Back from the Dead

Last Saturday, I wrecked my phone. It was all my own fault. Bad decision after bad decision: ”I’ll go for a hike in the pouring rain!” then, ”Obviously I’ll want to take pictures at the top” (we didn’t even make it to the top, and it would have been all fog anyway). Followed by: ”the pocket of my rain jacket will totally be enough water protection!” By the time we got back to the trail head it was dead.

The diagnosis from Apple was grim: water damage. The Genius told me that my warranty was void, but the good news was I would only have to fork over $300! Naturally, he said all of this in the most positive and upbeat way possible. Like $300 was totally nothing. I left the store telling him I’d have to think about it. And I did think about it while my phone sat in a bag of rice for four days.

Living without a phone was not as terrible as you might think. I still had iMessage on my computer and my roommate lent me an iPod “so I could still tell time”. In some ways being unplugged was like coming up for air. Not scrolling through Instagram when I had a spare moment in line at the grocery store left more time for day dreaming. No music on my walk in to work in the morning allowed quiet time for outside prayer and thankfulness while I started my day. When I was out for dinner with friends I was fully present, not looking at text messages or anything else.

Of course, it wasn’t all sunshine and roses. I also came to realize how much I use my phone on a daily basis. Notes, paying for parking, buzzing people up into my building—all required this little piece of metal and glass that now sat in rice, unable to turn on. I would be lying if I told you I was not extremely upset when I thought I was going to have to use $300 out of my savings. I’ve been working so hard to be more responsible with my money. To pay off debt and save for the future, like a financially stable grown up. I prayed those, ”God it’s not FAIR! You know how hard I’ve been working!” prayers. Basically stamping my feet at him. And I definitely heard that still small voice in return, reminding me to read Matthew 6 again. And the last few chapters of Job. And Exodus 16.

The story has a happy ending. The rice worked and my phone miraculously switched back on after the third day. I get to save those $300 for another rainy day. It was a good heart check though. A good reminder that where my treasure is, my heart is. A reminder that everything I have is provided to me by my heavenly father. And he knows my every need.

ps. I’m never going hiking in the rain again.