How Pain Can Be Profitable

This post original appeared on my blog on March 8, 2014, I hope you enjoy it.

The other day I bit my tongue. I didn’t just nip it, I chomped down on it hard (pain). It’s not the first time I’ve done it either.  

how pain can be profitable

You’d think it would be no big deal. It’s not like breaking an arm or having knee surgery (though it felt like I needed to reattach part of my tongue!). But for a few moments, everything, EVERYTHING stops and you are completely incapacitated by the pain.   

I was in the middle of saying something to my wife at the time, and then in mid-sentence I was silenced. Lily turned around, wondering why I stopped, and then wondered if I was having a stroke or something.

I wasn’t moving; my mouth was half opened. I couldn’t speak; my eyes filled with water. She was really concerned and asked, “Are you okay?”  

I couldn’t immediately reply because of the pain, but also because of the piece of toast I still had in my mouth. That’s what caused the great tongue bite in the first place.  

I’m thinking if this is going to happen to me more often, maybe I should just drink Boost – that way I wouldn’t have to chew any more. I’m over fifty-five so people wouldn’t even think that’s odd. In fact, people under thirty expect that someone my age would be drinking that stuff by now.

Besides not biting my tongue, there are benefits to not chewing and just focusing my attention on swallowing.  

… Things like no more cooking – Lily would like that because meals would take under two minutes. I’m sure I could chug a bottle, box or can of that stuff, whatever form of packaging it comes in.  

This wasn’t even the worst tongue biting I have harmed myself with. I once bit down on my tongue so hard I put my right incisor into the middle of my tongue and, yes, I was bleeding.  

To make matters worse, I couldn’t stop the bleeding either. I was on a blood thinner at the time and it wasn’t like I could put a bandaid on it. It seemed to take forever to heal.  

And then about three months later I opened it up again. It’s been a couple of years now and still that spot on my tongue can open up like a boxer’s face that has had one too many punches.

When you bite your tongue hard you also can appreciate what it’s like to have your tongue pierced. You’ve seen those sales clerks or waiters who speak kind of funny because they have this little silver ball in the middle of their tongue. 

They kind of talk with a lisp and your eyes are directed right to their mouths like you’re a lip reader. You can tell they’re having a hard time forming the words they are trying to say. You feel like helping them out by finishing their sentences.  

Well I have three days to get my tongue back to normal before I preach on Sunday.  

Here’s the thing: When you bite your tongue, the pain lasts for a while. When God wants you to learn something or correct you on something, the pain or angst you feel also lingers for a while.  Keep on being faithful through it; don’t look for other solutions. Learn the tough lessons and move on.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What lessons have you learned by going through the pain or angst of the teaching?

I’d really love to hear from you; leave your comment below.

The Coldest Night Of The Year … To Me

Last night was the coldest walk outside this year. 

the coldest night of the year to me

It may not have been the coldest night of the year, but it certainly was the coldest I’ve been all year.

I remember my days in Edmonton. We would always get a stretch of cold temperatures each winter. It might have lasted a couple of weeks, but it felt like it was never going to end.

It was the kind of cold in which we would talk ourselves out of even going to the store to get milk: 

“Dear, are you sure you really need milk? Maybe you could pour something else on your cereal in the morning.” 

“Have you ever tried almond milk? I think you might like it.” 

“Let’s just stay in and go to the store tomorrow. I hear it’s going to get up to -24 C tomorrow afternoon.” 

The conversation would go something like that and we would stay in and do without, just because we didn’t even want to drive in that cold if we didn’t have to. 

But I also remember times I did go to the store and there would be three pickup trucks at the 7-Eleven ahead of me, nobody in them, but the engines were still running. 

I did the same. 

Car thieves must have had the same conversation about whether they really wanted to go out in the cold to steal a car that was open, keys in the ignition with the engine running. 

Well, last night that’s what it felt like. We went to the Kingston Frontenacs’ game and found a parking spot several block from the arena … which meant hoofing it to the rink, but that’s what we do all the time. 

Last night we should have tried to get valet service because, man, that walk was cold. 

It had snowed earlier in the day. In fact, before the temperature dropped there was a lot of snow that fell in a very short time – so much that many businesses didn’t have a chance to shovel their sidewalks.

Because it got so cold so fast, the snow packed together and stuck to the streets and sidewalks, leaving them very uneven and slippery. We were walking on trampled snow and underneath our shoes the snow squeaked as we walked. 

