We were talking today about how pervasive technology is in our lives and the lives of our children and their friends. Cell phones, blackberries, everyone has one - some even more than one. Texting, talking, emailing surfing, tweeting, facebooking and on and on. My daughter sends and receives well over 5,000 text messages a month, yet only consumes a few hundred talk minutes. She is in instant communication with us and dozens of her friends. My wife has several different ring tones set on her blackberry. She has one for email, one for text, and she even has a special tone for facebook updates. She is not a tweeter, yet...
My friend and I reflected on our own childhood and teenage years, and the absence of such technology. For me, since I am a few years over 50 I recall only a rotary telephone and it was a party line at that. Chatting with friends meant going to their home, or yelling across the fence in the back yard….we did a lot of that. News traveled, but not as rapid as today.
I found myself reminiscing with fondness for slower peaceful days, the good days I had. I also had my share of bad days, but nevertheless I am remembering the clear spring and crisp fall days where we gathered in an open field to play football, or baseball and we would play ball until the sun went down and we could no longer see, or our moms were calling us home for dinner. I miss those days so much…..we had so much fun playing ball and hanging out just talking, telling jokes, gossiping on the latest whatever news…..we also did a lot of dreaming, as most teens did, I'm sure, growing up in small rural towns.
Recently, I met an old friend with whom I played football till dark during those years. He asked if I remembered where we played ball, and I said of course, the house was just a block from my old home place. He drove by there the other day and stopped to reflect on all the games we played there and as he stood there, he said the yard was really small, much smaller than he remembered. As it was when we were playing football there those fall days, it was as if it were as large as a any high school or college football field! I agreed with him as I thought about it……Amazing how that happens….Our world seemed large and expansive growing up... those were the days…….and I do miss them so much…
Our life experiences are just a brief moment in time. As James describes it “... a mist that appears for a little while and then gone”, but what remains is the memory, the feelings, and now more than 45 years later, the freshness and fondness of those times come flooding back into my conscious mind...those were good times.
I pray for my daughter and son as they leave their teen years and begin their lives in the world that they and their children may reflect someday as I am reflecting today, and that their remembrances will be as fresh spring flowers - vibrant, fragrant and colorful.
God blesses us all, and healing and renewal are his greatest gifts of grace, if we only let him love us…The LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting. Because it is everlasting, it may be found at the beginning of each new day …"
My friend and I reflected on our own childhood and teenage years, and the absence of such technology. For me, since I am a few years over 50 I recall only a rotary telephone and it was a party line at that. Chatting with friends meant going to their home, or yelling across the fence in the back yard….we did a lot of that. News traveled, but not as rapid as today.
I found myself reminiscing with fondness for slower peaceful days, the good days I had. I also had my share of bad days, but nevertheless I am remembering the clear spring and crisp fall days where we gathered in an open field to play football, or baseball and we would play ball until the sun went down and we could no longer see, or our moms were calling us home for dinner. I miss those days so much…..we had so much fun playing ball and hanging out just talking, telling jokes, gossiping on the latest whatever news…..we also did a lot of dreaming, as most teens did, I'm sure, growing up in small rural towns.
Recently, I met an old friend with whom I played football till dark during those years. He asked if I remembered where we played ball, and I said of course, the house was just a block from my old home place. He drove by there the other day and stopped to reflect on all the games we played there and as he stood there, he said the yard was really small, much smaller than he remembered. As it was when we were playing football there those fall days, it was as if it were as large as a any high school or college football field! I agreed with him as I thought about it……Amazing how that happens….Our world seemed large and expansive growing up... those were the days…….and I do miss them so much…
Our life experiences are just a brief moment in time. As James describes it “... a mist that appears for a little while and then gone”, but what remains is the memory, the feelings, and now more than 45 years later, the freshness and fondness of those times come flooding back into my conscious mind...those were good times.
I pray for my daughter and son as they leave their teen years and begin their lives in the world that they and their children may reflect someday as I am reflecting today, and that their remembrances will be as fresh spring flowers - vibrant, fragrant and colorful.
God blesses us all, and healing and renewal are his greatest gifts of grace, if we only let him love us…The LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting. Because it is everlasting, it may be found at the beginning of each new day …"
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