Technology & Life | Clean Slate

Sometimes we just need to start over… With a clean slate.

I must admit when the black screen presented on this very laptop last night I had a bit of panic grip my heart. I have some files backed up on Google Docs, some found in emails and on websites but mostly to my knowledge -they are GONE. You see, over time I have backed up most of my files, but they are on an external hard drive formatted for a MAC. The MAC is still operational with some issues, but there is hope for me yet.

I tried to restore my system without losing any files to no avail. By 2:00 am all I wanted was to go to bed. Buying a new laptop sounds like a plan but alas Mr. Budget says no.

I do have some files on a dusty archaic desktop – and well, I did say the GIMPY Mac may help. I tried backing up what was on this computer pre-black screen ouch! So then I clicked that ominous button that would restore my laptop to its factory settings. ((Eyes closed, holding my breath.)) 

That part worked. (PHEW!)

I reloaded software and began recovering some files – thank God for Dropbox and auto back up.

But much of my computer is a clean slate. As I shared with Scott about my horrible predicament, he said, “So you lost everything?”

Not everything, but lots of things. Indeed. So maybe what I discovered is I am a bit of a techno hoarder. Don’t get me wrong this felt so disappointing and frustrating, but at the same time – it is a bit freeing.

I have a fresh opportunity to replace all of those dated files from a new perspective. (Can you guess where I am going with this?) Yep. Just like 1 John 1:9 where Jesus takes our confession, our agreement with Him about sin, and opens us to receive His cleansing grace and love that washes us whiter than snow. So… I could freak out. Be anxious. Think about those documents that occupied space on the hard drive… Or I could just trust that God knows what I need and anything I could not recover from technology He will supply in spades because He is GOD.

A. FRESH. CLEAN. START. I think I like that. We’ll see when I have to search through Facebook and the media files I have stored online to find that picture I want to download. But really truthfully, I felt overwhelmed by the thought of deleting anything before the crash. So, perhaps God in His infinite wisdom took the thinking out of it for me. 

We’ll see. In the meantime… I am going to fire up the Mac and transfer what files I may need from there to here. 🙂