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It Will Develop Into Something

The other week I shot some video with my drone that took time to develop into something.

develop Polaroid

Remember the Polaroid cameras? They’ve made a little bit of a fad/retro comeback of late. 

I was at a wedding recently where the couple encouraged people to take selfies with an instant camera and place the pictures in a scrapbook for their memories.

The instant camera or Polaroid was interesting because you would take a picture of something – something that caught your attention, something that you wanted to capture and remember. You then watched as the picture was ejected from the camera, totally blank at first. 

You knew what you had taken a picture of, but you waited rather impatiently for that picture to develop right before your eyes. You wanted to see if the picture turned out, if it was as good as you hoped it would be. 

Well, I kind of did that with my drone the other day. 

I saw an old, abandoned barn in a field and I was somehow drawn to it. I wanted to take a video of it with my drone. 

There was a small farm house near it so I was cautious. I actually drove past it several times before I determined that the home was abandoned as well. 

One morning, just as the sun was rising above the horizon, I drove to the barn, parked my vehicle on the side of the road and sent my drone off to capture video of this lonely, old barn in the middle of a field.

I really didn’t know what I was going to do with the footage. I just knew that something was attracting my attention to it and I wanted to film it from several angles.

When I was done, I loaded the video on my computer … but there it sat. 

I scrubbed (scrolled) through the footage a few times and liked the shots I took, but didn’t think it would be all that interesting to just add music to it. 

Then about a week after I shot the video I got an idea. I was thinking about the barn and how lonely and empty it looked. I thought there are people who probably feel like that barn looked. 

So, with a little imagination and a little inspiration from my video, I wrote a short script about the barn.

My video was now developing into something. 

I found some music that kind of fit the mood, and recorded my voice reading my script. I cut up and spliced footage, and made some adjustments in places to the colour and speed of the video.

When I had done all that I noticed that it was something. That barn I was attracted to, that video I had had high hopes for, had turned into something. 

It took longer than a Polaroid to appear, but that video footage eventually turned into something I had hoped it would.

You can view that video by clicking here.

Here’s the thing: At some point in your life you might wonder what your life is all about. You may wonder if there is anything that will develop from it. I want to assure you that your life can develop into something bigger than you imagined it would. It can if you trust Jesus to help you develop it. Some may need to start a relationship with Jesus to get things going. Some of you just need to trust Jesus with the development of your life instead of hanging on to the raw footage. Trust Him to develop all those happy, sad, thrills, scares, wows, and ughs you’ve experienced. The end product will be worth it.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What have you hoped your life would develop into? Leave your comments and questions below.

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I Lost My Wife For A Moment

I almost lost my wife the other day … well, I did for a moment or two.

lost my wife

Someone can be right there beside you and then, in a moment, they can be gone. 

There is always that sick feeling with kids when, all of a sudden, things go silent. 

I remember a time when our kids were very young, about 3 and 5. I was at the mall with them shopping for a birthday present for Lily.

I asked a salesperson about a dress I was looking at possibly purchasing, while Karlie and Mike were playing in and around the clothing racks.  

As I was listening to the salesperson tell me about the dress, all of a sudden I realized I didn’t hear my kids. I started looking around and calling their names.  

Immediately panic set in. I excused myself from the conversation with the salesperson and started to take off in one direction. 

This was no ordinary mall I was in. I was at West Edmonton Mall, the largest mall in North America at the time. 

I was literally running past stores with no hint of where they might be. 

Suddenly I just felt like I was going in the wrong direction. I turned around and started running in the other direction, past the store I had been in. 

Then I spotted them. They had stopped and had half turned towards me, with these mischievous grins on their faces. As soon as they saw me running for them, they took off as fast as they could.

I caught them in seconds, hugged them and told them never to do that again. They were oblivious to any danger; it was all fun for them.

Well, yesterday I was in the water at Sauble Beach on Lake Huron. The waves were high – highest I’ve seen in a number of years. 

Lily was with me but slightly behind me. It was difficult to wade out because the waves were so big and coming in so fast. 

I kept trudging through, collapsing to the sandy bottom as the big rollers came crashing on me. 

After a few minutes of this, I turned to say something to Lily. But she wasn’t there. 