You know when you buy cheese curds and you pop one in your mouth and the cheese squeaks as you chew? That’s the sound the snow made as we walked to the arena. 

It took me about half the game and a hot chocolate to start to warm up … but we were in a building that has its floor frozen with a sheet of ice on it. 

The walk back to the car was colder. 

The temperature had dropped several more degrees from when we came. 

I didn’t think the car was going to heat up before we got home. It was the coldest night.

Well, they say it’s the damp air in southern Ontario that makes the cold go right through you. It sure did last night. 

Here’s the thing: In the comfort of your home, you may not feel so pressed to go out and follow Christ. You may be able to convince yourself you are okay just as you are. But let me encourage you – get out to a church, talk with a pastor and find out how to follow Christ. Don’t hibernate on this decision. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What have you put off because you are comfortable? Leave your comments and questions below.

Subscribe to my blog and receive posts like this one to your email twice weekly. 

Maybe Vaccination Passports Are A Good Thing

I think I might be changing my mind about the vaccination passports. 

maybe vaccination passports are a good thing

I can’t say that I ever liked to have to show proof that I’m vaccinated when going to a restaurant or a hockey game, but maybe there is a place for these passports in our society. 

Ontario was late getting their electronic QR code all set up, but we have been showing proof of vaccination since the fall. 

I had a pretty neat set up with my vaccination receipt and a picture of my driver’s licence on the same page in my phone. 

There was no fumbling, no scrolling, searching for another document. I just showed the person at the door my page. They squinted for a few moments until their eyes adjusted to the 6 pt type size on the document. 

When I had to, I made the switch and conveniently was able to put my driver’s licence picture on the same screen as my QR code. So it worked easily for me.

It still is a hassle. You can’t just enter an establishment. You have to line up to prove you are allowed to be there.

Remember the days when we never thought of pulling out our wallet or phone until we got to the cash on the way out, or until the waiter or waitress handed us the machine at our table to pay? 

Those were truly the good old days, weren’t they? And we are going back to them very soon.

I can hardly wait in one sense, but in another I’m thinking it’s too bad because I’ve just discovered something really good about vaccination passports. And it all has to do with going to the movies. 

In the last couple of weeks I’ve seen two movies in the theatre. One of them Lily wanted to see and the other I really had to see. It was my duty.

Anyway, both times we arrived at the theatre there was a line of people outside waiting to get in. The line was because it takes time to show your credentials to get into the movie. 

The theatre is still not that busy and they have a very large lobby. But for some reason, they want to scan your QR code just inside the doors, which means you are standing outside until it’s your turn to show your code.

But here is the best part and why maybe we should keep the passports for a while – at least at theatres: The people scanning that black and white square piece of art on your phone are so focussed on that that they don’t verify if you even have a movie ticket. 

That’s right, the last two movies I went to I didn’t need to buy a ticket. All I needed was my QR code and driver’s license. 

All I can say is I’m glad I only paid the senior’s rate. It was Lily who paid the big bucks to see those two flicks.

Here’s the thing: I think some people think that when they get to heaven, God will look at all the good things they did and just forget about the bad – maybe just overlook the bad because of all the good. But God doesn’t work that way. It’s the bad that separates us from Him and no amount of good on our part can overcome the bad. It is only by the sacrifice of Jesus that we can have a relationship with God. By putting your faith in Christ, He takes away all the bad. That’s something to think about.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What is something you overlook that you shouldn’t? Leave your comments and questions below.

Subscribe to my blog and receive posts like this one in your email twice weekly.

A Valentine’s Day To Remember

When Valentine’s Day came, I thought I could give my wife a most wanted present.

A valentine's day to remember

For Valentine’s Day I always get her some flowers and a card, but not usually a present.

But this year there was a gift I knew she would be thrilled with … a gift she had been hoping for.

Here’s the story: I had been growing a beard for about four weeks and almost every day she asked me when I was going to shave it off.

She would say, “You’re not going to keep this, are you?” and “Am I going to be married to a Grizzly Adams?”

I never gave her any hope that I was going to shave it off (read about that here). 

Instead I talked about how nice it was growing in, how I liked the colour and just how great it was to have a beard.

In reality, I couldn’t have cared less to have a beard. 

