Author: Paul Silcock

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Bring On Christmas!

From time to time I repost articles from the past. This post is from December 2014. . . Enjoy.

Well, our house is finally decorated for Christmas. It has been about a two week process. We’ve lived in a Christmas construction zone in that time, with boxes and decorations lying in wait to be placed where they need to be.

bring on Christmas!

It’s not just the living room that needs to be decorated, our family room gets almost as much glitter and lights as the upstairs.  

For me, I’m glad that it’s all finished now because the in-between stage looks so unfinished and I really don’t like the clutter.

For two weeks I haven’t been able to walk around our pool table and if I need to get in a few more steps for the day, I need that space to pace around in.

But now everything is in place where it should be and the Christmas work site has now turned into a beautiful scene of lights, ornaments and ribbon. Lily’s happy with it and that makes me happy.

I don’t really contributed to the putting up of all the decorations. Lily has an idea of what she wants to do and I’d probably mess things up if I got involved … at least that’s what I’ve convinced myself of. 

Sunday afternoon I sat down on the couch and ended up taking a well-deserved nap. When I awoke, Lily had just finished the last touches on the decorations. I figured I woke up just in time.

She asked what I thought and I said it all looked great. I think she was looking for something more, maybe something more flowery or possibly a “I’ll help take it all down”. But the best I could offer at the time was “great job, dear”.

Hey, I was still waking up.

It’s not like I don’t do anything to contribute to the Christmassy look around our house. I put up the lights outside … and Lil doesn’t help me with them.  

I have to risk life and limb going up on a ladder to string the lights along the garage eavestrough. Then use an extension ladder to secure the lights along the peak of our roofline.

I don’t see her needing a ladder to put her newly spray-painted star on top of the tree … well maybe a step stool.

I was able to get all my decorating done in one afternoon and not the two weeks that we have had to wade through the junk.

But it’s all good now. We are ready for this season we call Christmas. 

The decorations are just a mood-setter for what the season is all about. I think the trimmings trigger memories and alter our mood. And this ushers in a most special time of year. Where we celebrate the birth of Jesus, God’s Son, who came to restore us to God.

Here’s the thing:  Like decorating for Christmas moves us into experiencing the season with a greater depth of feeling, taking time in the next couple of weeks to focus your attention on Jesus and His birth will move you to cherish Him more. The thing is, like putting up the decorations takes effort, take effort to spend some time in God’s Word around the miracle of the Messiah’s birth.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How much effort goes into preparing for your Christmas? Leave your comment below.

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Christmas Shopping – Love It Or Hate It

I have a love hate relationship with Christmas shopping. It’s been like this for years.

Christmas Shopping - Love It or hate it

Generally I don’t like shopping. I guess that’s why I don’t do it that often … though there was a time when I would check out the computer shops on Saturday afternoons, not to buy anything but to look at what I might want to purchase in the future. 

My kids like shopping for clothes. I really dislike it and that’s why I only shop for clothes when I’m in desperate need, or when my wife, Lily, has conned me into trying something on.

What I’m saying is you won’t find me in stores very often … well, maybe Costco on occasion. 

However, at Christmas time I make up for a whole year of store neglect. 

You know how many stores go from being in the red all year to getting in the black at Christmas? Well, I’m part of their Christmas statistic.

I have to say that I still don’t like the shopping aspect of Christmas, but I do like purchasing gifts for my loved ones.

And, for that joy, I will drive to the store even if it’s a dollar store to get stocking stuffers.

But what I don’t like is roaming around a mall or store looking for some illusive item that will be the perfect gift for my wife or either of my kids. 

Maybe that’s why I dislike hunting. 

Hunters go in the bush, get a nice comfortable spot and wait and wait and wait. 

Sometimes they come back to the camp at the end of the day and they never took a shot. They never saw anything to shoot or they didn’t have a clear shot when there was something in their sights. 

The thing about hunters is they are okay with that. And the next day they go right back out there to wait and wait all over again. 

I would want to shoot the gun. After a couple of hours I’d been looking for something to shoot. I wouldn’t even care if it was a stump or a tree or even just into the ground. I would want to fire that gun. 

When I Christmas shop I want to bag that gift. I don’t want to look and look and not find anything to buy. I want to get into that store, pick up an item and head to the till with my purchase. 