I was shocked. She had been right behind me. Where could she have gone? I looked back to our chairs on the beach and couldn’t see her there. 

Then I spied her coming up from a wave about forty yards down from me. 

She made a motion to me like she was going back to shore. Relieved that she was all right, I kept on going. 

A few minutes later I looked to the shore and she wasn’t there. Now what happened? Where could she be?

I started looking around the water again and I spotted her. This time she was about forty yards on the other side of me. 

Apparently the waves were overpowering her and she thought she would try to drift over to me, if she could get out far enough.  

After a little body surfing and being hammered by the waves, we called it a day. I was glad to have her back.

Here’s the thing: We can get lost in our own little world just trying to make it through life, or we can purposely run from God. But God is never far from us. All it takes is for us to turn around and look. If you want to be found by Him, He is there. Run to Him.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What is going on in your life right now that should cause you to turn around and look for God? Leave you comments and questions below.

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Two Little Mistakes Cost Me

The other day, two little mistakes that I made in under five seconds generated over an hour of frustration. 

mistakes

Sometimes a mistake can be made over a long period of time – like when we have a couple of options, weigh each option, and finally decide on one … which later turns out to be the wrong one.  

Often mistakes happen in a blink of an eye. They happen so quickly we hardly notice we’ve made them until later.

Math class was great for those mistakes. You created a long formula to solve a problem, but made a tiny mistake near the beginning. You multiplied instead of divided. When the teacher took up the work, only then did you discover the mistake you had made that got you the wrong answer.

A little mistake can mess up everything that comes after it. 

I’ve done this with Sudukos where I’ve determined what number to put in a particular box, thinking that it was the only option. Then later I realized there were other numbers that could have gone in that box, and specifically a different number should have been there. 

My mistake – little mistake – messed up the whole Suduko for me.

The other day I was flying my drone. I got up early and drove to where I was going to video an old barn as the sun was rising in the sky. 

I had three batteries for my drone. The first one I used mostly before the sun had crested the horizon. The second battery I used as the sun was just peaking up over the trees in the distance. The third battery I used while the sun was fully up and shining brightly over the landscape.

I thought that the three flights would provide me with a great progression of shadows and light on the barn. 

… But I forgot to press the record button with the second battery and that whole flight was not recorded. 

It takes one second to hit that button but, because i didn’t, I lost 13 minutes of possible great footage.

Later in the day I decided to video a waterfall. I climbed down to the base of the falls and started shooting. I hit the record button and everything so I should have gotten some decent video. 

But when I got back home and started to import my footage onto my computer, I realized I had stopped the recording before I turned the drone off. 

… That mistake meant that the video hadn’t finished processing. The result was a corrupted file. I couldn’t use the video. 

Fortunately there was a software fix for this problem but it took me over an hour to get the video back. 

My mistake was only about one second long – I just needed to hit a button to stop the recording. 

Two mistakes – mindless mistakes – became a real pain for me. 

When you think about how little time they take to make, we could make a lot of them in one day.

Here’s the thing: Think about how Jesus lived a perfect life. He could have made a mistake, committed one sin, so quickly that he only realized it after the fact, when it was too late. If Christ had made even one mistake, he would not have been able to be our sacrifice. He was a one second mistake away from messing up God’s plan. But he didn’t. Not even once did he even inadvertently sin. He was perfect. Today think about how amazing Christ is. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How has Christ’s perfection benefitted you? Leave your comments and questions below.

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The Extra Mile Made For A Long Day

Sometimes you just have to go the extra mile … and when I say the “extra mile” I really mean a whole lot of miles.

extra mile

Yesterday my wife, Lily, and I went on a road trip. They make movies out of these sorts of events. … I don’t think our road trip will make the movies, but it was quite a trip. 

We were on vacation but I needed to return home to do a funeral for a dear lady in my church. 

Here’s a question: How far would you travel for someone else? 

That question was asked a long time ago in the 60’s by a cigarette company called Camel. They ran an ad where they asked the question, “How far would you travel for a Camel?”

And that’s right, they used to advertise for cigarettes in newspapers, magazines and on television. Those ads didn’t even come with a warning from the surgeon general.

It was a different era back then. But the question in the commercial was to entice smokers to think that going out of their way to purchase Camel cigarettes was worth it. 