When I started, my stubble was all white and I just wanted to see what it was going to grow into.

As the weeks went on, I could tell that Lily was wondering if she was going to have to get used to it, but she was not at the place to accept it. 

My plan was to shave it off after four weeks on a Saturday, just before Sunday. But during the week, I had an idea for a sermon illustration that was related to my beard, so I decided I would keep it for one more Sunday. 

Valentine’s Day was the day after Sunday and I determined that I would surprise Lily with a gift of shaving off my beard.

While Lily was busy that afternoon building a puzzle, I secretly shaved my beard and then stayed out of her way (read about that here). 

I was working on a project at my desk when she came downstairs and kissed me on my freshly shaven cheek.

She didn’t notice!  

A little while later I came upstairs and looked at how she had set up the living room. We had planned to have a romantic dinner at home and the living room looked like a perfect, quiet spot in a restaurant. The lights were low and Lil had candles glowing all over the room. 

We had a short conversation and I went to pick up dinner from a Greek takeout place close by. 

When I came back, Lily kissed me on my lips and took the food to place it on the plates. We sat down to eat, just three feet across from each other, face to face, eye to eye. 

Then Lily said, “Oh, I need a picture”. She got out her phone and took a picture from across the table. 

Never once had she said anything about my missing beard. 

We were a few minutes into eating our dinner when I finally couldn’t take it any longer. I asked, “Did you notice I shaved off my beard?” 

Lily gasped. She was so embarrassed. It never dawned on her. She’s not living this one down.

I almost decided to start growing it back that night … but I don’t want a beard.

Here’s the thing: Have you ever noticed how intricately the petals of a rose are formed, or how the human body has been put together? It’s hard to believe that this all happened randomly, by luck or flute. It’s practically impossible if you think about it. No, God made everything precisely and purposefully. But many people never notice. I encourage you to take notice of the Creator and put your trust in Christ. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What has escaped your attention lately? Leave your comments and questions below.

Subscribe to my blog and receive posts like this one delivered to your email twice weekly.

Well, That’s It – Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

Well that’s it; it’s gone. I’d like to say as quick as it came, it left in the same fashion, but that would not be true. 

well, that;s it - here today, gone tomorrow

I’m not talking about the weather either, though there are some similarities. 

Last week we had a few days of warm weather that seemed to suggest it might stick around. However, as quick as the plus figures arrived, they instantly vanished into oblivion with the arrival of negative temperatures in the double digits.

It was hard to fathom how much a thermometer could drop in such a short span of time. I was blown away at the amount of red liquid that could pool in that round reservoir at the bottom of the thermometer outside our kitchen window. How did it all get in there?

Some things have a quick arrival and then a slow exit. Snow, for one, is like that. 

We received most of our snow accumulation in two storms. Specifically, it was over one night that we really noticed the snow pile up. 

Since that fateful night, the snow has not retreated all that quickly. Even with those few warm days we experienced last week, there was not a significant amount of melting to be observed with the naked eye. 

I think you would need some kind of a measuring system to tell if the glacier on my front lawn has retreated at all.

I doubt we will see this snow disappear for some time … though apparently we will be back in plus temperatures a few days from now. 

But this blog is not about arriving quickly and then sticking around – actually, the opposite.

About five weeks ago I started growing a beard. I got covid and, for the five days I stayed at home, I didn’t shave. (You can read about it here.)

I was just intrigued with the white stuff on my face and decided to see what it would look like if I kept it around. So for the last four to five weeks, I’ve been growing this white stuff. 

… No, I haven’t digressed to talking about the snow, just the mostly white beard that has been accumulating on my face. 

It has not come about quickly though. 

I could wait longer to see how it fully develops and if I will maybe look like David Letterman or Santa Clause, but at this point I think I have a good idea of how it would turn out. 

During this time, I’ve been driving my wife, Lily, batty. She doesn’t like it, not one bit. 

And I’ve stayed coy, not indicating that I’m in any hurry to shave it off. 

But unlike the snow on the ground that comes quickly and leaves very slowly, my beard has taken weeks to develop … but I was able to eliminate it from my face within a matter of fifteen minutes. 

… I know someone who will be ecstatic that her Valentine wish has come true!

