I've been wondering when we lose the sense of wonder.  Memories have taken me back to when my oldest son was just a few months old.  In his walker, he would meander through our apartment in Germany, checking things out, his little face intent on whatever object he happened upon.  With mouth slightly open, eyes fastened upon something new, you could almost hear his mind absorbing that strange sight and feeling before him.  One day, it was the leg and underside of the table.  He couldn't have been more than 5 or 6 months old.

Fast forward a few years to the four year old that stood at his grandmother's knee as she told him fascinating stories of people in the family history.  Or some strange thing that had occurred in her life.  He gave her the same rapt attention, with the same expression on his face. 

Even as a teen and on into his 20's, he at times, had that same wonder about something that taught him some valuable lesson or was some mysterious thing that had never occurred to him before.  I remember having that sense of wonder in my 9th grade science class when I would see documentaries about mass production.  Who could take one prototype and think of all those machines that would mass produce one item?  Amazing.  It still amazes me. 

On Father's Day, I met several young people that had that expression on their faces.  I had gone to a new pizza establishment to purchase pizza for my husband's Father's Day lunch.  One of the wait staff (they were all so young, so pretty, so gracious, so open) mentioned the restaurant that had been there prior to the new one.  She said she didn't like it because they charged for everything.  I said the name may have been Irish, but the separate charge for everything on the table was the way it was done in Germany when we lived there.  Their eyes grew big, their mouths dropped slightly open and one said, "You were in Germany?"  There it was.  That sense of awe that I had experienced something they have, thus far, only dreamed of. 

Unfortunately, as time rolls on, the more we learn, the more we experience, the less we have that sense of awe.  It may dull to admiration for someone whose done something unusual.  It may sour into envy or bitterness because life hasn't turned out the way we dreamed.  Ravi Zacharias said just this morning that wonder is essential.  So how do we maintain it, or recapture it once it's perverted or lost?  Praying and meditating on that thought brought to mind the song, "The Wonder of it All."  "The wonder of it all, to think that God loves me." 

In Scripture, God often reminds us to remember all He's done for us.  To think, He could love me, in spite of my sin, well, that boggles the mind and is a sure fire cure for bitterness and envy. 

Life ends when the learning stops.  Don't know if anyone else ever said that, but it's my way of life.  At the age of 70, I'm establishing a blog, joining Facebook (again), Pinterest, Google, and maybe even Twitter.

It's not been an easy road.  A couple of years ago my daughter-in-law tried to drag me into the 21st century by insisting I join Facebook, but I was suffering the beginnings of hardening of the attitudes.  This morning, it dawned on me that the attitude of gratitude and acceptance of challenges gets a lot more accomplished than whining that I don't know how.  Didn't want to be bothered is more honest.

Soooo, great-grandma has gotten out of her recliner, put on her glasses, and turned on the computer.  I'm a half century behind everyone else, and I'll never catch up, but the effort will be beneficial.  Who wants to be around crabby old lady who talks of nothing but the good old days?  I may be a moss backed turtle, but the grass hasn't grown under my feet. 

Computers make me crazy

Maybe computers have more of a human ability to think than I realize.  I keep saying they have demons and I seem to have more trouble with them than anyone I know.  Maybe I'm making them angry and they're sticking their tongue out at me.  My friend, Marianne, and my husband spent hours yesterday and more hours today just trying to set up my blog to this point. Now that I'm at this point, how difficult is it going to be to get to the next point?  For a good laugh, stay tuned.