my thoughts

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Don’t Get Tired Of The Routines Of Life

Routines – some people have them and some people don’t. They can be a blessing and sometimes a curse.

In my home, one of us has a number of routines while the other one is not very routined at all.

It may surprise those who know Lily and me, but it’s me that’s the routined one and not Lily.

It’s not like my life is completely scheduled or set up to flow a certain way. It’s more like I have several things that I do the say way, or that I do at certain times on a regular basis … things like  when I get up in the morning, how I go about making my breakfast, or my weekly wings night.

It also goes way beyond that to when and how I study for my sermons each week, when I write for my blog, and making sure I exercise each day.

In some ways it drives Lily nuts that I have to do things a certain way.

She just wishes I would do something different instead of being so predictable … like maybe not have wings on a Saturday night, and instead sit down with her to a nice, leafy arugula salad with delicious oil and vinaigrette dressing.

On the other hand, she takes comfort in those routines because she knows what I’m doing, when I’m doing it, and for how long.

What freaks her out sometimes is when I break a routine … like the other day.

She was in a panic when I got home from hockey, and wanted to know if I was alright, if I had heart pain or something.

After Saturday morning hockey, I usually get home around 8:20 am. This week I was talking with one of the guys when I left and we kept talking in the parking lot for over 20 minutes.

Lily was worried that she would get a call from the hospital that I had had another heart attack.

Now on the other hand, I don’t say too much but I can see how Lily could be a little more efficient if she had a few routines in her life.

Routines take the thinking out of what you do next. They give you tracks to work in. For example, I know the first thing I’m going to be doing Tuesday mornings at work; I don’t have to ponder where I’m going to start or what I should do next.

The routine thing for me has developed over the years because I did not grow up being very routined at all. But I have come to learn that having some routines in life helps you plan and schedule better, and ultimately keeps you moving in the right directions.

Some people see routine as being boring but, in reality, routines help you have more time to be creative because routines open up space and space is what you need to be creative. Did you hear that, Lily?

Here’s the thing: When we don’t have routines, things get squeezed out of our lives in favour of other things – maybe some good things, but not best things. One of the best things you can do is create a routine for your time with God. The space you create there will become an amazing environment to develop your relationship with God.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What’s one routine you try to stick to? Leave your comment below.

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I Couldn’t Believe The Progress We Made

It’s always interesting to see the progress in the city after being away for an extended time.

There is something about it that’s exciting, seeing what new things are cropping up, wondering if there’ll be something new to do, and new place to eat.

I find it intriguing and in some strange way hopeful. I guess it’s a sign that the city is growing, changing, adapting.

It’s like when you were in public school and your teacher told you to take a bean home, put it in a glass jar and stick a wet paper towel around it.

We would put it under the kitchen sink, but couldn’t wait to look and see if there was any change to the bean.

It was always amazing to see the sprout that would emerge and to track the growth of that new little leaf.

That’s sort of what it’s like to return home and see the changes that have taken place in the city.

I don’t go hunting all over for them. I just look for the progress on my fifteen minute drive to work, along a major route in town.

This year I have noticed lots of progress.

There is a dentist’s office, a stand-alone structure, at the end of my subdivision. I don’t know for sure what they’re doing, but there is now a huge trench that wasn’t there before my vacation.

It’s deep and covers three sides of the building – one more side and they’ll have a genuine, functioning, modern-day moat.

And I say “functioning” because we have had so much rain this summer that there has to be water in that thing.

I’m not sure if the dentist is worried about an army of gingivitis attacking his clinic or not, but he’s going to be prepared when this thing is done.

There are a couple of high-rise apartment buildings that are making serious progress. It’s interesting to see how high they’re getting, and changing the landscape.

Then there are two things I noticed that kind of surprised me. I wouldn’t consider them progress, but they open the door to new opportunities for progress.

One was a RV dealership that has been there for over 25 years, in a prominent spot. You always noticed the trailers in their lot.

On returning home, the place was deserted – no trailers. The building is completely vacant; they are gone.

Then there was an old style motel, probably dating back to the sixties, that closed a while ago. It took up a good chunk of land.

