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I love an evening when I can sit by the fireplace in my big comfy chair and just relax.  We’ve actually had some nice cold evenings here in the Houston area this past winter that have just had “fireplace” written all over them.  I’ve loved it!!   Now, on such an evening I felt that it was cold enough for a fire, so I got my trusty fire starter wand and lit up those gas logs, plugged in my laptop, got my hot bowl of chicken and dumplings, and settled into my big comfy chair. A quiet empty nesters’ house can be nice sometimes….just saying.

As I got all settled, making my own little nest, feet propped up, fuzzy blanket just right, laptop just so, I was all set…I thought!  I started up my laptop, (a really pretty one with my Vera Bradley floral cover applied) all ready to answer some emails and check on Facebook, of course. Then I clicked on the Internet icon and waited….and waited…and waited…..   This couldn’t be happening again!  “No Internet Access”, were the words I read!  I had JUST had a repairman out the week before!  How could this be?! How could I survive without my INTERNET?   This called for some immediate action!  Surely I could do this, after having just gone through all of this over the phone with the service representative so recently. 

So, I climbed out of my nest, leaving my fuzzy blanket and laptop behind and went to check out that “little black box” I keep in my study.  Just as I thought, those little green lights were flashing and some weren’t even lit at all…not a good sign.  As I looked at the box I thought back through all the gyrations I had gone through the week before.  Let’s see…unplug this cord…wait…plug back in, unplug another cord…wait…plug back in…stick a toothpick in this tiny little hole to hopefully reset…stand on one foot while patting my head ten times in a row followed by reciting the Gettysburg Address…sorry I got a bit carried away there, but that’s just about how it felt!  All of this and all I got was a RED light flashing wildly now!  By this time, it was just too late in the evening to start all of this over again with a service representative…it would just have to wait until tomorrow.  Big sigh!!

Tomorrow did come, in spite of it all, and I was told that it wasn’t my “little black box”, or connection, that was having a problem at all.  It was an outage that effected many other people, along with me.  An answer that was a bit comforting, knowing that I wasn’t the only one who had been cut off from the outside world.  We would all be reconnected soon!  Thank goodness!  

Isn’t it amazing how we, so often, rely on Technology in our everyday lives?  And when it’s taken away, even for a short time, it seems to be a catastrophe, leaving us to feel alone and disconnected.  But the truth is that we are never truly alone or disconnected.  God is always there, and no icons, “little black box”, cords, plugs or reciting of the Gettysburg Address is required.  He is ALWAYS connected, always available and just waiting to speak to us, to work in our lives, to show us His unconditional love, if WE will only stay connected to Him. Nothing can separate us from God’s love.  There, truly, is no greater or more powerful, constant connection in the world than that which exists between God and His children…you and me.

Debbie Pedigo

Romans 8:38 & 39

March 5, 2014