It was worth it for us to take that road trip yesterday. It was a chance for me to speak to a family about the hope they can have because of Christ, despite the sadness of their day.

We set out from our cottage at 5:30 am and drove to Kingston. It’s almost 500 km, and it takes about 5 hours to drive. 

We knew we would have to drive through Toronto during rush hour and so we decided to take the toll road that goes above the city. It helped make that part of the trip painless. The pain will come later when we get the bill from the 407 ETR.  

We spent the next six hours in Kingston. It was like I was back to work and done with vacation. 

Many people I saw asked me how our vacation was going, but I wanted to reply, “Wait – I’m still on vacation?” 

Yes, I was back home, and at the church where you would usually find me when I’m working, but I was still very much on vacation. 

Most people try to avoid doing work when they’re on vacation. Some people even have automated email messages letting everyone know that they are away and will not respond until they get back. Some even say they won’t respond – period. You better email them again when they return.

Certainly I try not to work when I’m on vacation, but for some things, for some people, you have to make an exception.  

This family was an exception I was willing to go that extra mile for.

When it was all done, the sun was still high in the sky, about 3:45 in the afternoon. And though we had originally thought we would stay overnight at home and return to the cottage in the morning, we decided to head right back.

We figured the drive would be an extra long one because it was the start of a long weekend, but the trip ended up being as easy as the one we had taken in the morning.  

We arrived back at the cottage at 9:30 pm, sixteen hours after we had left. 

We were back on vacation.

Here’s the thing: Christ went the extra mile for all of us. He died on a cross to pay for our sins and rose again to offer us a relationship with God and eternal life. Was it worth it? It definitely was. But for us to benefit from what Christ did, we each have to have a relationship with Him. Make sure you’re benefitting from all that Christ did for you.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What have you gone the extra mile for lately? Leave your comments and questions below.

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Our Driveway Looks Brand New

We got a new driveway in a matter of a few hours … and it didn’t cost us anything other that hard work and time.

driveway

At our cottage, our driveway is made of white gravel stones. When the light shines on those white stones it really looks great.

Over the years, however, weeds have somehow managed to creep up through the gravel and it has ruined the look altogether. 

So we’ve employed different methods to get rid of the weeds. 

We were told years ago that if we put some kind of cattle salt down on the gravel every year that would keep the weeds from growing. 

We did that for one or two years but then we noticed that a little tree beside the driveway had shrivelled up and died. Another tree looked like it was almost gone, and even a cedar shrub showed signs that it was dieting. 

I don’t know if it was the salt or not but we stopped using it immediately and, though we lost that one tree, the other tree survived with just one dead spot. The shrub is doing alright.  

The next method we tried was pulling the weeds that grew. But this didn’t do anything more than mask the problem for a time. 

If you don’t get at the roots, the weeds are still lurking just under the surface.

So after ten years we have been losing the battle of the weeds on our driveway.

I thought that maybe we needed another load of gravel to spread around, but I’m glad I never acted on that thought because what we found was truly amazing. 

Lily was outside picking some of the weeds out of the driveway when our neighbour saw her and told her his solution – he rakes his driveway.

He brought out the rake he uses and showed her what he does. 

I thought that because the weeds came up so easily that we had a thin layer of gravel covering the dirt underneath. Not so. We started to rake the gravel and after raking a good three or more inches deep, it was still all gravel. 

… Which, on the side, says something about weeds. Weeds can grow in the most extreme environments! They can work their way through three or four inches of hard packed gravel to get to sunlight. 

I wish the grass on our lawn worked that hard to provide us with a green carpet instead of the sparse, sandy sprouts that grow there.

It turns out that, when you rake down deep into a gravel driveway, you rake up not just the tops of the weeds but the roots as well. 

And, as you evenly spread the gravel back out over the driveway, it stays above the dirt, looking all fluffed up and sifted, like you just got a new load of gravel. 

It’s going to take a little while for the driveway to pack down again, but more importantly it will take a long while for those weeds to find their way through the gravel again. 

Here’s the thing: When you notice a sin or an unwanted trait that seems to be persistently presenting itself in your life, simply asking God for forgiveness is not enough. You need to dig deeper to uncover the root, why it’s persistent, and where it came from. When you get to the bottom of that sin or trait, then with God’s help you can keep it from showing up in your life.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What persistent sin do you need to dig up in order to be free of it?

