Call or Text? What’s the Best Way to Talk? – Day 13 of Handmade
Talk
I checked my email folder for Jeff’s travel information. I pasted his Southwest flight number online at FlightAware. His plane had arrived in Nashville.
I called his cell. No answer. I didn’t leave a voicemail because I know he doesn’t listen to those.
I sent him a text. But got no reply.
When we send our messages into the world, they’re not always received.
And yet we’ve never had so many options for communicating.
- Do you prefer calling or texting?
- GroupMe or Messenger?
- Blog comment or tweet reply?
- Snapchat or Instagram?
- Facebook post or FaceTime?
- Email or snail mail?
Or, ummm, actually talk face to face in person?
With more choices comes more responsibility. Like it or not, we have to think twice now.
When we choose the wrong medium, even with the best of intentions and careful wording, our message can be garbled. Misunderstood. Confusing.
To communicate appropriately, we have to match our message with the medium. I snapchat with my daughters, but I send emoji-less emails to colleagues. I include lots of OMGs and !!!! to Jeff, but try to keep emotions out of my tweets (most of the time, anyway).
God Shows Up Where?
And God?
God can and does show up in any and all of those mediums, plus more.
He reminds us to be wise. To be loving. To be conveyors of truth and grace and respect when we communicate, whichever platform we’re on.
I waited for 30 minutes for a response from Jeff. My phone still didn’t ring or buzz or vibrate. So I started the process again. This time he answered on the second ring. Whew. He just hadn’t noticed my first call or text.
So there’s that. Even with our best efforts, we can’t guarantee our message will be received if we don’t hear a voice or see a face.
Some things may have changed a lot.
But other things always remain the same.
Three Questions
Here are our three questions of the day:
(1) Do you prefer receiving a phone call or a text?
(2) Have you met online friends in person?
(3) What medium does God use to reach you most often?
* * *
What are your answers? Please share in the comments.
My answers
(1) I almost always prefer text for short exchanges. But sometimes you need to hear the voice.
(2) Yes, I even went to Guatemala on a mission trip with online friends.
(3) I see God through other people in real-life conversations but I also hear him through blog posts and emails and any of the other avenues that we all talk to each other.
More here
- 26 Surprising Ways to Encounter God
Not as connected to God as you’d like to be? Experience 26 surprising ways to encounter God in just a few minutes per day. - How Do You Hug God?
Sometimes I resent that I can’t touch God with my hands, hear him with my ears, see him with my eyes. Jesus used his touch often when he was here. And now? - To Hear Voices, Listen
He apologized for talking too much but I told him don’t be sorry for that. I wanted to hear him. In hearing others, we often hear straight from God, too. - 6 Ways to Hear from God
Discerning God’s will is rarely easy. Here are 6 ways to hear from God, revised from J. I. Packer’s “Knowing God”.
Get the whole Handmade series here
- Which Side Are You On? The Great Divide – Day 12 of Handmade
- When You’re Afraid to Ask – Day 14 of Handmade
I tend to text first unless I’m driving. Then I’ll call.
I have met some of my blogging friends. it was cool. Since I don’t do FB or twitter or the various other mediums I have only met a few.
I would have to say reading His Word.
1) I like a phone call, but more often use text because it allows me to stay in closer touch with my children and grandchildren as well as close friends. Real conversation happens more often over coffee than a phone call these days.
2) Not yet, but I would love to do that with my writer/blogger friends.
3) During my quiet times in the Word and journaling.
1) Like you text for short exchange but call for feelings and expressions of love.
2) Yes, met my husband online (we had 70 friends in common)
3) His sweet gentle nudging and love
1) Normally a text if the message is short and uncomplicated. Not only does it save time, but I can refer back to it if it need be. But sometimes hearing a voice and being able to confirm or clarify something with a call takes much less time that trying to text it all.
2) Yes, a few. I meet for lunch regularly with one who moved fairly close by.
3) His Word, but sometimes that’s conveyed through His people.
1. Phone lets me hear the voice, but texting is efficient, so it depends on the situation.
2. Only once! Sweet Gail came to Maine for a vacation and we managed to connect, but I’m not exactly on the way to anywhere. . .
3. Definitely the Bible, and God uses speakers and writers sometimes to clarify.
Texting can be so quick and easy but … I love hearing a voice 🙂 God uses a variety of ways to speak to me which always makes hearing from Him an exciting journey.
I hate talking on the phone (but I will talk on the phone to immediate family members…most of the time). I prefer texting because it doesn’t interrupt what I’m doing (aka I can ignore texts until I’m ready to deal with them). I have met quite a few online friends in real life–I’m looking forward to meeting Susan Shipe for the first time in real life in November :). God uses Nature and the Bible to reach me the most.