my experiences

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New Doesn’t Always Feel Better At First

I’ve worn the same hockey skates now for 22 years – that’s a long time to be wearing the same set of blades.

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Some people like to stay current and keep up with the latest improvements. Though I like new things, when it comes to hockey equipment, I don’t easily let go.

Over the years I’ve replaced my skate blades several times. But recently I saw signs that other parts were beginning to wear out.

Some of the stitching was giving way, and there were some cracks in the leather inside the boot. … That’s right, leather! It’s not easy to find skates with leather anymore. It was time for a new pair.

But this was not a quick decision. In fact, I’ve been thinking about buying new skates for a couple of years, but the thought of parting with my old skates was just too hard.

My old skates are comfortable; they are well broken in. I like to hang on to things like that. When I was in my early twenties, I sewed strips of cloth to my old long underwear, so that I didn’t have to get a new pair to wear under my equipment.

So making the move to a new pair of skates was a big deal for me.

I’ve worn CCM Tacks for 40 years or more, so that’s what I gravitated to in a new skate. But the new ones looked different, felt different and even fit differently than my old skates.

My old skates were the very first attempt at moulding the boot to your particular foot. With those skates, you put them on and they took a heat gun to the boot, making the boot pliable. Then they sucked all the air out so that the boot formed tight to the contours of your foot.

With my new skates, they went into an oven and were heated up. Then you put them on, tied them up tight and just sat with your skates on until they cooled down.

The results were pretty much the same, though I think my new skates feel even better than my old ones.

But that’s what you get with new things. Processes have been refined over the years, materials have been enhanced, and my new skates weigh considerably less than my olds ones did.

My new skates look better, more modern, up-to-date.

Even though there are many good things about my new skates, there are some drawbacks that I need to overcome. For some reason the new boot feels like there’s more to it so I feel a little clumsy in them.

My new skates also lace up higher than my old ones, which feels a little awkward. I had to undo the top eyelet so that I could get into a comfortable skating position … but tying them one eyelet lower makes them feel like they need to be done up a little higher, just not a whole eyelet higher.

I really needed to get a new pair of skates, and I know that eventually I will get used to them, but between now and then it’s not going to be fun.

Here’s the thing: When God prompts you to make a change in your life, it’s never an easy one. You are comfortable with the old; you are used to it. You feel awkward or out-of-sorts with the new. It’s going to take some getting used to, but in the end, it will be better … God is shaping you into His image.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What have you put off changing in your life? Leave your comment below.

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This Watch Really Has Changed Everything

You know how you can get something new and think to yourself, “Hey, this changes everything”?

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Well, maybe you haven’t ever thought that, but Apple thought of it. In a recent advertising campaign, that was the slogan they used: “This changes everything”.

Well, about five months ago as a gift, I got an Apple watch. Since then it really has changed everything. Besides the fact that it will do everything short of cooking my breakfast in the morning, it really has changed my life.

It’s changed how I think through my day. I used to go through my day without a thought for my body. Then I got a step counter and I consciously considered how many steps I take in a day.

But that’s nothing! Since I got my watch, I’m thinking of how many calories I’m burning in a day, how often I’m standing during the day, and how much exercise I’m getting each day.

I used to feel good if I played hockey a couple of times a week. Now I’m trying to get thirty minutes of exercise in each day.

It would be nice, however, if the watch could shut my mouth in the evenings to liquorice or chocolate. But I’m figuring out that there’s a part that I have to play that’s more than just wearing the watch on my wrist.

Some people would call it deficiency; I call it first generation Apple watch … they’ll figure that out in future editions.

My watch has also changed how I use the stuff in my pockets. I don’t haul out my wallet or phone nearly as much anymore.

I answer texts by speaking into my watch (like I’m an FBI agent speaking into his hand). I get my points for purchases right from my watch; no more swiping a card. I even answer my phone like Dick Tracy used to do in the cartoons when I was a kid.

My watch has got me to be conscious of how much water I drink in a day. Now I know when I need to take a sip. As a result, there have been a few times where I’ve had to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom.

They say we are 96% water … I may be approaching 97% on those nights. I think I’m a little waterlogged!

