Ask And You Shall Receive

I have been back online for a few days. Last week, my fritzy computer screen finally surrendered. I placed my laptop in front of the gentleman at the Geek Squad counter with the hope and anticipation of an inexpensive repair. That wasn't how it played out. The young man informed me that they do not not fix HP's, they send them off. (By the way, this is our second HP notebook to break in the past three years - ugh!) If I were to send it off, even if it was a tiny part, the entire motherboard would require replacement resulting in a parts and labor expense nearly equal to the cost of a better equipped brand new notebook. I took it home with a prayer and a free disc to at least attempt to get our old desktop on dial up temporarily. My sweet husband spent a bit of time attempting to connect it to our DSL connection to no avail. Our providers tech support hours had ended for the weekend. Our option was to stay off of the computer, or try the dial up disc. When he loaded in the dial-up disc, he noticed that the password was novena-gizmos. He thought it strange because our family finished praying a Novena to the Infant of Prague for an intention that has been on our heart for a while. (a new job for him!). So here we are expecting a miracle with great faith and instead our computer konks out. Oh well, Thy Will Be Done.

Upon arriving at the payment screen, we decided that the "free trial" was too much of a hassle. We took that as a sign to let it go. I tried to let it go. Really. Throughout last Saturday, I caught myself thinking of how I would look through the Sunday Flyers to look for a bargain on a new laptop. I tried to dismiss those thoughts, though. This is not a season in our life to make a frivolous purchase, especially when I could make do with the old (and rather s-l-o-w desktop computer (that we have filled with children's computer programs) in a few days.

I resolved to stop being so greedy and materialistic about having my notebook computer. The one that sits on my lap when my husband watches tv. The one that sits on my kitchen desk, convenient to everything in the hub central of our tiny home. The one that zips around all of my favorite and useful sites. The one that holds all of our digital pictures (that have most all been saved to disc - a huge Grace right there!). Yes, my laptop is convenient, fast, portable and something I use each day, but I could make do with our old desktop. I could. I did it before. I even sold $200 a week on eBay with our old desktop. I resolved to be thankful to have a computer at all, when the majority of people on this planet cannot even claim to have basic necessities.

At Holy Mass last Sunday morning, when lifting up my prayers of Thanksgiving and praying intentions, I included a prayer for my computer. Specifically: That I would have peace and be thankful.. I needed some Graces to help me "let it go."

In the church hall, during coffee and donuts, I was chatting with a dear friend. While we were catching up, I shared that my laptop died. She told me that she uses her desktop because she found her (HP!) laptop to be quirky and annoying and then she OFFERED IT TO ME! Later that afternoon, she graciously blessed me with her abandoned-to-a-guest-room-closet-for-the-past-two-years-laptop. While the Patriots were on pause, my darling husband was able to get this neglected computer online with our DSL! It maybe a "quirky" HP, but it is working for me. I am still sort of happy-numb with joy. I am overwhelmed by my friend's generosity.

My friend asked me not to tell anyone we know that she gave me her computer because, her words "Good deeds should be anonymous." At Holy Mass tomorrow, I will be offering up HUGE prayers of Thanksgiving for the generous heart of my dear "anonymous" friend.