A Meeting with God In the Bathroom

Notes about the picture: The top center is the window(where the green is). The door handle is on the far right.

This will be a LONG,but funny blog, so I give you permission to LAUGH during this story whenever you feel like it!

I slept in today because I can. I have finished my home schooling responsibilities with the Raatz family.( As of Tuesday, June 3rd)Yay! We are all excited to be finished!

The first thing I did when I did woke up: Went to the bathroom.

Last words I heard before going into the bathroom(approx. 5 minutes before as my roommate was leaving the apartment):
My roommate: "Shauna, are you asleep?"
Me: "Yeah, what?"
My roommate:" If Domnul Constantin(Mr. Constantin, our landlord) comes today, will you show him the bathroom door handle?"
Me: "Yeah..."

Background information you need to know:

A week or so ago(maybe longer), we started noticing that the bathroom door handle was REALLY loose and it was getting hard to close and open the door. I nonchalantly mentioned to my roommate(without too much afterthought....will become obvious later),"I sure hope no one gets STUCK in the bathroom!"

We had just had dinner last night with our landlords, Constantin and Nina(who speak NO English. We communicate with them in Russian and Romanian). We had discussed a light that needs to be fixed and a fridge that needs to be moved. We forgot about mentioning the door handle. So, anyways, Constantin said that he might come today or sometime later. We weren't sure. Constantin and Nina are wonderful people and great landlords. We knew that Constantin would take care of the problem, we just had to make him aware of it first.

We have 2 bathrooms separate from each other. One has a toilet and sink. The other has the shower and sink. In this post, when I mention bathroom, I am referring to the bathroom with the toilet.

Now, that you have all the background information....

After dinner last night, my roommate and I discussed the door handle and how we had forgotten to mention it....

DO YOU SEE WHERE THIS STORY IS GOING??

Back to me going to the bathroom...

So, I don't know about you, but I don't usually take anything into the bathroom with me. So, I am in the bathroom and I shut the door and lock it. Everything normal so far. (I guess it wasn't necessary to lock it because my roommates were both out of the apartment. I was ALONE. BUT, I think it is good practice to shut and lock bathroom doors!)

So, I go to the bathroom, wash my hands, and grab the door handle which...ARE YOU READY FOR THIS??
falls
off
and
into
my
hands!(along with all nails and apparent parts...)
Oh boy....What do I do? First, I fiddle(is that a word?) with the pieces left in the door...nothing. Then, I start to grab anything that is removable from the door. The nail that holds the towel, well, I pulled that out. Then, I went for the hinges. Nothing. Then, I realized...I AM STUCK. I opened the window. Thank God for ventilation. Then, I looked at the door. OH NO! I decided I would just try to hit the door as hard as possible. I hit the part of the door where the handle had been as hard as I could. What happened you ask? The handle on the other side of the door fell off! OH yeah...I'm really working my way out of it. Yeah right?!? Then, I just beat on the door with both hands out of FRUSTRATION and ANGER.

Realizing that I was so obviously stuck without a clue how to help myself, I fell to the floor in a sitting position. I cried out to God. "God, please help me!!" I had teary eyes, but no real tears. I couldn't believe this was happening to me. My comfort at that moment was that God was(and is) in control(even though I didn't understand or see the solution), I had a toilet in case I needed it(which, since I had just used it probably wouldn't be the case especially since I hadn't had my morning water, cappuccino...etc!) ,and if I became so parched, I could drink from the sink. I was also most thankful for the open window! What I was a little worried about was the fact that I was unsure when my roommates would be home and I could be stuck for hours. I had also read a story online before about a man who was stuck in the bathroom for a couple of days! Yikes.

I do believe that God heard my cry for help. I stood on top of the toilet to lift my head out of the window(BTW we live on the 2nd floor) which had bars on it. The bars made for a nice grip while my feet tried to remained balanced on the toilet. I looked around outside and I didn't see anyone that I knew. I heard a voice from downstairs so I waited. Then, I saw him. The son of the friendly neighbor, Gheorghe. He was on his cell phone, but I didn't care. I am desperate. Also, I knew that this son, Michael(who is probably 20 and speaks English pretty well), I later learned and I had briefly met once before when he started speaking to me in ENGLISH. Oh praise God. So, I started calling out to him, "Hello!?!" (Just like the damsel in distress, you know?) I told him the gist of the story that you've just read. All in English...Oh I am so thankful. How would I ever explain on this in Romanian? I have no idea.

