A few months ago our church had the privilage of having a week of services with the Galkin Ministry team. It was such a good time of revival and encouragment.
Last night, I was looking at their website for something and found that you could listen to some of the sermans online. Cool!
I love listening to sermans online because it's like a little extra church during the week and sometimes I need a little extra church.
So, after Lydia went to bed, I spent some time listening. Ya'll it was perfect timing, might I even say, God timing.
The message "Quicken Me, Lord" was so for me at this point in time.
I am posting it because one of you might find it useful as well.
So, click here and listen. It's about 30 min. long but he doesn't get into the message right away. You can fast forward it to about 10:30 on the slider thing and that will be about right where the actual message is. The first part is just intro stuff.
There are other sermons on the website as well and all of them wonderful. Will Galkin is a wonderful speaker, I think you will agree.
You can also browse the site a bit and find out about the ministry and what it is they do. Very interesting!
Friday, January 28, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
Snowman Mugging
What's one more post on a night I seem to be unable to stop blogging?
This is the last one, promise.
Hope it makes you laugh because this one cracks me up.
Happy Winter, I guess. We are smack dab in the middle of it and it's frigid and nasty and I'm getting sick of it.
A little humor is definitely called for to make it through the rest of it.
This is the last one, promise.
Hope it makes you laugh because this one cracks me up.
Happy Winter, I guess. We are smack dab in the middle of it and it's frigid and nasty and I'm getting sick of it.
A little humor is definitely called for to make it through the rest of it.
Reverend Fun - Almost Had It
Reverend Fun - Almost Had It
I don't know why but I think
Reverend Fun cartoons are really funny.
Just thought I'd share a random one with you. :)
It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” Mark 10:25
I don't know why but I think
Reverend Fun cartoons are really funny.
Just thought I'd share a random one with you. :)
The Weight Of Words
Anyone who knows me well knows that I love words.
Scrabble games, blogging, poetry, reading. Really anything word related.
It's a strange thing to love but I do.
I love what you can do with them.
I love how you can put different words together and make them flow so beautifully it makes people stop and really ponder what's been said or written. Words put together correctly can make people laugh, they can make people cry, they can draw people into a story and make them want to read something over and over again because of the beauty of them.
I'm that way with the book of Psalms. When I read a Psalm I am in wonder at the beauty of them, the way the words flow so beautifully as they relay such a powerful message.
Proverbs, another book full of beautiful words, says this about words spoken well.
Pleasant words are like a honeycomb,
Sweetness to the soul and health to the bones. Proverbs 16:24
Words are very cool, indeed.
Words are also very powerful.
With just a few words we can build up or we can tear down. All from opening our mouth.
You can do pretty much anything you want with the power of words.
James 3 talks about the words we speak. He says in verses 5-8
Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things.
See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
Pretty powerful stuff, that.
Words, as beautiful as they are can just as easily be used for evil as they can for good.
In fact, sometimes they are lethal weapons.
Psalms 55:21 says it this way-
The words of his mouth were smoother than butter,
But war was in his heart;
His words were softer than oil,
Yet they were drawn swords.
And Psalms 64:3 says
Who sharpen their tongue like a sword,
And bend their bows to shoot their arrows—bitter words,
We’ve all heard the saying, “Sticks and Stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.” LIE!
Sometimes words hurt more than sticks and stones ever could and leave just as permanent a scar.
We know this and yet we act like we don’t really care. We spout off things without even thinking the effect they will have in the heat of the moment and then later we see we have hurt someone. Most often that someone is a person we love. A lot of times it’s a spouse.
When we go around using our words for destructive purposes, either knowingly or unknowingly, we are really showing a part of ourselves that we probably wouldn’t want others to see if we thought about it.
Matthew 12:34 says, For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.
Do our words reflect a good heart? Or do they show other people that there’s something in our hearts that is ugly and sinful?
We say we are Christians, we praise God and tell other people about Him. But as James says in 3:9-10
With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so.
Sadly, too often, it’s very much the case. We don’t always intend it to be so, but it ends up being that way. When we say we are Christians but speak words not befitting His name, what are we really saying in light of the fact that words reflect our heart?
