You’re Often In Your Own Way Of Progress

Have you ever got in your own way from obtaining the progress you desired? I have been doing that for a while now.

In my last blog post (click here to read), I mentioned how we had a significant snowfall over the course of two days. What I didn’t mention is that I had been shovelling my neighbours’ driveway as well as mine. The end result was that I tweaked my shoulder during that battle with the snow.

“Tweak” may not have been the correct word to use, however, in describing the soreness of my shoulder. It was closer to the Monty Python skit with the knight who kept losing limbs in a sword fight with King Arthur, but said, “it’s just a flesh wound”.

My shoulder was really sore. … Sore enough to wonder whether I should play hockey two days later. But, of course, I played.

And to my surprise, my shoulder didn’t bother me one bit. I felt 100% out on the ice. 

However, about an hour later when I was driving home, as I reached to put my turn signal on, I got a stabbing pain in my shoulder. I had to reach across and through the steering wheel with my right arm to lift up the turn signal. 

I later spoke with my son-in-law who told me I’d probably pulled some ligament in my shoulder attached to my bicep. It wouldn’t affect my arm movement playing hockey but picking up a glass of water was another matter. He said I needed rest. 

So I gave it rest. I didn’t play hockey for an entire week after that … until Wednesday rolled around again. 

My shoulder wasn’t feeling better after playing hockey the week before, but it was a little better. So, of course, I played hockey again. 

And guess what happened? It didn’t bug me at all playing hockey. But afterwards it was like I’d taken two steps back in the healing process.

I sort of got in my own way of recovering.

I decided I better give my shoulder another week to heal. So I went from playing hockey four times a week to one time.

Each week had the same results. My shoulder would start feeling a little better and then I would play hockey and it would regress. … Getting in my own way again.

That was until last Wednesday. 

On my first shift, I reached for the puck and I felt something like a pop in my good shoulder. I felt like I lost the strength in my arm for a bit.

Now both my shoulders feel really messed up. Ever try putting on your shirt or coat with bad shoulders? It’s not a good look.

So for the first time in a month, I’m not playing hockey this week at all. 

And hopefully I will start to recover. I’ve been getting in my own way of getting better. 

One thing I’m settling on is getting a snowblower so this shoulder thing doesn’t happen again.

Here’s the thing: Often we get in our own way when it comes to getting right with God. We either make excuses for our actions, or we invent our own storyline. But God’s right there; He sees what we are doing and He still waits for us to give in to Him. Stop getting in your own way with God. Go to Him, put your faith in Christ, ask for forgiveness and stop getting in your own way. God’s waiting. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How have you been getting in your own way lately? Leave your comments and questions below.

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

Snow Changes My Perspective On Things

This last weekend has reminded me of what winter snow was like when I was a kid.

Snow changes my perspective on things

We’ve had a fairly mild winter up until this last weekend – not much snow and not very low temperatures.

We typically don’t get any snow until around Christmas Day. This year we had a light dusting, enough to make the landscape white. Even the new year didn’t bring a lot of snow. With just a little here and there, shovelling was at a minimum. 

But this last weekend sure made up for it. 

I remember winters like this as a kid. The snow was up to your knees and made walking through it burdensome. I always thought there seemed to be so much snow because my legs were shorter back then, but I think there was a lot more snow back in the 60’s. What I’m looking at out my front window agrees with my memory.

Obviously weather has changed over the years. As a kid they would flood a portion of the school yard and put up boards for us to play hockey on. But by the end of the 60’s when I was in junior high, they started building tennis courts at schools – tennis courts with an ice plant attached to them – to have tennis in the summer and artificial ice skating rinks in the winter. 

The city (Toronto) did that because the temperatures did not stay cold long enough to sustain flooding the ground for a natural rink. 

In high school I remember going to the school rink and skating when it was plus 1 or 2 out. 

I remember my first winter in Edmonton (‘85, ’86), driving in snow ruts for a portion of the winter. … I don’t think that happens much anymore. 

As time has marched on, the cold and snow conditions have lightened up.

But the mountains of snow piled up on each side of my driveway remind me of days gone by when it was colder and snowy. 

I can say for sure that I like that we no longer have winters like this all the time. 

Sunday I shovelled my driveway three times and then again on Monday morning. 