What gets me all frustrated though is that my family has a difficult time giving me suggestions of what they want. 

Look, I’m going to buy you a present. Don’t tell me you don’t know what you want. 

Give me a target to shoot at. Please!

All I need to see is the twinkle of the lights on the packaging and I will not miss.

I will come home with the trophy.

But sadly this Christmas looks like it is going to be spent waiting and waiting, then looking and looking for the perfect gift for some important people who don’t know what they want or need. 

Here’s the thing: There are a lot of people who don’t know what they need. They seem to be oblivious of their need. They’re happy to go along without knowing what they really need in life. That is when we have to let them know what they are missing out on, what they could have if they were aware. What we all need is Christ in our lives. If someone doesn’t know it, it’s worth telling them so they don’t miss out. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you need most this Christmas? Leave your comments and questions below.

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The Fix For My Problem Created More Hassle

What do you do when the fix for a problem becomes more of a hassle than the problem?

the fix for my problem created more hassle

That’s the situation I find myself in.

A while ago we got a new internet service. We’ve been fairly satisfied, with one slight nagging problem: the wireless router we got from the company doesn’t always reach the far end of our house. 

The signal seems weak.  

It’s been a nagging problem. It’s not like we don’t have any wifi there, but sometimes we have to move a little to get it. 

I figured that maybe the router was not that strong and a wifi extender could fix the problem. 

I purchased one that was on sale, but when I got it home I noticed that it had been an “open box” item, meaning someone had bought it and taken it back to the store.

That should have been my first clue. 

Set up was easy and it worked well … for a couple of hours. Then it cut out. 

We went from weak wifi reception to no wifi reception because our devices were still connected to this wifi extender that had disconnected from the router. 

I tried several things like moving it to a different location and updating the firmware. It was all good for a couple of hours … until it cut out again. 

It was more hassle to have the extender than to move a foot or two to get a better signal. 

I remember building a go-kart with my neighbour when I was a kid. We used an electric motor with a pulley wheel to power the thing. It was awesome to have a motorized go-kart! 

We placed the motor on one side of the seat, creating a bit of a teeter-totter. We took the rubber tire off the rear wheel, leaving just the rim. Then we slipped a car fan belt around the pulley and the wheel rim.

When we sat on the far side of the seat, it put tension on the fan belt, which caused the wheel to start turning. 

It was great fun; the go-kart went fast. 

We would have used it for years, except for a couple of things … 

We couldn’t drive it anywhere we wanted because we were connected to an extension chord – actually several of them. 

As a result, we had to go in circles. That was okay, except every time we drove across the extension chord, the metal wheel rim sliced into the chord. 

The idea was great; the go-kart was fun to drive. But in the end, it was more of a problem than just pushing the go-kart down the street by hand.

Similarly, I feel like this wifi extender has raised more issues than we had before.

So what do you do when the fix becomes more of a problem than the original problem? 

You take it back, that’s what you do.

Here’s the thing: In life, sometimes we find ourselves with a problem. It might be that we’ve sinned, or just found ourselves in an unfortunate circumstance. Often our first thought is to try to solve the problem ourselves. When we do that, we can find that our solution makes things worse or creates another problem. It’s always best to seek God when you need a solution. His solution won’t make your problem worse or bring you more hassle. Go to Him first. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What problem have you just made worse? Leave your comments and questions below.

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Mind Reading Is Something We All Try To Do

It is sometimes difficult to figure out what goes through a person’s mind when you see his or her work.

mind reading is something we all try to do

Everyone at some point is guilty of trying to read the mind of someone else. 

We interrupt what our spouses are saying because we think we know how to finish their sentences.

We interpret the actions of others and come up with a scenario of why they did what they did. … I know I try to read what is going through the minds of some drivers when I’m driving behind them.

Maybe you have heard of the Darwin awards. These are awards given out to people posthumously. They are given to people who died trying to do things that, well, 99.9 percent of the population would never try. 

In May 2019 an ISIS fighter decided to attack some British troops based near Mosul, Iraq. He decided to use a drone that he rigged up with explosives. 

He ran into trouble, however, when he didn’t calculate the time and distance the drone had to travel to deliver the explosive charge. 