It’s now completely gone. There is not a scrap of evidence that there was a motel or anything on that land.

That was fascinating.

The only thing that didn’t change is the one thing I thought would have progressed: the reconstruction of a section of the mall where the Target store used to be.

You have to wonder if they found an ancient burial ground in the basement or something because the construction hasn’t changed in months.

Here’s the thing:  It is neat to see progress and change in the city, but what about you? Can you say you are progressing in your life, in your spiritual life? It’s easy to just coast along, and not make any headway in your relationship with Christ. Evaluate the last six months or year. Make sure you are doing something to keep your relationship with God progressing.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What can you do to ensure you are making progress in your spiritual life? Leave your comments below.

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A Canada Look-Back, I Mean Ahead

On July 1 we celebrated all that has made Canada what it is today. This was our 150th birthday.

I’ve only shared 61 of those birthdays with the country, but just writing that puts it in perspective how young a country we live in.

I’m only 14 years shy of being half as old as Canada. Wow!

My grandmother – if she was still alive today – would have only been 17 years younger than our nation. Now that would be impressive! My grandmother passed away in 1983 at the age of 99.

It’s all nice to look back on your birthday, but I want to look ahead in this piece.

When I think of Canada’s 150th, it brings a few questions to my mind that I wonder about.

One question I have is, “Will the Toronto Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup in the next 150 years?”

It’s been 50 years since their last victory, but lately they seem to be making some moves in the right direction. I can wait a long time for it to happen, but I don’t have 150 years left in me.

I also wonder, “Will Donald Trump last 4 years in office, or will he even last the year?”

I get a CNN feed on my Apple Watch and 95% of the news that shows up is related to Donald Trump. I have never seen the news/entertainment industry so captivated with one person before.

Trump is like the Beatles were in the 60’s; no one could get enough of them.

As I watched TV and saw a protest on Parliament Hill, one question that came to mind was, “Will we ever come to a resolution with our Indigenous Peoples of Canada?”

The Prime Minister sat with the leaders in a teepee they had set up on the Parliament lawn. When he left, the Indigenous leaders were all encouraged and felt he had heard their heart. But a few hours later the protesters were trying to set up another teepee on the lawn.

I wonder if any real progress will be made on this issue in the next 150 years.

In light of global warming, my questions is, “Will the weathermen become more accurate in predicting rain and snow, or will the forecasts remain much the same – wrong about 50% of the time?”

Another question I have is, “With all the rights various groups have now, will we become cookie-cutter people, forced to think, talk and act like each other? … You know, shades of Orwell’s “1984”.

If that happens, it will cut down on the myriad of choices we have to make now. Things like fashion, interests, and food might not be all that exciting, but we won’t need an opinion; we will all share the same one.

Just think, when you need to buy a car, there would only be a few choices: Will that be a compact, mid-size or SUV?

I’m not convinced that what got us through the last 150 years will carry us on into the next. We are venturing into new territory.

Here’s the thing: We may have many questions about the future of our country and life in this great land of ours. We can’t foresee the answers to many of our questions, but there is an outcome that has already been determined. When Jesus died on the cross for mankind’s sins, He said He is coming back to take those who put their faith in Him to be with Him in heaven. That we can have confidence in. Make sure your faith is based in Christ because you can count on God to know the future.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What questions do you have about the next 150 years? Leave your comments below.

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I’m Wondering If Winter Is Coming Soon

I think we are reverting back to winter in this part of the country.

We came through a very mild winter this year, with not much snow, and temperatures that made it easy on the joints.

After a winter like that, the expectation is that summer will come early and be really hot and dry.

Well, all my expectations have been blown apart by what we’ve recently been experiencing. There have been some promising days, but not enough strung together in a row.

At the end of April, we were at our cottage for a week and had a real mix of weather.

One day the temperature got up to 26 Celsius with a good dose of humidity. It really felt like a mid-summer day.

That evening, however, it cooled off and by the next day we were wearing coats and shivering at the sudden 20 degree drop in temperature.

Since then it has been cool and rainy almost every day.

