activities

by

Another Christmas Eve Nightmare

I had said that I would not shop on Christmas Eve again, but there I was going from store to store.

This year Christmas has been particularly busy for me. There were many things I didn’t get to that I should have or really wanted to.

I just couldn’t fit it all in. Each day I had plans to do more than could possibly be done in a day so there was always some carry over.

And in that list of things, shopping for Christmas presents seemed to get bumped the most.

It’s okay to put it off from one day to the next to the next, but you eventually run out of days. And there I was staring at Christmas Eve and still needing some presents for the family.

I know people who complete their Christmas shopping in August. I don’t know how they do it. I can’t think Christmas when I’m sitting on a beach with the water lapping at my feet.

I’ve also had a bad experience with early Christmas shopping … but it wasn’t me doing the shopping; it was my mother.

She got way ahead of herself one year, and bought presents for my brother and me. But by the time Christmas came, she had forgotten all about them.

Those presents showed up mid-Christmas morning unwrapped, while my brother and I were wandering around the house thinking, “Is that it? Is that all we get?”

I don’t want to be doing that. I also don’t like wandering around stores in a daze or trance-like state, looking for the perfect present which I will only know what it is when I see it.

That’s not a good feeling.

There was one Christmas – it seems like a hundred years ago now – that I had thought of getting Lily a sweater for Christmas.

This was in the days before we had children. We were living in Edmonton, a city with more than a few big shopping malls.

I had scouted out all the women’s clothing stores in all the malls and had seen a sweater that I liked in one of them.

The only problem was I couldn’t remember which store or which mall I saw it in.

Christmas Eve became a little frantic for me. It was Lily’s main gift and I couldn’t locate it.

To make matters worse, the sweaters were starting to all look the same and I couldn’t remember exactly which sweater was the one.

I literally flew from one store to the next, from mall to mall in search of a sweater I hoped I would recognize when I saw it in a store I had been in over the last few weeks.

I was in a panic at 4 pm, dragging myself through West Edmonton Mall like I was in the middle of the desert without water.

I went in to one store and literally had to convince myself that this was the sweater and that it would fit her.

It all worked out back then. But it was deja-vu all over again this year … I’m never doing this again – for real!

Here’s the thing: We sometimes get so caught up in details that we miss the big picture. Christmas is about celebrating Christ but we get all stressed about having the right present. Often in life we are so detail focussed that we bump our relationship with Christ to the next day and the next, thinking we have time. The details will always pressure us, but you can run out of time with Christ. Don’t let that happen; make Christ a priority today.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What kept you too busy this Christmas? Leave your comments below.

by

Christmas Tradition

The Silcock Christmas wouldn’t be the same without our annual tradition.

It’s not a generations old tradition, passed on down from great grandparents. It’s a tradition started with my generation. We keep it every year when we get together for our Christmas gathering.

We play hockey.

My father passed away 11 years ago and, since that time, we decided to do something special when we got together for Christmas.

Hockey is a unifying thing in our family … though over the years there are less and less of the women involved.

When we started, the kids were still pretty young. We would pleasure skate for a bit and then start a game, during which the pleasure skaters were just more obstacles for us to deke around.

It got to the point where the pleasure skaters didn’t really like the pucks whizzing by their heads. They have slowly dropped off over the years.

This year my wife, Lily, was the only pleasure skater and my daughter, Karlie, played hockey with us guys.

In the early days, when the kids were younger, my brother and I kind of dominated the game. It was great having all the ages on the ice working together.

Between my brother, sister and I, we have 8 children. Their ages span 12 years.

Each year we invite a few friends along to round out the teams, and the calibre of hockey is pretty good.

The last two years, the games were really fast-paced.

However, not everything is getting faster. The kids are faster, and their friends they invite out are faster … but my brother and I are slower. We don’t dominate the ice any more.

In fact, my brother John hurt his knee the night before and he didn’t play in our Christmas tradition this year.

I was the old guy.

Now even the youngest of the kids can hold their own, make plays and pass well.

I was the one who was gasping for air and needing to come off for more than regular breaks.

It’s not like I didn’t contribute at all but by far the tables have turned and the young guys are taking over.

It reminded me of a time when my son’s hockey team had a father and son game. The sons were talking like they were going to take it to us and that we didn’t have a chance.

I thought they would be surprised that the old men still had it in them. I guess I was wrong. The other dads either hadn’t played in a very long time, had never really played before, or were really out of shape.

The long and the short of it was, us dads didn’t look good and we got creamed by our boys.

From now on every year I will measure my decline by our Christmas family tradition.

