Faith Archives - leanstead

Is Tech Support Really to Blame?

05.19.2021 by hope // Leave a Comment

Everyday is an opportunity

Yesterday, I lost an hour an hour of my life that I can never get back. You probably have been in my shoes. The frustration of life in a first world country.

The scenario

It’s kind of a long story, but I have to share it. Otherwise, you may not see the full picture and realize what a jerk I can be. We are all sinful creatures. Right?

Well, almost two years ago (see I told you this would be long), Michael and I moved our cell phones to a new carrier. We decided to set up a business account so that we could take advantage of counting this as a business expense. Since we are a very small business and only needed three lines, they talked us into ‘a better deal’. We ended up taking on a line for the truck, a line for a desk top phone (which we did not need), another mysterious line and the three cell phone lines we did actually need.

Back Story

At the time, we were planning a move and decided to hold off on setting up the desktop phone until after we were had made that transition. Well, the move took longer than expected and then we basically forgot about the phone. Over this past weekend, we finally realized that it might actually be helpful to have that line working. Yeah, almost two years of paying for the line for no real reason.

I located the box and pulled out all of the parts. It basically had to be put together. It seemed simple. Power line, connected. Internet line, connected. Receiver cord, connected. And…..”invalid account/no internet connection”.

My Attempt to Resolve the Issue

Let’s try that again. Disconnect everything and reconnect in a different order. Nothing.

So, I go to the company’s website. Super, there’s a video! I watch it and it’s no help. I’ve already done everything like the woman in the video. It’s still not connecting.

Ugh! I hate this, but I’m going to have to call tech support. Does anyone else dread this like I do? It’s like going to the dentist for me. Technology has always caused me anxiety. I’m that woman that has to get her husband to ‘fix’ her email. I mean, seriously! It used to be really bad.

However, in recent months, I’ve turned over a new leaf and put my big girl pants on. I have begun to tackle technology. I even created this website WITHOUT any help from Michael Stephens. Are you proud of me, Babe?

Okay, I digress.

Why is this so hard?

So, I make this phone call and get put through the wringer. I have to prove that I am a legit account admin and I can make decisions and all that. Then we finally get to the reason for my call. I attempt to explain that I have this phone that we have had for nearly two years and I am just now setting it up. The guy, who is clearly not here in Alabama, is struggling to understand my English. He definitely cannot understand while I am just now connecting a phone I have had for two years. Silly American?! However, we work together to try everything written out for him on his troubleshooting cards.

Nothing is working. I move the phone to connect it directly to the router and no success. We go through the steps of resetting the factory settings. Still no connection.

The tipping point

Then the kicker comes when he tells me I need to call and reset my password. He gives me a phone number to call and tells me to go ahead and call and he will wait for me.

I pause. Squint my eyes and shake my head.

“Wait. You want me to call while you wait?!?” “Yes”

“But I only have the cell phone I am calling you from. The phone I am calling about is not connected.”

“That’s okay. I will wait for you.”

I’m really about to lose it now. I take a deep breathe and say, “You realize that if I call this number right now, I have to hang up on you. Right?” I don’t think that part was spelled out on his prompt cards.

He finally does realize that his suggestion made no sense and went on to suggest that my problem was that I needed to use a WIFI connection to connect the phone. You know, since the direct connection wouldn’t work. (You hear my sarcasm, right?)

Clearly, this is not what I wanted to hear and he had nothing else for me. Instead of simply letting me go, he attempted to ask if he had been helpful. I’m sure it was on his prompt cards. Yes, you guessed it. I wanted to scream.

That little voice in my head/heart

It was at this moment that my spirit spoke up and reminded me that this guy in some foreign country was not at fault here. As much as I wanted to place blame on someone else – the cell phone provider, the phone manufacturer, the outsourcing of tech support… This moment was all on me.

“But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” James 3:17,18

This was a moment for me to slow down and breathe. I did. Then God gave me the grace to say, “I realize that none of this is your fault. You are doing your job the best way you know how to. You can’t control how this phone works or how this system works. I appreciate your efforts to help me. Thank you.”