Last Saturday morning after hockey, it was still raining. As we left the arena and walked to our cars, no one could believe the rain was still coming down.

I turned to one of the guys and said, “Take it easy; see you on the ark.”

I haven’t seen the sun for so long that I’m beginning to forget what it looks like. I think it used to be this big orange ball in the sky, but I could be wrong.

Someone reported that it snowed really early one morning this week.

I realize that, at any given time, it is snowing somewhere in the world. But that somewhere is not supposed to be Kingston, Ontario – especially in May!

The weather has been so bad this spring that I haven’t been on the mountain biking trails yet.

I got an email from my biking club this morning that read, “All trails closed until further notice, due to rain and erosion.”

This is killing me!

About a month ago I saw an ad for a competitive baseball league for those over 60. I haven’t played ball in a long time but I thought maybe I would give it a shot this year.

Well, the last three weeks they have cancelled the games because the field is too wet. I still haven’t met the other guys I’ll be playing with.

It seems like somehow we might have skipped through spring and summer and are heading directly into late fall.

The only evidence against that notion is that the leaves on the trees are starting to come out … but they are all curled up – I think they are in protest, refusing to open up until they see a little sun!

All I’m saying is we need a change in the weather. If something doesn’t change soon people from Vancouver will be moving back to Ontario because they can get the same amount of rain and overcast skies right here.

Here’s the thing: When things aren’t going well, or as you expected, it’s easy to get down, discouraged and question what might be wrong. That is exactly what the devil wants and promotes. He wants you focused on the negative and distracted from the truth of who God is and what He has done for you through Christ. To weather the storm, stand firm on your faith in spite of your feelings.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How have you been weathering the storm? Leave your comments below.

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Relationships Come And Go

When you think about it, many of our relationships are short-lived.

People come into our lives for a period of time and then they leave again.

Though there are some relationships that we will have for all our lives, or for good portions of our lives, an abundance of our acquaintances are short-lived.

These relationships may not be completely gone from our lives, but they become more of a memory than an active connection that we keep.

I recently thought of this because, as the chaplain for an OHL team, the players are around for a maximum of four years and then they vanish from our lives.

As a pastor, I have experienced this in a variety of ways. I’ve worked with other pastoral staff who came into my life and then after a time left. When I was a youth pastor, I had teens in my ministry for about seven years and then they would start to leave for higher education or work.

With the transient nature of our society, there are always people coming into my church and then moving on to other places.

They say a church needs to grow by about 10% a year just to stay even because about 10% will be moving on each year.

… There is something about an old relationship that stays with you even after you lose contact and that is the memories.

It’s memories that keep a past relationship current in a small way.

For instance, I have some really good friends from back in my high school days that I don’t see much any more – some I haven’t been in touch with for years.

But I still feel like I have a connection with them, and that link is my memories.

Unless our memories fail us, even when we no longer have contact, there is still some semblance of an intact relationship.

This past week I said goodbye to a few of the Kingston Frontenacs who will be moving on from OHL hockey, and it was a sad parting.

They will be moving on to new things in different places; I won’t see them on a weekly basis. They were in my life for a time and now they’re gone.

But there are memories that will create a bond so that if our paths cross again our relationship can pick up where it left off.

When you think about it, memories are so important to a relationship. The more significant memories you build, the more connected you will remain, no matter how far apart you are, or how infrequent you have contact.

On the one hand, relationship do come and go. People are part of your life for a time and then they are not. But because of memories, they never really leave.

I guess the thing we need to concentrate on more than anything else is to have significant experiences with the relationships we have now. Then when that contact is gone, our memories will serve to keep our relationship active.

Here’s the thing: We should focus on having significant experiences with the Lord so that in those times when we feel alone, forgotten, or far away, our memories will serve to remind us that our relationship with God is current.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What past relationships do you have that are still vivid because of the memories you have? Leave your comments below.

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It’s Nearing BBQ Season And I’m Not Ready

It’s a little early in the year, but lately I’ve been thinking about my BBQ.

Maybe it’s because the hardware stores have pulled them out from winter storage and put them on display for all us meat lovers.