When a drone battery gets low, there is a return to home feature that automatically initiates. You can disengage the feature but unfortunately this soldier didn’t and the explosives detonated upon return. 

You kind of wonder what was going through the guy’s mind when he saw the drone getting closer and closer to him. 

We will never know. 

Last night I noticed that my outside Christmas lights didn’t turn on as scheduled. They are hooked up to a wifi outlet that I control and schedule on my phone. The app said it was disconnected so I checked and there was no indicator light visible on the outlet. 

Now this outlet is at the back of our house, but I checked the outlet at the front of the house, just outside our front door. 

Why? Because they are connected to the same circuit, and the outlet by the front door has a built-in circuit breaker. 

Somehow the two outlets – one at the front of the house and the other at the back – are connected together. 

I checked my electrical panel and found that all the outside plugs plus the garage are joined to the same circuit on the panel. But the two outside outlets are specifically connected together through the built-in circuit breaker on the one. 

I’m wondering what was going on in the mind of the electrician. I can see the garage and the front outlet being on the same circuit. After all, they are in the same general area. 

But the outlet in the back?

When he was doing the wiring, did he say, “There are all these wires and outlets close by, but let’s weave a wire through the whole house and connect it to the outlet at the front. I’m sure that will be the first place the owner looks if he loses power to this back outlet.”

Maybe not!

Here’s the thing: Sometimes we question what God is doing in the world. We wonder if He knows what is happening. We ponder why He would let this or that happen. But we see things from our finite, present time, self-centred minds. How could we ever think we could read God’s mind? God’s mind is all-knowing. He understands the beginning and the end, and He holds the whole world together. We should trust God to do what is right and best, and not try to read His mind.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How often do you suppose you know what someone is thinking, only to find out you are way off? Leave your comments and questions below.

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I Feel Responsible Even Though I’m Not

I may be responsible for bringing the snow to this area. It could never be proved in a court of law though, so I think I’m safe. 

I feel responsible even though I'm not

You know how it is, the one who brings bad news is considered bad news himself. That’s why the phrase, “don’t kill the messenger”. 

Apparently, there were at one time a lot of well-meaning people with unpopular messages getting knocked off for saying their peace.

You see that in the movies. It’s always the crime boss – some crime syndicate kingpin – who shoots the guy who simply tells him, “Ya, boss, he got away”. That poor guy is never seen again. 

I don’t want to be that guy. 

But on Saturday I decided to put the Christmas lights up on our house. 

It was a great day for it. The weather, as they say, was balmy. I didn’t even have a coat on at first. Only later did I put on a light jacket. 

It made sense to put up the lights when it was warm out. I’ve experienced many years when I waited too long and ended up freezing my hands off, up on the ladder. I didn’t want that to happen this year so I got the job done. 

The very next day it snowed. 

At first I thought it was harmless. The snow was melting as fast as it was falling. But in the end, there was a layer of the white stuff that began to stick to the ground. 

Then came the freezing rain which created a protective glaze to the snow. 

And I knew … that maybe … I was to blame.

When you have bad weather, there has to be someone to blame. We used to blame the weatherman. But in more recent years we have widened the net to include innocent people who are in the wrong place at the wrong time.

You know how it goes. When you’ve travelled from one part of the country to another, the first thing people say to you after you land is, “Did you bring this weather with you?” … as if you had packed it in your suitcase and checked it with the luggage! 

It doesn’t even help when you tell them, “No, I just came with a carry on.” Like how in the world could you ever manage to stow the weather in something as small as a carry on bag? 

Still, I do feel a little responsible for the snow. Maybe if I had delayed putting up the lights we would have had a few more days of nice, warm weather. 

I just have to keep a low profile for a couple of days. I understand that the temperature is on the rise and all this will soon be gone. 

Then whatever I have brought on – whether real or completely and ridiculously imaginary – will be deemed forgiven and forgotten. 

All I have to do is stay away from those crime bosses till then.

Here’s the thing: No one wants to be responsible for something they didn’t do or bring about. But that is exactly what Jesus willingly did. He died not for His sins but for our sins. He wasn’t responsible but He took on the role of being responsible. The punishment for that was death. He died for our sins – more specifically, He died for your sins and my sins. That act frees us from facing the punishment we would be responsible for. When we place our faith in Christ’s sacrifice and seek His forgiveness, we are free. That is something we all need to consider. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you often feel responsible for that you shouldn’t? Leave your comments and questions below.

