Every inch I have ventured into the land of high-tech electronics, I have been dragged kicking and screaming.
Many birthdays ago, I received a DVD player as a “gift” from my husband. (See the chapter in the “Guy Handbook” on “How to Give a Gift to Yourself, Cleverly Disguised as a Gift for Your Wife.”) My husband is a wonderful, generous guy who genuinely loves to bless me, but DVD technology was brand new at that time and I had just finally learned how to program our VCR.
Since then, the technology parade has continued to march into our house and into my life. We’ve acquired cameras and camcorders, lots of computers, a digital video recorder for our T.V., a sewing machine that might as well be a nuclear reactor (both for its complexity and the anxiety it causes me), and more recently, an IPOD – one of those small electronic devices that stores and plays a kazillion songs, pictures and videos.
The IPOD almost pushed me over the edge. True, I had offhandedly expressed an interest in getting one because they make it easy to listen to lots of music while exercising. But the practical side of me realized that the task of learning to use an IPOD might make my simple brain explode. I should have realized that the moment I whispered a desire for a piece of new electronic wizardry, my man would be on that request like white on rice. Perhaps the only thing that could have thrilled him more was if I had asked for a power tool. (Like THAT is ever going to happen.)
When Joe caught a whiff of my casual desire to own an IPOD, he began the hunt and bagged an impressive one – the biggest, newest model that holds more songs than I could listen to in my lifetime, even if I had the thing surgically attached to my head.
When I received my IPOD on Christmas morning, I was grateful, but nearly overwhelmed with dread as I wondered how I’d ever figure out how to program and operate it. My sons were incredulous and made comments conveying the same sentiment Jesus was communicating when he warned about casting one’s pearls before swine. That someone so technologically retarded should be given such a wondrous gift seemed a huge injustice in their sight.
Perhaps it was, but this I will confess: I’ve grown to love my IPOD. It exercises with me, rides in the car with me, and wakes me up in the morning. This gift I didn’t want has turned out to be a huge blessing.
Reminds me of some of God’s gifts, most notably His greatest gift: an intimate, eternal relationship with Him through Jesus Christ. It’s a gift I refused for many years, smugly thinking, “I don’t need that. I’m doing fine on my own.”
Then God let me see that I wasn’t fine at all living apart from Him. No one is.
When I look at my IPOD, I realize, “Hey, maybe Joe knows me better sometimes than I know myself. He knew I’d come to love this thing.”
When I look at the blessings that have flowed into my life through my relationship with Jesus, I get the same message. For many years, I couldn’t see what I needed. Only God knew what could scratch the deepest itches in my heart – His presence, His love, His purposes. And He gave me those gifts.
And I love them … and Him … more every day.