Monday, July 03, 2006

A new hard drive; a new perspective

Matthew 6:19-20

19" 'Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal...' "

The verse above is very appropriate for this particular time in my life. I recently replaced my hard drive in my Apple Powerbook - not because I wanted more storage, but because my old one simply quite spinning. My computer wouldn't start up one morning back at the beginning of June, so I took it to the Mac experts where I work. They were attempting a data recovery when the drive crashed completely. I then took my computer to a store that specializes in repairing Apples. They did their best (after letting my machine sit on the shelf for three weeks), but could not recover any of my data. All this means that when I got my computer, it was literally like getting it out of the box for the first time. I had to re-establish my user profile and do all that stuff that new computer users must do. It was all very disheartening.

Throughout this entire process I've had to remind myself that my life is not completely ruined because I lost an entire year's worth of schoolwork, as well as my budget, or because I don't know how to transfer all my digital music from my iPod to my new hard drive. When I'm feeling down like that, I simply remind myself that really, it wasn't my computer in the first place. God was only letting me use a piece of equipment for a while. That computer - as attached to is as I did grow - is still only a tool for bringing Him glory. I did, after all, dedicate it to Him when I first got it, and I said that I would let people use it who were in need, or use my computer to help people in ways they can't help themselves.

So all of this is to say that I've experienced a lesson in how not to store up "treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal..." And where computers crash at random. I guess God wanted to tell me that I spend far too much time on my computer doing really innane things like Facebook. And I guess He wanted me to understand that I don't need all that past school work to prove to some future employer that I know what I'm talking about. And maybe He simply wanted to teach me a lesson in trust.

3 comments:

Brent said...

Matthew, sorry to hear about your hard drive, but I like your attitude. If it helps, check, out a free utility called senuti (itunes backwards) - it lets you move your music from your ipod to itunes even though it isn't originally designed to do that. Have a great 4th!

The Bearded said...

I recently picked up a portable HD in hopes of avoiding what you experienced. I would "lose it" if I lost all my research.

Good perspective to keep...regardless of what the sitaution is.

Unknown said...

My condolences. May you have many more years of happiness with your new hard drive.
By the way, I LOVE the new profile picture :)
I'll be in Ft. Collins for the next week and a half...sadly without much, if any, free time...or I'd swing down to the Springs. Hopefully we'll be in touch...
Dios te bendiga!