Knowing how easily we slip up and our tongues get the best of us, Paul warned us in Ephesians 4:29
Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.
And again in Colossians 4:6 he reminds us
Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
I have a note beside that verse in my bible that says this-
No matter the topic? No matter the emotion????? Ouchie.
Our words shouldn’t be dictated entirely by our emotion. They should be controlled by the spirit of God.
If we would pray for this in our lives, If that were to be the case, our words would be beautiful. They would make people stop and ponder the beauty of them. They would be sweetness to the soul and health to the bones to those around us.
They would build up and encourage, they would bless and not curse, they would impart grace and not grief and most important, they would point others to Christ. No matter the topic, no matter the emotion.
With that in mind, I say with the Psalmist in 19:14
Scrabble games, blogging, poetry, reading. Really anything word related.
It's a strange thing to love but I do.
I love what you can do with them.
I love how you can put different words together and make them flow so beautifully it makes people stop and really ponder what's been said or written. Words put together correctly can make people laugh, they can make people cry, they can draw people into a story and make them want to read something over and over again because of the beauty of them.
I'm that way with the book of Psalms. When I read a Psalm I am in wonder at the beauty of them, the way the words flow so beautifully as they relay such a powerful message.
Proverbs, another book full of beautiful words, says this about words spoken well.
Pleasant words are like a honeycomb,
Sweetness to the soul and health to the bones. Proverbs 16:24
Words are very cool, indeed.
Words are also very powerful.
With just a few words we can build up or we can tear down. All from opening our mouth.
You can do pretty much anything you want with the power of words.
James 3 talks about the words we speak. He says in verses 5-8
Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things.
See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
Pretty powerful stuff, that.
Words, as beautiful as they are can just as easily be used for evil as they can for good.
In fact, sometimes they are lethal weapons.
Psalms 55:21 says it this way-
The words of his mouth were smoother than butter,
But war was in his heart;
His words were softer than oil,
Yet they were drawn swords.
And Psalms 64:3 says
Who sharpen their tongue like a sword,
And bend their bows to shoot their arrows—bitter words,
We’ve all heard the saying, “Sticks and Stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.” LIE!
Sometimes words hurt more than sticks and stones ever could and leave just as permanent a scar.
We know this and yet we act like we don’t really care. We spout off things without even thinking the effect they will have in the heat of the moment and then later we see we have hurt someone. Most often that someone is a person we love. A lot of times it’s a spouse.
When we go around using our words for destructive purposes, either knowingly or unknowingly, we are really showing a part of ourselves that we probably wouldn’t want others to see if we thought about it.
Matthew 12:34 says, For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.
Do our words reflect a good heart? Or do they show other people that there’s something in our hearts that is ugly and sinful?
We say we are Christians, we praise God and tell other people about Him. But as James says in 3:9-10
With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so.
Sadly, too often, it’s very much the case. We don’t always intend it to be so, but it ends up being that way. When we say we are Christians but speak words not befitting His name, what are we really saying in light of the fact that words reflect our heart?
Knowing how easily we slip up and our tongues get the best of us, Paul warned us in Ephesians 4:29
Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.
And again in Colossians 4:6 he reminds us
Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
I have a note beside that verse in my bible that says this-
Our conversation should be such as to show we are governed and under the influence of God’s love and grace. It should exemplify and recommend Christ. It should be holy, wise and gracious no matter the topic, no matter the emotion.I think I should memorize that one. What about you?
No matter the topic? No matter the emotion????? Ouchie.
Our words shouldn’t be dictated entirely by our emotion. They should be controlled by the spirit of God.
If we would pray for this in our lives, If that were to be the case, our words would be beautiful. They would make people stop and ponder the beauty of them. They would be sweetness to the soul and health to the bones to those around us.
They would build up and encourage, they would bless and not curse, they would impart grace and not grief and most important, they would point others to Christ. No matter the topic, no matter the emotion.
With that in mind, I say with the Psalmist in 19:14
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.
Verse For The Day
Return to your rest, O my soul,
For the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.
