In the meantime, we spent some time in prayer. In my Issues in International Ministry class, we've been studying the Gospels and Jesus' habit of prayer. I've been rather challenged to work on sharpening this habit in my life. The computer episode provided some opportunity for that and led to opportunites to pray for many other things that have been on my heart.

I would like to tell you all that my computer is now fully functioning... but that's not the case. My amazing Dad is working on things and found out that our warranty does not expire until August 15 of this year. Praise the Lord! And my team has been great... I found out that a bunch of the girls were praying for me last night... and I've had some sweet conversations with some of them since then. Already, I see how God might be using this for his glory. Several people have told me I can use their computer whenever I need to, so that takes care of my school assignments and hopefully still staying on top of emailing.

Note: my computer is not the only one having issues. A couple of the guys are also experiencing difficulties... and several people have been sick. So, please be praying for our group.