The Shocking Phone Bill

I got a shock when I saw our phone bill yesterday. It was 8 times higher our usual monthly bill! At first, I thought that it was a total bill for the last 3 months or so. But when then I saw that it was only for a month. I can't remember calling the Philippines last month since I usually call home from Malaysia ( coz it's cheaper there). And then I saw that there was this single call for X,000 Baht! The number called only has 4 digits and the under the location called was 'life insurance' in Thai. I don't remember asking life insurance quotes from the phone. And when I saw the date of the call, I realized it was the time when we were in Malaysia. Oh, it's really very mysterious and shocking at the same time.

Hubby called our phone company to complain about the bill and they asked him to go to the office with the bill. Oh, I really hope and pray that we won't be able to pay for something, a 'call' or life insurance stuff that we didn't apply. Hubby said it might be a 'crossline', like someone's trying to use our number to call others or stuff like that. But my only prayer is that whatever it is, we won't end up paying for it. Where can we get such a big amount of money? :(

Letter from Our Sponsored Child

I finally got our 2nd letter from our sponsored child from Compassion International today. I was so happy to receive the letter and it left me in tears.

You see, I've just thought about Haron today, our sponsored child from Kenya. Honestly, I thought to give up sponsoring him because it takes a lot of percentage from my online earning. Giving our monthly support has truly been sacrificial for us, and a thought just came over me that maybe I'll just give it a few more months and then stop our sponsorship. And then today, I received his letter.

Since he doesn't know how to write in English, an translator writes in behalf of him. It was a long letter telling more about himself and expressing his gratefulness. He was so thankful of all the letters, drawings, photos and stickers we sent him last year. He said sends his 'Hi' to Tricia and Lyle and that we are all so special to him. When I read these last few words, I was almost in tears. Here I was, already thinking of giving up my support for this precious child who walks all the way to school, fetches water from the well to bring to his family and who just have the bare necessities in life. And he sees us special since we support him to go to school.. I was humbled... I was rebuked... I realized how self-centered I was and I was just concerned of our own comforts. There were no words to express how I felt.

Yes, I would continue to sacrificially give and support this child. This child is precious to us and on God's sight. If he finishes his studies, it will truly be a great blessing to him and his family. He might even be able to alleviate his family from poverty. I'm sure God will honor this and He is able to bless us so, we might bless others!

Silver Business

My sister is still doing her silver jewelry business. She gets her silver jewelries here in Thailand because it's quite cheaper to buy them here than in the Philippines. But recently, it seems that the price for silver has also gone up, so I'm sure she has to make her prices higher too. I will try to look for better jewelry deals here in Thailand and maybe it might help her business in the future.

Anyways, if your from Cagayan de Oro and is interested to buy silver jewelry, you can send me a message and I'll tell you how to contact her. :)