For most of this year I’ve been having trouble with my laptop. There were a variety of things happening, such as the fan speeding up and getting very loud, and recording video of my sermons that was choppy and made it sound like Alvin, of the Chipmunks, was in the pulpit, and programs running very slowly, and, perhaps most annoying of all, my laptop just shutting down, seemingly at random.
I searched online for help. I asked friends who are more computer-savvy than I for help. I took my laptop to the shop. In the process of understanding what was going on and what I could do about it I tried a number of things, such as deleting files to clear up memory, having fewer files and folders open at the same time, and taking the back off to clean the fan ports. But in the end the day-to-day problems were unchanged and using my laptop, which is essential to many pastoral tasks, was becoming chronically frustrating. And so last week I took the advice Robin had been suggesting for months and ordered a new laptop.
It arrived yesterday and I spent part of the afternoon getting things set-up. I turned it on and did whatever it said to get the basic systems running. I copied all the files from my old laptop that I wanted to transfer to my new laptop onto an external hard drive and then moved them over. I set-up some bookmarks and shortcuts for apps and programs that I use frequently.
There is a learning curve to getting this laptop, and its operator, to work well together. Part of that work has gone easily and part of it has not. My new laptop is from a different manufacturer than the last several I’ve owned, and it runs on an upgraded operating system. For reasons I can’t possibly imagine there are things within programs that work differently than before. I’ve been able to figure a number of things out, but not without a bit of trial-and-error. I know where I want to go, and I know where to start, but I’m not sure by what route I’ll be able to get there. But, regarding changing laptops, this is not my first rodeo.
There is a spiritual idea coming in this post and I attached a rodeo picture, but it occurs to me I’ve got the wrong image. A bull-rider might be perfect to characterize a rodeo itself, but a barrel-racer would be a more suitable photo for my point. The average bull rider gets thrown off much more often than they succeed but a barrel racer has to learn to work as one with her horse.
In Psalm 32:2-3 David is in a miserable place, lamenting the present difficulty in his life, but then he points to the solution in verse 5, saying:
“I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”,
and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.”
David begins like the bull rider, thrown to the ground and perhaps dazed and trying to figure out what went awry. And the solution is to be more like the barrel racer, to go back to the beginning and learn to work with the Lord, rather than to live at odds with Him.
When your life with God stumbles may you be encouraged to get back to basics, such as prayer and confession, and get going again, working with Him.
Time for me to figure out another new thing as I upload this blog post. There may be a hiccup or two, but it’s not my first rodeo.
Photo credit: RodeoHouston.com, via the author’s cellphone
Scripture quotations
are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by
Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All
rights reserved.
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