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Doing Things The Hard Way Isn’t The Way To Go

You can do things the hard way, or you can find an easier way to get things done.

There are many reasons to do things the hard way. They say it builds character. They say if you do things the hard way you learn to do it the right way.

There is some merit to these answers, but sometimes the hard way is just a deterrent to do the thing at all.

In my life I’ve found that doing things the hard way also means doing things without the proper resources or know-how. 

For most of my life, when I needed to make or repair something, I looked at the tools I had available and tried to figure it out on my own from there.

Most of the time I got the job done, but it definitely involved doing things the hard way.

Not having the right equipment or know-how never stopped me from starting projects, but it did keep me from completing them.

A long time ago we wanted to finish our basement at home. My plan was to frame some rooms.

But when I got to a part that I was not sure how to complete, or what tools would allow me to do it, I put it off … and off.

Finally Lily found a handyman and asked him to finish off the parts of the basement that I had left.  

That was years ago. Now I’ve figured out that having the right tools and the right know-how make things easier.

You don’t have to do everything the hard way.

The other day Lil wanted a couple of shelves added to a wall cabinet. I was unsure of my know-how and whether I had the right tools for the job, so I turned to the great wisdom of the internet. 

I had an idea of the kind of shelves I wanted – the kind where you put little pegs in the wall or the cabinet and then place the shelf on top of them. They are neat and in the end there’s no visible hardware. 

On YouTube I found a guy who demonstrated how to get the four holes in perfect alignment for the pegs. He used a peg board as a guide. 

At the hardware store, the service guy thought it was genius. He also suggested I get the store to cut my shelves for me on their table saw. 

The amazing thing was I never had to cut a piece of wood myself, and I never had to use a measuring tape for the holes. I simply picked which holes I wanted to use on my peg board, and set and marked a depth line on my drill. 

I did it the easy way. It took no time to build those shelves. I never forced anything or had to make do. I used the right tool for the job and only paid fifty cents a cut for the tool I didn’t have. 

The shelves? – Perfection!

Here’s the thing: Unless you are reading God’s word, you won’t know much of what God wants you to do, and unless you are seeking His help, you don’t have the right tools to accomplish what He wants you to do. You can do things the hard way, or you can get into your Bible so you understand God’s methods. Then ask God to give you the right tools to accomplish His will. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What are you trying to do the hard way right now? Leave your comments below.

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Visually This Shouldn’t Have Happened

The other day I saw something that shouldn’t have been happening.

It could happen, but often it’s an optical illusion … like when you put a fork in a glass of water and it looks like it is bending. 

Years ago I went on a bike hike with a buddy. We were going camping, and our road trip was to take us about five hours, which we stretched into about eight.

Along the way we had some long, uphill climbs to make, but one part of the road looked straight and flat.  

As we started on this long, straight stretch of road, I noticed it was getting easier to pedal. I started to move up the gears and with each gear it got easier to pedal. 

It was a straight road and I was in shock at how we were clipping along. I stopped pedalling because it was a waste of time; we were flying but the road looked flat. 

Obviously, it was an optical illusion … something like the Magnetic Hill and the Reversing Falls in New Brunswick.

I had been to both those places when I was about 7 years old. Both of them are nothing more than optical illusions. They look like something is defying gravity, but in reality it’s not. 

What I experienced the other day was not an optical illusion. 

My wife, Lily, and I were driving through Toronto on the 401. It was late in the afternoon on a Sunday, with many people on the road returning from their cottages at the end of the weekend.

Lil was looking at a driving app that gives you tips on the best route to take.  

And though we were going straight through Toronto, the app said that we should get into the collector lanes at a particular point because they were moving slightly faster.

We were not going too fast in the express lanes so we moved over and noticed that we were actually moving a little faster. 

But that was very short lived. Shortly after we got into the collectors, we were reduced from four lanes down to three because of construction. 

This was followed by another lane reduction a few kilometres later. At this point you could tell we were moving slower than the express lanes that had no reductions.

I was starting to question the app for getting us into the mess we were in, because you know that every time there is a lane reduction, the cars in that lane have to merge into your lane.  