Around here, early April is not really BBQing season, but I have a problem with my barbecue and, if I don’t figure out a solution in the next few weeks, I will miss some of the season.

Our present BBQ is about 6 years old which, in BBQ years, is like 15. It seems that when we take the cover off it after a winter, it has aged at least 2 years.

Metal and harsh winter conditions don’t do well together so BBQs start rusting and deteriorating over time.

In essence, my 15 year old BBQ needs some help. … If it were a dog, I could take it to a veterinarian and pay for an operation to help give it a few more years. But it’s not so easy with a BBQ.

Every grill is a different size. Believe me, I’ve checked out every big box hardware store in my city, and I’ve done it more than once.

It’s impossible to find the size of grill you need for your BBQ. You can replace burners and heat shields because they come in universal sizes, but grills? – that’s a different story.

Actually, you can buy universal grills – I’ve tried them before on other BBQs that I’ve owned – but they’re all the same. They don’t work.

Every time you take a scraper to them they shift and fall down onto the burners. Even flipping burgers can cause these universal grills to move and drop off the supports.

We have a cast iron grill now which I think is the hardest to maintain. You have to season it with oil to keep it from rusting … continually … who has the time to do that?

I should really think about buying a new BBQ this year and be done with it. But it’s one of those 4 burner, all stainless steel models with a cabinet underneath. I just hate to have to toss out all that metal just because I can’t find a grill that will fit it.

What I would really like to get is a stainless steel grill that fits because I think it would be easier for me to maintain. But if there is a place that sells such a thing they are not advertising.

There’s a great business for someone to start: making grills for all sizes of BBQs. It would save the landfills, keep people from having to buy new BBQs every few years, and would prevent a whole lot of wastefulness.

Too bad there wasn’t an old BBQ junk lot somewhere, where you could buy cheap parts for aging BBQs … that’s just wishful thinking.

Here’s the thing: As much as I would like to keep my BBQ and just replace what is absolutely necessary, the reality is the whole thing has got to go. Spiritually the same is true when we come to Christ. You might think you can keep certain things in your old life and only replace a few parts, but the Bible says in Christ you are a new creation. You can’t hang on to those old parts that aren’t working properly because they can make you ineffective. Embrace the new nature, your new nature in Christ.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What are you hanging on to that you just need to replace? Leave your comments below.

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Fickle Fans And Me Don’t Mix

In some cities fans are fickle; it doesn’t take much for them to give up.

I don’t get it – maybe because I grew up in Toronto, that hasn’t seen a Stanley Cup outside the Hockey Hall of Fame for 50 years.

I was 11 when the Leafs last won the Cup, but the thing is I still cheer for them like they’re going to win it this year.

… I figure I have at least a couple more years before I see that happen again.

But I know other cities – some that I’ve lived in – that are pretty quick to give up on their team if they aren’t doing well.

Those are fickle fans. A real fan is a fan through the good and the bad, the long and the short haul. The bottom line is you don’t turn on your team.

That’s what’s got me concerned about the city I live in right now. What kind of fans live here?

Some are whiners, some are only good time fans, some are complainers. Not many, apparently, are true fans.

The biggest hockey action in my town is OHL hockey – these are the kids that are feeding the pro ranks.

In my town, the Kingston Frontenacs are the top bill.

Last year the team made a run in the playoffs but fell short. This year was a building year. The team wasn’t supposed to do much, and were expected to finish near or at the bottom of the league.

Well, they surprised everyone – maybe even themselves. They ended up 4th in their division, giving them home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

Not too shabby in my books.

They did all this, mind you, with 13 sixteen and seventeen year olds, 4 of them on defence. That’s on a roaster of 23 guys.

To say they overachieved is a bit of an understatement!

But that doesn’t seem good enough for Kingstonians. The first two games of the playoffs saw smaller attendance numbers than an average regular season game this year … which was a far cry from last year’s attendance.

People blame it on many things: past experiences, higher ticket prices, waiting to see if they make it to the next round, and they don’t like where the arena was built. These are all excuses of fickle fans.

