My parents are getting ready to fly south for the winter. They’re snowbirds – northerners who spend harsh winter months somewhere warm. The species is thinning out. Baby boomers are less inclined to follow the lead of their parents who flocked to Florida and California to buy condos in the sunshine. We’re kind of busy trying to make our mortgage payments and tending to our overgrown kids who never seem to leave the nest.

But that’s not the topic I’m covering today. Since more and more services have been brought online, it’s getting harder for my mother to manage her pre-season travel arrangements. Airlines charge a premium to make reservations by phone and there’s a surprising new player excluding person to person communication: the .

Last year, my parents got in hot water because all of their mail did not forward. They spent hours on the telephone straightening out overdue bills that never arrived. It took weeks to finally get their addresses corrected in dozens of different databases. My Dad was resolved not to let it happen again. He went directly to the and handed him the completed seasonal change of address card, but he was told the only way to ensure that his mail would be re-routed, was to do it online. Uh-oh.

My Dad is great at clicking the bookmarks we set up for him, but I’m the stand-in when it comes to taking care of business on the Internet. Lickety-split, I filled out the right form, and paid the one dollar charge with his credit card. I was mildly surprised that there was a fee, but it isn’t unheard of to require a credit card to ensure the person making the transaction is who they are supposed to be. Here’s what really shocked me:  is using advertising to generate revenue. Following the confirmation, I was offered catalogues and special offers from Pottery Barn; Bed, Bath, and Beyond; and more! It’s unimaginable how it could have happened; some government bureaucrat was using the ole noodle!

Our U.S. postal system is . I’m encouraged when I see tiny little sparks of hope, like the addition of ads to online forms. If that elephant of an institution can change, I’m confident that there is a brighter future for the rest of us. I see people stubbornly holding on to their old habits, when there is a better way to move forward and make things happen. What is it that you need to change? How can you be more productive, more giving and more content? Take some time to pray for personal change. Follow the advice of wise teachers: pray as if everything depends on God, act as if everything depends on you.

Help me to quit trying
to change things through worry.
Teach me to speak through You,
and my life will change automatically.

When I learn to change my thoughts,
my life change will begin,
from the inside out.

I try so hard to have peace.
In the midst of my tribulation,
I declare Your love and power!

Help me to free myself from anxiety in my thought life.
I declare a fast from wrong thinking!
I feel life through my emotions,
I declare joy to come!

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