Thank you for calling, I can help you!
This is how most people seemed to be when I worked at CompUSA.
I work in customer service. It's thinly disguised as a tech job, but really, if we're honest with ourselves, my job is all about warm and fuzzies. If I can solve the problem, great, if I can't, but the customer feels warm and fuzzy, well that's just as good.
This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but as a problem solver, for the first few months here I was less concerned with the 'warm fuzzies' aspect of the job and more concerned with solving the problem, which was how my last job was. Warm fuzzies were mostly irrelevant. The goal was to solve the problem.
A few weeks ago we were assigned a project at work. I found it to be mostly asinine, and a general waste of my life. Later I found out I should have put more time into it. More on that in another post.
The project was to contact several support outfits of companies we were likely to work with three different ways. Phone, email, and instant support like chat.
The company I dealt with over the phone had their operators answer with 'Hello this is Sue with [insert company here] I can help you!'
I had two initial reactions to this.
1. Ew. I hate over-zealous proactivity that is clearly perpetrated by arbitrary quality assurance guidelines that these people are supposed to meet.
2. This is the attitude God has when we pray.
I know, two very different, strange thoughts. Welcome to my world.
The important thing to note here is that the person on the other end of the line isn't asking HOW they can help you, because chances are they know better than you how they can help you, so why would they ask you what you think they should do. Why would you be calling them if you already knew how to fix the problem?
When you say 'How can I help you' you're doing two things:
1. You're giving the power to whomever you're talking to to tell you how to solve their problem. Now, this can be a good and bad thing. It's good because people who have problems like to tell other people how they want it fixed. It feels good, makes them feel like they have control of the situation. The problem with this is at some point, you're likely going to need to wrench control back from that person, which they are not likely to appreciate.
2. It opens the floor for them to vent. This is always a good thing. A top-ten rule of support is listen. Just listen. Sometimes, people just need to vent. As long as they aren't vulgar or straight-up insulting, that's okay. When people feel like they've been heard, it's a good thing.
When you say 'I can help you,' you're taking that power back and essentially saying, 'tell me the problem, and I'll get it fixed. Don't worry about how, just know that I can fix it, after all, I'm the one that's trained to help you.'
I don't think God ever answers the phone with 'How can I help you?' He's God. Why would He ask how we want a problem solved?
And when you've gone to God with a 'here's how I want you to do this' attitude, how did that work out for you? Good? Did He do exactly what you were expecting? Or did He show up in some completely unexpected and awesome fashion?
Maybe this is particular to my life, but God never works how I think He will, and frankly, I love that.
Sure, I have expectations when I pray, which is something I've talked about before, and those expectations are that God will move. I expect that He will move however HE sees fit, not however I see fit.
I am of the opinion that when you pray, God says, I CAN Help you. Not, How can I help you. If we pray with this attitude, confident that He will do what He does best, how would our lives change?
'Thank you for praying, Jesus speaking, I can help you!'
Where’d they go George?!
So I had all my Digital Detox posts set to auto post over 7 days...and they appear to be gone.
I have no idea what happened to them, but I'll get them back here just as soon as I figure out what button I forgot to push.
TGDD: Day 1
[Follow me through a week devoid of all things digital. This is a (mostly) edited version of my thoughts and insights from a week without digital noise]
It's a tie for the thing I miss the most. Pandora or Wikipedia.
I changed the rules a tad, I'm allowing myself anything that was available 100 years ago. So the radio is allowed again. They had those in 1910.
At work I usually spend 3-4 hours reading my RSS feeds. No having that to fill the day is quite challenging. I've been writing everything I would normally tweet or share on Facebook on my little notepad. It's an interesting experience. Most things don't actually make the cut to get tweeted, but it all gets written this week.
Here are some choice excerpts from the day:
9.42AM - There are definitely some places that 'noise' isn't a bad thing. That is to say -- I miss Pandora today.
11.23AM - I feel so disconnected today. I mean, that is the point, but...you know. It's weird.
12.18PM - There's a lot to worry about. If I didn't have Jesus, I'd be even more stressed than I am now.
3.24PM - So bored.
5.14PM - This feels like a renaissance for my brain.
6.05PM - If I worked for a fireworks company, I'd start a line of fireworks called 'Baby Boomers.' [after the generation...not fireworks designed to be used on/around babies.]
6.52PM - If I twittered/facebooked this much, no one would be my friend.
And that's not even the half of it. I wrote 23 pages on the first day. Eek.
