Read and Remember the fine print

Beware of the fine print or should I say remember the fine print even if it’s 9 years later. I have been a Comcast customer for the past 9 years. That is until recently. When my contract was up for my triple play package my cable bill went from $136 to $217 without notice. They were not budging when we called to see what the deal was. They offered to let us drop back to basic cable, internet and phone for $128 but that was 3 steps down from what we had and that was not a good deal so we switched to Fios. The price was right.

Verizon is up and running. Life is good. The picture quality is outstanding and we are content with Fios as much as one could be content with a cable company. I’m plugging along, still using my email address at Comcast because I didn’t think anything of it and it still worked. We were two weeks into our Fios high when I went to log into Comcast and couldn’t.

I thought something was wrong and called them. They were very nice (NOT) about it. No Comcast, no email. What about my mail? My files? My contacts? Sorry lady, it’s all gone. Dumped. It was in the agreement you signed way back when. Don’t you remember? Well no, not really, after all that was 9 years ago people. Who remembers the fine print for 9 years especially a small little detail about how your email address is tied to your account with us? Certainly not I. At least not then but you can be sure I will remember it now.

I have an account with Fios through Verizon.net but you can be sure that I won’t use it for my contacts, my personal email that I want to save, etc. I will use it to pay my Fios bill and communicate with them but I’ve switched to Gmail. Safe, simple and no strings attached. Files, pictures, etc. that I’ve saved for a long time gone. Lesson learned. Read and REMEMBER the fine print.

So now you know why if you’ve tried to email me it bounces back and if you haven’t heard from me it’s because I don’t have access to my contacts so you’ll have to hit me up on Facebook or give me a call so we can reconnect.

Book Review - How to Reach Your Full Potential for God by Charles F. Stanley

Do you know what God has in store for you? Have you reached your maximum potential? In Dr. Stanley’s latest book he offers you 7 essentials to help you answer those questions and reach your full potential for God. It will enlighten, challenge and guide you to the deep recesses of your being and pull forth all that God has planted in you and help you develop them into their best.

It was not a quick read but a thoughtful read. I underlined, wrote notes and spent lots of time pondering and journaling as I read this book. I came away feeling like I had a road map that over time would lead me to be the best person I can be for God. It gave me a deeper understanding of who I am and what my purpose is and how to tap into the God-given gifts and potential that are stored up in me. You cannot read this book and walk away not having been touched in some way to think, do or be better than you were before you started. I highly recommend it for those who want to take their relationship with God to a whole new level.

A Pleasant Surprise

Two days, two and 1/2 hours, 249 pages and I am at the end of a book that has stirred me in a way I haven't been stirred in a long time. It left me grateful that I read it. It gave me a sense of peace and enlightenment that I have been searching for but not quite finding.

I am left feeling thoughtful. My soul has been pricked and my mind is racing to capture the emotions that seem to escape words. If only you could feel what I'm feeling, search through my mind and my thoughts maybe you could understand although I'm not sure I do. I just know I have been touched, changed, given a little glimpse into something I asked about many years ago.

I don't think you can read it and not feel an impact on your life. I don't think you can push it aside or shut the door that it opens to the possibilities in your life or the notion that you've been going about it all wrong or doing it for the wrong reasons. That the quest is not in the answers but in how you handle the questions, the path or the hand that you have been dealt.

Have a little faith by Mitch Albom was the book I read during my forays to Barnes & Noble with my husband this week. I have read several of his books over the years and enjoyed them and the movies that came from them. Tuesdays with Morrie and 5 People You Meet in Heaven were my favorites, that is, until this one. It is a great read, a great lesson, a great story. If you let it, it will open up a place in you that you didn't know existed.

I have faith and at times it is as small as a mustard seed and others as large as the highest mountain depending on the circumstances.

I have a deep faith that there is a God, that Jesus is the Christ, my Lord and Savior and it is only through Him that we can return to the Father. I believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God and even though I don't understand all of it I can bear witness to the times when it has spoken volumes in my life, been my compass in the wilderness and a soothing balm to my wounded soul.

Reading this book about these three men and the journey their lives have taken them on has made me look at faith - particularly my faith, in a whole new way. I have a greater appreciation for it; for how I was raised and what it instilled in me. I can look at my flaws and faults and see them as something more than they were - things to be hidden and ashamed of. Now they are lessons in God's unfailing love, 2nd, 3rd, even 4th chances at life and doing it better or giving back.

Tomorrow is not promised. Have I given my best today?