No amount of sassiness would make that phone work. However, I had an opportunity to be human and to appreciate the efforts of a person living in a foreign country and most likely with far less than I have. He didn’t create the system of outsourcing labor to another country to take advantage of their cheap labor. He also didn’t create the problem I have of purchasing a phone that stayed in a box for two years because I was too busy to set it up.

My frustration is the result of living too fast to take care of the things that need to be taken care of. The most important of which is my own heart and my witness to others.

The challenge

So, I was left with the challenge to apply that passage from James to my heart. I am an American and I live a life that is still too rushed. I am working to slow my roll and see God’s hand at work around me, but I still get caught up in the ugliness of a ‘me first’ culture.

Instead, my desire truly needs to be wisdom that is from above, that is pure and peaceable and gentle. Wisdom that is reasonable and produces good fruit. Man! I have a long way to go, but I’m trying to make a change.

Really, I am.

Lord, help me apply Your Word to my heart and my life. Enable me to understand and realize daily that my words and even my thoughts, are a witness of what is happening inside me.

Guide me to become a person who sows and makes peace.

The day after

UPDATE! After a really good quiet time and some time spent outdoors (which makes my heart smile)…I went back for one last try. I moved the internet connection cord AND it’s now working! Of course, I had to call Michael to share my news.

But I got his voicemail. Oh well…I’m still celebrating alone (and with you) 🙂

How God is at work with Technology and COVID

03.29.2021 by hope // Leave a Comment

Have you considered that God may actually be using technology and COVID to help us step out and try something new for His purposes?

On most Tuesday afternoons, we see ingredients flying all about several different kitchens simultaneously and the conversation was the usual casual chat. Sometimes the talks are about what happened at school or over the weekend or maybe sharing about a friend in need of prayer. Other times it consists of questions about the recipe ingredients or how thick to slice the zucchini. Sometimes it’s just plain TRUTH.

“Yeah, isn’t it cool that God takes things that we don’t like or want and uses them to get us to do something really good?” Words of a camper.

The conversation on this particular day started off with talking about how cool it is that we can have a cooking workshop with friends who are thousands of miles apart and it’s like we are in the same room. Moms and Dads pop on screen to ask a question or greet each other. Pets jump on camera and siblings sneak in to snag a taste. It’s so much more than instructors and campers. It’s a community.

Is God actually using technology?

Technology can be so cool. Right? Don’t get me wrong. I know there is the potential for danger. But, if monitored well, technology can be an awesome tool. People are using virtual meeting spaces in incredible ways.

iPad screen with faces of four participants

Earlier that day, I had had the privilege of listening (in a virtual meeting space) to a missionary in New York share about how they have been able to use these virtual spaces to establish discipleship communities. This is happening because of the limitations brought about by stay at home orders in response to the COVID pandemic. God has pushed missionaries and local believers to get creative in finding ways to meet, worship and disciple others. If missionaries were able to continue meeting in person, there would be no need to explore other ways. When something is working relatively well, we generally don’t make changes.

“We’ve never done it that way before”

Maybe you’ve heard this phrase or used it yourself. However, trying new ways didn’t just accomplish the same results or reach the same neighborhoods. Now there are members joining in from all around the world. Borders mean nothing!

With that same need to find new ways to accomplish the tasks before us, we have all made changes and tried things that simply weren’t necessary before 2020. This is how The Steadfast Project came to be.

The Steadfast Project meets new needs

Once upon the year 2020…there was this camp director who loved her campers and staff. When health restrictions took camp away from all of them, it broke her heart. God opened her eyes to the challenges families were now facing in this world of ‘new normals’ and ‘unprecedented’ restrictions. Many families were now homeschooling, doing virtual school or attempting to do school in person but outbreaks, exposures and quarantines have made life, well, really unpredictable and definitely complicated.

Campers gain routine, community and mentorship

This director knows the three things that campers gain from summer camp are a dependable routine, community with believers and the mentorship provided by called and trained staff. Not being able to provide these in the traditional residential camp setting, Kaley Stephens was pushed by God to step out and try something new. Along with the talents of Maura Lyle and Spencer Martin, the group launched The Steadfast Project in the fall of 2020 in order to provide families the benefits of routine, community and mentorship during the school year by providing online workshops for their campers. When the schedule at school is increasingly unpredictable, The Steadfast Project offers security and routine through their workshops. Regardless of concerns about exposure to nasty pathogens, they are still able to meet.