Overall, I think today has been hard, but not impossible. I've already seen some things I would have missed if I hadn't been paying attention like I was. I like this. I'm encouraged and excited to see what's next.
The Great Digital Detox: Aftermath
Well I'm back.
It was a long seven days, but actually surprisingly shorter than I was anticipating.
Throughout the next 7 days (starting tomorrow) I'll have a post for each day I was on the Great Digital Detox (GDD), along with various insights I find while going over everything I produced while I was on it.
Tune in and see what I learned I can (and can't) live without.
The Great Digital Detox
I was driving home from work the other night, enjoying the way Phoenix smells during Spring. The whole city smells like orange blossoms. It was about 70 degrees and I had my windows down and the classic rock station turned up loud.
I usually drive with the windows up and the music quiet, for various reasons. I thought gee if I'd done what I usually do tonight, I'd have missed out on the simple pleasure of the wind in my face and the awesome smell of spring. Such a small thing, but such a wonderful thing. Little things like that are what make life worth living.
I started wondering what else I'm missing. What am I too distracted to enjoy and see and notice and consider? I also realized that I spend almost 14 hours every day in front of a bright, glowing screen. That's when I decided I needed to detox. Digitally.
I wish I could say I'd coined the term (and prior to getting home and Googling it, I thought I had) but the folks at AdBusters beat me to it.
What it means is a complete cutting off of your digital life. Just for 7 days.
No iPhone, no Facebook, no Twitter, no Google, no email, no texts. Just phone calls and face to face interaction. You know, that thing people did before the world became so dependent on the computing box.
I asked my fiancee when I got to her house last night 'Honey, I'm thinking about doing a Digital Detox. Whaddya think?' She gave me her trademark eyebrow which says 'I'm going to regret this, but continue.'
'No no honey it's good! I'll turn my phone off for a week and just read and reconnect with the world!'
She wasn't amused.
She pointed out that I have the attention span of a housefly and it was very unlikely that I'd really be able to stick to this thing.
I said 'Yeah that's the problem isn't it, I can't go 45 seconds without checking my email or updating Facebook!'
So I decided it was impractical to cut out my phone, since I need to communicate at least with the woman I'm marrying, if no one else. So I'm dropping the iPhone for 7 days and using an old slider phone. It calls, and it texts. That's it. And I won't be texting.
Why? Why do such a thing? What's the point?
Well, there are several reasons.
1. I realized, like I said earlier, that I could be missing much more than I realize. Cutting these simple distractions out will allow me to completely focus on the world around me, not the one inside my phone.
2. Sometimes I get so distracted with the digital things, that I don't make enough time to study the Word, or to talk to God. Just to commune with Him. How much more time will I have if I don't have any other choice? What am I missing out on by not entering into daily, real relationship with God? This will allow me to propel into a deeper connection and rekindle my focus on Him and Him alone.
3. Why not? It's a fast like any other, and this is one that will cut out something so basic, so ubiquitous, who knows what I'll see by cutting it out.
Goals
I think it's pretty stupid to jump into anything like this without some solid goals. If I just do it for the sake of doing it, I'm wasting my time. So I've set some goals for myself.
1. Get to know my King again.
That means spending time with Him exclusively. Not with Him as long as my phone isn't going off, or as long as I've checked my Twitter feed recently.
2. Notice things I've been missing.
This one is kind of out of my control. It's more something I'll be praying for. I hope to see somethings that I have been missing. I want this to be eye-opening.
3. Reprioritize
I want the silly things in life to become faded into the background and the important things to become even more apparent than they are now.
4. I want a break from technology.
It's pretty hard to break away from the tech world when you work in it. I'm not going to be able to avoid using my computer and work email while at work. But I won't be reading the tech blogs I frequent. When it's slow, I'll read my Bible.
I'm tired of staring at screens all day. It can't possibly be good for my eye(s) anyway.
The Rules
Starting Sunday night and for 7 days thereafter, I'll be decommissioning the iPhone and plugging my SIM card into an old Samsung slider. I will not be texting. So be warned, if you text me, I won't be texting back that week.
I will only use my computer at work for work. No IM, no random tech blogs, no Google Reader, no Gmail, no Google Calendar, nothing.
I will take phone calls. That's the new 'old-school' way of communicating. Sure, I could go all uber-hardcore and write letters or something, but no one would get them before the fast was over anyway.
Follow along!
It's going to be hard. I'm definitely a techno-junkie.