Here’s the thing: Think about it – God has been very patient with mankind. The Bible says He is slow to anger, abounding in love and mercy. Centuries have gone by with the promise of Christ returning – that’s a long delay. But when Christ does return, it will be quick and possibly unexpected. Don’t get caught thinking there is lots of time until then. Place your faith in Christ today and develop your relationship with Him so you will be ready for His quick return. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you need to bring to a quick end? Leave your comments and questions below.

Subscribe to my blog and receive posts like this one to your email twice weekly.

Familiarity Breeds The Strongest Of Connections

Familiarity brings out the desire to connect. Have you ever noticed that in your life?

familiarity breeds the strongest of connections

I have, in fact, just this morning. I witnessed two strangers connect over something that was familiar to both of them.

Maybe there is some kind of bond that is created with familiarity, an invisible string that ties our hearts together with one another. 

When you think about it, familiarity warms our hearts. 

If we hear a song on the radio that we knew from long ago, often there is a noted smile that crosses our faces. We put our attention to it. We remember places and people who also shared that song with us. 

This connection is so strong that we can picture a place in the past where we heard that song. Our mood may have been flat or even down, but a familiar song changes that in an instant. 

And for at least the length of that song, our mood has brightened. 

Just being in the same room as someone we have known in the past can change how we talk, how we relate; we can even become more animated.

I know this is true when I get with the guys I went to high school with. Though we are all grown men, we start relating and acting and talking like we did back in high school.

That’s the kind of thing familiarity does. That invisible thread gets tied to each other’s hearts and we don’t go back in time, but the past somehow get injected into how we interact with each other. 

It really is an amazing thing. 

This morning at hockey there were two guys in the dressing room who didn’t know each other. They had never met before, except for seeing each other skating around the ice. But this morning they were changing in the same room.

One of the guys had a tattoo of Newfoundland over his heart.

I had noticed it, but didn’t say anything. I just figured he was from there, or it was a special place to him. 

But another guy across the room noticed the tattoo and spoke up.  

“You from Newfoundland?” he asked. And the tattooed guy responded, “Yes I am.” 

What transpired next was pretty amazing. It was that familiarity at work.

They went from complete strangers to being deeply connected to each other. 

Somehow, though being from different places on “the Rock”, they not only knew things about where each other was from, but they knew some of the same people.

The room might as well have been empty of other people because all they did was banter back and forth about their homeland. 

The more they talked, the thicker and thicker their accents got as they connected more deeply. 

They left the room together and when I finally emerged from the dressing room, they were still engaged in conversation beside the rink. 

I made my way out to my car, got my hockey bag into the trunk, and started to pull out of my parking spot. 

These two were now in the parking lot … still engaged in conversation. 

They may never leave each other’s company.

Here’s the thing: I’ve been reading through the Bible each year for the past 25 years. There is now a familiarity with it that draws me to it and warms my heart to it each day as I read. Daily read God’s word to develop a familiarity that connects you to God.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What connection do you have with God’s word? Leave your comments and questions below.

Subscribe to my blog and receive posts like this one delivered to your email twice weekly. 

I Wish I hadn’t Called Him That Name

This post is from February, 2013. Sometimes I like to post an old article. I hope you enjoy.

When it comes to naming things, some people have a gift and others don’t. I’ve met people who I’ve wanted to call by another name. I don’t know why, except they don’t look like, say, a “Ross” to me.  

I wish I hadn't called him that name

Some people get creative with names – and others wish they hadn’t – like Frank Zappa’s kid, “Moon Unit” or more recently, Beyonce’s child, “Blue Ivy”. You have to wonder what they were thinking or were on when they named their children! 

But it’s not just baby names. Some companies choose weird names for their products, like pretty much anything in an Ikea store. When I ordered a “Billy”, I didn’t know that was a book shelf. But since having “Billy” in my home for years now, we’ve had some good conversations.

New Zealand has a drink that is called “SARS”. I’m not sure I’d like to order one of them. But when the “SARS” virus was breaking out all over the world, sales of the drink went up. People thought it was a cure. After all, the can did say it had a flavour burst.

There are times, though, when there is something about a name that either fits the person or describes the item very well.

Our turtle is named Winston, and if you saw him you would think the name really suits him. It was my daughter who came up with that name and I think she showed lots of creativity. However, that wasn’t always the case with my kids and names.

Karlie had a stuffed animal that she called “Monkey”. Fortunately, it was a stuffed monkey and not a stuffed elephant or giraffe. Mike, well, he really got creative with two teddy bears that he had: one he called “little Ted” and the other one “big Teddy”. At least we never got their names mixed up; there was a noticeable size difference.  

