Flipped-Out Phone

I am so ashamed of myself. And just a little bit proud, too. After living more than four decades without wanting or needing a pocket phone/computer/stereo/gameboard/calendar/encyclopedia/notepad/etc., I have given in to peer pressure.

I got an i-phone.

A pink one.

I was fine without one, until my friend Robin showed me hers. It was way cool. And she’s older than I am.

And since Robin is way cool, and I want to be just like her when I grow up, I decided I needed an i-phone.

I know, I know. I’m supposed to be my own person and all that. I need to be comfortable with my own identity. But now, I’m very comfortable being a hip forty-something mama with an i-phone. I think it fits me quite well. Pair it with some jeans, high-heeled boots and a denim jacket, and watch out! Mama’s goin’ to town.

There are so many cool features on this phone, it’s hard to choose one I prefer. It plays all of my favorite music, from classical to gospel to hip-hop. Yes, I do like hip-hop. Some of it, anyway. Don’t act so surprised.

It has a little microphone so I can record memos to myself. “Remember to get canned pineapple chunks at the grocery store.” How awesome is that? It also has a little notepad section where I can type in my notes. That screen-page is yellow, has little lines and everything, just like a memo pad. Way cool. And it doesn’t even matter to me that I could buy a real yellow notepad for 79 cents at Wal-Mart. That’s beside the point.

It even stores the entire Bible in every known translation and about a gazillion different languages. I just type in the passage I want to read, and poof! There it is. I can even type in a keyword, and it will find all the passages with that word.

And it has maps and directions! As long as I have my handy-dandy i-phone, I’ll never get lost.

But I think my favorite feature is the way it flips. If I hold it horizontally, the screen is horizontal. If I hold it vertically, the screen flips to vertical. I spent the better part of an hour the other day, just flipping my phone back and forth, watching the screen move. Fat screen. Skinny screen. Fat screen. Skinny screen.

I wish I could flip myself that way – fat. Skinny. I’d stay on the skinny side. But at least I’d have options.

Honestly, though, I have a question about the whole flipping feature. How does it know? I mean, really. How does it know? Most days, I don’t even know which way is up. But this little phone? It knows everything.

Well, maybe not everything. But almost.

God, on the other hand, really does know everything. He knows my name, all my favorite songs, and even what makes my heart sing. He knows which direction I should take, and as long as I look to Him, I’ll never lose my way. And He always knows which way is up, too. Even when I feel flipped out, topsy-turvy, like I’m hanging by my toes . . . He is right there, setting me back on my feet. It’s comforting to know that with God in control, I have access to all I’ll ever need.

Even without my pink i-phone.

“For the Lord watches over the ways of the righteous . . .” Psalm 1:6