Cyber Column by Berry Simpson: Upgraded

Posted: 11/28/05

CYBER COLUMN:
Upgraded

By Berry Simpson

Well, I’m feeling upgraded nowadays. Maybe “updated” is a better word.

I’m driving a new pickup. It’s a 2005 that’s been on the road for a year, but it looks and feels brand new to me—instead of my 1994 SUV.

I’ve been looking at pickups for a long time now with longing in my heart, but I was hesitant to buy one because it seemed too self-indulgent since Cyndi drives an SUV that’s just as old as mine was, and with higher mileage. But Cyndi insisted, and I accepted, and now I’m feeling very modern. Friends might see me driving around town in my new pickup looking for something to haul.

And not only am I driving a new pickup, but I’m wearing a new pair of designer sunglasses that Cyndi gave to me after she ended up owning two pairs. Cyndi has worn nice sunglasses for years, but I’ve stuck with cheap discount-store copies—mainly because I wasn’t sure I could keep from losing them, and I didn’t know how to carry them around since they won’t fold flat and fit into my shirt pocket, but also because I have such poor vision I wasn’t sure my eyes deserved top-of-the-line sunglasses. But now that I’m older and, I hope, more responsible, I’ve entrusted myself with these very cool shades in hopes that I won’t lose them or break them. I only hope I can live up to them. Maybe wearing them while driving my new bight red pickup will help.

And not only do I have a new truck and new glasses, I’ve been wearing new pants lately that aren’t really so modern or expensive or anything like that but that are NOT made out of denim. They are NOT blue jeans. This was not an easy transition for me. I feel like I’m in a documentary titled “Mrs. Simpson’s boy is growing up.”

And there’s more: I’ve actually been going to a workout class at—a class with 20-plus people in it—rather than sneaking off on my own to work out all by myself. I’m working out in a group, with real-live people, on their schedule, following their rules. Who would’ve thought it?

Come to think of it, all my recent changes have been Cyndi’s idea.

She has a bigger influence on me than she knows.

Or maybe she knows exactly what she’s doing. Maybe this is all part of her master plan coming to fruition after only 25 years together. Maybe these are scheduled steps in her planned husband upgrade program, something she envisioned way back when she was a sweet college girl and saw me as someone she could help out. The only problem with that theory is that 25 years is a long time to plan for someone as spontaneous as Cyndi.

The fact is, significant change usually takes a long time. Not that having a new truck or wearing expensive sunglasses are significant changes, but they are representative of the incremental changes we make—small changes that add up over the course of our lives to make us into new people. As Christians, we hope that the new people we’re being changed into are more Christlike.

We live in an age of instant answers. We want the Lord to reveal God’s plan for us immediately in response to our prayers. We want to know not only the pathway of our lives, but the end result as well. But God’s changes usually come in small increments, and we don’t get to see them in advance. I once read in a devotional book: “God’s purpose for our lives unfolds gradually as a tree grows into fullness.”

It has occurred to me that if God sat me down and laid out his entire plan for all my life … well, I wouldn’t be ready for it. It would be too frightening. If you’d told me 10 years ago where I’d be spending my time and energy today, it would’ve scarred me away. I wouldn’t’ve been ready for it. In the same vein, I believe God has things in mind for my future that I’m not ready to know about yet. Maybe God is waiting to see if I grow up enough to handle them.

Well, before I leave the subject, I’d like to go on record as affirming that Cyndi’s influences on my life have all been good ones. Every single change that she’s brought to my traditional and predictable life has been for the better, and I am grateful for her interest in me. Soon, I’ll be a new man.

Berry Simpson, a Sunday school teacher at First Baptist Church in Midland, is a petroleum engineer, writer, runner and member of the city council in Midland. You can contact him through e-mail at berry@stonefoot.org.