In fact, I think my contract with snow shovelling is pretty much up. I need to renegotiate my price with my wife before the next snowfall or she will have to drive over the snow rather than on clear pavement.

I’m also a little ticked because I tweaked my shoulder and I’m concerned it may hamper my shot when playing hockey. 

My wife, Lily, should be thankful that I’m a hockey player and not a baseball player. They demand hundreds of millions to play.  I’m happy to keep shovelling for the league minimum of $775,000 … though I’m not sure I’ll get it, since Lily’s funds have been considerably reduced since she retired.

I guess it better not snow anymore this winter.

Here’s the thing: So many things change in life as we grow up and grow older. For some things that’s good, but for other things it makes life more difficult or more uncertain or stressful. But there’s one thing that does not change and that is God. God never changes. So you can expect from Him His same presence, His same love, comfort and care no matter what changes you experience in your life or situation. Place your faith in Jesus to take you through all the changes that life throws at you. He won’t disappoint you. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What is a big change you’ve noticed in your life over the last 10 or even 2 years? Leave your comments and questions below.

Subscribe to my blog and receive posts like this to your email inbox.

Out Of Routine And You’re Bound To Miss Something

When you’re out of routine, sometimes you forget what you’re missing.

out of routine and your bound to miss something

My Saturdays during the winter are all pretty much the same. They usually centre around three things: playing hockey, wings and watching hockey. 

So when I recently got out of routine, I didn’t even know what day it was.

… That can be a bit of a problem anyway when you’re retired. Every day of the week is like the weekend. But I do have various routines each day that give them some kind of distinction so they don’t all roll into one. 

When you’re working, you have clear separations in your days. There is morning pre-work routines, work and then evenings. I would often spice that up with some meetings or out of office work. And each day of the week I worked on some specific aspect of my sermon. Each day had some uniqueness to it. 

But you know that feeling when you’re about two weeks into vacation? Once you’ve spent an inordinate amount of time by the beach or pool, you can sometimes forget what day it is. 

Well, retirement can be like that unless you have some specific details to keep you focussed.

My Saturdays usually have those details. I start with some quiet time from about 5:45 to 6:45 am. Then I go to play hockey. After hockey I have breakfast and mull over the rest of my day. And sometime around noon I get the wings out of the freezer for dinner that night.

I may have a variety of things I do mid morning to late afternoon, but they vary from week to week. 

At about 5:30 pm I start to prepare the wings for the fryer. I have recently streamlined that process so it takes me about half the prep time that it used to. After they sit for a half hour, I get the deep fryer up to temperature. When it is ready, I drop the wings in for seven minutes.

Usually by then it’s pregame for Hockey Night in Canada. We all (Lily and I) gather around the TV and have wings while getting updates on the games, players and teams playing that night. 

Then it’s game time and I’m pretty much locked in for the evening. 

… Except for this past Saturday. 

To start, I didn’t play hockey in the morning, so that was weird in itself.

Then we had Lily’s whole family over for our Christmas get together. As the house filled up, I forgot what day it was. At one point in the evening my Bud light goal light sounded, indicating that the Toronto Maple Leafs had scored. 

Not only had I not been watching, I wasn’t aware they were playing, even though they play every Saturday night. There was also a World Junior game that I missed. 

After everyone had left and Lily and I were doing some clean up, I suddenly realized we hadn’t had wings.

The crazy thing was, I missed it and didn’t know it.

Here’s the thing: One day we will all find ourselves at the end of our lives. We will stand before God and it will be drastically out of our normal routine. For many of us, it won’t be expected; it will sneak up on us. God will ask, “Why should I let you into heaven?” I pray we all have the answer and that we didn’t miss it. … By the way, the answer to God’s question is, “I placed my faith in your Son, Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of my sins.”

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: When have you missed something because you were out of routine? Leave your comments and questions below.

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

Out Of Season? . . . Not Any More!

Getting in on something that is out of season is a real bonus, isn’t it? 

out of season? ... not any more!

Our modern harvesting, preserving and packaging technologies make it possible to enjoy many things that are out of season. 

I have half a grapefruit every morning and, though grapefruit is a summer fruit, I can enjoy them all year long … because somewhere in the world it’s summer. 

For the first part of the year the grapefruit arrive from Israel, big and juicy. In the fall, and until the new year, they come from South Africa, not as big, but with every bit of flavour. 

