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| What Changes In Your Lifetime Are You Most Thankful For? |
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Our church had their Thanksgiving dinner yesterday, and we got the privilege to sit next to an older lady, who is extremely active for her age, and she told us about many of her traveling experiences. On one trip, she was visiting her son, and had taken an old cassette tape player/Radio with her, to play all of her old cassette tapes. Her grandson saw it laying on the table one day and asked her what it was. This child, raised in this time and generation, has never seen a cassette player...it got me thinking about all the changes that have taken place in my lifetime.
My dad died in 2001, and was 87 when he died. He got to see many changes in his life, and he was not technologically savvy. I bought him a VCR plus one year, and he never did quite figure out how to use it...he had to get the book out every time he wanted to program it.
When I was a kid, there was no such thing as computers, VCR's, DVD's, CD's, Ipod's, palm pilots, or notebooks (except the kind made of paper). You were lucky to have one television, and even luckier if it was in color. (I actually still have a small black and white TV that works!) Telephones were not cordless, there were no cell phones, cell towers, fax machines, and there was no Internet!!! We had to use a typewriter, which didn't have a spell checker, you had to use "white out" to cover a typo, or else the eraser tape (tape that had a white substance that when you put it in between the typewriter key and the paper, and strike the key, would cover over the typo.)
Not many houses had automatic dishwashers, unless you count the many mom's (and sometimes dad's or kids) that would wash all the dishes after supper. We might have a washing machine, not necessarily a dryer, and laundry got hung out on the line to dry on nice days. No microwaves, no automatic cleaning ovens, no automatic garage door openers. Cameras had film, not discs or chips...you had to take the film to a special place to be developed, and then you had negatives to have more photos made if you wanted them.
Sundays were the day to go to church and come home and have a big dinner and rest and relax the rest of the day. You could leave your back door unlocked, and not have to worry about someone walking in. You could go take a Sunday drive to see the country side, and not have to worry about how much you are going to spend on gas. Christmas was Christmas, and not "winter break", Easter was Easter, and not "spring break". We could still say the pledge of allegiance in school and not leave out God's name.
Even in my lifetime, many changes have taken place, and I don't consider myself that old. When I thought of the one thing that has changed for the better in my life, I had trouble deciding on one thing. I find my computer a vital part of my life, mainly because I can keep in touch with friends and family who don't live close by. But also because of the never ending amount of information that is available at my fingertips (my old encyclopedias don't get any use anymore!) I don't go anywhere without my cell phone, because what if my car breaks down? (Never mind the fact I went most of my life without one). I love my electric blanket, and wouldn't know what to do without it in the winter time.
So what change in technology has happened in your lifetime, that you are most thankful for, or appreciate the most?
One thing that has not ever changed, is God's love for us, His word to us (although many different versions are out there), and His ability to forgive us. For that I am really thankful!
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| Deb, I agree with you and Heavenbound. Great blog! Sometimes, it takes a moment to reflect and be Thankful, really THANKFUL. |
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DeboraJ |
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November 19, 2007 at 1:14pm |
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Love it! Amazing how quickly things have changed... |
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Now I'm reflecting on the many changes in my lifetime some wonderful and some so sad... but again we prove that The Word is alive... doesn't the bible tell us about advanced technology? thanks for the post I truly enjoyed it. |
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Deb |
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November 19, 2007 at 3:06pm |
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Heavenbound, I agree, kids today are missing out on a lot, especially time to be a child.
Yahschild, I think we should always take some time to be thankful. I try to thank God for something different every day. We take so much for granted.
DeboraJ, yes, things do change quickly. Even a computer you bought a month ago is out of date with all the new stuff coming out. |
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Deb |
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November 19, 2007 at 3:08pm |
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| Cheryl, The word is alive, and God is never changing, and that is the ultimate comfort in a world that is constantly changing. |
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I have been accused of sheltering my kids. We live deep in the woods. We have no TV. They are still very much enjoying being kids. Will it hurt them in the long run? Probably not. They all grow up eventually.
I have a hard time just picking one change that I am very thankful for. There are several...
-I do enjoy the computer with the ability to communicate around the world. It allowed us to post a web site and support missionaries when they needed it instead of waiting once a year to hear from them.
-I enjoy my radio...everything from Paul Harvey to Newsboys. Yes radio has been around a long time, but I can travel across country now and receive it anywhere. When I tire of it, I can play books on CD. Maybe it should be the microchip that I am most thankful for.
-Velcro. It helps keep me warm in the winter, helped my kids keep their shoes "tied", and it made for some fun indoor toys.
-Thin films. Everything from post-its to tinted windows to no-stick pans. Gotta love it.
