Thankful Thursday: New and improved same old, same old

Producers are always eager to have buyers purchase the “new and improved” version of everything they see.

And some buyers are eager to get every “new and improved” version.

Others are more nostalgic, constantly longing for the “same old, same old”–and resisting new innovations whenever they come.

I prefer to grasp tight to the nostalgic past, reach towards the ever expanding future–and keep my feet firmly planted in today.

This week I’m thankful…

…for the new and improved DVD player that showed up on my doorstep this morning. (I installed it this evening–and now, for the first time in quite a while, I can actually watch a DVD on my computer if I want to.)

…for the new and improved work schedule I’ve created for myself. (I get my work done so much better if I go into the office early, before others arrive. Now I just need to leave at a corresponding time instead of just staying ten or more hours.)

…for the new and improved book Now, Discover Your Strengths that my boss bought me (and the rest of her direct reports. Many people might be less than excited to have reading assigned them from a boss. I’m ecstatic.)

…for the same old same old Bible that I’ve been reading since my trip to Sweden in 2003. (It’s worn, it’s torn, it’s been dropped in the toilet–but it’s also got my notes, my underlinings, and memories of the peaks and the valleys God’s brought me through.)

…for the same old same old routines that make dealing with the less-routine parts of work life less bothersome (It’s amazing how routines impose their own calm amidst turmoil.)

…for the same old same old computer that I’ve been using since I started college–that hasn’t yet given up the ghost.

Most of all, I’m thankful for the One who is the same yesterday, today, and forever–but Who is so immense, so unfathomable that my knowledge of Him can be new and improved every day!