Psalms 116:7
Friday, January 7, 2011
A New Generation
We all know that our kids will grow up in a different world than we did. We expect there to be changes, improvements and different cultural perspectives and ideas. They will have different experiences and yes, new challenges, they will have a new way of doing things and see new inventions or advancements and technology will be increasingly hi-tech to the point where we will be left shaking our head. I'm already there. Technology has left me so far behind it's rather sad. I don't even have an ipod. For most that's beyond imagine apparently.
I read this article yesterday by Stacy Johnson on Yahoo. Honestly it left me gasping in horror.
I'm assuming I'm not the only one who has ever tried desperately to hold on to things that are quickly fading and becoming obsolete but I will tell you now, I will hold on to some of them as long as I can. This world, it is a changin'.
This article lists some of the things that Lydia and babies her age will have no clue about as "progress" moves forward and leaves things that were common to us in the dust and will be completely foreign to the upcoming generation.
Oh my stars, good stuff is going away!
I share this article with you, as well as my take on it all, so that you too can quietly mourn the loss of life as we know it in the coming years.
The article: Things Babies Born in 2011 Will Never Know
*Video tape:
VHS tapes and VCRs, gone.
My thoughts: I actually like VHS better but I can live with other forms of media, just don't go much further than DVD's because I'm having enough trouble keeping up with things so small baby steps here, please! And what am I going to do with my lifetime collection of movies and all my Disney VHS tapes? Huh?
*Travel agents:
While not dead today, this profession is one of many that's been decimated by the Internet.
My thoughts: Don't really care about this one except that it used to be my dream to be a Travel agent. But I agree it's much easier (and cheaper) to do everything online.
*The separation of work and home: When you're carrying an email-equipped computer in your pocket, it's not just your friends who can find you -- so can your boss.
My thoughts: I find this so very sad. It makes it way too easy for mommies and daddies to get more wrapped up in their work and not be there for their family. It's a sign of the times but not a good one. Quality family time is a lost thing all for the sake of more money.
*Books, magazines, and newspapers: Like video tape, words written on dead trees are on their way out. Sure, there may be books -- but for those born today, stores that exist solely to sell them will be as numerous as record stores are now.
My thoughts: *weeping* Just a second while I compose myself. There just aren't words for this. I grieve.
Apparently, soon gone are the days when we can just sit quietly, sip coffee, relax and enjoy a good read. This is not progress, people, it's a travisty! It used to be something one looked forward to or unwound with, now it's not flashy and stimulating enough. What's wrong with a quiet moment with words on dead trees????
Note to you all- DO NOT BUY A KINDLE OR THE LIKE, it's just one step closer to taking away a real book all for the insatible need to have a little electronic device held in our hand. It is NOT the same and I WILL NOT go along with this. Okay, take a deep breath and moving on.
*Movie rental stores: You actually got in your car and drove someplace just to rent a movie?
My thoughts: Since I wasn't that great at getting movies back on time, I'm totally okay with this. I am all for going to the mailbox or going online and not trekking across town to get a movie and then trekking back when I don't really want to get out just so I don't have to pay double for a movie that was highly overpriced to rent in the first place and I may or may not have even liked the movie.
*Watches: Maybe as quaint jewelry, but the correct time is on your smartphone. (or just a normal everyday cell phone, I haven't made it to smartphone status yet, more baby steps)
My thoughts: Haven't worn many watches so not a biggy and it is more handy to just look at the cell phone, if I can find it. At least with a watch you know where it is and it's hard to misplace, a cell phone on the other hand....
*Paper maps: At one time these were available free at every gas station. They're practically obsolete today, and the next generation will probably have to visit a museum to find one.
My thoughts: I am gleefully happy about this. My husband (who has maps as wallpaper in his office just so he can have them easily available) probably not so much.
I am a terrible map reader, I can't fold one to save my life and they are big, hard to mess with while driving and could be a road hazard. This coming from someone who rides with a man who insists on spreading a map across the steering wheel and finding where he's going while driving down the freeway. It makes one get all prayed up, that's for sure. I keep threatening to get the man a GPS but he is quick to say "NO" and hugs his map a little tighter.
