I Will Never…

I think this is a phrase that needs to be moved from my vocabulary. I remember using it about 21 years ago when my older brother was talking about new amazing technology that was about to happen. It was a ‘portable phone’ that you could use anywhere. It hadn’t arrived in South Africa yet and he was saying he was going to get a toy phone and pretend it was the real deal. We all laughed. I just thought it was going to be a highfalutin gadget, with which people showed off. I didn’t like pretension and having the latest and greatest gadget going didn’t go down well with me. “I’ll never get one,” I said.

Then they arrived.

Cell phone technology exploded onto the SA market in 1994, as long ago as South Africa’s democracy. Within a couple of years I had my Nokia brick. It revolutionised my life. I was selling advertising for CCFm at the time and Mike and I went away to George for a few days. I remember taking this phone with me and someone calling me while we were walking through a forest. Imagine that! Getting a call in the middle of nowhere. It was remarkable. A year or so later, I upgraded.

I remember being at an outside broadcast at a Cape Town church and feeling very self-conscious. I didn’t want it to look as if I was better than someone else because I had a cell phone. I tried to conceal it in my back pocket, but then I half hoped that someone may see it because it was such an impressive thing to have!

And now just about everyone has one and they are always by our side. They go along with wallets and keys – vital possessions, which we have to keep an eye on. They drive with us, they watch TV with us, they eat with us, they sleep next to us – our cell phone buddies are constant companions, opening up instant access to our families, friends, social lives, world events and are incredible encyclopaedias that contain access to just about any topic on the planet. On a smart phone I can tour the world, walk the streets of Jerusalem, soar over the Alps, view endless information about just about any subject that I think about. It certainly has become an object of our affection, but hopefully not an object of adoration.

Use them for all that is good and for God’s glory.

Psalm 124:1

The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;

I love technology.

#46 of my 1000 thanks is my cell phone.

#47 of my 1000 thanks is Skype which enables me to sit in my home and work with people around the world.

These are the days.

Keep the smile going.

God bless you!

In His Grip,

Helga xx 🙂