Sunday Sentiments

I learn many valuable life lessons from Ryan. 

Many.

One of his qualities that I love most is his perseverance. He does not give up - ever - unless there just literally is not a solution, and even then, he'll hunt to see if he can find one hiding somewhere.

We were gone all week celebrating our anniversary, and when we came home Friday evening to go back on duty at WillowBridge, we discovered the internet had been out for a few hours. Sean and Sarah had messed with it and tried to get it going, but it wasn't working. Though annoying, this wasn't terribly surprising. Internet here isn't always known for its reliability. 

But when Ryan got up early yesterday morning to find it was still out, he immediately got on the phone with the company to see if someone could come take a look at things.

In an unprecedented move, we brought in not one, but two new tenants yesterday, and we were on duty alone, while Sean and Sarah enjoyed their two-day weekend. Let me just tell you: trying to bring in two new tenants without the internet is an interesting endeavor. All the forms we needed...all the orientation materials...all the handbook materials...all of it was online.

We limped through the day by sparingly using our limited personal hotspot that we purchased this summer when we were out camping. Not all campgrounds had internet access, so this way we could have it if needed upon occasion. Fortunately, Ryan hadn't canceled it, and that saved us this weekend. The Lord gave us a bonus blessing of miraculously letting our printer work. It shouldn't have. It's wireless and wouldn't connect to the hotspot, but it printed every document we HAD to have for these move-ins.

After three failed attempts to get someone out here to work on the internet, a really nice gentleman finally arrived, and he got to hear a whole lot about WillowBridge orientation as he worked and we made presentations to our new tenants (and our old ones too...they came voluntarily!) in the next room. Three HOURS after arriving, he left without being able to fix the problem.

There we were with a building half full of tenants - some brand new - and none of them able to watch TV or play games or do anything else online. Bless them. They tried being resourceful, but they were missing their routine as much as I was missing my Christmas movies and blogs! 

The internet guy left about 8:30 last night and as I slumped into a seat to do paperwork (paper still works!), Ryan rolled up his sleeves and headed back to the WillowBridge office. He moved furniture, took things apart, unhooked everything, and started messing with anything he could find, determined to fix it.

A couple of hours later, one of our tenants showed up to see if he could help, and just as he asked the question, Ryan spun around in his chair and said, "I think it's fixed. I have no idea what I did, but I think it's working." 

I could have cried. I mean, I think we all could have - for very different reasons. But I was so proud of Ryan for his determination and drive to fix the problem. 

And it wasn't about the internet - though there is that!! It was about the reminder to keep pressing for an answer, even when it feels hopeless. 

I share the story with you today to remind you to keep pressing. If you're like me and not as gifted with tenacity as Ryan, maybe you need that encouragement!!!