*Wired phones: Why would you pay $35 every month to have a phone that plugs into a wall?
My thoughts: Agreed.
*Long distance: Thanks to the Internet, the days of paying more to talk to somebody in the next city, state, or even country are limited.
My thoughts: One more good thing about the Internet.
*Newspaper classifieds: The days are gone when you have to buy a bunch of newsprint just to see what's for sale.
My thoughts: But what if I want to buy a newspaper to see what's for sale?
*Dial-up Internet: While not everyone is on broadband, it won't be long before dial-up Internet goes the way of the plug-in phone.
My thoughts: Happy dance. I have to say I like not having to wait to dial up and then wait minutes to hours for pages to load. Yea for fast Internet!
*Encyclopedias: Imagine a time when you had to buy expensive books that were outdated before the ink was dry. And I might add, find a place to store expensive, outdated books. So much wasted space that could be used for far better books!
My thoughts: As much as I don't want to think of the extinction of books, encyclopedias and dictionaries might be the only exception. There just isn't a need for them and with all the electronic resources out there that make it easier to look things up and makes it easier to find more information in the same place, I will gladly say ta ta to these things.
*Forgotten friends: Remember when an old friend would bring up someone you went to high school with, and you'd say, "Oh yeah, I forgot about them!" The next generation will automatically be in touch with everyone they've ever known even slightly via Facebook.
My thoughts: Maybe good, maybe not so good. Yes, it's nice to stay in touch with people but other times it's best to just fade away and hide.
*Forgotten anything else: Kids born this year will never know what it was like to stand in a bar (or someplace far away from a bar) and incessantly argue the unknowable. Today the world's collective knowledge is on the computer in your pocket or purse. And since you have it with you at all times, why bother remembering anything?
My thoughts: I don't really know what to think about this one. I see many pros and cons. Sometimes it's nice to get away from technology but it has so consumed our life, there's no place it isn't and no area of life it doesn't cover. Even conversations and arguments- resolved at the touch of a button. "Let's just google it." So much for thinking through things on your own.
*The evening news: The news is on 24/7. And if you're not home to watch it, that's OK --
it's on the smartphone in your pocket.
My thoughts: First of all, does everyone have a smartphone now except me...I don't think so. But I see that whether I like it or not, it's all going there so I get that. But do we have to have every bit of all news at our fingerprint at all times? Does that really help us? Sometimes I think we just live life on information overload and a brain full of so much stimulus that we don't know how to have down time and we just must have something to watch or something flashy to play with or we don't know what to do with ourselves, even for a few minutes. Sad.
*CDs: First records, then 8-track, then cassette, then CDs -- replacing your music collection used to be an expensive pastime. Now it's cheap(er) and as close as the nearest Internet connection.
My thoughts: It's gonna be rather expensive to replace all those CD's I have, not to mention the cassettes I'm still holding on to. There's good music on those things and I've spent a very long time collecting them. I do so hate to say goodbye to that.
*Film cameras: For the purist, perhaps, but for kids born today, the word "film" will mean nothing. In fact, even digital cameras -- both video and still -- are in danger of extinction as our pocket computers take over that function too.
My thoughts: I don't miss roles of film full of shots you never know if they turned out or not until you've paid to have them developed and find half of them are no good. But I also really stink at getting the pictures I take on my digital any further than my computer and with film you pretty much had to develop them to see them and then you have something you can hold, show people and frame. But that could be a good thing considering I have so many pictures that I shudder to think how much it would cost to get them all developed. But at least I know they all turned out and I have many more pictures than I would have ever had with film because film isn't that cheap when you wanna take 1,000's of pictures and I believe I have around 4,000- just of Lydia's first year. That would have been a fun film fee!
*Yellow and White Pages: Why in the world would you need a 10-pound book just to find someone?
My thoughts: I can't remember the last time I've used one of them.
*Catalogs: There's no need to send me a book in the mail when I can see everything you have for sale anywhere, anytime. If you want to remind me to look at it, send me an email.