**Samples of workshops offered through The Steadfast Project**

It was in one of these workshops, the cooking workshop, where this conversation was taking place. Light bulbs were going off and we were all realizing that just like those missionaries in New York, we were all experiencing God stretching us to do new things…things that were good for us and good for the Kingdom. We may not like what has brought us to this place and we may have chosen something different than our current circumstances, but God is doing a work in us all. It’s up to us to hear Him and be obedient to His voice. We wouldn’t want to miss out on what He has planned, right?

Acts 13:41 tells us “Look, you scoffers, be astounded and perish; for I am doing a work in your days, a work that you will not believe, even if one tells it to you.”

Could God be calling you to do something new?

What about you? Are you feeling God send you in a new direction or leading you to step out and try something new? Has He placed you in a situation that is not what you would have chosen yourself? Perhaps, He has a ‘new work’ for you…’a work that you will not believe, even if one tells it to you.’

inspirational text - God takes things we don't like or want and used them to get us to do something really good

I wonder what that could be??? I would definitely love to hear about it!

More about The Steadfast Project

The Steadfast Project is an online enrichment workshop and leadership development community birthed out of the unique needs and challenges presented parents and campers in 2020. I have have enjoyed being a participant and supporter of their Cooking Workshops both in the fall of 2020 and Spring of 2021. Leanstead will also be partnering with TSP in the near future for a fun weekend. More to come on that soon! To learn more about this group check them out by visiting The Steadfast Project.

Life is complicated: How to change that

02.18.2021 by hope // Leave a Comment

We live complicated lives in a complicated world keeping us distracted from hearing God’s voice. Leanstead’s overall goal here is learning and sharing how to lean up our lives so that we can focus on what is most important; in order to do that, we’ve GOT to simplify things.

This process happens by first questioning everything; our worship, our work, our lifestyle, our health, our education, our relationships, our diet, our spending…you know, EVERYTHING. It may seem daunting, but here’s the thing; it’s not a destination.

It’s a journey and the first step is getting quiet and hearing God’s voice. Taking the time to slow our roll, helps us to see areas of our lives that have become far too complicated and keep us distracted from what we claim are our priorities. Tackling everything at once is not recommended. There’s a phrase used in the Middle East that I love: ‘schway, schway’. It means ‘little by little’.

For our family, this slow roll has led us to question how we educated our children, how we use modern medicine, how we earn a living, how we spend our money, how we eat… But not all at once. One thing at a time.

You see where I’m going here? Over the past few generations, we have benefited greatly (or at least that’s what advertisers want us to think) from endless conveniences and loads of technology. Sure, grocery stores, fast food and smart phones have completely changed our lives…but has it really been for the better?

The problem

Today’s families are over scheduled, over worked, overcommitted and under valued, undernourished, unconnected and unfulfilled. Sad, right?

But here’s the thing: it doesn’t have to be this way.

We have a choice.

We can follow along with what society expects or we CAN say, “No, I don’t think so, Tim.” (my apologies if you are not familiar with “Home Improvement” and ‘Tim, the Tool Man, Taylor’).

The Solution

We can chose to live differently, simply. It may not be as easy as we think though. Returning to the simpler ways of generations before us does require some learning on our part. Healthier meals are made from scratch, not a box or the freezer section. However, from scratch cooking, which used to be taught in public school along with shop class, is a thing of the past. Most of our society is unable to bake biscuits, balance a checkbook or change the oil in the car.

They definitely don’t know how to raise a chicken, grow a tomato or read a book and think critically about it.

These are skills that we often find ourselves Googling and if our great grandparents could see us, would definitely be shaking their heads. Can you imagine? But we have a chance to change that.

We can start today to rediscover those skills we dismissed in our grandparents. Doing so just might change our lives for the better. I think they were much smarter than we ever imagined!

So, anybody have a pipe wrench? I’ve gotta leak that needs fixing.

Blessings,

Hope