This watch has even changed how I play hockey. The other day I was on the ice, playing defence. The puck was at the other end of the rink when I suddenly remembered I wasn’t recording my on-ice exercise.

I took off my glove to set it, but as I looked down at my watch, I saw the puck go through my legs and heard some heavy breathing. I fumbled with my stick and dropped it. I had to control the puck with my feet, move it to a corner and then kick it over to a teammate.

I wasn’t that successful, but they didn’t score. When the puck cleared again, I hit the start button on my watch and everything was good.

Here’s the thing: Christ changed everything over 2000 years ago when He died on the cross for our sins. What we need to consider now is how have we changed our lives because of Him? He changed everything, but it really only changes everything for us when we accept the changes and implement them in our lives. Give yourself completely to Christ’s change.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: When you look at your life, how has Christ changed everything for you? Leave  your comment below.

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A Banking Mishap Has Made Me More Protective

The other day, I had a banking mishap that I’m sure many people have also had over the last couple of months: having to pay for using an ATM or an ABM (they should just stick with one acronym).

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Personally, I’m not a fan of paying for my banking. I think I’ve written about this before, but my feeling is that the banks should feel privileged to use our money to invest and make lots more for themselves.

Somehow banks have reversed that mindset, thinking their customers should feel privileged to give them our money for safekeeping.

Anyway, I was on my way to getting a haircut, which for me is a cash transaction. I didn’t have any so I first went next door to the Mac’s store to get a few shekels from the bank machine.

Up until a month ago, that machine was associated with my bank … I’ve used it many times over the past fifteen years.

But to my surprise, when I got into the store, the ATM was gone. I quickly glanced around and then spied something that looked like an automated teller machine, just in a different colour.

The markings read, “Manulife Bank”, but there was a spot for my debit card to go in, so I inserted it.

I got a message immediately informing me that the transaction I wanted to do would cost me $3. I quickly gave my head a shake because I thought I’d been transported to one of those cheque cashing places, like Cash Money, home of the $300 for $20.

I knew my bank would also charge me for using a machine that is not part of their network, so I had to think for a minute: “Do I really want to spend $5 to take my money out of my bank?”

I must have paused until the machine almost timed out, but I figured, “I need the cash right now, and I will not be doing this again”.

I’ve noticed these Manulife Bank machines are replacing my bank’s machines in a number of places. So now I have to plan a little more carefully when I want to withdraw money from my account.

I guess I could take out an account with Manulife, but frankly I’ve never seen a branch of theirs before. I looked on their website and found that they have five branches spread across Canada – the closest one to me is three hours away!

I don’t think I’ll be banking with them any time soon.

I know that many people don’t think twice about paying the fees for using convenient cash machines, but these banks already have my money for basically nothing. Why should I be gouged so that their president can take home a salary of $3 million a year plus bonuses?

No, I’d rather pick my ATM more carefully so that I’m not giving Manulife Bank executives a Starbucks coffee every time I use their machine.

Here’s the thing: There will always be something that comes along that will seek to take advantage of your money or your time. These things will be convenient and practical. You will feel pressured to part with your time or money. But you have to be your own protector of what is yours. Spiritually speaking, make sure that the things that seek to take advantage of you don’t take from your time with God or your stewardship of His resources.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What seeks to take advantage of your money or your time? Leave your comment below.

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When The Wind Is Against You

This afternoon I looked out our front window and the scene that faced me got me humming a song from 1968.

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I was looking at our 30 foot high maple tree, blowing in the wind like it was being beaten into submission by an angry UFC heavyweight.

It’s remarkable that in an instance you can be transported to a song you haven’t heard in dozens of years. Oh, the song? It was “Windy” by the Association.

The song describes two sides of the wind: there’s the “Who’s tripping down the streets of the city, smiling at everybody she sees” side of the wind, and then there’s the “And windy has stormy eyes” side of the wind.

Now, I’m almost certain that the song is about a person, a girl I would wager, who has huge mood swings. She can be great to be with, or she can be your worst nightmare.

Well, the wind today in my corner of the world has all the makings of a horror show … just add some dark skies, lightning flashes and the stage is set.