My thoughts: No! I get happy when I get a catalog in the mail. I rarly buy anything but I like thumbing through and seeing what's out there. I have to laugh at some stuff and wonder at the people actually buying it. But I would much rather sit in a comfy chair and browse a catalog than sit and click through some online edition.
Very un-green of me I know, but ya'll, I just can't bring myself to cut out things I enjoy because some treehugger would rather save a tree. Plant a new one and move on!
*Fax machines: Can you say "scan," ".pdf" and "email?"
My thoughts: This one really doesn't apply to me and never has and it's much easier to email- so goodbye fax machine, a fond farewell to you.
*One picture to a frame: Such a waste of wall/counter/desk space to have a separate frame around each picture. Eight gigabytes of pictures and/or video in a digital frame encompassing every person you've ever met and everything you've ever done -- now, that's efficient. Especially compared to what we used to do: put our friends and relatives together in a room and force them to watch what we called a "slide show" or "home movies."
My thoughts:
See, we can't just look at one thing anymore! I LIKE frames with one picture that doesn't move. Call me strange if you wish.
*Wires: Wires connecting phones to walls? Wires connecting computers, TVs, stereos, and other electronics to each other? Wires connecting computers to the Internet? To kids born in 2011, that will make as much sense as an electric car trailing an extension cord.
My thoughts: You mean no more ugly brown and white things trailing all over the place being nasty eyesores and tripping hazards? No complaints to that!
*Hand-written letters: For that matter, hand-written anything. When was the last time you wrote cursive? In fact, do you even know what the word "cursive" means? Kids born in 2011 won't -- but they'll put you to shame on a tiny keyboard.
My thoughts: Beyond tragic. First off, it totally makes my day to get a hand written letter in the mail. It means someone took the time to sit down and write to me. It makes me smile.
Second, when technology takes the place of something as elementray as penmanship, I have to wonder if that's a good thing. Do they not teach it in school? Really? Penmanship used to mean something, it was almost an art, now it's all in how fast you can type. I just shake my head and sigh.
School is sure different now and I guess it will continue to be more and more so but when you cease to teach them things like writing skills, it seems you've left something pretty major out of their education.
*Talking to one person at a time: Remember when it was rude to be with one person while talking to another on the phone? Kids born today will just assume that you're supposed to use texting to maintain contact with five or six other people while pretending to pay attention to the person you happen to be physically next to.
My thoughts: Manners out the window. Listening skills, gone. People skills, one step closer to extinction. People don't matter, electronics do!
*Retirement plans: Yes, Johnny, there was a time when all you had to do was work at the same place for 20 years and they'd send you a check every month for as long as you lived. In fact, some companies would even pay your medical bills, too!
My thoughts: Bring that back!!!!
So to sum up my thoughts on all this, just in case you haven't figured out where I'm going with it...technology, although wonderful most of the time, is not always good and in fact, sometimes rather stinky!And that's my humble opinion.
I read this article yesterday by Stacy Johnson on Yahoo. Honestly it left me gasping in horror.
I'm assuming I'm not the only one who has ever tried desperately to hold on to things that are quickly fading and becoming obsolete but I will tell you now, I will hold on to some of them as long as I can. This world, it is a changin'.
This article lists some of the things that Lydia and babies her age will have no clue about as "progress" moves forward and leaves things that were common to us in the dust and will be completely foreign to the upcoming generation.
Oh my stars, good stuff is going away!
I share this article with you, as well as my take on it all, so that you too can quietly mourn the loss of life as we know it in the coming years.
The article: Things Babies Born in 2011 Will Never Know
*Video tape:
VHS tapes and VCRs, gone.
My thoughts: I actually like VHS better but I can live with other forms of media, just don't go much further than DVD's because I'm having enough trouble keeping up with things so small baby steps here, please! And what am I going to do with my lifetime collection of movies and all my Disney VHS tapes? Huh?
*Travel agents:
While not dead today, this profession is one of many that's been decimated by the Internet.
My thoughts: Don't really care about this one except that it used to be my dream to be a Travel agent. But I agree it's much easier (and cheaper) to do everything online.
*The separation of work and home: When you're carrying an email-equipped computer in your pocket, it's not just your friends who can find you -- so can your boss.