I'm going to encourage our College Group to join me for the week. Anyone else who's interested, let me know in the comments before Sunday night and I'll put you on the list to be praying for while I'm 'detoxing.'
I'll also be writing (with a pen and paper) a blog post each day. I will post them in order next week. So expect a week of silence, then 7 consecutive posts from the detox week.
It can't possibly be a bad idea. More prayer and more time with God is never a bad thing.
Super Special Wedding Update Extravaganza!!!!
So as you may have heard, I'm getting married.
We went up to see the snow and accidentally took a cute picture.
I have a website setup that will include all the details for the wedding, and we'll be uploading pictures and trying to stay on top of posting regular updates to the process. You can check it out here or just go to www.joshandsam.net.
If you're coming to the wedding, it will have suggestions for hotels, directions and all that stuff. If you can't come to the wedding, it will give you an inside look so you don't miss out!
If I've left anything out, or you have any questions about it, send me an email or fill out the contact form on either site.
Friend or Foe?
I listen to AM radio at night. Not during the day - I don't care for political commentary. I like the weird stuff that comes on at night. The shows about the paranormal and aliens and anything weird that well-adjusted adults don't want to hear on their way home from work.
I was listening to a show with a 'medium' on it the other night, and it got me thinking.
The Cat-Missile is ALWAYS foe.
When I pray, particularly over groups, very occasionally I will get an impression from the Holy Spirit that something very specific needs to be addressed. Usually, if I'm not obedient to that, it eats me up, and I feel like someone missed out on something because of me. When I'm obedient to it, it is indeed powerful. People will recognize a specific message directed to them and huge bounds can be made in the midst of corporate prayer.
This 'medium,' as he calls himself, takes calls and 'connects' with people's dead relatives. Now, he doesn't do it on request, that is to say, if you call him and say 'Hi. Can I talk to Grandpa Joe?' he can't do that. Grandpa Joe may however choose to 'come through' [to use his vernacular.] As I was listening to this, several parallels drew in my mind.
1. The way the Holy Spirit speaks during prayer can (if abused and not respected) be said to imitate 'clairvoyance.'
2. God used a medium at least once in the Bible to scare the bones out of someone. (more on that in a moment)
3. It would be painfully easy for a 'spiritual' Christian to buy into this phenomena that is peddled by radio and TV hosts.
Which brings me to the title of this post. Friend or Foe?
In 1 Samuel 28, Saul has kicked all of the mediums and spiritists out of the land. So he called for a medium to be brought to him. I find this to be one of the most comical scenes in all of the Old Testament. Saul calls for this medium, and she knows that Saul himself has banished all of her kind from the land. Saul is all dressed up in a disguise, so she doesn't know its him. She makes him swear an oath that she won't get in trouble, then asks who he wants to see. Then it gets good.
11 Then the woman asked, "Whom shall I bring up for you?" "Bring up Samuel," he said.
12 When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out at the top of her voice and said to Saul, "Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!"
13 The king said to her, "Don't be afraid. What do you see?" The woman said, "I see a spirit [a] coming up out of the ground."
14 "What does he look like?" he asked. "An old man wearing a robe is coming up," she said. Then Saul knew it was Samuel, and he bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground.
15 Samuel said to Saul, "Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?" "I am in great distress," Saul said. "The Philistines are fighting against me, and God has turned away from me. He no longer answers me, either by prophets or by dreams. So I have called on you to tell me what to do."
16 Samuel said, "Why do you consult me, now that the LORD has turned away from you and become your enemy? 17 The LORD has done what he predicted through me. The LORD has torn the kingdom out of your hands and given it to one of your neighbors—to David. 18 Because you did not obey the LORD or carry out his fierce wrath against the Amalekites, the LORD has done this to you today. 19 The LORD will hand over both Israel and you to the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The LORD will also hand over the army of Israel to the Philistines."
This straight up freaks the medium out. She was NOT expecting to pull up Samuel and have him talk to Saul. I'd imagine she was gonna pull something very generic out of her little crystal ball and send Saul on his way. Then she gets handed this.
This is one of my favorite stories in the whole Bible for two reasons.
It's hilarious.
Anyone who reads this story and doesn't think God has a sense of humor afterward clearly wasn't paying attention. Here you have God using the very thing this medium pretends to do scaring the living curdles out of her. (I think I just coined a new phrase. 'Scared the curdles out of her.' Feel free to use that.) This proves that she really hasn't ever had a genuine experience with this stuff, and that she was basically stealing people's money.