Earlier in the morning, I experienced the force of the wind personally. I rode my bike in a “Ride for Refuge” fundraiser. It was a 25 km loop during which I affirmed why I like to ride off-road.

For one thing, the trees make a great buffer for the wind. Secondly, it is so boring riding in straight lines with only the pavement and the gravel shoulder to look at.

And then there was the wind – yes, the kind of wind with stormy eyes. Some of the gusts were so strong that if you stopped peddling you would just stop, no coasting.

I wanted to keep about a 20 km/hr average speed, but when the wind was against me, I could,  at times, only muster about 11km/hr.

But when the wind was lambasting me from the side, it literally pushed my bike sideways, so that I had to over-correct my steering.

I made it though. Once the road changed direction, it was clear sailing and I made up for the time I had lost going against the wind.

When I turned into the parking lot at the end of the ride, I was glad to be getting out of the wind for good. The wind hadn’t beaten me; it didn’t put me into any submission hold, but it didn’t make me feel like I had won either.

I knew I had been in a battle and I had a healthy respect for my opponent. In fact, the next time I ride the road I want the version of the wind that’s “smiling at everyone she meets”. I don’t want to do battle again … well, at least not for a while.

I’m a little tired; I need a rest.

Here’s the thing: Life circumstances can smile on you or they can have stormy eyes. Though we all would love to have a life filled with smiles, like the wind that’s so temperamental, so are the situations we find ourselves in. With God’s help we persevere through the gusts against us, and we thank God for the tailwinds that propel us along. This push and pull in life strengthens us like muscles that are stretched and then relaxed. It’s all part of how God seeks to build us into the women and men of His design.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What kind of wind do you find yourself in right now, and how is God assisting? Leave your comment below.

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The Weather Conditions In My Home Are Changing

We are starting to enter the in-between season and it’s an appropriate time to deal with temperature change.

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I have been told that this year we may be a month behind in our weather. Because of our slow start in the spring, we got June weather in July and July weather in August.

That means September should be more like August … that’s out of the norm.

Though the temperature outside is changing, that’s not really the temperature change I am writing about.

I have to tell you that the temperature inside our home doesn’t hold to conventional, seasonal measurements either.

Here’s my problem: my wife likes the heat; she likes the heat outside and she is happy if it’s hot inside as well. So I come home from work on a sweltering summer day, and enter our house through the garage which is even 15 degrees warmer than outside. I’ve gone from hot to hotter.

Then I come into the house to the cool, refreshing air conditioned air – no, that’s not what happens. I come into the house that is just a few degrees cooler than my garage was!

I look at the thermostat to see if there is something wrong with our air conditioner, only to find that my dear wife has set the temperature to 25 degrees. When we add in the humidity, it’s probably closer to 30 in the house.

By next year our hardwood floors will probably be curling up.

I turn the thermostat down to 21 degrees because that apparently is the perfect temperature – at least, that’s what I’ve heard. There is a company called 21 Degrees Heating and Cooling and their motto is “Everybody is happy at 21 degrees”.

I want to be happy. I want the temp in our home to be 21 degrees.

After making the adjustment to the thermostat, an hour later it’s back up to 25 … she’s sneaky.

Sleeping is very uncomfortable, and Lil will admit it too, but it doesn’t convince her to lower the thermostat.

Now this is the thing I can’t understand, the thing that doesn’t make sense to me. And if anyone can help me with an answer that I can comprehend, I would be greatly indebted …

In the winter months, she doesn’t keep the thermostat at 25, or even at the perfect temperature of 21 degrees. In the winter, she keeps it at 20 and at night she lowers it to 17 degrees!!

In the winter I’m afraid to get out of bed for fear of frostbite.

What I don’t understand is, if you like it cool at night, why not make it cool at night all year round? I like to sleep in the summer just as much as I do in the winter months.

Here’s the thing: Temperature may not be conventional in my house, but it has the same beginning letters as temptation and temptation isn’t conventional either. As the apostle Paul said so well, “I do what I don’t want to do and I don’t do what I want to do.”

I don’t have a definitive answer for my house temperature other than standing guard at the thermostat to be sure it’s set at the right degree. And for temptation, we must be as vigilant in standing guard to turn it down when it starts to rise.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: When do you find you have the hardest time with temptation? Leave your comment below.

