Ohhhh Technology.

Technology and I do not get along too often. We have a love-hate relationship that goes both ways. Technology is extremely frustrating for me to navigate and rather than make itself easier, it senses my frustrations and acts up more because it knows it is annoying me. In many ways it is like a brother or sister who knows just how to drive you crazy, so does it intentionally, because it can.

My google account, email, blog, everything, has been down for days. Me, being the technology disabled person that I am, couldn't figure out the very simple way to fix it. It senses unusual activity, it needs codes, it needs a cell phone number to send codes to, it needs me to verify my identity. How do you tell a computer who you are? If it knows who you are, how do you convince a computer that it really is you?

Eventually I was able to fix it. I think the "unusual activity" it was detecting was my being in the UK. I don't know how computers know these things, but they do. My google account had stopped working after I sent an email at work. The email was not unusual, but computers know where they are and my account was set-up in the US, not the UK. It is the only explanation that makes some sense. It also got me thinking.

"Unusual activity has been detected." Although I didn't find this statement true about sending an email, it is very true for me and what I am doing. Being in London is very unusual for me. Packing up parts of my life and fitting it in two suitcases to travel across the ocean for a year is unusual for me. Venturing to a place where I don't know anybody and finding my way around an extremely large city is unusual for me. Being able to see Buckingham Palace or Big Ben everyday if I want is unusual for me. There is a lot of "unusual activity" that I have taken part in since my journey began.

As unusual as all of it is, unusual doesn't mean it is wrong and my reasons for being here are not unusual. It is an experience, a learning process, an opportunity to do God's work. Jesus walked with, cared for, and spent time with the "unusual." He didn't accept the norm as the way to live, but rather did what was unusual to share God's glory with all of us. The unusual can be very good. Within it are blessings both clear and hidden. It can also be scary, with fear for the unknown. It can be exciting with the prospect of the possibilities and opportunities that could come. Unusual isn't bad, its just different. I think that with time, the "unusual activity" that has been detected for me will be my usual.