Years ago there were times of the year you couldn’t get certain fruits. Oranges arrived in winter, strawberries were in June, and apples came in the fall. Outside those times you really didn’t eat those fruits. In fact, there was anticipation for fruit of the season to come.

But now most fruits are available year round. 

One of my favourite fruits is the raspberry. Growing up we had a large raspberry patch in our backyard. We had so many that my mom would make a few raspberry pies every summer as well as often dish them up in a bowl for dessert.

But by August the raspberries were gone and finished for the season. We would not have them again until the next summer.

At my present home we have a raspberry patch in our backyard that never fails to produce raspberries each year … that is until they are out of season. 

And then if I want them I have to purchase them at the grocery store, usually at a premium price.

My one regret about summer vacation is that it comes around that same time our raspberries ripen. So we usually get a week of raspberries and then they die on the bushes while we are away. By the time we get back from vacation the raspberries are finished, out of season. 

Every year I’ve missed out on much of my precious fruit. 

But this year has been different.

With the summer-like weather this fall, my raspberry patch is producing again. And the great thing is I’m home and can enjoy these berries of the gods. … Apparently there is such a thing as fall producing raspberry bushes and we have some mixed into our patch in the corner of the yard. 

It’s now the end of October and I’m still eating delicious raspberries from my own backyard. I’m enjoying fresh berries even though normally they would be out of season by now. My wife has even frozen some so that I will be able to enjoy them in the middle of winter.

This year the weather has kept what is normally out of season, still flourishing. Lucky me!

Here’s the thing: We all want to enjoy the fruit that is in season. But sometimes that fruit comes at a time we don’t expect. If we are not ready, we will miss it. We don’t know when Christ is going to return, so we need to be ready for it, whether it seems like it will be in season and close at hand, or out of season and far off.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you need to be ready for, even if it’s out of season? Leave your comments and questions below.

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

Write It Down – Words To Live By

Have you ever said to yourself, “I should write it down”, but then never did? 

write it down - words to live by

What generally happens is that thought, idea, or action disappears from your memory. 

It happens to me regularly.

I keep telling myself that I need to “write it down” but so often I don’t. In fact I had an idea for a post a few weeks ago and thought I should write it down. I didn’t.

This morning when I sat down to finally get at it, all I could remember was that I had had a great idea for a blog post. I had no recollection of what that idea was.

So I sat with my iPad in front of me recalling my activities over the last few weeks. No lightbulb moment came to me. The only blog idea I have right now is to “write it down”.

It’s not like I have a bad memory, it’s just that I have had so many other thoughts and experiences that have taken place since I first thought of that killer post idea. By now the memory of that idea has been crowded out. 

I’ve done the same thing with login passwords. I have had to come up with a password for something I’ve registered for, but instead of writing that password down on my list, I just tried to remember it for a while … or I wrote the pass code on a scrap piece of paper so I could enter it in my list later. 

But later becomes days, maybe weeks, and I’ve either forgotten where that scrap of paper was or it got thrown out after a while. 

I’d like to tell a story of a spectacular idea I had and how I forgot all about it. If I had remembered it, I would be busy typing about it right now instead of rambling on about not writing down my ideas.

Writing ideas down is not laborious. I have a notes app on my phone that’s always in my pocket. I could easily text a line or two about an idea and it’s preserved.

But doing that would require me to feel at risk of losing my idea in the sea of other thoughts that flood my brain each day.

Instead, I think my thought is so shiny and bright that I will never forget it.

Which reminds me of when I was a kid. In the spring I would float a twig down the river that formed in the ditch on the way home from school. I had no trouble knowing which twig I had put into the flow … until it went into a culvert and I would wait for it to come out the other end. 

Sometimes I would wait and wait and then give up waiting, not really remembering what it looked like or presuming it got stuck inside the culvert and never came out.

At any rate, the twig was gone just like my idea.

Here’s the thing: There are times when you have an experience that could only be from the hand of God. Write it down because, in time, if you don’t, you won’t remember what God has done for you. Then you won’t be able to reflect on it and continue to benefit from His work.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you wish most that you had written down? Leave your comments and questions below.

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

Creating Joy For Someone Else Should Be Our Daily Mission

Creating Joy For Someone Else Should Be Our Daily Mission

Creating joy in someone’s life is a good thing. I think everyone should strive to do it more. 

creating joy for someone else should be our daily mission

Who knows? Maybe we’d have fewer wars in the world; we’d all get along better.