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What Golf Can Teach Us About Handling Pressure

This week my son treated me to a game of golf – not the usual game; we actually attended a PGA Tour Canada event.

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I walked the course and never swung a club. We were watching young professional golfers who hope to one day make the big tour.

Instead of playing for million dollar prize money, these guys were hoping to take home $31,000 if they won … still not a bad paycheque for a week’s work!

A week of work playing golf on a beautiful, well-manicured course – I think I could get used to that.

We ended up following one of the Canadians in the tournament for the back nine. When we picked him up, he was about 17 under par.

I kind of thought the reason these guys were playing on this tour, and not the US tour, was because they couldn’t shoot low enough scores. But these kids could rip up courses just like the guys who are making ten times what they make in a year.

I discovered the difference between the two tours as we got closer to the 18th hole.

The guy we were following was hot; we saw him make birdies on three of his next four holes.  We kind of thought we might be watching the eventual winner.

He seemed like he was cruising, his shots were right on, he was hitting the ball long. He looked calm and confident as he made his way around the track.

But then we got to the 14th hole. He missed a 4-footer that would have got him to 21 under.

Not a big deal. However, on the next hole his tee shot took an unlucky bounce that left him with a tough second shot.

Immediately you could tell his confidence was not what it was. He still made par, but he was scrambling for it now.

For the next two holes you could see that the pressure was getting to him. He was gripping the club a little tighter and not making the shots as precisely as before.

It all came down to the last hole. We figured our guy was tied for the lead or one shot back. He needed to score a 3 on the par 5 to have a chance to win.

When the pressure is on, it’s difficult to step back and calm yourself down, to block all the voices in your head and hit the shot you want. … He didn’t hit a great shot.

He put his second shot in a sand trap behind the green. Then he imploded. He took three putts to get the ball in the hole – a bogey 6.

In the end, he went from potential winner to outright second place finisher, to ending up settling for a six-way tie for second.

Maybe one of the reasons these guys aren’t on the big tour is the mental game. They can hit the ball and putt, but when the pressure is on, they sometimes fold.

Here’s the thing: Living the Christian life can be similar to these golfers. We can be cruising along in our lives, but when the pressure comes, that’s when we need to be real pros and be able to live strong in the faith.

Prepare yourself in advance to deal with the pressure. Know God’s Word, meet with Him regularly, plan how you will respond to certain scenarios so you can whether the storm of pressure and come out victorious.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What potential circumstance could you make a plan for in advance? Leave your comment below.

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Memories … Old, Faded Memories

Memory is a very powerful thing. It can access long stored information in an instance.

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Last week my wife, Lily, and I were in Toronto celebrating our wedding anniversary. We checked into our hotel, and when we got to our room, we found it overlooked City Hall.

Our vantage from the 33rd floor allowed us to survey a large portion of real estate below.

As we gazed out the window, my eyes gravitated to a spot just behind City Hall. From what I could see, it looked very different than I remembered.

“See that street down there?” I said to Lily. “I think it’s Elizabeth Street. When I was a kid we would eat there at the Nanking Restaurant on Saturday nights.”

It was the first restaurant I ever ate in. I believe I was just a month or two old when my parents took me for my first Chinese dinner.

I’m sure I didn’t taste a delicious egg roll directly, but I definitely got it second hand.

Lily wanted to go down to the street and take a picture of the huge “TORONTO” sign that was a remnant of the Pan Am Games held there just a month ago.

After we got down to street level and Lily had her picture taken sitting in the “O” of “TORONTO”, I kind of wanted to see if I was correct on that street I spied from our hotel window.

We walked around to the back of City Hall and sure enough, it was Elizabeth Street. When my family started eating at the Nanking, City Hall wasn’t even there. But now everything has completely changed.

The Nanking wasn’t there and it seemed like there was no trace of anything that I remembered. There was no Lichee Gardens on the other side of the street – just all new buildings.

But I wondered about the building where the Nanking was. It looked different. It was a government office now … the department of environment or something.

I was trying to figure out if it was the same building, but Lily thought the outside looked too new to be 60 plus years old.