It's real.
There is genuine fear, and genuine power in the Holy Spirit shown here. This is a real, tangible experience Saul and this medium had. We don't really know what happened to the medium after this, but I believe that things changed for her dramatically.
I also believe however, that the impressions she 'got' from 'spirits' were real to her. And this is where the danger lies, and hopefully where this post comes together to a point.
The guy on the radio genuinely believes he's helping people. He really believes this is happening. To him he isn't pulling vague words out of the air, he is genuinely in contact with spirits.
Is he?
No.
At least, not with the spirit of Grandpa Joe. Friend or foe? That's the question. Who is he talking to out there? Grandpa Joe, or one of satan's demons, tasked with confusing and consternating otherwise Godly individuals?
Sounds dramatic huh? It is. It isn't drama for the sake of drama, however. When the door to these kinds of things is opened, (pardon the expression) all hell can break loose. It only takes one little invitation for things to start happening.
So really, what's my point here?
Be careful.
If you give the Enemy an inch, he'll take a mile. Constantly check your perception. Where are you looking for comfort? In the ethereal voice of Grandpa Joe, channeled from beyond the grave, or in your Heavenly Father?
When you feel guided to give advice, or lead someone, check yourself. Is it Biblical? Does it line up with what Jesus spoke and what His word speaks?
If you don't bother to check, you can't know who's on the other end of your inspiration.
Friend, or foe.
I can’t heaaaaarrrrr you!
Ohhhhhhh who lives in a pineapple under the sea?!
Anyway. I work in tech support. You know what I've noticed?
People rarely listen. Listening is not something that we as a people are skilled at anymore. Sure, people hear me, but they don't listen. I often give very specific instructions, and people say 'Oh okay' and assume they know 'where I'm going with this' and do their own thing.
This has two results:
1. I need to figure out what they've done, and how to undo it, if it was wrong, which takes time.
2. I need to spend extra time repeating myself and getting them back on track.
It is (especially on days that my patience level is low to begin with) annoying. Now throw in the anger factor people often have when they call Tech Support and I'm ready to throw down with these people. Of course, I never do. I maintain a professional, courteous attitude. But on some calls I'm thinking to myself 'I could have had this fixed 20 minutes ago if you would just listen to me!!!' while I smile a toothy smile that you can HEAR over the phone, because as every training manual I've ever been forced to read notes 'callers can hear you smiling.'
So I got to thinking, as I often do, how impatient am I, compared to the God of All Creation, who I hardly ever listen to? How many times a day/week/month/year do I say 'oh okay God, I know where you're going with this' and proceed to throw myself off a proverbial cliff to 'further his plan.' And the two things result.
1. He needs to figure out what I've done, and how to undo it, if it was wrong, which takes time.
2. He needs to spend extra time repeating himself and getting me back on track.
These two steps are often repeated for every one tiny step He gives me. Resulting in a two steps forward one step back growth model.
Now with age and wisdom, maybe we improve that to 3 steps forward, 1.5 steps back, but ultimately, we are human, and will impede the progress of a perfect God who has granted us free will.
God doesn't smile through his teeth, He smiles with his teeth.
What do I mean by this? When I'm 'smiling to be heard' I'm smiling so my callers can hear it. Not necessarily because I'm happy about having them reopen Internet Explorer for the 38th time this call. When God smiles at us for being dumb, He is genuinely smiling. Of course, we disappoint Him and hurt Him, but when we turn back and say 'Okay...what were you doing here?' He smiles.
I guess my point today is twofold. One - I need to exercise a little more patience to honor the grace and patience poured out to me every second of every day. Two - rest assured that even when the jerks on the other end of the phone get frustrated with you for making a mistake, He isn't upset. He never 'smiles to be heard.'
I don’t have time for this.
Or anything else this week that's not on my to-do list, as a matter of fact. Yet, here I am.
There is so much going on this week. I have a lot to accomplish. For the first time in my life, I'm finding calendars and task lists to be useful. I used to balk at people who had that much to do, now I've become one of them 
Historically, I'm terrible at time-management. But it seems like the more I have on my plate, the better I am at it. I'm good at getting things done, the only variable is how much stress I allow myself to encounter while getting the things done. Having a to-do list to organize my day, and break the week down into smaller, much more manageable goals and tasks gives me purpose, and the pleasure I get from checking things off a to-do list (like Google Tasks, which draws a line through finished things, like this) gives me additional motivation.
