Good morning Friends!
I’ve decided I don’t like cell phones anymore! Saturday I upgraded from my beloved flip phone to a phone of immense proportions and swiping capability. Now trying to get used to the 100’s of things this phone can do, I’ve forgotten all I want to do is talk on it and text. But the little guy at the cell phone store was so good with the phone and made it look easy to operate! He pushed and swiped rapidly showing me all the technology not realizing my eyes had fogged over and I was no longer cognizant.
There is even a lady’s voice on there who will answer commands…..so he pulled up where we were located somehow and asked her for the closest grocery store. He was running a test to show me, but I can’t find her or the voice. I’ve lost more apps due to fat finger touch and swiping than I will ever download. I know I’m complaining, and yet I have to remember the guy said for me to give it a couple weeks to get used to it. And as soon as I figure out how to make a call I’m going to call him for more help! (I am well aware that many of you are technologically savvy and can’t believe anyone would have this much trouble!). Saturday night when I got an incoming call I learned that you can’t just touch the green arrow to accept the call, you have to swipe in the direction of the arrows…….
The hardest part of the Great Transition going from one phone to the other was watching the cell phone guy work. He took my flip phone and was able to change it from “breeze mode” to “advanced mode.” And all of a sudden my old phone changed and all kinds of new options were available including finding the dreaded “outbox”. Over the last year or so occasional text messages could not be sent and the phone told me they were moved to the outbox. I couldn’t find the outbox in the older “mode” and when it came up Saturday there were 151 messages! Sigh….I give up……I remember the days of getting up from your chair and going to the phone when it rang. Even though I like having a phone in the car when I travel, I sort of prefer simpler times.
Faith is like that. It’s simple. Just believe. We are the ones who make it so complicated perhaps because there are so many spiritual “apps” than can be downloaded. According to the Christian calendar we are in the season of Lent. It’s a simple time, to remember the sin of our lives. We are to feel sorry about that sin and seek God’s forgiveness and grace in Christ. Then we go forward toward the Easter resurrection remembering again that Jesus died for that sin, and rose again defeating death. No upgrade needed. No cell towers or tutorials really. Just simple, real life faith. It makes all the difference in a world of constant change!
Pastor Doug Givan
Chaplain
St. Vincent Clay (Brazil)
St. Vincent Seton Specialty (Indianapolis)
“Live for something….write your name in kindness, love, and mercy on the hearts of thousands you come in contact with….you will never be forgotten.” Thomas Chalmers
Eric is our current Webmaster and works on the NLS Communications Team. Raised in Judaism, he found Christ and the New Testament at age 16 in a Southern Baptist Church. He searched many denominations for the real church, only to find the Holy Spirit is present in all of them. He's worked for One for Israel, a group of native Israeli believers who are sharing the gospel in the holy land in Hebrew and is part of the only Hebrew speaking seminary in Israel.