I was still curious. I walked through one of the doorways, and my memory was pricked; it was foreign yet there was something that seemed to fit.

I motioned to Lily, “I’m not so sure this is a new building. I think the entrance was here and you could either go to the right into a smaller lounge or to the left into the large dining room” … which probably wasn’t as large as I remembered as a child.

Lil didn’t think I was right. There was a stucco kind of treatment on the building that gave it a 70’s look.

But as we walked past, down the side street, and turned to look at the back of the building, sure enough you could tell by the back, where there was no updated exterior facade, that this building was old.

Just as I remembered! I hadn’t accessed that information in years, hadn’t been on that street for 45 years, yet I could recall it all. Amazing memories we have!

Here’s the thing: Your memory of how God has worked in your life can encourage you, give you hope that He will continue – even give you determination. But don’t rest on just those memories, only use them to fuel knew adventures with God. Don’t get stuck in the past.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What past memory has kept you from moving forward? Leave your comment below.

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The Future Is Not What You Might Think

I’ve seen the future and it doesn’t look too bright. … Of course, that may have been because I saw the future in a dimly lit movie theatre.

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I don’t go to the movie theatre all that often, and even less to a matinee, but my wife and I were on vacation and we decided to do a movie and dinner.

Shortly after seating myself in the high-backed, swivel chair with my armrest ready to be loaded with a 40 oz cup of coke, I saw the future. Maybe it wasn’t my future, but it was definitely the future!

I started to notice that the people sitting around me were all quite a bit older that Lily and me. And as others came in, I noticed it took them a long time to walk up the stairs to their seats.

Some of them stopped half way to take a breather, others used the handrail like they had just dropped off their walkers and were in need of a little support.

There was some guy behind me who was rustling a bag of something that he probably smuggled into the theatre. I’m sure he couldn’t hear the constant noise that bag was making but  it was definitely not music to my ears!

At that point, it dawned on me how much we had paid to get in. When it seemed like we were only being charged for one ticket, I had questioned the cashier on the price. The girl assured me that it was cheap Tuesday.

I started to put it all together. I never really knew who went to matinees before; I had thought they was mostly for kids’ movies. I suddenly realized that it’s seniors who go to matinees – and not just young seniors, it’s those who are in their seventies and up.

The cashier must have taken us for seniors and charged us the seniors’ rate for cheap Tuesdays.

And now you too know the future: some day going to a matinee will be the normal thing to do.

It’s practical because there are no lineups and there are lots of seats to choose from. Movies are loud so no need to turn on that nasty, bothersome hearing aide. And you get out in time to have dinner at the seniors’ residence or at least before the evening rush at the restaurants.

The whole thing was an eye opening experience. It was the first time I came out of a movie theatre squinting because I’d just spent a couple of hours in the dark and the sun was still high in the sky.

It wasn’t a bad experience; in fact, some day I can see it being all the rage.

Here’s the thing: When we look to the future, we usually look ahead 5, 10, 20 years from now. We imagine and plan for what might be or what we want life to be like. But when we look that way, we miss the future we should be focussing on. In the book of Colossians, chapter three and verses one and two, it tells us to “set our hearts and minds on things above.” We often limit our thinking, planning and preparing to what’s coming ahead in this life. But God wants us to be thinking, planning, preparing and living with our whole being focussed on what’s above – on heaven. So in your future planning, think of things above as you prepare and live out your days here below.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you usually focus on when thinking of the future? Leave your comment below.

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How Distance Gets In the Way Of Your Relationships 

We have all become distant from someone or something at times in our lives. Sometimes it’s due to personal issues that have arisen; sometimes proximity or miles are at the core of the issue.

 

I remember when we moved from Edmonton to Kingston. Our kids were just 6 and 4, and didn’t completely understand the whole distance thing. We were at the end of our third day of travel, and had arrived at the motel we were staying at for the night. I don’t think we’d even unpacked our bags.

Our 4 year old son was sitting on the bed beside his sister. It was one of those moments that no one was saying anything; we were just kind of getting ourselves adjusted to the room for the night.