And then after a few more kilometres we got another lane reduction. If you’re counting, we went from four lanes of traffic down to one lane.

And of course, we slowed down during the reduction. 

But then the most amazing thing happened. With high cement barriers on both sides of our lane, we started to pick up speed. We started going faster and faster, and when I looked over to the express lanes, the traffic in all four of those lanes was going slower. 

We were whipping past them at a fast clip. It was no optical illusion. 

With how slow the trip had been up to that point, it was almost a miracle. 

Here’s the thing: Your life can look like it’s going well. From your vantage point and everyone else’s, your life is moving along nicely. But it’s your inner spiritual life that is the unseen determining force of your future. Don’t get lulled by what is visual. Pay attention and get your spiritual life right with God. Your physical life will not defy your spiritual life. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What part of your life looks better on the outside than it is on the inside? Leave your comments below.

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We All need A Fresh Dose of Inspiration

Sometimes a break from old habits can be a refreshing change that leads to new inspiration.

This morning I am writing my blog from our deck. The sun is shining and there’s a slight breeze causing our Canadian flag to do a little dance in the air. 

I don’t normally write my blog from here. Usually I write in our basement, stretching out on our chaise lounge with minimal lighting overhead.

I think our seasons naturally provide that same sense of new inspiration four times a year.  

It’s the change in temperature, scenery, even smells that create a freshness about each new season. But once the season is well established, we lose inspiration and settle for the comfort of familiarity … like hearing an old tune on the radio that stirs your memories and warms your heart. 

But there is still nothing like a fresh sense of inspiration to change things up.

From fall to summer, the small group I’m in meets on the same night in the same home. We’ve been doing that for several years now.  

The other day we decided to get together one more time before we broke for the summer. The original plan was to have a potluck at the home we normally meet in. It would have been great. 

But a day before we were to meet, one family suggested we meet at their home on the lake,  on Sunday afternoon and evening for a BBQ.

That’s what we did. We enjoyed the peaceful presence of cottage life for a few hours. We went for a boat ride around the lake, and I got to take the sea doo for a spin. It was the first time I used my boating license since I got it two years ago.

After dinner we roasted marshmallows over the fire and sat around talking.

We need those fresh touches of inspiration from time to time. In some instances they come along seemingly by accident or just perfect timing. At other times fresh inspiration must be planned for, arrangements set, decisions made – like my decision to write my blog this morning on the deck. It took some thought because when I had finished my devotions, I had certainly planned on writing from the cave as usual.

But there was something about the sun outside the kitchen patio window that was calling me … something about breaking out of my normal routine. 

The end result is that, once I committed to it, I had new inspiration to write this piece. 

You may not be able to tell that this post is any different from other posts I’ve written, but I know from where this article has emerged – from some new inspiration.

I certainly can’t write my blog outside on the deck in the middle of winter, but I also don’t have to write it all year long on a couch in a climate controlled environment.

Sometimes the best thing to do is to find some new inspiration.

Here’s the thing: Maybe you need some new inspiration with God. Is your relationship getting a little stale? You talk to Him but don’t feel like your are hearing back from Him? You don’t have the same passion or desire to spend time with Him every day? Things have gotten comfortable, even a little stale?… It’s time for some new inspiration. Find a new place to meet with God. Go outside; talk to Him in a new way; ask Him a question and don’t just go on talking; wait for Him to give you an answer. Find some new inspiration and enjoy a renewed, refreshed relationship with Him.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: Where will you find some new inspiration this week? Leave your comments below

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The Hot Tip That Led To Disaster

The other day I discovered that a hot tip that leads to new adventure can also lead to great disaster.

I had just finished a mountain bike ride when a friend told me of a new side trail that runs along the lake. He said it was really amazing.

A couple of days later I decided to ride that trail and brought my go-pro camera along thinking that maybe I would get some cool shots. 

Oh, I got some cool shots alright!

This side trail my friend told me about was a side trail off of the main trail that we usually ride. It was easy to miss. I rode right by it, stopped and went back.

When I got to the part of the trail that went along the lake, it was different than I had imagined it when he had described it to me. 

I thought it was right down by the water and that I would have a clear view of the lake. 

Not so. 

