Siri not available….
I have a LifeProof case on my iPhone, in order to protect it from all the unknown conditions and situations we tend to find ourselves in on the World Race, and so far its done a fantastic job. My iPhone is my camera, facetime tool for moments when we have enough wifi to call back to the states, and it also serves as my notepad to take notes on the various things I know my team will want to know ( I am working on communicating better with them J) So for me, it was important to protect is as best as possible. That being said, it has one major flaw. The nature of the cast causes the home button to be mashed down anytime its in my pocket and there is any amount of pressure placed on it. As many of you know, since Apple almost has a monopoly on the smartphone market, when you hold the home button down, it brings up Siri, the AI in every iPhone that does many interesting things for us, unless you don’t have a cellular connection, which I don’t obviously. When you press the home button with no cellular connection, as the lifeproof case presses mine accidentally, all the time, Siri pops up and says in her incredibly annoying robotic voice, “ Siri not available, connect to the internet.” This happens ALL the time and I can’t shut it off completely. It happens so much that its kind of turned into a little joke with my team. It has happened so many times that I will sometimes talk back to her. “ I know your not available.” “Shut up Siri.” Or my teams favorite, “ Will , did you know Siri isn’t available?”
I have heard this so many times that I have started wondering if there is any significance to it.
The World Race is hard. Plenty of people told me that before I launched, but its one thing to hear it and another thing to live it. When God calls you to something that is going to be amazing and full of Him, there will inadvertently be tough times. Jesus said in John chapter 16, “ In this world, you will have trouble. But Take heart! For I have overcome the world.”. That verse, that promise, is so applicable to all of us, no matter where we are in life. We are in the world but not of the world, and because of that, when we live for Jesus and the furtherance of His love and the Gospel, the world will bring troubles our way. Some more serious and traumatic than others, but He says “ Take Heart! “ Don’t worry!!! “ I have overcome the world for you, and I am with you.”.
A lot of my struggles on the race have been relational and emotional. I come from a community at home where everyone loves me, everyone likes me, and I am almost automatically given respect and influence over peoples lives. Its actually kind of unfair, it almost seems like I don’t even have to try. I was in for quite the eye opener when I realized community on the Race was not going to be like that. Leading a group of strong and talented adults is not the walk in the park I thought it would be. Its hard. Its confusing and oftentimes I feel like I am alone trying to figure this thing out. How do I love my team well? Wait, actually, forget Love, how do I simply become friends with them? I never had to TRY to make friends at home, it just happened.
Now don’t hear what I am not saying. I am not saying that I am having issues with my team, that we are dysfunctional and no one likes me. That couldn’t be further from the truth, we are in a healthy place. What I am saying is that it hasn’t been effortless, that we have had to/I have had to, work to get us/me to where we are. Relationships with this great group of people weren’t wrapped up and handed to me with a nice little bow, ready for me to open them up whenever I pleased. We have to work at it, but with anything that takes hard work, there is a greater appreciation and reverence for what had been achieved and what is being grown.
I am a very relational person, but I have a hard time letting people into my own life, into my heart. Its kind of an oxymoron if you think about it. I love people and getting to know them, but it takes significant work and effort on my part to let them know who I am. But I am working on it, I am learning, and my friends on Team Zoa are helping me along the way.
You see, Jesus tells us to take heart for he has overcome the world. The Word also tells us that we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength. We are in the world but not of it, and the world will give us trouble. But take heart, Jesus is with us, and He will help us. Now, every time I hear the all too familiar beep from my phone followed by “ Siri not available” I am reminded that the ARTIFICAL intelligence that has been installed on my little pocket computer is not available, but God is. He is always there. He whispers to me, “ Take heart, for I am with you.”
