“The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!”
He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. “Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples.
In fear and amazement, they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.” ~ Luke 8:24-25 (NIV)

When It Rains, It Pours

I’m flooded with tech issues right now. I’ll share a few guidelines as we wade through this together. Maybe you’re struggling through some of these same problems.

Personal Flooding

From July through September,  I was over my head in medical appointments, travel, and MPD. Here are three:

• I was overmedicated with one of my heart meds. My legs were very weak a few times and I almost passed out four times. I’m much better and hoping to talk to my cardiologist today.
• I had my first case of COVID (a mild one) just before I was to fly to be with family.
• While I was visiting our daughter in Minnesota, God miraculously watched over our eighth grandchild. Read God Watches Over Baby Lawrence.

I’m mostly back on my feet. God was with us through those weeks.

As my personal storm cleared, a real storm and a tech storm descended.

Hurricane Milton

With Hurricane Milton churning in the Gulf as a Category 5, we drove to our son’s in Jacksonville to ride out the storm. (Avoiding stress is good medicine for my heart.)

When we returned home, we had minimal damage.

A friend, Mick, commented on Facebook:

“Everyone acknowledges the storm has downgraded. I’ve heard some say the eye of the storm split just before landfall. Others have talked about how it dropped from a 5 to a 2 in the last 24 hours before landfall. I think it was the Lord calming the storm. It could have been massively more destructive than it was. But because people prayed, God calmed the storm. I firmly believe that!

“God cares for us even in the storms we face. He sees us, He listens, He responds, and He is good all the time. Maybe some would wish we never went through storms but we only get the insider perspective of God’s greatness by having to go through the storms. God showed his greatness Wednesday night… and He will do so in great and small ways every day going forward.”

Of course, Hurricanes Helene and Milton were life-altering for many. The destruction, the injuries, and the lives lost are tragic. Let’s not forget them in our prayers and in our support.

The Tech Storm

My tech storm began before September. A flood of problems came suddenly and began to rise. I’m working through most of them this week.

For several months, my personal Google account has bombarded me with messages about running out of space. I deleted some things, which bailed me out for about two weeks. And then I’d have to do it again.

• I’ll set aside a few hours to toss even more old files.
  • I also learned to empty the trash afterward. Deleted files hang around for 60 days, so my storage use didn’t change much after my first cleanup. My storage use finally dropped from 96% to 84% when I emptied the trash folder.
• I will change some settings, too. That should keep my account from flooding repeatedly. I never wanted so much data from my phone uploading into my Google account.

Ransomware has compromised my personal information. (A huge health records storage company was hit.) Some of you have been impacted, too.

• I finally set up an account with the free security service available to me.
• Their verification steps took a bit of effort.
• I wanted to talk to someone, but the two times I’ve tried, they have a “high call volume.”
• I’ll have to do what I can through their dashboard for now.
• I’ll be searching out passwords and updating them.

My laptop‘s fan runs a lot. Power drains quickly. I might need a new battery.

• I’m taking it to Lake Hart tomorrow to ask the techs what’s wrong.

After Milton, my desktop was super sluggish. I especially noticed this on social media sites.

• I cleared my cache in Chrome. This didn’t help. I didn’t mind doing a cleanup, but I had to re-login to several accounts.
• (It’s also a good idea not to have a lot of tabs open in Chrome.)
• After 24 hours, I called Spectrum. The nice Robo-Lady said she would reset from their end and I should also reset my router. Voilà! I was up to speed again.

I also need to help Mike with one of his iPhone issues.

• He bought a genuine iPhone cable, which we hope will resolve our problem. (Apple products are so picky.)

Perspective

When a flood happens, everything else is set aside for a time.

As in the photo, you may need help to get you through your problems. Also, what once could zip along is now moving at a crawl until we get out of the floodwaters.

Remember God’s Sovereignty and Providence

As we drove from Jacksonville, I read “Your Crisis May Be the Key to Your Creativity.” This is a chapter in Phil Cooke’s Ideas on a Deadline: How to Be Creative when the Clock Is Ticking.

Yesterday, I listened to a podcast that reminded me of the sovereignty and providence of God.

• God’s sovereignty: God rules over Creation. He is the highest power.
• God’s providence: God guides people and accomplishes His purpose through them and His Creation. He lovingly intervenes.

God brought all these events, the podcast, and the book to throw me a lifeline. I’ll take some time during this tech storm to meditate on our powerful Creator and His sovereignty and providence. I’ll ask Him to show me His perspective on my flood of issues.

How do you weather your storms?

NOTES:

• MPD is Ministry Partner Development
• Read Zack Russell’s review of Ideas on a Deadline.
• Photo by Saikiran Kesari on Unsplash