“How was Chandler’s first day?” It was dear of many of you to write and want to know.

Actually, we went out to dinner last night to find out the answer to that question. And Chandler was in charge. It was his evening and he ran it.

He took us to the restaurant he wanted to go to. He didn’t tell us; he just showed us where to park. Then he walked ahead of us a couple blocks until we reached the restaurant he had in mind. I did a quick mental check of my credit card balance because this wasn’t Round Table Pizza. It was a very nice restaurant in town.

Chandler was in charge the whole way. He spoke privately to the hostess. It was a warm night and they have outside seating, but he chose inside. It was less crowded. Chandler and the hostess led us to our seats. I chose the sausage pasta, Marti picked the chicken pasta, and Chandler ordered penne with butter and a little cheese on top. It turned out to be the best pasta I’ve ever had.

Finally we brought up the subject of school and he let us now he didn’t want to talk about it. He didn’t like it and that was that. The most we could get out of him was that he liked last year’s school better.

And who could blame him? It’s always hard to let go of the familiar and take on something new. The crippled man by the pool of Siloam wasn’t sure he wanted to be healed because he had held on to a disease and an excuse for 37 years.

The new is always a challenge, simply because we don’t know what’s ahead. We prefer well-worn paths. We will even put up with the things we don’t like about something familiar rather than step into the unknown.

God wants to take us to new places. He wants us to leave our sins and addictions behind. Surely there will be new ones, but at least they will be new. New battles to wage; new heights to conquer; new challenges to overcome.

I think last night we said good-bye to the old rather than welcome in the new. But if you’re going to say good-bye to the old, might as well follow Chandler and choose a nice place to do it in.