My thoughts: I find this so very sad. It makes it way too easy for mommies and daddies to get more wrapped up in their work and not be there for their family. It's a sign of the times but not a good one. Quality family time is a lost thing all for the sake of more money.
*Books, magazines, and newspapers: Like video tape, words written on dead trees are on their way out. Sure, there may be books -- but for those born today, stores that exist solely to sell them will be as numerous as record stores are now.
My thoughts: *weeping* Just a second while I compose myself. There just aren't words for this. I grieve.
Apparently, soon gone are the days when we can just sit quietly, sip coffee, relax and enjoy a good read. This is not progress, people, it's a travisty! It used to be something one looked forward to or unwound with, now it's not flashy and stimulating enough. What's wrong with a quiet moment with words on dead trees????
Note to you all- DO NOT BUY A KINDLE OR THE LIKE, it's just one step closer to taking away a real book all for the insatible need to have a little electronic device held in our hand. It is NOT the same and I WILL NOT go along with this. Okay, take a deep breath and moving on.
*Movie rental stores: You actually got in your car and drove someplace just to rent a movie?
My thoughts: Since I wasn't that great at getting movies back on time, I'm totally okay with this. I am all for going to the mailbox or going online and not trekking across town to get a movie and then trekking back when I don't really want to get out just so I don't have to pay double for a movie that was highly overpriced to rent in the first place and I may or may not have even liked the movie.
*Watches: Maybe as quaint jewelry, but the correct time is on your smartphone. (or just a normal everyday cell phone, I haven't made it to smartphone status yet, more baby steps)
My thoughts: Haven't worn many watches so not a biggy and it is more handy to just look at the cell phone, if I can find it. At least with a watch you know where it is and it's hard to misplace, a cell phone on the other hand....
*Paper maps: At one time these were available free at every gas station. They're practically obsolete today, and the next generation will probably have to visit a museum to find one.
My thoughts: I am gleefully happy about this. My husband (who has maps as wallpaper in his office just so he can have them easily available) probably not so much.
I am a terrible map reader, I can't fold one to save my life and they are big, hard to mess with while driving and could be a road hazard. This coming from someone who rides with a man who insists on spreading a map across the steering wheel and finding where he's going while driving down the freeway. It makes one get all prayed up, that's for sure. I keep threatening to get the man a GPS but he is quick to say "NO" and hugs his map a little tighter.
*Wired phones: Why would you pay $35 every month to have a phone that plugs into a wall?
My thoughts: Agreed.
*Long distance: Thanks to the Internet, the days of paying more to talk to somebody in the next city, state, or even country are limited.
My thoughts: One more good thing about the Internet.
*Newspaper classifieds: The days are gone when you have to buy a bunch of newsprint just to see what's for sale.
My thoughts: But what if I want to buy a newspaper to see what's for sale?
*Dial-up Internet: While not everyone is on broadband, it won't be long before dial-up Internet goes the way of the plug-in phone.
My thoughts: Happy dance. I have to say I like not having to wait to dial up and then wait minutes to hours for pages to load. Yea for fast Internet!
*Encyclopedias: Imagine a time when you had to buy expensive books that were outdated before the ink was dry. And I might add, find a place to store expensive, outdated books. So much wasted space that could be used for far better books!
My thoughts: As much as I don't want to think of the extinction of books, encyclopedias and dictionaries might be the only exception. There just isn't a need for them and with all the electronic resources out there that make it easier to look things up and makes it easier to find more information in the same place, I will gladly say ta ta to these things.
*Forgotten friends: Remember when an old friend would bring up someone you went to high school with, and you'd say, "Oh yeah, I forgot about them!" The next generation will automatically be in touch with everyone they've ever known even slightly via Facebook.
My thoughts: Maybe good, maybe not so good. Yes, it's nice to stay in touch with people but other times it's best to just fade away and hide.
*Forgotten anything else: Kids born this year will never know what it was like to stand in a bar (or someplace far away from a bar) and incessantly argue the unknowable. Today the world's collective knowledge is on the computer in your pocket or purse. And since you have it with you at all times, why bother remembering anything?
