technology: my fiery trial

well, here it is -- the scripture document i promised many of you almost a month ago.
nice, huh? i took the old, beaten up sheet i created way back when and i put it on a new fancy-shmancy 2013 web page. and let me tell you, i was literally beaming with pride over the fact that i was able to locate the iweb thingy-ma-doo on my computer and use it!

yes, it took me an entire evening.
yes, it wasn't easy.

but still, i was proud.

except my pride quickly turned to technology persecution.

because as nice as that all looks, we have one problem:  i can't figure out how to get that web page on my blog and out to YOU!

i've tried a variety of things -- none of which  have worked.

and, y'all know me:  I.DO.NOT.LIKE.IT.WHEN.THINGS.DON'T.WORK.

seriously, the night i was messing around with this i ended up accidentally importing a zillion gigabytes of junk into my macbook. i was certain my laptop was going to blow up right then and there on top of my lap!

so, the truth comes out: i have a love-hate relationship with technology.

i know some of you think because i have a blog and because i have even figured out how to add pictures to it, that i must be some kind of technology savvy individual.

but, i'm not.

i'm a mama who is too busy to mess with it and when i do sit down to mess with it, i just wan't the blessed-ed thing to work before i have to run and cook up some dinner.

i bet some of you can relate.

and it's everywhere.

there is no escaping technology in the year 2013.

i admit, i've stood completely stumped in front of touch screens in even the most ordinary of places like the bank, the market and the airport. it's an especially grand experience when my kids are peering over my shoulder and shouting impatient instructions.

"mo-om ... you've got to push that button right there ... no, not that one ... that one!"

like it's that easy. geesh!

i am not only battling middle-age and all of the glorious physical accoutrements which come along, but i am also in a daily battle with my issues of technical-stupidity. and, what really gets my goat, is that 9 times out 10, my kids are standing nearby watching the antics of their technologically challenged mother. 

they don't get that i used up all my brain cells on giving birth to them. or that any energy left over was spent keeping them all alive through their dangerous childhoods.  they don't get that their mother's middle-aged brain somedays feels a little like mush.

i have to stand at computer screens and actually READ THEM ... and then i have to actually THINK ABOUT THEM ... and then i have to actually THINK ABOUT THEM SOME MORE. and even after that incredibly long processing pause, it is still possible for me to almost blow up things like my laptop.

and nothing is sacred -- it even happens at church!

just this morning the girls and i were checking bella into sunday school.  a few weeks ago our church went to a computer check-in method (that's another phrase for challenging). all you have to do is scan your fingerprint and then press a few easy buttons on a screen and, voila! child is checked in!

except it didn't go quite like that today. every time i pressed my finger on the scanner the screen beeped and gave me a lovely error message. people were beginning to line up behind me and my daughters were beginning, in grave embarrassment, to shout instructions over my shoulder.

"mom, you have to hold it there longer."
"mom, you are using the wrong finger."

i began to sweat.

i was just trying to get my five year old checked into sunday school. really? must i have to encounter my technological shortcomings even in this place of sunday morning sanctuary?

well, the good news is that my girls were right. so i switched fingers and i held said finger on the scanner a little longer and BAM! the necessary tickets magically appeared out of the box and bella made it to sunday school and i resumed breathing and all was well. except i was really sweaty all through church.

i am not sure if there's a really deep spiritual application here. but i do think there is encouragement to turn the frustrating things of this world into something good. some of you are a gazillion-gigabytes better with technology than i am, but you probably have something else which limits or frustrates you.

we've all got our stuff.

so whatever it is, just know that it is these kinds of tiny irritations which best polish our rough patches. the big problems and dramatic issues can do their share, but, it is the everyday grievances which really chip away at us.

i don't know about you, but, personally, i can be more way more patient and calm with the big stuff than i can with the little irritations.

i think that has something to do with my expectations.

"beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. but rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you." ~ 1 peter 4:12-17

when peter mentions the "fiery trial," i'm not sure that he's referring to only the really big things. i have a hunch, in his mind, fiery trials can be small things too -- like, oh, um, near exploding computers. after all, peter, who is known for whacking off a guy's ear in anger, probably would have been a tad demonstrative with an uncooperative computer. but that's just my thought on the matter ...

 i especially love that he says don't act like "something strange were happening to you."  that's really great stuff, because you know that's what a lot of my frustration is about. THIS SHOULDN'T BE HAPPENING. that's what i think when things don't go well or don't work out. IT SHOULDN'T BE THIS HARD.

i was yelling at my computer the other night because i really should have been able to do some kind of quick click and copy and really cool thing.  my web page should have easily and seamlessly materialized on my blog. it works like that for other people, right? but instead of a quick click, i started desperately pushing buttons and almost had my own fiery trial with a smoking macbook pro!

so, what's the lesson here today?

well, for me, it is about being patient in the frustrations of life. and more so, for being willing to look for His bigger lesson in my little annoyances.

is anyone kind of laughing at the irony of that picture up above? what does the first topic in that document deal with? oh yeah: grumbling and complaining. and i think the next one down is about anger .... hmm ...

i am not sure when i'll ever be able to figure out how to load a web page onto my blog (i am 100% open for suggestions). but i refuse to allow satan any further victory in this situation. so, here's the deal:  if you are still interested in these scripture passages, send me a quick email at: emmyandty@aol.com and i will send you the document directly! and guess what? ...  I REALLY CAN DO THAT.

"in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."

 ~ romans 8:37

one step away from a fiery trial!