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My Brain Is Like A Stubborn Dog Sometimes

Sometimes I think my brain works much like a stubborn dog. You know, the kind of dog that does what it wants – or at least tries to – instead of doing what you want.

my brain is like a stubborn dog sometimes

I found my brain in that kind of mode yesterday afternoon when I was working on my sermon. There wasn’t even that much more I needed to write, but I was getting nowhere. 

I had no will power to stick with it. Something would grab my attention and I would go with it. 

… Like a dog whose nap gets disturbed by a chipmunk. 

A big old dog could be sleeping away but is suddenly awakened by a chipmunk in the yard. He can’t leave it alone. The dog runs after it, trying to sniff it out of its hole. 

Then a butterfly catches his attention and he’s off leaping and running after it. 

He was sleeping five minutes ago and now look at him. 

My brain works that way sometimes – yesterday was one of those times. I was stuck. And I just couldn’t get past one point in my sermon. I spent a lot of time staring at the computer screen and my white board. 

Finally I decided to take a break. I needed to do somethings outside the church anyway.

I was gone for an about an hour. But I hoped that when I came back my brain would have reset and I would be able to get moving on the sermon again.

No such luck. I just couldn’t stay with it long enough to get anywhere. 

It was like my brain was saying, “Forget it, Paul. I’m not doing this right now. You can waste your time trying, but I’m not budging.”

… Which kind of reminds me of my brother’s dog, Chopper. He is an Old English bull dog so the name really fits him. 

He weighs in at about 75 plus pounds so when he decides he’s not going any further on a walk, sometimes he wins. 

We’ve been on walks down to the beach with my brother and about half way there Chopper has decided to pull the old stubborn donkey routine. He has locked his legs and no amount of pulling on his leash would faze him.

No way will he continue.

Instead he would pull in the direction of the cottage, and sometimes it was just best to take him back and then go for a stroll on the beach without him. 

That’s what I ended up having to do. I tried and tried to work at that sermon, but I finally gave in and stopped for the night. 

This morning I had hockey at 6:30 am, but for some reason I woke up at 5:00 am. I decided to spend a few minutes on my sermon. 

And, wouldn’t you know it, just like Chopper was ready for a walk to the beach the next day, I spent forty minutes on my sermon and got it finished. 

Here’s the thing: When do you spend time with God? When your brain is more like Chopper’s or when you are fresh and eager to think and learn? If you find that the time you spend with God is often a struggle, maybe you just need to find a time when your brain is not so stubborn. Try something new; try a different time. Notice when you are fresh and be sure to give God the best of your mind. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What time of day are you at your best? Leave your comments and questions below.

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It Can Deteriorate In No Time At All

It doesn’t take long for a manicured lawn to deteriorate and become unrecognizable. 

It can deteriorate in no time at all

The other day I watched the Master’s golf tournament on TV. It is one of the four major tournaments on the PGA tour each year. 

The Master’s is the only tournament that is played at the same course every year. It’s played at Augusta National in Augusta, Georgia. 

Normally the tournament is held in March, but this year, because of COVID, it was postponed to November.

Though the time of year was very different, the beauty of the course is unmatched. The course was lush green and the trees had all their leaves.

The course was manicured to such perfection that even someone who didn’t like golf would pause to let their eyes drink in the beauty of the scenery.  

But what if the greenskeeper and the grounds crew just walked away one day? What if they just stopped cutting the grass, trimming the trees, laying down new pine straw? 

How long would it take for that golf course to go from a picture of beauty to a forgotten field?

I ask that question because just this morning I drove by what was once a golf course but is now completely unrecognizable as one. 

Granted this golf course would never have been in any way on a similar scale as Augusta. This was a course that was played by those who didn’t really take the game of golf seriously. You might have played it if you were not a golfer and someone twisted your arm and begged you to play.

However, the grass was fertilized and cut regularly throughout each week. They used special mowers on the greens so that it was like a carpet. 

Yet, in the matter of four years, you can not tell by driving by the course that there was ever a golf course there. 

