Was I missed?

Luke 15: 9 And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost.

* or peace which I had lost

Was I missed?

A few days without internet, for ME, was like a time of fasting. You know, when you do without something for a time, things you didn’t see before becomes clearer? That’s what my four days without this virtual world did for me, and I loved the experience.

I didn’t do much on the net on Saturday and by Sunday the net had disappeared not to be seen again until Wednesday afternoon. Was I missed? Would my online friends even know I was gone? Sure I’ve left before but usually I’d give a clue that I’d BE gone for a couple days, but this time I/they had no warning.

Storms are like that you know, they swoop right in sometimes with little warning, shake the trees, rearrange the view, then leaves with a clearer sky than when it all started. Much like life.

Often times we meet storms in our life and we squirm at the thought, Oh no not again. But did you know that if you looked at the storm differently you’d weather it much better?

The storms of the 14^th scared the dickens outta me. The strong winds kept pounding and pounding on the rooftop and windows. I prayed and prayed and prayed some more then I woke up and we found our internet was out of commission. We didn’t call anyone because on Sunday you’d never get an answer so we waited.

Monday came and they said they’d send someone out on Wednesday to take a look at it. I know everyone will think me crazy but I felt no internet was for a reason. You see, any time something happens I believe there is a reason it happened no matter how big or how small, there is always a reason.

Wednesday came and the guy was on the roof for about an hour hooking us up a new cable wire, which apparently was dry-rotted from the sun, and the rain had seeped into the line, thus rendering us with no connection. All fixed right? Wrong.

I went onto facebook and let all my friends know I was still alive because I knew many are weather bugs and keep an eye on crazy weather. Some thought my internet was out, some thought it was due to the storm and they were right. The rain had seeped into the line, so the storm was the cause but was it really? Is that the reason it went out, really?

By Wednesday night it was gone again. Not totally gone just splotchy. You can get to Yahoo but it takes a long time to get to mail and even longer if you try opening different tabs. By Saturday when Steven got home, he was back on the phone because we had had some interesting storms the night before, again.

The tech guy had mentioned that the tree (which fell months ago in high winds that the landlord has never removed) was blocking the connection. Remove that limb there and you’ll get better reception.

Steven, determined as ever to get the internet back, decided to go out, hook the tree limb up to his truck and PULL the limb off. The entire tree moved and the limb was repositioned, but still, shotty internet connection.

Sunday’s sermon kind of had me thinking of the REASON we were getting no internet. It really became clearer for me.

1)     You really tend to see who your REAL friends are.

2)     You now have time to focus on better and more important things. (God)

3)     You now have time to Glorify God!

That’s it! Sometimes we put too much time into the net. Sure we justify it by: “But there is a lot of good.” Or “It isn’t all that bad.” Or “I’m using it for good.” Yup, justifying your actions. Let me ask, are you glorifying God in all your actions?

For ME, being away meant refocusing on more important things in the physical world. My friends will always be there, but my physical world, it is going to go one day and there are real things that need tending to AWAY from the internet, climbing inside my mind, I’m finding the REASON there is no internet.

My God given talent is poetry and writing. Whenever I veer from those two things, the internet seems to blank out. I can do a few facebook posts but veer away from the intended posts, poof, it disappears MAKING me focus on HIM!

So yes, I was missed and I missed my friends, but really what I needed was time, time away from the net to focus on life, on my reality, and that is truly what I’m getting from the lack of internet reception. I wonder if Steven and Adam are learning the same thing about their over indulgence in YouTube? Probably not. But 'I' AM growing and learning and I praise the Lord for that! AMEN!