At first, he was like,"Aren't your friends home?" Um, hello!!...if my friends were home, I wouldn't be standing on a toilet and leaning of a window to tell you my problems. No, my friends aren't home and I don't know when they will be home!

Then, he became really helpful and started asking smart questions. He started to understand my dilemma more. He did think my story was really funny and he had to share it with others in the home and those passing by. Thank you very much.
It took him a while to understand that I was really stuck. I picked up the broken handle and showed him that there was no turning the knob. I think he understood more clearly when he saw the broken handle. I asked him to call my landlord Constantin. Neither Gheorghe nor Michael had the number. I thought it was worth the try. Once before when I lost electricity in my apartment, Constantin had called Gheorghe and sent him up to check on me. So, I thought, maybe the two were friends. Well, they couldn't find any numbers for Constantin. I do feel like they dialed a lot of numbers though. Gheorghe and Michael suggested that I kick the door out. "Like in Mortal Kombat," Michael added. I asked him to show me what that looked like. He did some moves.Priceless. Before trying out my karate moves, I asked Michael if there was a phone book with Moldovan residents listed. There is. Great! I suggested that they search for Constantin number there. THEY FOUND IT. Oh praise Jesus.

If he couldn't reach Constantin, Michael told me that he was just climb up. Okay. Maybe that will work. There are bars on my window here, but however you think you can help. I am open to suggestions here.

If I had been outside of the bathroom, I would have all the important numbers listed for my landlords, my roommates, my colleagues etc. All in my cell phone. I don't know any of them by heart.

Back to the LONG story. So, Michael contacted Constantin and he would be on his way to my apartment and probably reach my apartment in a half hour or so. I was thankful for the time frame. I asked Michael what time it was. At this time, I had already been in the bathroom for an hour..at least.

While I waited for Constantin, I PRAYED. I think God wanted my complete attention. Well, he had it. I was talking to him about life and praying for many friends and family members(maybe you). I sang some songs. All in all it was a great meeting with God. I had cried out to Him for help and help was on the way! So thankful...

I also thought about these things: 1)This story is going to be a great blog post. 2)People that know and love me are going to find this hilarious. 3) Bathrooms are really dirty places(Even though I had just cleaned our bathroom 24 hours prior) and 4)I really need to repaint my toenails.

Then, I hear my name being called from outside. Michael asked me, "Are you lonely?"
I said, "Well, I am here in the bathroom alone and I'm praying to God." He said, "Very good!" He decided that he would stand there and talk to me, because if he were in a similar situation, he would want me to talk to him. So, he started asking about what I did in Moldova and how I felt about Moldova. I was thankful for the conversation because it took my mind off of my current situation. Then, he called Constantin one more time. I was assured that Constantin would be at my apartment within 15 minutes. Michael had to leave to go swimming. I thanked him for all his help and we said goodbye.

More waiting....Thank you, God for teaching me patience. More prayers. More singing. Then, I heard a beautiful sound. Keys turning in the door. CONSTANTIN! I hear his voice and I can see him approaching the door.(There is now an open hole from where both handles have fallen off either side of the door). He is laughing. He says in Romanian, "Oh, this isn't a big problem. Small problem." Music to my ears. He has a tool that he is turning. I am getting super excited! Then, FREEDOM!! The door is open. Oh praise You, Lord. I am free. You provided help for me. Thank you.

I have never been so excited to see Constantin...I patted him on the shoulder and said, "Thank you very much!" He is looking over the broken parts and surveying things. He says, "These are not good. " I laugh as I say, "I know!" He then moves to put the toilet seat back on correctly. It slid off while I was standing on the toilet. As he is working, he says," Girls, Girls....they need boys!" I couldn't help, but agree with him more.

Sorry this story is so long, but it is truly helping me put the hour and a half I spent in the bathroom in perspective. I'm thankful that God grabbed my attention and then showed Himself faithful. I am. But next time, God, "If I have to get stuck somewhere, can I please get stuck in the kitchen?"