Four years and it is completely unrecognizable! 

I couldn’t find exact dates of when the Westbrook Golf Club closed for good, but I found comments about the course from August 2016. From those comments, I can’t imagine the course was still open the following year. 

I was stunned when I drove by, I couldn’t believe the property could deteriorate so quickly.

I strained to see if I could tell where some of the fairways had been. But there was nothing that gave even an outline of where they once had been.

I had only played there a couple of times over twenty years before, but a golfer doesn’t forget how a course is laid out. 

There was no longer any layout.

Seeing the lush growth of Augusta on TV the day before, it made me sad that it took only four short years for Westbrook to fall into such disrepair. 

All the work that goes into making a golf course, a park, a green space for people’s recreation will not last long without constant care and attention. 

Here’s the thing: When you put your faith in Christ, a transformation happens to your spiritual life. The Bible says it goes from being dead to alive. However, without constant nurture and care, it will not take long before your newly transformed spiritual life starts to deteriorate to the point that it’s unrecognizable anymore. Don’t let that happen. Nurture is a must. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What can you do to attend to your spiritual life? Leave your comments and questions below.

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My Old Ways May Be Coming Back

I hope it’s not true, but I wonder if I’m back to my old ways. 

my old ways may be coming back

This morning I was taking apart a speaker that wasn’t working, and the tool I was using slipped and struck my hand.

Immediately it hurt, but it wasn’t until a couple of minutes later that I saw blood. I realized then that it was more than just an ouch; I had cut myself. 

Normally that shouldn’t be a big deal. But where I struck my hand brought back some memories. 

Somewhere in my forties, I became a little clumsy.

There was one time that I was cutting off the bottom of a door in our basement so that it would not rub on the carpet. The door was big and I didn’t have a table to place it on. So I just propped the end of the door up on my leg and held it there with my left hand.

I’m not sure why I chose the particular saw I used, but it was very toothy and came to a sharp point at the end. I had other saws but I chose that keyhole saw. 

While I was sawing my way through the door, the saw slipped out of the groove and struck the base of my index finger. 

I flung my hand off the door, sending blood up to the ceiling.  Three ceiling tiles were ruined in the process that day.

I realized the cut needed more than a bandage; it needed stitches. Down to emergency we went. Lily drove; she was very concerned. 

When it was all said and done, the doctors said I was fortunate that I didn’t cut a tendon or a nerve.

Anyone can have an accident.

Three months later I was cutting some fibre board for some sliding doors in another part of our basement. 

My tool of choice that time was a utility knife.  

As I scored down the length of the board, the knife slipped out of the groove and sliced into the top of my finger – same left hand index finger. 

This time Lily didn’t bother going to emergency with me. I did get more stitches.

No one would give me anything sharp to hold for some time after that. It was a running joke. 

But those were my old ways. I’m way more careful now … well, until this morning. 

To take that speaker apart, I was using a tool that was like a screwdriver but the end on it looked more like an ice pick. It’s called an awl, and it’s used for piercing and punching. And that’s just what I used it for. 

It slipped off the speaker case and pierced into the skin between my thumb and finger. 

You guessed it – on my left hand, just below my index finger. 

This time I’m hoping to avoid the emergency room, but my old ways may be catching up with me. I now have a hole in my hand and I haven’t been able to stop the bleeding.

I think I’ll get it under control. 

Here’s the thing: I find that it is so easy to go back to my old ways. It’s like they are second nature. When those old ways are destructive or harmful, you need to consciously replace them with new ways. You may also have some old ways that God wants you to replace with new ones. Don’t just fall back to them. Ask the Lord how you can replace those old ways with something that is beneficial, good and pure. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What old ways do you need to replace? Leave your comments and questions below.

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Your Routines Are Too Important To Break

Breaking from your routines can have an effect on your day.

your routines are too important to break

Routines are important; we all have them. We use routines for almost every aspect of our lives. In fact, the way you tie your shoe laces is a routine.

And another thing: when you break a routine, it can mess you up. 

I have a routine every morning when I make my breakfast. But every once in a while I will do something out of order. It’s funny how I will stumble through making my breakfast that morning.

