Nov
22
2014
Unrecognizable Fingerprint
Posted in Worship 2 Comments
I was due for a phone upgrade.
My husband and I both got a new phone at the same time.
He was excited about all the new bells and whistles.
I just was happy to have a phone that allows me to connect with my children.
I am not high tech.
My web designer daughter tells me that, I do well with what I know.
A diplomatic way of saying that I have minimal knowledge but can hold my hold.
The things that are interesting to my husband concerning the phone mean nothing to me.
Does it give and receive texts?
Does it make and receive calls?
Can I have my same ringtone?
You see my ringtone is very special to me.
The ring tone for my family is the theme song from The Waltons.
Everyone else who calls me gets a classical music ring tone.
My family gets The Waltons.
I have had that same ringtone for them since I first got a phone.
It immediately sets their calls apart.
If you say, The Waltons to someone, I am sure they can hum the tune.
It has become my trademark.
We even have the large table and benches in our kitchen to match.
My ringtone intact, I was ready to embrace my new phone.
My husband kept informing me about this new thing or that new thing.
I politely smiled, but let it roll right over my head.
Does it ring The Waltons theme song and can my children call me?
Yes and Yes.
I was set.
I didn’t need to know even one quarter of the things he finds so remarkable.
It is the fingerprint ID log in that is my nemesis.
I set it up correctly.
I went through all the steps.
Put your finger down; lift you finger up.
I saw the swirls come on the screen that are uniquely mine.
The fingerprint ID does not work for me.
My younger son very sweetly said, Let’s delete your fingerprint and start over.
He watched me go through the steps.
There, momma, you’re all set.
Perhaps.
We tried it and it let me in.
Success.
Until the second try.
I pretended that it didn’t bother me but it did.
I watch my husband put his finger on the phone and immediately log in.
I have to swipe and key in my four digit ID.
Frustrating.
What is it about my fingerprint that the phone does not recognize?
This is my thumb; it should work.
I can text quite fast but do it vastly different from most people.
I test with my index finger.
My children try to tell me how easy it is to text with your thumbs.
They cannot deny that I am fast despite this non-conventional method.
I try to tell them how very left-handed I am.
I cannot text precisely with the thumb of my right hand.
Rather than use one thumb, I use my index finger.
No one knows the difference.
Being left-handed shouldn’t affect the fingerprint ID.
We tried the fingerprint of both thumbs but the outcome was the same.
My husband seemed skeptical that it never works for me.
He watched me once and announced that I was doing it wrong.
You don’t push the button, you just gently lay your finger over the circle.
I thought I had been doing that, but to humor him, I tried again.
The fingerprint ID worked only once out of three attempts.
My husband walked away perplexed.
I am an anomaly.
I should be one of the company’s test cases.
That a phone does not recognize me is a moot point.
It is a machine.
It knows nothing about me.
It is there to aid me, to serve a function; it does not have a mind of its own.
Recognition one-third of the time according to God’s standards is impossible.
God knows His children.
God sees them.
God hears them.
Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of My hand. (Isaiah 49:15,16)
Whether my phone recognizes my fingerprint or not does not matter.
God recognizes my fingerprint.
Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. (Luke 12:6,7)
How precious I am to God.
He has engraved my on the palm of His Hand.
He knows the number of all the hairs on my head.
He knows me.
He knows me not one-third of the time, nor one-half of the time.
God knows me all of the time.
I am fully known.
I am fully loved.
Your phone may fail to recognize you.
You are always recognizable to God.
He made you, after all.
Those unique fingerprints were swirled by His creative Hand.
No two are alike.
Every nuance of difference He knows and loves.
You are known by the God of the universe.
That should astound you!
That you are fully known and fully loved should be all you need to live your daily life.
This world will have problems and troubles.
Being a child of God does not make us immune to the fallen-ness of this world.
Being a child of God does make us victorious.
In Christ, we are victorious.
Those same hands that bore the nail marks of a Roman cross, bore them for me and you.
We will one day see His scars when we have our glorified bodies.
Those scars are the engraving; those scars are the ones He bore for our sin.
That a phone does not recognize me means nothing.
I am fully known and fully loved by the God of the universe.
Every swirl of my fingerprint, every hair on my head.
Astounding.
Ya learn something new every day! I just finally read this blog and I didn’t have a clue what you were talking about– but someone just showed me how to do it. I too am left-handed, but I used my right thumb for the print. I usually hold the phone with my left hand — maybe that is weird for a left-hander?
Janna, I am glad that it finally clear.
You and I are both left-handed and that does have its share of problems from time to time.
It makes us interesting.
Gina