Things aren't built to last these days...

Wow, things really aren't built to last as long as they used to. So far in the past month we've either replaced or repaired our TV (a Samsung LN46A650), our Microwave (a Panasonic NNSA647B), and our water heater.

We've had the TV for about two years, but it started doing this thing where when you turn it on, it would turn itself off and on a few times before ever showing any audio or video. At first it'd turn off/on about once or twice, but gradually got worse... I counted as much as 13 times once of it shutting itself off and coming back on again, but I'm sure there was a time when it did it even more, I just got tired of counting. Good thing we paid for the extended warranty from Fry's when we bought it, so we were able to get it fixed for free.

Our microwave was about three years old and then one day I noticed it wouldn't heat anything at all. A few days later, it would give an H97 error message. We ended up just buying a new one. Our previous microwave before the Panasonic lasted probably about 27 years... and still worked when we got rid of it, but just took longer to heat things up.

I'm not sure what was wrong with our water heater. It was leaking or something, but we got that fixed too.

Seems like something else will fall apart soon too - our washing machine. It is terribly loud and sounds like a jet about to take off. It wasn't so loud just a few months ago. We haven't had this washer and dryer for very long, probably just about three years as well. The dryer already had to be repaired after about a year because it made this loud banging noise and now it looks like the washer will have to get fixed next. Our previous washer and dryer probably lasted about 25+ years as well.

Just seems like things these days just aren't built as well as they used to be.

You read what you are !

I was at another parent-teacher meeting.  Tonight, the discussion topic was a book that only half of us had read.

I hadn’t read it.  And I’ll admit, I was slightly prejudiced against the book and the authors.

But listening to one mom, I thought it sounded like a fabulous book on parenting.

Hearing another, though, I was afraid it might be filled with too many rules and not enough grace.

I laughed as I concluded that you could easily think you were hearing reviews of ten very different books when in a room full of ten moms who were talking about only one book.

But as each mom jumped into the discussion, sharing what really struck her in what she’d read, I realized something else: each of these women had read this book through her own “filter.”  Each of them had read the pages of this book in light of their heart perspective.

The woman who memorized Scripture and spoke with His Words on her tongue had seen all of the biblical principles: she couldn’t say enough good about the impact on her heart and life of the verses the authors had shared.

The mom who obviously lived her life according to some external rules read the black and white that she saw the authors set forth, and cheered for no gray areas in which to get muddled.

The wife who felt a bit like she was going it on her own in some areas read about this amazing family and wanted her husband to read the book so they could do everything this family was doing.

The woman who had been skeptical thoughtfully read the why’s and realized some of these principles could be helpful in making life easier if applied to her own parenting.

Based upon who they were, each reader came away with a very different perspective on the book and its main points.

As a reader, it’s an interesting thought to consider.  Is this why, when I read a book looking for its good points, I rarely come up lacking?

As a writer, it’s an almost scary fact.  Is this why, no matter what you write, someone can always read it and find something to pick apart?

But as a one who wants to live my life according to The Word, something else hit home for me.  They say “you are what you read”, but it seems you also read what you are.  Which comes first?  And through what and Whose lenses will I read?