The Woes of an Old Pilgrim (08/06/2026)

This week, my cell phone went wonky. The sound was muffled and the noise that came out was indecipherable. I couldn’t understand phone conversations and my alerts were unrecognizable. I went to AI and asked for a diagnosis. They recommended a toothbrush cleaning of the speaker. My phone ended up with a shiny bottom but still not sound. So, I was off to the carrier.

The store wasn’t busy when I arrived, and Mika was eager to help. He tried everything he could that he’d been trained to try. Finally, he recommended that I take it to a phone repair shop which I didn’t know existed. I always assumed when these things die, you just stick them in a drawer and buy a new one. I thanked him for the tip and was off to find a repair shop.

I located one. The young man on duty, Jay, ran a couple checks and told me I needed a new speaker - $130 – and it would take 4-6 days to arrive and be installed. This week, I can’t be without a phone because of a special family event with people calling and texting at the speed of light. So, I bought a different phone, a reconditioned phone Jay had on hand. He transferred everything to this different phone and sent me on my way back to my carrier who had to transfer the e-sim (did you know they don’t have real, tangible sim cards anymore?). So, I paid Jay and headed back to Mika.

Mika helped me transfer the e-sim to my different phone. He told me, “You are all set.” Well, that wasn’t exactly accurate. It took me the rest of the day to get my emails and websites set up and recognizing that it was me on a different device. I was on a frantic search for my passwords to everything from e-mail to Facebook to my weather app to Google. And everyone had to send a verification code. What happened to trust?

Anyway, after an entire day spent on a device that I swear I am going to use less, I am up and wobbling – I’m still not running. But I can hear your voice if you call and chances are high that I will be able to understand you. They don’t warn us when we are younger about the difficulties old pilgrims must endure.

After my experience, I spent an extra long time in prayerful reflection with the LORD over the events, the things I learned about myself, and the things I realized about my relationship with the LORD from a malfunctioning phone. First, I promised to spend less time with this handheld device than with people and my LORD. Second, I promised to update my password list. Third, I deleted several apps to take away the temptations. Fourth, and most important, I realized that I may need to spend more time working on my access to the LORD and deciphering His messages to me.

“I am with you always.” Jesus promised us and we know Him to be trustworthy. Have I spent as much time this month on my presence and availability to my LORD and savior as I have to my presence and availability to others? Have I worked on my spiritual health so that the LORD’s voice is heard and decipherable to me? Or have I allowed the sound to grow muffled and indecipherable? Yep, my phone dates with Mika and Jay taught me a lot about maintaining. With my LORD, it isn’t a device I need to maintain, it is myself, my heart, mind and soul and openness. I’m working on it.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.