Speaking of getting mixed up, there was a time I played hockey with a guy who had two first names. I don’t mean his name was hyphenated, or he went by his middle name instead of his first; I mean his last name was a popular first name – Mike Dale. 

One can’t be held responsible for calling someone who has two first names by their last name. It’s easy to get confused. I had been calling for this guy to pass me the puck and was wondering why he wasn’t sliding it over. 

Finally, he skated to me and said, “Hey! Stop calling me by my last name. How’d you like me to call you by your last name?” Actually, I didn’t care. The thing was, I thought I HAD been calling him by his first name … and I thought he kind of looked like a Dale instead of a Mike.

A good name helps us identify the person or helps us have a good idea of what the product is or does. 

Here’s the thing: God has many names that describe characteristics about Him – Jehovah Rapha (the God who heals) or Jehovah Jireh (the Lord will provide) or Jehovah Shammah (the God who is There). If I keep in mind these descriptive names that identify a quality about Him, I will probably seek Him more quickly when I have a particular need. 

That’s Life

Paul

Question: What names for God do you keep in your mind?  Leave your comment below.

Subscribe to my blog and receive posts like this one to your email twice weekly.

We Ration When We Are Forced To Make Do

I don’t like having to ration my food to make it last, but sometimes I’m forced to.

we ration when we are forced to make do

We live in a country of bounty. We have far more of almost anything you could think of than many other countries.

So maybe that is why I get really frosted when I have to ration my food. 

I realize there are some in Canada who don’t have an endless supply of food. They need to be careful how much they eat or spend so that they can make it to the end of the month. 

The other week I was walking out to my car and a man came up and asked if I could help him out. He said he ate his last bagel that morning and didn’t have anything else to eat until his government check came in … which would be deposited in his bank account the next day. 

There have not been many days in my life where I had to bypass a couple of meals waiting for my money to come in.

There are other people who don’t have a lot to begin with, yet do very well managing what they have. But with the price of food, gas and everything else going up, they are finding it that much harder to keep food on the table. Some must turn to food programs or city food baskets to supplement them during the month. 

I think most of us are feeling the pinch a little bit right now. 

But what bugged me the other day was simply not getting enough peanut butter for my toast. 

On Saturdays my normal breakfast includes toast with peanut butter. We keep a large jar of the heavenly butter around all the time.

We are purists too. There is no sugar or additives in our peanut butter – just straight peanuts churned into a smooth spread that I love. Of course it comes with about an inch of oil on the top, but a little mixing with a hand mixer and the result is a perfect consistency right to the bottom of the jar.

At home I put as much peanut butter on my toast as I want to. This morning when I ate breakfast at a restaurant, however, I got a little plastic container with maybe half a tablespoon of peanut butter in it. 

Oh, and I had to ask for it as well. … Waitresses hold onto this stuff like it’s the next crypto currency and they are trying to stockpile it. 

My meal came with two slices of toast. How in the world do you ration that one capsule of peanut butter over two slices of toast?

Things might be tighter in the world right now than they were a couple of years ago, but please let’s not ration the peanut butter!

Let’s live a little in these stress-filled times. Dish out those peanut butter cups like they are really good, not like they are really gold.

Here’s the thing: We all know people who are stingy and people who are generous. I want you to know that God is generous. He gave us His Son, Jesus, to pay for our sins, so that His generous love could extend to us. God is generous with His Son and generous with His love. Put your faith in Jesus, God’s Son.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you need to be a little more generous with? Leave your comments and questions below.

Subscribe to my blog and receive posts like this one to your email twice weekly.

This Trend Needs To Change Quickly

Do you ever notice how a trend or popular belief gathers great support? It’s like there is a momentum and the trend or belief becomes bigger and bigger. 

this trend needs to change quickly

In social media they would say something has gone viral. 

I remember getting to the edge of a field with my brother and a friend one winter’s night. The conditions were perfect for making snowballs and we tossed a few at each other. 

Then we each started rolling a snowball in the snow. As we rolled, the snowballs got bigger and bigger. We ended up abandoning two of them and together pushed one snowball. By the time we got to the end of the field, it was over four feet high. 

It was huge; it had snowballed! … That’s what you call it when something gathers steam and becomes bigger than life. 