I talked last week in our college group about the difference between short-term and long-term goals, and that short-term goals usually have a much smaller scope than the long-term ones do. It's funny how I'm eating my own words this week, or rather reflecting on them. I love how God will give me a word that not only speaks to other people, but will relate to me usually later that same week. Even just thinking about that idea has helped me to organize my week. And yet here I am doing something that wasn't on my to-do list.
I wrote myself a 'future mail' to remind me to renew my domain name. I wrote it the beginning of November and I threw in the little note 'good luck with the wedding planning.' Of course, I knew I was going to be planning a wedding at this time, but it was funny reading that little email from myself from a few months ago. At that time, my fiance didn't know that I was planning on proposing when I did. That made me laugh.
I heard the song 'Every little thing' by Hawk Nelson this morning on my way to work. In that moment, I realized just how amazing it is that I'm marrying this girl who, before I ever realized it had 'every little thing I wanted.' And even more importantly, every little thing I needed. I know it's easy for me to sit here and say 'it's totally worth it to wait' and someone out there, much like I was just a short time ago, who doesn't have someone that they're in a relationship with is gonna balk at me and say 'oh yeah, I'm sure.' But really. God has the right person, just wait for his delivery.
I'm going to build a website for the wedding, but as I've made clear, I haven't had time yet. I'll let you know when it's up.
Hope everyone is having a blessed week.
Why I love Christmas (Part One)
Christmas is here! For me, Christmas is a long season. It starts shortly after Halloween and ends sometime in March. Well...March is usually when I get around to taking down the lights and the tree anyway.
Whenever I get excited about Christmas, I get a lot of moans and groans from people who 'hate the holidays.'
Every time I hear that it breaks my heart. I understand, people get stressed out and upset and don't have enough money and can't afford presents and don't know what they're going to do blah blah blah.
My Girlfriend decorating the Christmas tree at her house.
I'm not going to sit here and pretend I'm above presents. I love Christmas presents. I love giving them, I love getting them. I love shopping for them. But, I am also distinctly aware that presents are not the original motivation for the holiday. There are varying schools of thought on why Christmas is on December 25th, some claiming that it seems the most likely date of Christ's birth, others noting its proximity to the Roman sun holiday, claiming it was a paganization of the holiday in an attempt to appease the Romans and entice them to Catholicism. Regardless of why other people celebrate it, I celebrate it because it is the day I choose to recognize that my savior came down to live a human life to ultimately die for my sins.
What's so remarkable about Christmas is that it's the one holiday that focuses on the humanity of Jesus. Sure he was the Son of God and always carried that with Him, but He was also a little baby. Nestled in the arms of his mother on cold nights. He was a little kid who ran around and got dirty and messy. He was a 10 year old. He was a teenager. He lived! He walked around on the same terra firma that you and I are on right now! This, to me, is the essence of the holiday.
When you allow yourself to understand that Jesus really did live here, he really did deal with things that humans deal with (granted, they were ancient Hebrew things, not 21st century American things, but still) it lends a lot more credibility to the statement that Jesus truly understands you.
I'll concede that Christmas has been over-commercialized and consumer-ized to the point that most people wouldn't mention Jesus when asked 'what is Christmas about?' But I will still put up lights and give presents to those I love.
Relient K's 'Celebrate the Day' sums up my feelings on Christmas quite well:
And the first time
That You opened Your eyes did You realize that You would be my Savior
And the first breath that left Your lips
Did You know that it would change this world foreverAnd I, I celebrate the day
That You were born to die
So I could one day pray for You to save my life
So if you're broke, skip the presents this year. If you're hungry, ask your neighbor if you can eat with them. If you're lonely, go to church. Someone there would be happy to take you in as their own this year.
I love Christmas.
Meet the Author
Joshua Davis
a.k.a. the kid with the cape.
joshua at joshuascape dot com
Welcome!
Latest Posts
- Thank you for calling, I can help you!
- Where’d they go George?!
- TGDD: Day 1
- The Great Digital Detox: Aftermath
- The Great Digital Detox
Worthy of Note
Listen to me tweet!
- Lovin the weather today. Keep it up AZ!
- @TmoNews Hear any reports of volume rockers sticking really bad on the Vibrant? Mine does it. It's annoying.
- @LaurenCalkins dude that means free PTO day. Get outta there!!
- New Android Phone + Google Listen Podcast Manager + All my old sermon podcasts + long drive to work = more time listening to people preach.
- @blind_puppteer Brilliant.