It’s almost like the fans said, “You had your chance last year and you blew it. We’re not doing that again.”

There are some people who wish for the good old days. They liked watching hockey then; those were real teams.

I remember my dad, at about age 70, was asked by another senior if he was going to attend a seniors’ service at his church.

He said he didn’t think he would go. The man replied, “We are going to sing hymns like the good old days.”

My dad’s reply was, “The good old days were not that good.”

We build the past up to be bigger than it was. The present is where it is at. Be a fan, not some fickle version of it!

Here’s the thing: When you make a commitment to Jesus Christ, it’s not some half-hearted, in the good times only commitment. You are trusting your life now and forever to Him and you need to give Him your all – not some whiny, looking back at the past, fickle version of it. Live your commitment.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How would you describe a real commitment? Leave your comments below.

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I Think I Might Be Losing My Touch

I may be losing my touch; on the other hand, I might just need a change in equipment.

I’m leaning towards it being the equipment’s fault, and not me because I don’t want to give into the idea that it’s really me.

Over the last month, I’ve noticed that I haven’t had the same touch with the puck when playing hockey.

I seem to be aiming right at the goalie when I shoot, or I’m missing the net. I just don’t seem to have the same authority when I fire the puck any more.

It could be that I’m in a slump right now … that happens even to the pros.

When I watch the pros on TV miss the net, I get frustrated with them. I figure, as professionals practicing or playing pretty much every day, they shouldn’t miss when they shoot, and they shouldn’t put their shots right into the goalie’s body. But they do sometimes.

I guess, based on that, I should give myself a break. But I don’t; I figure there is something wrong.

In some ways I’m hoping that it’s my stick. I’ve had the same one for a while now. It could be suffering from carbon fibre fatigue – that’s something like metal fatigue, only with the material the stick is made out of.

If it’s the stick, at least it wouldn’t be my fault. But purchasing a new stick that runs in the $300 range isn’t something I would like to have to afford right now.

If it’s me, I can’t fix that, but at least it wouldn’t cost me so much money.

I remember the days when I was in my 20’s and I would take my wooden sticks back to Canadian Tire for a refund when they broke.

All sticks would break, but if I could get mine to break within the first two weeks, I could get a new stick for free.

It was a good deal. I don’t think I paid for more than about four sticks per season … but in those days sticks only cost about thirteen dollars.

Now they are crazy expensive but are supposed to last a long time. I try to avoid taking slap shots to reduce the wear and tear on mine.

I do that for two reasons: first, economically, I want my stick to last a long time; second, I don’t have a great snapshot anyway.

I cut so much off my sticks that I ruin the flex point and technology of the shaft’s design.

Right now I don’t have any answers; I’m just a little frustrated.

Who knows? Maybe in a few weeks I’ll be able to work it out. Then I won’t have to blame my hockey stick for any of this.

But up until then, I’m putting all the blame on my stick … that way I don’t feel so old.

Here’s the thing:  Some people always look for someone else to blame. When something really bad happens, they blame God. It’s easier to blame God for something than to admit you are the problem or that it is a natural consequence. That way you don’t have to take any responsibility, or change, or admit to anything. But doing that only keeps you from owning up to the truth; it keeps you from getting back on track.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What have you blamed God or someone else for this week? Leave your comments below.

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I Need More Automation In My Life

I need a little more automation at a reasonable price.

This week I was putting together some booklets for a seminar I am running. It was a multi-step process that began with printing the material in a half-page format. The paper then needed to be cut in half, with care, so that the pages would be in the right order.

Then there was the binding – a two-step process in itself. There were holes that had to be punched and then the paper had to have the curly rings inserted into the holes.

The first part went smoothly; I have a program that arranges the pages in the order they need to be in.

From there I needed a little more automation. I didn’t have a cutting machine that would cut more than about 7 or 8 pages at a time.

The book was about 100 pages double-sided, so to cut the paper for one book took about 5 cuts. I don’t have an electric cutter either, so it required some arm effort on my part.

For this project, to get a cutter that would cut my time down (pun intended), I might have to mortgage my house.

