Multi-tasking builds character. I hope. My life has become one very big to-do list. Except now, my tasks aren’t just penciled into my day-timer. I’m reminded of the Drew Barrymore line from one of my favorite movies, .

“I had this guy leave me a voice mail at work, so I called him at home, and then he emailed me to my BlackBerry, and so I texted to his cell, and now you just have to go around checking all these different portals just to get rejected by seven different technologies. It’s exhausting.”

Many women today work, run a household, volunteer, and take time for themselves, but a busy lifestyle is nothing new. My grandmother cleaned her own home, prepared meals, and wrote the newsletter for her charity group. All this, while working a job at an insurance agency. What is new is the technology to do it all better. Instead of driving to an office, like my grandma did, I work from home— thanks to high-speed internet. When I make dinner, I can fire up my gas grill or set my oven to start and stop on command. And as much as I have fond memories of going to the printer with my gram, typed original by hand, I’m glad that I can use keystrokes instead of to produce my organization’s correspondence.  Yes, I like technology. What we do doesn’t change much from generation to generation. It’s how we do it, that’s not the same. Wait for Sunday to make a long distance call? Heck no. I don’t even have to use the telephone. My daughter IMs () me, in the middle of a workday to let me know how her day’s going. Without technology, I would be very lonely.

This weekend was one where I was conscious of good-byes. My nephew left to spend a year of study in Israel. My good friends are packing up their college freshman, and my grand-daughter Rosie was shopping for school clothes. She starts kindergarten in two weeks. Rites of passage, pre-dating even the bible. How different the story would have been if Joseph had been ditched by his brothers, but had his cell phone in the pocket of his ? I don’t look back wistfully at a simpler time. I remember too well, the agony and isolation of being away from home and not being able to talk to my parents when I needed them. So it goes. Lots of stuff to do and lots of stuff to do it with. Embrace the , , and . Be the modern-day, busy woman who juggles a hundred things at once, but don’t neglect your own spirituality. Yes, technology can be the good that wriggles its way into your soul. Receive a in your email and let the beautiful words on the screen be an invitation. Close your eyes and have a conversation with God.  You’re not alone anymore.

Call it kismet or divine intervention—
I am where I need to be.
Let me never forget
that I did not wander here
unplanned by chance.
You led me to this place.
I am on stage awaiting my cue.
What can I do for You here?
With whom can I connect?
Let me do Your work and will,
and we shall move together
to the next destination.
Only You know my destiny,
though I know this:
In providence, I am never lost.

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