Unshackled Moments ~ June 18 ~ Blocking Mode

I got a new phone. Well, actually someone else got me a new phone as a very generous appreciation gift, and I am very grateful. To be perfectly nit picky, The phone is old, as in came out around three years ago. The phone is new, as in was never used before being purchased for me. And it's hard to call the thing a phone. This is a camera with a phone function, not a phone with a camera function. I am now the proud owner of a Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom, and for the most part, I love it.

In exploring the phone, its functions and its capabilities, I found something that absolutely thrilled me. It's called Blocking Mode, and, as it turns out, it's pretty much not what I hoped it would be. It's one of the few things that I am disappointed about. Most nights I have to turn my ringer off on my phone so that my wonderful wife won't be disturbed by late night notifications from any number of different sports apps as West Coast games complete or by some random insomniac on Facebook or Twitter. The sports are the biggest issue as one game ending can set off multiple notifications and game news blurbs. Even Facebook and Twitter can be effected by a game ending.

Blocking Mode is like the Do Not Disturb mode on the iPhone. Unfortunately it's too much like the Do Not Disturb Mode. I did a little online searching, and it turns out that I can't make the Blocking Mode do what I needed it to do. Blocking Mode allows me to turn on what amounts to Airplane Mode with exceptions for either a scheduled block of time or for as long as I have the function turned on. I can block calls and notifications and allow calls from a custom set of contacts. Perfect. Now, I can turn on BM at night, miss all the sports and FB notifications and not miss something from my parents if I sleep late or there's an emergency or miss something from Leah if I forget to turn the ringer back on.

Except, how many of you are like me and have very few contacts that call? Most of my contacts text more than they call, and I prefer it that way. If I am going to use BM, I am going to have to send a message to each of the few on the exception list and say, Hey, if you think I might possibly still be in bed, call, don't text. Why? Because the text is not a call. It's evidently in the notification category. So the allowed list of contacts doesn't effect it whatsoever. And if I turn off calls and not notifications, thereby allowing texts to come through, all the apps that make me need to quiet the phone at night in the first place will still be on. There are no allowed exceptions lists for apps or notifications.

I could still use it, and ask family to call rather than text, but that's not the point. The point is that I can not set the phone to allow anything and everything sent by an individual or certain individuals and block the rest. Which would be the perfect form of Blocking Mode. I think I have my own Blocking Mode function, and it works about as well as the one on my phone.

Sometimes I get busy going about my day and focused on my own whatever, and I go into blocking mode. I am not really thinking about anything or anyone else other than what I am doing.  If the phone goes off, especially if it's something from Leah, I get pulled out of whatever I was doing and turn my attention to the interruption. I hate to use the word interruption, because I don't consider Leah an interruption...or, if she is interrupting, it's a welcomed break. Please interrupt, disturb, whatever. I love hearing from you, My Lady, My Love.  And I want to make sure that I keep God on that list as well.

No matter what I am doing, no matter what is going on or has my attention, I want God to be able to get through to me. I never want to have to get back to God later and say sorry, I was in the middle of something. Nothing is more important than whatever God is trying tell me. But unfortunately, I sometimes miss Him at first because I am only waiting or listening for Him to manifest His presence in certain ways. If He does something I'm not expecting or looking for I don't get the notification right away or miss it completely. It's like when I am listening for Leah's text tone and miss her Facebook message a while because I didn't check the phone when I heard that little pop.

But communication from and with God is too important to be risking missing. I need to adjust my Spiritual Blocking Mode so that no matter how busy I am, no matter what is going on, no matter how He tries to contact me I won't miss it. A message of wonder, love and peace from some awesome natural phenomena? Got it God. Thank You. Dalyn, I need you to go do such and such in order to help Me minister to so and so. Yes, Lord. Don't give up, joy is coming. I love you. I love You too Lord! No matter what, I don't want to close my eyes to Him. I don't want to miss a thing.

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