My thoughts: I don't really know what to think about this one. I see many pros and cons. Sometimes it's nice to get away from technology but it has so consumed our life, there's no place it isn't and no area of life it doesn't cover. Even conversations and arguments- resolved at the touch of a button. "Let's just google it." So much for thinking through things on your own.
*The evening news: The news is on 24/7. And if you're not home to watch it, that's OK --
it's on the smartphone in your pocket.
My thoughts: First of all, does everyone have a smartphone now except me...I don't think so. But I see that whether I like it or not, it's all going there so I get that. But do we have to have every bit of all news at our fingerprint at all times? Does that really help us? Sometimes I think we just live life on information overload and a brain full of so much stimulus that we don't know how to have down time and we just must have something to watch or something flashy to play with or we don't know what to do with ourselves, even for a few minutes. Sad.
*CDs: First records, then 8-track, then cassette, then CDs -- replacing your music collection used to be an expensive pastime. Now it's cheap(er) and as close as the nearest Internet connection.
My thoughts: It's gonna be rather expensive to replace all those CD's I have, not to mention the cassettes I'm still holding on to. There's good music on those things and I've spent a very long time collecting them. I do so hate to say goodbye to that.
*Film cameras: For the purist, perhaps, but for kids born today, the word "film" will mean nothing. In fact, even digital cameras -- both video and still -- are in danger of extinction as our pocket computers take over that function too.
My thoughts: I don't miss roles of film full of shots you never know if they turned out or not until you've paid to have them developed and find half of them are no good. But I also really stink at getting the pictures I take on my digital any further than my computer and with film you pretty much had to develop them to see them and then you have something you can hold, show people and frame. But that could be a good thing considering I have so many pictures that I shudder to think how much it would cost to get them all developed. But at least I know they all turned out and I have many more pictures than I would have ever had with film because film isn't that cheap when you wanna take 1,000's of pictures and I believe I have around 4,000- just of Lydia's first year. That would have been a fun film fee!
*Yellow and White Pages: Why in the world would you need a 10-pound book just to find someone?
My thoughts: I can't remember the last time I've used one of them.
*Catalogs: There's no need to send me a book in the mail when I can see everything you have for sale anywhere, anytime. If you want to remind me to look at it, send me an email.
My thoughts: No! I get happy when I get a catalog in the mail. I rarly buy anything but I like thumbing through and seeing what's out there. I have to laugh at some stuff and wonder at the people actually buying it. But I would much rather sit in a comfy chair and browse a catalog than sit and click through some online edition.
Very un-green of me I know, but ya'll, I just can't bring myself to cut out things I enjoy because some treehugger would rather save a tree. Plant a new one and move on!
*Fax machines: Can you say "scan," ".pdf" and "email?"
My thoughts: This one really doesn't apply to me and never has and it's much easier to email- so goodbye fax machine, a fond farewell to you.
*One picture to a frame: Such a waste of wall/counter/desk space to have a separate frame around each picture. Eight gigabytes of pictures and/or video in a digital frame encompassing every person you've ever met and everything you've ever done -- now, that's efficient. Especially compared to what we used to do: put our friends and relatives together in a room and force them to watch what we called a "slide show" or "home movies."
My thoughts:
See, we can't just look at one thing anymore! I LIKE frames with one picture that doesn't move. Call me strange if you wish.
*Wires: Wires connecting phones to walls? Wires connecting computers, TVs, stereos, and other electronics to each other? Wires connecting computers to the Internet? To kids born in 2011, that will make as much sense as an electric car trailing an extension cord.
My thoughts: You mean no more ugly brown and white things trailing all over the place being nasty eyesores and tripping hazards? No complaints to that!
*Hand-written letters: For that matter, hand-written anything. When was the last time you wrote cursive? In fact, do you even know what the word "cursive" means? Kids born in 2011 won't -- but they'll put you to shame on a tiny keyboard.
My thoughts: Beyond tragic. First off, it totally makes my day to get a hand written letter in the mail. It means someone took the time to sit down and write to me. It makes me smile.
