When you move to another continent, it becomes apparent that without technology, you would never be able to stay in touch with those you love. One of my greatest comforts each day is logging on to the internet and finding emails from all of those people that I miss! I remember the first time we used Skype and I heard our friend Dyron's voice - it was like this flood of warmth came over me - the voice of someone from home! We stayed up til 2 in the morning on Mother's day talking to all of our sweet mothers and family - it was so worth it! So imagine when we woke up last week and found that our internet connection was gone - used up - we had maxed out our quota and our friends that own the house are in Spain and unreachable for a couple of weeks! We have just made it to an internet cafe and once again are connected to the world again! Ironic that we lost our connection the day before the season finale of my favorite show Lost. We realized that downloading the last 2 episodes is probably what put us over the top! So, we'll resolve ourselves to just going to or renting the occasional movie.
We've also had to learn how to deal with pay as you go cell phones, which is tricky, because so far, I've only realized I was out of minutes when they were used up and gone and I couldn't call! You can't get a phone contract here if you don't have a bank account (which we can't do unless we're S.A citizens). Cam really misses his Google Earth on his IPhone when we get lost in the middle of nowhere and can't find our way out. I've also struggled to kick my news junkie habit - since it's so hard to get US news here. About the only thing in our paper here is what's going on with Lindsay Lohan - and who cares about that?!
But all in all, it's taught us that our faith really has to be in the things of God- not in the security of feeling safe when you have a cell phone with you, or internet access to find out what's going on in the world, or that your security system in your house and the gate is working to lock you in and keep you safe. Living in a safe neighborhood, going to the good parts of town, having an alarm on your car, locking your doors - all of that has value, but when it comes to our protection, or safety, our trust must be in our Lord. We must realize that as long as we are seeking to be his children, all things in our lives will work for good (Romans 8:28), whether they feel good at the time or not. God does not keep us from trials, but he does ensure that we will be able to bear whatever comes our way and that He will provide us a way out. I Corinthians 10: 12 tells us "So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! 13No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." So as I grow in my faith here, learning that my real trust has to be in God and that my real reliance has to be upon God and Jesus each day, this helps me endure the trials and struggles that come!
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