One of my weekly events this year is to take in a Kingston Frontenacs’ home game. I usually go on Friday nights; it’s mostly been a date night with my wife.

It’s been a pretty cheap date too … I get comp tickets because I’m the team chaplain and Lily doesn’t usually want many snacks. We park far enough away so I get a few steps in and there’s no cost for parking.

Man, I’m cheap! Most nights it doesn’t cost me a thing … I hope Lily likes the hockey and me pointing out the guys on the team who come out to chapel.

However, last night I couldn’t get complimentary tickets – the game was sold out. But I was able to pull some strings and pay for a couple of tickets they made available at the last minute.

And since our daughter, Karlie, was in town on a day off, I took her.

There was lots of hype for the game. The number one draft pick in this spring’s NHL draft was going to be on the ice. I guess this 18 year old is filling up rinks in every city he plays in.

The night before, his team, the Erie Otters, were in Peterborough and they had their biggest attendance all year.

It was going to be a good game; I was really looking forward to it. Our seats were at the top of the arena and there was standing room directly behind us.

During the first period there were two women and a man talking rather loudly, not about hockey, but about their work. Personnel issues seemed to be on the highlight reel of their conversation.

I didn’t look behind me but I sensed by the way they were talking, they weren’t even looking at the game. At one point I overheard the following:

“Who are you cheering for?”

“Who’s playing?”

“Kingston and some other team.”

“I guess I’ll cheer for the other team.”

Give me a break! They were standing so close to me and talking so loudly that I could keep up with their play-by-play better that the play that was on the ice.

Fortunately, after the first period the corporate firm moved somewhere else and we didn’t have to suffer through a second period of listening to their possible sales forecast for the next six months.

I’m not sure how they got tickets or why they were even at the game, but since tickets were so scarce, I know there were more deserving souls who would have appreciated what was happening on the ice.

At least for me, it was a good time with my daughter, and you have to take advantage of those times when you can.

In contrast to the first period business commentary, we got to chat between periods with an NHL scout, who kept the conversation about hockey.

Here’s the thing: Spending time with God is so important and we may, with good intentions, want to add to that time to make it even richer. However, we need to be careful that we don’t add things that will complicate or distract from our time with God. For the most part, we need a Bible and a journal to record what God tells us. Reading devotionals and other things, though they can help, can also distract us by getting us focussed on their commentary instead of God’s Word.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What commonly distracts you when you’re spending time with God? Leave your comment below.