I’m not sure why we don’t intentionally create joy for others. Maybe it’s that we are so self-absorbed with our own stuff that we don’t think of others.

Personality is a factor in creating joy for others as well. Some people just don’t think of it. 

Me, however, I’m often thinking of it – especially with cashiers in whatever store I’m in. I do have to be in the right mood and not in a hurry, but I will often say something or do something that will make them smile.

I’ve also brought a smile to more than one waiter’s face, just by initiating a brief conversation about their day or about customers like me.

It’s pretty easy and it comes naturally to me. 

My wife, Lily, often just shakes her head and smiles, which for me also means I’ve created a little bit of joy for her.

The fact is you feel good when you can put a smile on someone’s face. It’s not much but it makes an impact. 

Recently my brother and I bought scooters. 

Ya, no, not the kind you power by pushing with your foot on the pavement. These are electric and can go 31 kilometres per hour. We got them to bomb around the little beach town we vacation at.

Our wives were not convinced we needed them but we said we could do short grocery runs with them and quickly scoot to the beach to see what the water was like and then report back.

… Sure, that wasn’t all that convincing but we got them anyway. And we’ve been ripping them everywhere, of course with the throttle wide open all the time. 

We’re starting to get a reputation in the park. 

My brother, John, was at the park office talking to the owner who told John he had had to tell a teenager to slow down on her scooter. 

One of the ladies in the office piped up, with a smile on her face, “Yes, I see a couple of grey haired men bombing around on them too!”

A few days later I rode my scooter down to the office. I could see two ladies behind the desk chuckling away. I knew the laughs were for me. So when I entered the office I said to them, “You have to get one. They’re pretty fun.” 

That comment just produced more giggles which worked into me creating joy in their lives.

As I left the office, one of the women said, “You and your brother are reliving your childhood, aren’t you?”

Big smiles all the way around. I was smiling and they both had big grins on their faces. 

Just another day of creating a little joy in someone’s life.

Here’s the thing: God is the source of all joy. If you’ve been touched by the deep joy that God gives, it should be in you to create for others. If you haven’t, I encourage you to seek God. His joy comes as a gift along with His acceptance, love and forgiveness. His joy will help you create joy in other people. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How have you created joy for someone this week? Leave your comments and questions below.

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

Knowing Where To Start Is Sometimes The Hardest Part

Have you ever attempted to do something only to realize you don’t really know where to start?

knowing where to start is sometimes the hardest part

That was me the other day when I was staring down the hedge in front of our house.

We hadn’t trimmed it all year and, to be honest, this is a job that my wife, Lily, usually does. What I was looking at was kind of new to me. I didn’t know where to start.

I got the feeling of what it would be like to cut someone’s hair for the first time. 

It looks pretty simple when the barber/hairstylist gives you a trim. But if you had to do it, well, that would be a different thing.

That’s why so many kids got the bowl cut when they were young. 

You know, when your mother would pick an appropriate sized bowl for your head and then just cut around it. You hoped your mom had the philosophy of one size fits all.

I also remember when they came out with the flow bee. It was a vacuum cleaner with some sharp blades at the end of the tube. 

The idea of these, and probably other crazy haircutting ideas, was to make cutting hair simple and quick. 

The problem with them was they left your melon very unattractive. Nobody ever mistook a bowl cut or a flow bee do for a real haircut. 

The reason is there is more to cutting hair than just going at it with a pair of scissors.

However, the other day when I was looking at our hedge, that is exactly what I was about to do – just go at it with the hedge trimmer.

What I didn’t want was my neighbours driving by thinking, “Wow, Paul really put a bowl cut on his hedge.” I was wishing I had taken some kind of barber class, so I had the theory behind getting a good shape on the shrub.

When you think about it, there is a lot of similarities with trimming a head and trimming a hedge.

First you have to cut them, then you have to comb them to make sure you get all the cut hair or stems out of it. Then you have to go back and trim any loose pieces and make sure it is properly shaped. Sometimes you have to do a little more tapering. 

The only thing you don’t do with a hedge is spray it down or put some gel in it to make sure everything stays in place.

Well, I started in on the hedge and though I’m not an expert hedge barber yet, I don’t think I did half bad. 