Second, when technology takes the place of something as elementray as penmanship, I have to wonder if that's a good thing. Do they not teach it in school? Really? Penmanship used to mean something, it was almost an art, now it's all in how fast you can type. I just shake my head and sigh.
School is sure different now and I guess it will continue to be more and more so but when you cease to teach them things like writing skills, it seems you've left something pretty major out of their education.
*Talking to one person at a time: Remember when it was rude to be with one person while talking to another on the phone? Kids born today will just assume that you're supposed to use texting to maintain contact with five or six other people while pretending to pay attention to the person you happen to be physically next to.
My thoughts: Manners out the window. Listening skills, gone. People skills, one step closer to extinction. People don't matter, electronics do!
*Retirement plans: Yes, Johnny, there was a time when all you had to do was work at the same place for 20 years and they'd send you a check every month for as long as you lived. In fact, some companies would even pay your medical bills, too!
My thoughts: Bring that back!!!!
So to sum up my thoughts on all this, just in case you haven't figured out where I'm going with it...technology, although wonderful most of the time, is not always good and in fact, sometimes rather stinky!And that's my humble opinion.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Faithful
I LOVE this song!
It's been on my mind today.
*Before playing, scroll down to the very bottom of the blog and stop the music on my playlist*
Sins Humbling Ways
The day after Christmas we woke up to find our mailbox had been a victim of bashing. Poor little thing was pretty beaten in.Upon investigation we found that most of the mailboxes on the block had been beaten up too.
I don't understand mailbox bashing. It seems like such a pointless crime. But nevertheless, we were left with a mailbox that wouldn't shut and a broken flag. And the tag for a new mailbox.
Merry Christmas to us from the neighborhood.
Since then we have put off getting a new mailbox for various reasons but we knew we were going to have to do it soon.
Today, as snow was falling heavily and the air was a wee bit frigid (remember that for this story), there was a knock at the door. I opened it to find two teen boys looking awkward and wiggly.
They had in their hands a brand new mailbox. Well, well.
They proceeded to confess to the crime they had committed and not only gave us a new box but installed it for us (remember the weather). We signed a sheet of paper saying we had received a new mailbox from them and had been given an apology. Ouchie! I don't know who made them do all that but I'm pretty sure they weren't thrilled about it.
These teen boys that looked about 16 learned a wonderful lesson in humility and the wages of sin.
I would have slunk up the steps to each house I had to visit and oozed back down them as I slithered over in my humbled low skin to change out the mailbox. I'm imagining they felt close to the same.
I'm also thinkin' they had to personally pay for each and every mailbox and from the list of addresses on that piece of paper, that wasn't cheap.
But I give them credit. They did it and now they can move on. And their whole life they will carry with them the lesson on doing things wrong but making it right. Not the best way to learn things but whatever works.
They also got the gospel presented to them. While they were putting up our new box, Vince went out there and gave them a brief gospel and how they can find true forgiveness. Go, Babe! I bet they didn't expect that! :) I was so proud of him.
Meanwhile, I'm inside trying hard not to laugh. I know it's bad but to have to do what they had to do just for getting some strange thrill out of hitting a mailbox with a bat, it hardly seems worth it and they paid for it.
But then I think, sin is always humbling and we have all born the consequences. Maybe not always so publicly but it's open before our God and sinning against Him should make us even more humbled than what they must have been to admit their wrongs to us.
Thankfully we know that when we do humble ourselves and confess, He is faithful and just to forgive and He signs His name in blood on our hearts to show that He has received our apology and all is made well.
Meanwhile, I'm inside trying hard not to laugh. I know it's bad but to have to do what they had to do just for getting some strange thrill out of hitting a mailbox with a bat, it hardly seems worth it and they paid for it.
But then I think, sin is always humbling and we have all born the consequences. Maybe not always so publicly but it's open before our God and sinning against Him should make us even more humbled than what they must have been to admit their wrongs to us.
Thankfully we know that when we do humble ourselves and confess, He is faithful and just to forgive and He signs His name in blood on our hearts to show that He has received our apology and all is made well.
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