This trail was built on the side of a steep hill. And when I say the trail was “built”, I literally mean it. They actually had to build the trail like a shelf, using rocks and earth and tree logs to level a 2 1/2 foot wide trail through this very steep, almost straight down embankment to the water. 

You could see the water – but only through the trees – and it was about 40 – 50 feet down from the trail to the water’s edge. 

It was beautiful, but you needed to stay alert because there was no room for error. If you slipped off the trail, you’d go straight down.

I decided to set my camera up and film myself riding past it. 

The only problem with this trail was that you needed good momentum to be able to stay on it. Stopping to set up my camera removed any momentum I had had. 

I thought I would get some great shots … and I did. In fact, I got one shot that I was not anticipating. 

I rode my bike past my camera, but didn’t have the speed I needed to maintain my balance. When I came to a tight spot, I started to wobble and slipped off the trail … heading straight down. 

I got one foot out of my pedals, but there was nothing to step down onto.

I went over the edge, flipping down the hill until I was stopped by a rotting log and some tree branches. 

It was tough to make my way up the slippery hill to my bike and then to the trail.

My bike computer had also gotten knocked off my bike. I later found it 30 feet below me in the lake, just off the shore. 

But I did capture the first part of my fall on video, and you can check it out by clicking here to watch it on my YouTube channel. 

I ended up with some scrapes on my face, arms and leg, but other than that, God really protected me.

As for my hot tip about a great bike trail? It was a great new adventure, but also a great disaster. 

Here’s the thing: In life we are enticed to experience great adventures – adventures, that when played out, will ultimately lead to disaster. God invites us to His great adventure, which will be full of its share of difficult sections, as well as amazing, breath-taking trails. God’s adventure, however, will not lead to disaster … which can’t be said about other hot tips you may be enticed by.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What kind of an adventure are you on – one that leads to God or disaster? Leave your comments below.

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How To Clean Things Up In No Time

Creating the visual of clean can be as satisfying as actually doing the hard work of cleaning.

For example, your living room is cluttered with things and someone is on his way over to your home for a visit or a meeting. You don’t have the time to clean the living room from top to bottom so you take the clutter and you stash it.

You put those items behind things, underneath things, out of sight. 

Then, just before the visitor arrives, you stand back and admire how neat and tidy everything looks.

You get the same satisfaction you would have if you had taken an hour to put everything away in its proper place. 

I do this with my office. Over the course of a few weeks, paper will start to gather on my desk. 

I don’t know how it happens. It’s a little like how snow starts to fall from the sky. At first it melts quickly and you don’t see it on the ground. But as the snow persists, it starts to accumulate. 

It begins to pile up.  

That’s what happens on my desk. Dealing with all that paper that has accumulated takes a lot of time – sometimes hours. Who has hours for filing and sorting and what not?! 

The downside is that I can’t work with the piles of paper; I keep looking at them. So, from time to time, I simply gather up all the papers and put them on a table in one neat pile.  

Then my office desk looks neat and clean and I can work. It’s fantastic. And I don’t have to spend all that time dealing with each individual piece of paper to give me that feeling. 

Today I cut the grass. At this time of year the dandelions are in full bloom … and we definitely have our fair share of them. 

No, that’s not correct. We have way more than our fair share! 

Curiously, most of those dandelions are on our side of the street. The houses on the other side of the street must have some kind of deal with a weed company. You don’t see the weed guy coming around spraying their lawns but none of them have these lovely spring flowers … certainly not like us!

This morning when I cut the grass, I cut the heads off of every dandelion on our lawn. It was a major killing spree. Then I stood back and looked at how green and even our grass looked. 

I was proud of myself. 

However, I really didn’t do anything to the dandelions. The roots are still there; the leafs are still there … and they will grow right back in their place again. 

But today – right now – looking out my front window, I don’t have any of those little flowery devils.

The one downside to all this is that, although I have immediate satisfaction with my lawn looking so clean, in reality I still have a mess on my hands that will have to be dealt with at some point … which sucks!

Here’s the thing: You can clean up your life in a very superficial way and it will look good to you and to all those around you. But unless you do a deep hard clean, you will always be looking for places to stash things. A deep clean can only be accomplished by dealing with the junk in your life – that is confessing it to God and doing the necessary work to keep it from coming back.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What in your life do you need to do a serious clean of? Post your comments and questions below.