One thing about the hedge that makes it a little harder than cutting hair is that you are dealing with something that is six to ten feet wide, and not six or seven inches. It’s not easy getting both sides looking the same. 

Anyway, I have a new appreciation for hairstylists.

Here’s the thing: When someone has a desire to read the Bible, it’s not easy to figure out where to start. It’s not like a novel so you don’t have to start at the beginning and read to the end, though I do that every year. Starting in the Book of John will give you a good sense of what God’s desire is for us and how Jesus is key to accomplishing it. From there you can dabble in other parts to get rounded out on the beginning and ending of His creation. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: Where do you need to start on something today?

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

Push Past Your Goals For A More Fulfilling Experience

I have noticed that I often push past my goal or target. I don’t think this is just a “me” thing, but most likely something that many people do. 

push past your goals for a more fulfilling experience

No, I don’t have any research to back up my theory, but I figure I’m a pretty average person. I think it’s something built right into us. 

You see it in the Olympics where some athletes will post a personal best in their event. There is something inside them that makes them go past what they have done or can do.

… But that’s an elite athlete and most of us don’t fall into that category. 

Still, when I go mountain biking at my club, there are many times that I feel tired and only plan on doing the home loop which is about 10 km.

However, almost every time, once I’m out there biking, I will push past my goal and add about 15 minutes to my ride by taking a side trail halfway through the home loop.

Even when I’m a little short on time, I usually push past my original goal and add the extra 3 or 4 kilometres to my ride.

I do this in many areas of my life. 

… Like when I feel I’ve been adding too much sugar to my diet, I will take a break from pop and chips and candy. 

I will arbitrarily set a time frame for myself of maybe a couple of weeks. But as I near the end of my sugar fast I will usually determine to push past my target date and go another few days or weeks.

There is something in us that pushes us on to do more, to go beyond. We want to break what we had hoped for and go past it. 

I did that again just the other day. 

I decided to exercise using my stand up paddle board. Usually I just paddle for a while following the coast line and then return to the beach. As I launched my board, I decided to go for at least a half hour. I picked out a landmark down the beach and started paddling. 

The water was really calm for Lake Huron. I could tell I was reaching my target sooner than I expected. So I looked farther down the beach and picked out another target – much more ambitious. 

But as I got to it, I wondered if I could go to an even further target – a pavilion that was farther away than I have ever paddled. 

And as that pavilion got closer, I thought maybe I could make it all the way to the point at the end of the beach.

I pushed past three targets I had set and came to shore only to turn around and paddle back. 

It took me just over an hour round trip and I paddled about 6.5 kilometres. 

I felt a little tired by the time I got back to my beach chair, but pretty good about what I had done.

There was just something in me that caused me to push past my targets.

Here’s the thing: Many times when I get up late or I’m feeling a little rushed in the morning, I’m tempted to skip my time with God. Instead of doing that, I will set a shorter time and keep my appointment with Him. I find that, almost every time, I push past my set time and spend much longer with God. Keep your appointment with the Lord. Set your goal and then see how you push past it to have a rich, fulfilling meeting with Him.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: In what area have you recently gone beyond your initial goal or target? Leave your comment or questions below. 

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

Muscle Memory Never Lets Us Down

It is amazing how we can do something we haven’t done in years and muscle memory kicks in.

muscle memory never lets us down

There is this old saying, “It’s like riding a bike”. Once you learn how to ride a bike, you never forget no matter how much time has passed.

This is true with a lot of things. I remember driving somewhere with my wife, Lily, and a song came on the radio. I hadn’t heard that song for maybe twenty years, but as soon as the first note struck, I knew all the words. And I could whistle the guitar solo like I heard the song yesterday.

There is something called muscle memory. We use this term to describe all kinds of activities we can just pick up and do even after a long period of not doing them. 

It’s not really muscle memory, but it’s similar. Muscle memory is when a muscle that was previously exercised will gain strength and volume quicker than a muscle that has previously not been trained.

Whatever term we use, we all know it has something to do with picking up where we left off. Your body or mind don’t forget what you have already done and learned.

As a kid I learned how to yo-yo at my dad’s variety store. The yo-yo man would come by and line us up and teach us tricks every year. 

