Tearing Down Barns
By Julia A. Keirns
(This article was published at ChildrensMall.com in May, 2001)
When I walked through the doors of the old red barn for the last time, my mind raced with childhood memories…
I grew up on a small farm in Ohio, raising cattle, sheep, chickens, horses, dogs, and I seem to recall several cats here and there in the barn. We had the traditional white farmhouse, white picket fence, a chicken coop, and even a tree with a rope tire swing hanging from a branch. But out in the old red barn was where I spent most of my free time growing up. Whether I was feeding the cats, mothering the kittens, or taking care of any one of the other many chores that needed to be done, that is where I could be found. I’m sure sometimes my mother wished I had been as enthusiastic about my household chores as I was about the barn chores. But nothing was ever as exciting to me as watching a new calf be born.
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That barn was important to me. My life growing up was spent in that barn. But there are many changes that have to come about in our lives. We grow up, move on, and we tear down barns. Change is good. It doesn’t have to be bad. That’s how we grow. If we never change, we never grow. Memories of how things used to be can cloud our brains though and keep us from seeing the good things in life and the good things in change. Memories can keep us from growing and changing.
Many things are changing. Even I am changing. Sometimes this confuses my husband, but he manages to keep up quite well. My children are not the sweet, innocent babies they were just a short few years ago. My bills are not as small as they were just a short few years ago either. The schools have changed, principles have changed and the world has changed. Everything has changed. And I find myself changing and growing more with each new day.
As a Christian family, we are also finding more and more each day that we cannot even sit in front of the television for but a short period of time without being offended by something. We are changing. We are continuing to grow and therefore finding more and more worldly things being removed from our lives. But you know what we have found? Removing television from our lives for a time, wasn’t near as hard as watching that old red barn burn down. Sometimes I think we just want to hang on to the past and to the way things were. We seem to be so tied into our memories that we can’t tear ourselves away enough to move on and grow. But it doesn’t hurt as much as you think it will.
Watching the barn burn down brought tears to my eyes, but it didn’t really hurt physically. I’m still here and I’m still growing and moving on. I will remember that day until I die. Removing things from my life that God believes I can do without may bring tears to my eyes, but the change will be good in the end.
I, and my family, will continue to grow and change and tear down barns. How about you? Are you holding on to an old red barn that needs to be torn down? Don’t be scared. Change is good.