I remember when I was a kid, my dad was in the printing business and he would take me to work sometimes.

I got to see some pretty wild printing presses and cutting units. There was one machine that just put numbers on invoices.

Back in the day, invoices came in triplicate – that’s three together with a carbon between each page. That meant that each invoice needed the same number stamped on each sheet, and then they had to be glued together.

This machine was like the old mouse trap game. There were little vacuum-like tubes that would suck one sheet and move it over to be printed. Then another set of tubes would move it to the assembly section, waiting for the other paper to be numbered and added, then the invoice would be glued along the top.

That was just one page! It was amazing to watch this machine, and listen to it make all kinds of noise while paper was flying from one part to the next.

If back in the sixties they could have a machine that did all that, how come now it costs so much money to punch holes in paper so it can be bound?

With my cut and assemble job, I had to be extremely careful because the machine was finicky and would only punch holes through a maximum of 10 pages at a time.

Oh, and if I made a mistake, and the puncher was misaligned on one section, I basically had to scrap that whole book!

There should be a cheap machine out there that can punch holes in paper with a press of a button, and can handle 20 to 30 pages at a time.

We’ve made so much progress in so many areas, with new discoveries and great advancements in technology … how about someone spending a little genius power on book binding?

Here’s the thing: The more automated our world gets, and the faster technology changes the things we do, the more we want all of life to be faster, easier, effortless. But there is no short cut to growing your relationship with God. It’s going to take time and you have to put in the effort. Keep at your routine of meeting with God daily.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What in your life would you like automated? Leave your comments below.

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Super Bowl Comeback

It’s what dreams are made of – the Super Bowl on Sunday night was an amazing comeback.

It was supposed to be a high scoring game; both teams had high powered offences.

But for the first three quarters, it looked like the story had already been written. Atlanta looked destined to win Super Bowl 51.

New England had the ball for much of the game, but there were dropped passes, quarterback sacks, and a couple of turnovers that just kept them from turning their possession time into points on the board.

By late in the third quarter, the score was 28-3 for Atlanta. New England finally crossed the goal line with 2 minutes left in the quarter, but then missed the convert.

New England went into the fourth quarter in a hole that seem insurmountable – it had never actually been mounted before.

People turned the game off, wrote the team off, got into that sorry funk when your team is out of it.

Then New England got a field goal and, with it, a glimmer of hope that if they scored two touchdowns with two point conversions they could tie the game.

Not likely; you’d need the comeback kids to do that.

… I remember playing road hockey on our street. My team was a little weaker than the other team. My brother was on that team and they also had the oldest and biggest guy on the street.

When he took a shot, everyone got out of the way. No one wanted to block his cannon.

We were behind in the game by about 4 goals, and dinner time was fast approaching. We huddled together and determined to beat those guys.

We scored a goal quickly and then it started … we muttered to each other, “the comeback kids.”

We got another goal, and our mantra got a little louder, “We’re the comeback kids!”

After the next goal, we actually believed what we were saying and the chant picked up some swagger to it.

After that we put in the goal to win the game, just before dinner. We were ecstatic, hugging each other and cheering, “Comeback kids, comeback kids, come back kids!”

That was the greatest comeback story of all time … but last night’s Super Bowl game came pretty close to it.

One of New England’s sure-handed receivers (Julian Edelman) had dropped about 3 passes in the game. But with 2 minutes left in the final quarter, he made one amazing catch that put them into the category of the comeback kids.

A pass to Eldeman was tipped, but the receiver stayed with it and tracked it down, getting hold of the ball about an inch from the ground.

It was something else! A Falcon defender said it best; looking up at the replay on the score board, you could see him mouth the word “wha . . .wha . . .wha . . .wha . . .wha . . .t?!”

That’s right, this catch got everyone out of their seats, and set up the greatest comeback (next to the comeback kids of ’69) in Super Bowl history. Awesome!

Here’s the thing: When do you quit when it seems impossible to make the change that God wants you to make? The answer is never! That’s what comeback kids do; they keep coming back to see it through to victory.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you need a comeback on right now? Leave your comments below.