That was many years ago, and as a married adult I remember one time being with my dad in a department store. I came across an aisle that had some novelty toys in it. There were some yo-yo’s there so I picked one up. It had been a long time since I had spun a yo-yo. 

When my dad saw me with a yo-yo in hand he grabbed one too and, for about ten minutes, we put on a show for the modestly growing crowd that formed.

My dad and I did tricks with those tops that we had not done in decades. It just all came back.

Well, the other day I had a similar experience. I was about to preach a sermon for the first time in almost two years. I didn’t think much of it when I was asked, but as the date came closer, I had some doubts about speaking. 

Lily had even noticed the week of that I was a little uptight and a bit short with her at times. She wondered if it was because I was slightly nervous about preaching.

The morning of I felt a little nervous. 

You know, standing in front of a bunch of people you don’t want to have a brain freeze or to get all shaky.

When I was introduced, I took a big breath and whispered to Lily, “Here goes nothing.”

I walked up to the platform, still a little nervous. I put my Bible and iPad down on the podium, looked up and started talking. 

Almost immediately after I opened my mouth, I relaxed and the 37 years of speaking in front of people kicked in. 

I knew I would be okay.

Here’s the thing: When there has been some time since you last connected with God in prayer, that old relationship, the words you used to express your love and hope in Him, will all come back. It’s not like starting from scratch; it’s like muscle memory. You pick up talking and listening to God like you never stopped. So what are you waiting for? Take time today to spend with your Lord and Saviour in prayer. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How long has it been since you just sat quietly before God and sensed His presence with you?

Subscribe to my blog and receive posts like this to your email inbox.

Your Gene Pool Is More Extensive Than You Think

You never get too far away from your gene pool. Some people inherit bad health from their parents. Others get great athletic ability or creativity from their ancestors. 

your gene pool is more extensive than you think

Me? Well, one thing I got was my dad’s ability to spill food on all his clothes.

My wife, Lily, has been telling me our entire marriage that I should bring my plate closer to me, shortening the gap between my food and my mouth, creating less of a chance that my fork full of food will hit my lap on the way to my pie hole.

I try but I think it’s in my genes. My dad was a master.

There was a time when my family was out for dinner with Dad and he was having a baked potato with his meal. Dad liked to put lots of butter on his spuds, so he began loading up. 

I’m not sure if it was the dim lighting of the restaurant or that the potato appeared to be soaking up the butter, but dad ended up with a pool of butter on his plate with his sleeve acting like a “Bounty-quicker-picker-upper” paper towel. 

The butter was dripping from his arm and pooling on the table.

On another occasion, when having some pizza in the park with my brother’s family and mine, Dad decided that marinara sauce was a great dip for the pizza. 

He had marinara on everything. In fact, 25 years later, our families can’t say the word “marinara” without thinking of Dad and getting a big grin on our faces.

But maybe the best time was a stop at an ice cream stand on a Sunday afternoon. Dad loved a good black cherry cone and that’s what he ordered. 

It didn’t help that the day was very hot and humid and that he had his light blue seersucker suit on. But that ice cream cone was melting faster than he could lick the drips that were cascading down the cone. 

When he was done, Dad had ice cream on his tie, his shirt right at his belly, his pants and even a dollop on his white loafers. It was a perfect four-point landing for the ice cream. It might even be a record.

When I say he was a master with the spills, I’m not exaggerating. 

And somehow I got some of his genes. 

This morning I made my breakfast on the stove: egg whites in a pan with ham, cheese and Frank’s red hot sauce, folded over into something that looks like an enchilada.

It was a beautiful, sunny morning so I decided to eat it out on the deck with my half a grapefruit.

I was leaning over the foot rest where I’d set my plate. It was lower than the chair so I wanted to be careful. 

Then for some reason I thought that, if I picked up my plate and brought it closer to my mouth, it would be better.

It was a very short distance, but there was a gap and as I raised the fork to my mouth, some of the hot sauce flung itself out at me, landing several drips onto my shorts – light grey coloured shorts to be exact. 

I’ll be changing my outfit for the day. 

That darn gene pool.

Here’s the thing: As much as we like to think we are different from our forefathers, we are so much like them. The same propensity to sin that Adam and Eve had, we have inherited honestly. So the most reasonable thing to do is to seek God and His forgiveness through Jesus Christ. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: In what ways have you found yourself to be just like your parents? Leave your comments and questions below.

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