We have seen so much in the last generation. I can only imagine what the next generation will see. |
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| I would say that I am most thankful for central air. Everytime I visit my grandmother, who has central air but refuses to use it, I am reminded how much I would miss it if I didn't have it. |
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Great blog Deb!! I could go on and on about all the changes I have seen in my lifetime....and I am still a young'in. Growing up, my father always encouraged my brother and I to use our heads when it came to doing mathematical problems. He hated calculators. I am not sure which grade it was, maybe 7th grade, but we were required to have calculators in school. My father went to his first and last Parent/Teacher Conference and raised some cane.Then the computers hit the schools (Apple IIe's with the green screen...lol) My father REALLY liked that concept.
Back in the old days, if you got into trouble at school, you had one of three options: 1) In-school suspension..2) out-of-school suspension....OR 3) you got the wooden paddle with the holes drilled in it across your hiney. No matter the punishment, your parents still got a phone call.....and then the punishment worsened at home. Nowadays, schools have adopted the Zero Tolerance Policy....where, if a student looks at a teacher cross-eyed, they immediately phone the parents, threaten to suspend the student and suggest that the student see a psychologist. Yes, I may have exaggerated a bit, but you get the point.
The one thing that I am thankful for is the person who invented high speed internet access. I first started with dial-up....it was ok, but once I got to use the high speed version, I knew I never wanted to go back to dial-up.
And by the way Deb...you can go to your local Best Buy and purchase a computer right off the shelf and by the time that you get it home and hooked up and all ready to go.....it's outdated. Technology is constantly moving at a high rate of speed.
God Bless ya Deb!!
Matt |
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Denise |
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November 20, 2007 at 5:04am |
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When I was younger I am sure I never thought of those changes, but now that I am older and see them I wonder how many people have looked back in time the same way we do.
I am thankful for the technology that has made our life somewhat easier, but it is also the cause of a lot of stress for some. Not only that think of how much more physically fit we could be if we would go back to the old way of doing things. Getting up and changing the channel on the tv, hanging out our clothes on the line (the smell is wonderful). Hauling water from an outside pump.
I remember when I was a little girl we heated with an oil heater in our living room, no central heat, Mama used to get blankets warm on the heater and we would run to bed jump in and she would cover us with the warm blankets.
I guess we took a lot for granted back then, and I am sure we take a lot for granted today.
We are blessed truly blessed that God gave so many people the knowledge that would help make our day to day chores so much easier.
Thanks Deb for the blog and for the memories you stirred up. |
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Deb |
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November 20, 2007 at 9:59am |
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DC, I know several people that do not have a tv...I don't think that is a bad thing. I don't watch it that much, and honestly, if I didn't have one I don't think I would miss it!
Lupe's wife, ah yes, air conditioning, how could I forget that? That is a wonderful invention!
Pastor Tim, I never had central air until we moved into the house we have now. And although I don't use it a lot, when it gets extremely hot and humid, I love it. I had a car that we got rid of this past summer, that the air conditioner quit working on. I didn't realize how much I appreciated it until I didn't have it!
Matthew, I still have dial up, and I can't wait until they get high speed out here in the middle of nowhere...we don't really have the option, because any place that offers high speed for our area is going to charge an arm and a leg. And I remember in high school, we weren't allowed to use calculators...now you can't take a math class without one.
Denise, you are so right. If we did things the way they were done "back then" we would be much more physically fit!
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Deb |
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November 21, 2007 at 11:53am |
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| Restore, those are all good things to be thankful for, especially the one about God delivering you from smoking. He is great! |
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Gene |
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November 21, 2007 at 3:46pm |
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great blog, Deb.
I would have to agree with a few of the prior comments:
- I'm thankful for the computer and the Internet. It has allowed me to communicate with my relatives in Europe in much more "real time: than the 3 months it once took for a letter to go and get back.
- I'm thankful for the change God has made in my attitude toward His divine path. I don't know where it leads but I know where its going.
- I'm grateful for my loving wife and family. They have taught me true love.
- I'm very thankful for the advances in medicine that allow me to walk without pain like a normal person again.
- and I'm thankful for central air (thanks for the reminder, PT). I spent many a night as a young boy sleeping fitfully my bedroom with the window AC unit after an asthma attack.
- I think I am most thankful for the change in myself - the growth that God has allowed to happen.
You're right, Deb. God is good! |
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Jen D |
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November 21, 2007 at 3:56pm |
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| The change I'm most grateful for is computers. I didn't learn to use a computer until I was in my 20's and now I can hardly imagine life without one. The biggest thing the computer has done for me is that it's made sharing pictures easier. No more waiting for prints to arive and then mailing them out to friends and family. No more lugging around huge photo albums. And no more forcing people to sit through boring slideshows. Now with a mouseclick everyone gets my pictures the day I take them and they only look if they want to look. |
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Deb |
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November 22, 2007 at 7:15am |
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Gene, All of the things that you listed are great...I guess the one I would point out is the advances in modern medicine. There are so many things that they can treat now that they couldn't treat even five years ago. It is amazing.
Jen D, I agree, taking pictures is so much easier now...the feature that I like best about digital cameras is you see the picture right there when you are taking it. If you don't like it, take another one. No more waiting on the pictures to come back, long after the event is over, only to find out the pictures are all of the ceiling. lol |
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