Routines are more than something we are accustomed to. They even get programmed into how our minds and bodies work. That means some of our routines become a part of who we are and how we function. 

That’s a good thing, by the way, because when a routine is so ingrained in us, we don’t even think about it. We just do it. It takes no thought on our part. It’s a process that works automatically.

And when you think about it, it would be brutal to have to use your brain to think through every thing you do. 

Routines are a lifesaver. 

Routines work in the background. You don’t even know all the routines you have. But during the day you use many of them to do things that you consider automatic.

But what happens when something interrupts a routine?

Maybe you have a morning routine to start your day, but you have an early meeting scheduled. It could be as simple as having to play hockey that clashes with your morning routine.

Of course you are going to play hockey and forget your routine that morning. You can usually work around routines, they are never life or death.

But they become such an important part of us that when we break those routines, even to do something we like, the routines makes us pay.

When we snub some of our basic routines, we can subsequently feel off-kilter for a while. 

In fact, maybe during that game of hockey that you broke your routine for, you might not play up to your standards. And the only thing you can point to as the cause of your sub-standard play is that routine that you broke.

The good thing is that breaking a routine doesn’t have to impact your life for a long time. You can easily get back on track – even by just making sure that you start your next day with your routine before doing anything else. 

However, if things in your life change, routines can change and be adapted. 

It might take a week or two. You may have to give it some time or thought, but before you know it, you make adjustments to your routine and everything is back to normal.

You are regular again.

Here’s the thing: The best way to meet with God is to have a routine – one that you don’t have to think about, that’s automatic. If you have time with God at the same time each day, know where you will do it and have what you need ready for you, when something comes up to break that routine, it won’t ruin you. You might feel off-kilter for a bit, but if you get back at the routine, everything will be back to normal by the next day.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What routine do you need to set up or change? Leave your comments and questions below.

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When Someone Is Present It Is Always Special

It makes a big difference in how you feel just knowing someone is present.

when someone is present it is always special

For the last week, my wife has been away and I’ve been on my own.

Lily said she was going to worry about me, but her biggest worry was whether I would eat all my meals at fast food restaurants. Her plan was to stock the freezer with as many meals as she could cook up beforehand.

The day before she left we were talking in the kitchen before dinner. When she checked on the food in the oven I was surprised to see she had two trays of meat cooking in there. 

I asked, “What’s all that for?” and her reply was that she was preparing it all for me to eat while she was away. 

You’d think that was a great sacrifice for her to do that for me. Really her motive was to hopefully keep me from spending money at McDonald’s, Swiss Chalet or my favourite wing place. 

Well, I did eat all the meals she froze for me, but I also ate my share of restaurant food too. 

During the week on my own, I noticed a couple of things.

I certainly had time to do things on my own, what I wanted to do … things just for me. 

But I found that my life has a number of built-in responsibilities, so I didn’t have all that much discretionary time on my hands.

If I wanted to watch a movie at night, I really could choose the movie of my liking. I didn’t have to consider what Lily might like to watch.

But I had a couple of meetings that happened to be in the evenings and I worked late a couple of other nights. That didn’t leave me with many nights I could sit down with a good action flick of my choosing. 

I also found myself doing things that I might not have done if Lily had have been home. Like the night I decided to open my computer after dinner and spend a little time finishing up what I had been working on during the day.

I guess I just had the freedom to do what I wanted to do, when I wanted to do it, no questions asked.

But I noticed something else about the week. It was quiet in the house. 

Other than a little tinnitus ringing in my ears, there were no other sounds. There were no sounds of a chair moving in the other room. There was no sound of footsteps on the hardwood upstairs.

The house was very quiet; you could hear every click that the clocks were making. 

I realized then that there is a feeling you have when you know there is someone close by. You don’t have to be in the same room; you don’t have to have a conversation. There is something special about having someone present in the same house.

Here’s the thing: We often think of God having a thunderous voice, possibly a harsh voice. But when He wanted to talk to one prophet, He talked to him in a whisper. It’s not easy to catch what God might be saying to you through scripture or while you are praying. You really have to pay attention and listen carefully. It’s like He whispers to you. The reason God speaks in whispers is because He is close by. God is near you. And it is special having someone present with you all the time. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you appreciate about the presence of someone in your life? Leave your comments and questions below.

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