Out of nowhere Michael said, “I want to go home.” It was a sad comment coming from a little boy who didn’t know where he was or where he was going. What made the comment worse was his big sister’s response.

Immediately after Michael said “I want to go home”, Karlie replied, “Michael, we don’t have a home.”

… A killer comment to a couple of parents who were taking their kids away from what they knew as home and were feeling a little in limbo ourselves!

At that moment we all felt distant from everything we were close to, familiar and comfortable with.

There are other times when disagreements, arguments or even interpretations of events cause two people to feel distant from each other. You could be in the same home at the time, and that distance might only last a few minutes or an hour, but there is a sense of distance between the two individuals.

The other day, I experienced yet another kind of distance. Lily and I were staying in a hotel room. The room was great, very comfortable; we liked the room from the moment we entered it. We felt at home in it.

One of the features of the room was that it had a king-sized bed … and for two nights, Lily and I felt distant from each other.

We didn’t have an argument, and we didn’t sleep in separate beds – we just lost each other in the king-sized bed!

In a bed that big, you can go a whole night and never even bump up against each other. It’s like you are sleeping by yourself because as far as you can stretch or move, there’s no contact with your spouse.

You actually have to work at not becoming distant from each other in a king-sized bed. Both mornings I found myself on one side of the bed while Lil was way over on the other side.

I don’t know what it was, but we just drifted apart in the night … both nights. We didn’t want to drift apart, but it happened in spite of our desire and intent.

Here’s the thing: You can become distant from God when sin in your life keeps you running from Him. You can feel distant when you hold something against God because He didn’t answer your prayer request. But you can also just drift away from Him, become distant from Him, by not working at staying in close proximity. Make sure that you are actively seeking God, talking to Him, spending time with Him and His word. Make time to worship Him everyday. Don’t become distant.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What have you become distant from in the past year? Leave your comment below.

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How To Prepare For Being Startled

Some people get startled more easily than others. It doesn’t take much for me to jump when someone happens to show up in my office without me hearing them come in or seeing them out of the corner of my eye.

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I don’t know why it is; I’m not a nervous person. But if someone appears out of nowhere and even says “hi”, whoa, that gets my heart pumping fast.

I remember years ago when I was a youth pastor, we would play a game called “Sardines”. It was a version of hide and seek, where we would turn out all the lights in the church, making it pitch black dark.

One person was “it” and his job was to hide. Everyone else tried to find him and then hide with him in the dark until there was just one person looking for the whole group.

During the game, I took it as my job to scare the life out of the junior high girls. I would go in a room and wait for a pack of girls to enter. They could see nothing but, of course, they couldn’t stop talking.

At a quiet moment, I would yell at the top of my lungs and, though I couldn’t see them, I knew by their reaction they had hit their heads on the ceiling they had been scared so badly … but that was a long time ago.

A few weeks ago, Lily and I were sleeping, pretty much sound asleep, when there was a loud crash. It woke both of us up. I definitely was started, but Lil … I thought she was going to have a coronary!

She couldn’t calm down after that; she was concerned that someone might be in the house. I tried to convince her that everything was alright, but nothing would get her to settle until I checked the house.

So I went to get up and that’s when I saw what had startled us and ruined our sleep. It was a wood valance that was over our closet doors. Apparently, the manufacturers thought that 3M made a double-sided tape that was strong enough to hold up a 6 foot light piece of wood … forever.

For whatever reason, the tape lost its grip in the middle of the night – at 1:57 am to be precise.

Though I wasn’t startled nearly as badly as Lily, being woken up at that time in that way got my mind going and I had a very difficult time getting back to sleep.

I think for Lily, her heart rate shot up so high so fast that it exhausted her and she fell back asleep rather quickly.

The effects of being startled don’t last a long time, but it probably take a few years off your life every time it happens. So my advice is be aware – always.

Here’s the thing: There is going to be a time when either we die or Christ returns that will definitely be startling. It will shake us all to the core, but the only way you will be able to get calm after that, the only way you will get peace is to know Jesus Christ as your saviour. Otherwise, that startle will be just the beginning of an eternity of fear. I suggest you prepare now if you haven’t already. Find out about Christ, who He is, what He did and how He can change your life.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What startles you? Leave your comment below.