Another Move

He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece from a new garment and sews it on an old garment; otherwise the new will be torn, and the piece from the new will not match the old.  And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed.  But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.  And no one after drinking old wine desires new wine, but says, ‘The old is good.’”  Luke 5:36-39

It’s time for change at our house. We’re leaving our home of fifteen years to move to an apartment in a retirement community, which will be our eleventh home in 56 years of marriage. It is surprisingly easy to lighten the load of possessions to accommodate the new smaller space. The old IS good, but so is the new. This move is only one of many changes in our years of marriage, as is true for most folks. We expanded from two to a family of seven, and then, over the years, became two again. We’ve lived in Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, and Texas. Starting out in apartments, we moved to ever larger, then smaller houses. We’ve moved from one telephone to two, to too many, including the one we tote about with us. We’ve learned to cook with gas and electricity and microwaves, in pans, crockpot, roaster, electric skillet, griddle, and waffle/pancake iron. We’ve spent undue amounts of time reading directions to learn to use new possessions like FM radio, television, VHS, cordless phone, dishwashers, refrigerators, computers, CD player, bread machine, lawn mowers, snowblower, hedge clippers, and the weed whacker before enjoying these tools’ making our lives easier, as they were meant to do. After initial rebellion, we accepted area codes for telephone numbers and zip codes for addresses. We rejoice in long-distance dialing, air conditioning, e-mailing, and internet browsing, all fruits of the present not available in our early adulthood. The young often think that their elders are set in their ways and opposed to change.  Given our evidence and that of most of us of our age, I believe that change has been our only constant, and will continue to be. 

Prayer: Lord, we pray for your guidance to take the best from the old and the new as change continues to come to our lives.  After all, your son, Jesus, brought the greatest change to the world it had ever known—and that turned out all right.  Amen. 

Ruth Ann Lyness (reprinted from Daily Devotional Book, November 2008)