Yesterday was not the best day I’ve had. I was off work yesterday–a good thing. Yesterday morning, I had one last e-mail project to take care of and then I would be finished with that for the day. I’ve been having trouble with Outlook, the software that I use for e-mail. I should have been suspicious that something was up when I received an e-mail from a friend saying that she had received nine copies of one e-mail from me. Anyway, without going into all of the gory detail, my address book is now gone. Completely gone! (Where do things go in cyber-world when they just disappear?) I have these addresses elsewhere and so it could be worse. Nevertheless, it was a frustrating day.
There are some things I never want to lose. I never want to see the following disappear:
- I never want to lose the love of Jesus. Given what I realize about my heart (in terms of my own sinfulness), I know that it is a sheer act of grace that he loves me.
- I never want to lose the body of Christ. I say this in spite of the way some Christians behave at times. Every Christian probably knows of people who have been disappointed and hurt by other Christians. Yet, the alternative for a Christian is not to go through life alone. Trying to maintain control by holding ourselves at arms-length, aloof from the body of Christ, only hurts us.
- I never want to lose hope. My hope is found in Jesus because of the cross. Everything else on this earth is so fragile. Family members can die. Children (or parents) can break your heart. You might experience great financial loss. Certainly, good health is not a guarantee. Meanwhile, Christ is constant.
There are some other things I don’t want to lose.
- I don’t want to lose wonderful friendships.
- I don’t want to lose the respect of my family.
- I don’t want to lose my sense of gratitude for every moment of grace that I experience each day.
- I don’t want to lose my memory. In my mind are wonderful, sweet memories that I can’t imagine losing.
That kind of puts the loss of a few e-mail addresses in perspective.