All Things New

I have come to the age when the words "old, everyday, regular" have the connotation of comfort, and the words "new, cutting-edge, different" bring a bit of apprehension and anxiety.  Never is that more true for me than when it comes to technology.

I have had a Dell desktop computer for the last ten or so years.  It was a very expensive, top-of-the-line machine when I purchased it - thus it's longevity, I suppose.  Recently it announced that it was ready to die; as a matter of fact, I resurrected it from the dreaded blue screen four or five times.  During the brief power outage of the last round of thunderstorms, however, it breathed its last.

I had, thankfully, prepared for its demise several weeks ago.  I looked at everything Dell had to offer, but couldn't quite handle the prices.  Then I went on HP's website, and found the perfect machine for me: tons of memory, big hard drive, a built-in 15-slot card reader and a price that I could afford.  I ordered it, and its big brown box was sitting on the office floor when the Dell expired.

I said "perfect," didn't I?  Well, not quite.  I am a Windows XP girl, you see, and this machine only came with Windows 8.  Friends said, "Nooo - get a machine with Windows 7," but that would have upped the price.  I let three days go by - sans computer - while I stewed over the coming NEWNESS.  Finally I bit the bullet, set up the machine, turned it on, and opened my little Windows 8 Basics brochure.

It was similar to setting up my Android smart phone, and the instructions, though brief, set me on the right road.  I certainly have not mastered Windows 8 by any means, but I have unpinned (and pinned) apps from my start page, erased the Norton 60-day trial and downloaded AVG, loaded my Office 2013 and Photoshop Elements software, and am now happily tapping away on this blog.  I am calm, I am pleased, and my anxiety has died down to a mere yawn. 

When the Bible speaks about God making "all things new," many people - old and young - get a little anxious about what exactly that "newness" means.  Harps? Clouds? White robes?  What will they do... what will they eat... where will they go???   The descriptions given in scripture are almost as brief as my Windows 8 brochure.  God has, however, given an intriguing promise of the new life that He will provide:

No eye has seen, no ear has heard, 

and no mind has imagined the things that God

 has prepared for those who love Him.

1 Corinthians 2:9