December 21, 2008 – “Your virtual memory is low”

Today was Sunday.  It sure is good to see those folks.  They are encouraging just to be around.  We only had fifteen or twenty people there today.  A real intimate group.  But among them was a grandmother who decided a few weeks ago that it was time her granddaughter was in church every Sunday.  Also there were some of the students from our Christian school who are also in our youth group.  Great kids.  The teaching was about temptation, and I used the example of kinds of chocolate bars.  I had some samples to show off.  I didn't have one of my favorite, though.  I love Nestle's Crunch, and I haven't been able to find one since the storm.  I did get a bag of Christmas bells made of Crunch chocolate, though.  Anyway, after church the girls went over to the convenience store next door and returned with two Crunch bars and a 3 Musketeers (my second place winner).  Can't wait until after dinner tonight.   We worked on our family Christmas newsletter this afternoon.  Chris usually writes it and I add words of wisdom comments here and there.  This year it's more Chris than me.  But we did put some new pictures in of everybody.  One from Nathan & April's wedding, one of the grandsons in front of the Christmas tree in a rare semi-quiet moment.  I started printing them out, and got about twenty done when all of a sudden one came out with one of the pictures missing.  It wasn't lack of ink.  I just changed the cartridges.  And besides, the print next to it was fine.  The picture was just missing.  I tried again.  Now that picture was back, but a different one was gone.  It was very strange.  It chose a random picture every time to just - forget.  Finally my computer caught up with what was happening in the printer.  It flashed an error message that said something along the lines of "Your virtual memory is low.  I'm working to redistribute it for more effective operation."  OK.  What is virtual memory?  Where are you redistributing it to?  And how come you get to decide what is the most "effective operation"?  Yes, I was talking to my computer.  But it didn't give me any clues for fixing the problem, so I did what any other self-respecting semi-computer-ignorant operator would have done in my place.  I rebooted.  It seemed to work fine for awhile, but the problem did resurface, and I quickly rebooted again.  Then I quit with the letter for the day.  That's enough "virtual memory" confusion for one day.   My virtual memory gets low a lot.  Especially when I'm tired.  I forget, too.  I forget names.  I forget where I put things.  I forget to be selfless.  I forget to look for ways to do things for other people.  I forget … and that seems like a too-convenient excuse to me right now.   Psalms 103:2-5 says, "Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits - who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's."                                                                                   Father, inspire my "virtual memory."  I don't want to forget.  I want to remember – and act – and remind people of you.  Amen.