Gigi and Baba always joke around with me for snap chatting and being on instagram all the time. Baba will always laugh and tell me, “You couldn’t go two weeks without that phone”. And there was a time when he was right. I was so addicted to my phone. It was constantly in my hand. I put it under my pillow when I slept. I never let it die. I was on top of the battery percentage. You could always rely on me to text back in 1 minute because I always had it on me, and was most likely using it. However, if baba was to say that to me now… well he would be wrong (and I’m sorry to put you on blast like this, bob. But it’s the truth).
I have been living in Harbu Chulule, Ethiopia for 5 weeks now and I have had no phone service. That means no snapchat, instagram, VSCO, Marco Polo, TikTok and no WhatsApp. As well as no texting and calling. We went to Addis one day and I had wifi there… but over the past five weeks that has been it. No contact with the outside world.
How has it been?
Uhhhhh it has been GREAT! I mean, yes. I do miss talking to my family and friends, but it makes the times I talk to them so much sweeter. And honestly it has helped with homesickness. I’m not talking to them almost everyday and just constantly hearing about what I’m missing.
Since we are so cut off we don’t hear about certain events that are going on in the world. There are times where rumors about political events or terrorist acts have surfaced and we don’t exactly know what’s going on. That’s when I feel isolated. I know it’s dramatic but we are so far out, something drastic could happen and we would’t even know. So at times I do wish I had internet! I do wish I could call my mom!
So I’m not writing this blog to be like “phones on the race are bad”. Because phones on the race are good! They keep you connected to the people you love most in the world. And whenever I get the chance I will definitely be using mine and calling my brother and sister. However, in this season of life, not being able to use my phone has been very good for me.
It has made me was to prepare myself to set some phone boundaries for when I’m home. One of my goals is to be more intentional with people and phones really do take away from that. Here on the race, I have set some boundaries for myself. I don’t take my phones to meals- and if I’m out to eat I leave it in my bag unless my purpose is to get wifi. I stop playing games on my phone by 10- the race has taught me to steward my sleep well. I don’t take my phone out with me when I’m playing with the kids. These might seem small or they may seem like a big deal to you, but they have helped me get the most out of my race. Phones are a beautiful thing and thank you Jesus for technology, but they can take away from your experiences.
I have been working on being present and these boundaries have been golden. I would encourage you to set one boundary and try it for a week. See how it goes!
