Changes

There is something about taking down all the Christmas decorations and cleaning up afterwards that makes me want to change things in my house. Normally, I never change anything or rearrange furniture. But on New Year's Day I guess it just felt like a fresh start and I had this urge to change things in my house. The great part is that I did it all without having to go out and buy new stuff.... I just put away some of the things I'd used before on my mantle and entertainment center so that there was less clutter, and rearranged them to give it a different look. And then I totally rearranged the furniture in my living room (with my husband's reluctant help). After doing all that, moving furniture and the piano, he was not happy with the way it looked and he told me that I might be talented musically, but I sure wasn't talented with interior decorating! Gee, thanks hubby! I already knew that I couldn't decorate, so we'll be changing the living room back to the old way pretty soon.

Speaking of changes, I believe that people often think they have to change bad habits or bad behavior in their life before they can start having a relationship with Jesus, or before they can start going to church or seeking help from Christians. However, it's really just the opposite. Jesus doesn't expect you to change anything before coming to him. Any changes you make on your own would probably be like my attempt to change my living room around. Yes, it looked different but it wasn't a good look and it ended up just being temporary. Jesus wants people to come to him as they are, bad habits, bad behavior and everything, and then let him clean up the mess. The only real changes that will last are the ones that He, our real Interior Decorator, makes. If you need to change something in your life in 2008, come to Jesus just the way you are and let him do the work.

But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin.
1 John 3:5

The Good Old Days

Life used to be so simple. I miss the good ole days back when......

1. ...I knew how to work my cell phone -- just dial a number and talk.

2. ...we watched movies on videotape using a VCR -- just pop it in, hit play and watch the movie.

3. ...people listened to music on C.D.'s using a Walkman.

4. ...AOL was synonymous with internet, and using dial-up at 9:00 p.m. took several tries before you could connect. It was so exciting when you finally made that connection!

5. ...you could call a business and a real human being would answer the phone.

6. ...my computer had Windows 3.1 -- all the icons looked the same.

Okay, so I'm really only being facetious about all this because those good old days were really in the not-so-distant past. And even the things I mentioned as being in the old days were things that have been invented during my adult life. When I was growing up I never would have believed that one day everyone would have computers in their homes and everyone would carry cell phones all the time. It is so amazing how much technology is out there and how quickly it changes. I can't even keep up with it anymore. I really do miss my old cell phone that was so simple. This new one I was forced to get (because my husband lost the old one) drives me crazy -- I keep accidentally taking horrible pictures of myself because I'm looking into it and trying to find the power switch but I hit the camera switch instead. And let me just say, I am DVD challenged. I'm not sure why, maybe it's just because with my "over 40" eyesight I can't see the remote very well and my reading glasses are always somewhere else. I don't even have an IPOD yet, though I know if I had one I could learn to use it if I wanted to. And, truthfully, I really don't miss the dial-up AOL days or Windows 3.1 at all! Cable modem is the way to go! (or is there something newer than cable modem out now that I'm not aware of?)

With all these changes that are constantly taking place, I am so thankful to know that there is one thing that never changes and never will. God is the same yesterday, today and forever and his Word remains for all time.

1 Peter 1:24-25
For, "All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever."