some things stay the same

There's a story on yahoo today that has me freaking out. OK, I'm not really the freak-out type. But it's all about the technology that will be obsolete by the year 2020. Eight years! If I read it right, smart phones will be the ONLY phone out there. I won't be able to choose a 'dumb phone' even if I want. And I won't need to buy a GPS unless I'm planning on climbing Everest or serving in the military because it'll be built into my new car or smart phone. I won't buy CDs or DVDs because music and movies will all be digital.

This is crazy. In 1990, my son Dan came home from pre-school and held out his hands about 12 inches apart. "Mommy! They have CDs THIS BIG at pre-school !" The kid had never seen a record, even though we had a crate of them in the basement.

The speed of technological advances makes me dizzy. Think of the span of human history and how much has changed in the flash of time called the 20th century. Television, radio, telephones, advanced communication. Electricity! My own father grew up on a farm with few conveniences. Food was refrigerated in an "ice box." My mother chased the ice truck down the street and of course air conditioning was unheard of. When you think of it, the first 200 years of our country moved at a snail's pace in terms of technology. And now, in less than half my children's lifetimes, everything's smaller, faster, more efficient.

Almost. My son Mark, father of our 3rd grandchild, told me, "Mom, everything's changed since you had us." Meaning, the stuff that new parents collect before baby arrives. He thinks I haven't a clue. The 'stuff' has changed a bit, some for the better and some not.

But one thing that really hasn't changed is the babies themselves. How I love that. When I first held Ari, it felt familiar and good. The skills I developed as a mother kicked in naturally when time came to hold, swaddle, rock, bathe, and sing to my granddaughters. How beautiful that for the things that really matter in life, God gives us the ability to hone, then keep our skills for many years. I might fall behind in using a computer or learning to use a smart phone. But I really don't care. It's all a chasing after the wind. What matters is that I can love and care for my grandchildren, to be the 'Baba' God intends.

Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve,

everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;

nothing was gained under the sun. 

Ecclesiastes 2:11