We have seen these kinds of trends over the last several years. 

One of these trends is an attitude that is very prevalent today. I would say that this attitude has snowballed; it’s gone viral. 

It’s an attitude of, “if you don’t agree with me, I hate you.” 

We often say it in different ways though. Some might call it cancel culture. We might label it as “vaxers” or “antivaxers”. 

It gets expressed as “liberal” or “conservative”. 

Hey, this same attitude can be found in gender talk these days.

The topic may be different, but the attitude is the same: if you don’t agree with me, I hate you. And I believe you hate me.

You have to wonder how we got here, to this attitude. But more surprisingly, how did we get here so fast? 

Well, that’s the thing with a snowball or something viral – it picks up steam really quickly. 

Just look at Covid. It spread really, really quickly. We went from not knowing much about it in November 2019 to full lockdowns around the world by March 2020. 

This attitude of “I hate you if you don’t agree with me” is definitely disturbing. 

But I came across a verse – actually two verses – in the Bible that kind of stopped me. 

I read 1 John 3:16 and the reference reminded me of John 3:16. When I thought about the content of these two verses, they just dovetail together. 

They were both written by the same Apostle John, but they may have been written up to 10 years apart. Then someone else over a thousand years later added the verse numbers to the text. 

It’s remarkable that these two verses share such a connection … and a message that we all need to hear right now. It goes very much against the trending attitude of “if you don’t agree with me, I hate you.”

John 3:16; 1 John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” … “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.”

In these two verses lies an important truth that we should love one another, not hate each other. 

Here’s the thing: A trend is a trend because the masses pick up on them. But a Christian should follow the Bible and not the trends. If you know Christ as your Saviour, be anti-cultural in this. Love those you disagree with and show kindness to them in word and deed.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What attitude have you struggled with lately? Leave your comments and questions below.

Subscribe to my blog and receive posts like this one to your email twice weekly. 

The Debate About My Face Is Heating Up

We have a bit of a debate going on in our family that is centred on the condition of my face.

the debate about my face is heating up

Something small should not be the centre of attention but in reality the small things often are. When you have a hang nail, it’s such a small thing but it really does take a lot of your attention. A sore baby toe can cause you to limp like you have a broken leg. 

Of course your face is front and centre. It’s the feature that most people see right away. Your face naturally draws attention to it. 

And I guess that is why we have this debate going on. 

But still, I don’t tell Lily how to apply makeup or what kind of makeup she should put on. She determines what kind of hairstyle she will wear and, for that matter, when and where she will get her hair styled.

That’s why I’m surprised that my face is up for debate right now. After all, I’m just growing a little hair on it. 

About a week ago, I was sick and while I was sick I didn’t shave for a few days. Normally I don’t go more than two days in a row without shaving. But the way things worked out, I didn’t shave for three days. 

When I looked in the mirror that fourth day, I took a good long look and thought maybe I should grow this a little longer. I had a couple more days when I wouldn’t be facing anyone so I thought there was no harm in seeing how things would go.

It’s been a very long time since I’ve had facial hair. 

Out of college I had a moustache that I didn’t shave off for 30 years. In 1998 I add a goatee and kept that for 16 years. My kids were in their twenties and had never seen me without facial hair. 

Then, about 8 years ago, I shaved it all off. Other than a long adjustment period of wondering who the guy in the mirror was every morning, I haven’t thought about having facial hair since. 

… Well, that was until this past week. 

Now I’m interested in how it is coming in. My hair colour is more of a sandy blonde so it’s coming in very light. Some people say it’s coming in white or silver, but we will just call it “blonde”. 

The problem is my wife, Lily, is dead set against it. She wants it gone. I want to see how it’s going to turn out. 

She says she might go on strike. I’m not sure if that means I won’t be getting any meals or if I won’t be getting any kisses. … Maybe she means both. 

All I know is that my facial hair seems to be coming in really nice and I’m liking what I see. 

Besides it’s about -20 degrees outside and I could use a little face covering. 

Here’s the thing: We often think that we are independent and can determine what we do and how we live. But in reality, our lives are really dependent. Others do have a say and ultimately God determines our eternity. It makes sense to have a right relationship with someone our life depends on. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What in your life is dependent on someone else? Leave your comments and questions below. 

Subscribe to my blog and receive posts like this one delivered to your email twice weekly.