Here’s the thing: As time goes on, we take more of a backseat to those coming up. As the younger generation starts to shine, and we take more of a supportive role in life, don’t merely bow out of the scene. Our role is to instill values and character in the young ones so that as they shine, they shine with the light of Christ in them.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What Christmas tradition do you make sure you keep? Leave your comments below.

by

Our Annual Christmas Trip To Toronto

Christmas is fast approaching and it’s time for our annual trek down to Toronto to celebrate Christmas with my family.

It’s always a guess as to what the weather will be like for the trip.

The gathering is a one-day event. We leave early in the morning and come back after dinner in the evening.

Sometimes the weather is just fine both way. Sometimes we get good weather one way but miserable the other.

The worst trips are when the weather is bad both ways. That’s when the neck gets stiff and the hands get sore from tightly gripping the steering wheel.

The all-time worst trip was about ten years ago. We were driving a GMC Safari van at the time and my daughter had just got her license.

As we piled into the van, Karlie said, “Hey, can I drive?” Without a thought I said, “Sure”.

By my wife Lily’s face, I could tell she didn’t think this was a good idea. But I got in the passenger seat and Karlie got behind the wheel anyway.

Backing out of the driveway, I could tell the road conditions would not be ideal. At the end of our street, the van slid a little when Karlie put the brakes on, eliciting a few comments from the backseat … nothing that you could remotely consider as encouragement. I could tell that those in the backseat felt their lives were at risk.

I couldn’t say I felt comfortable either, but we kept going. The snow was deep and there was a layer of ice underneath.

It was ten kilometres to the highway and I really hoped that the 401 had been cleared and we would be fine.

That wasn’t the case. As we rounded the cloverleaf to merge onto the highway, Karlie spun the car.

Lily could not contain herself any longer. “That’s it! She’s not driving!” Lil exclaimed in no uncertain terms.

I could tell this woman was scared to death. At that point I got behind the wheel.

It was a good thing. We had a 1 pm family hockey game to get to and I wasn’t sure we would make it; we really needed to make some time.

As we started down the 401, my hopes of playing hockey were disappearing. Cars were traveling at 40 km/hr in single file in the right lane. The huge ruts between the lanes made it very risky to venture into the left.

I was fairly sure we were not going to make it when a bus went by us, traveling in the left lane, going about 100 km/hr.

I thought to myself, “The only chance we have of making the game is getting behind that bus.”

So I pointed the van into the knee-high snow ruts and we bounced through them.

I swerved and steered into the tracks the bus made and pushed the pedal down.

We motored by all the cars in the right lane, making great time. After about an hour of horrible conditions, we ran out of the snow.

As I caught up to the bus, I could see the driver looking at me in his side mirror. I waved thanks to him, and drove on by.

Without him blazing the trail, we never would have had a chance.

… Well, this year they’re calling for that same kind of weather. I sure hope the weatherman is wrong … or that there is a bus driver who needs to get to Toronto on time.

Here’s the thing: In life there will be trouble. The key is to recognize when something comes along to alleviate the trouble. Two thousand years ago a Saviour came on the scene to provide a way past sin and hell. Recognizing this Saviour, Jesus, will alleviate your guilt and suffering.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What helps you out of trouble? Leave your comment below.

by

I Have An Idea For The Next Ten Minutes

I have an idea that I’m going to test out over the next little while. It’s partly out of necessity.

This time of year is a busy one for me, just like it is for many others. With all the things I’ve got to do, it’s easy to forget some things, put some things off until they are urgent, and work away at the thing or things that have to be accomplished next.

The problem is the “forget” and “put off” columns keep getting longer!

My idea is to take all the things that are on the to-do list and spend ten minutes on them each day.

That’s right, just ten minutes.

For me, I spend the greatest amount of time in the day on what is next. But at some point everything on my to-do list will become a “next” activity.

That’s when I’ll be in real trouble.

So in the mean time, I’ll spend just ten minutes a day on those other-than-next-thing items, just to make a little progress on them.

They say the way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time, so that’s my idea … I’m just considering a very small bite.

We don’t have much use for ten minutes in our day. Ten minutes has become much like “give me a minute”; it’s just a pushback to give us more time.

We look for bigger blocks of time to get things done. The problem is I don’t have the big blocks of time to give to anything other than the “next” thing.

We have done away with the penny and there is talk about doing away with the nickel as well. These are small denominations of currency that we don’t really use much any more.

Well, we also don’t use ten minutes for much any more. … When was the last time you were in a ten minute meeting?

When was the last time you just waited ten minutes to get into your appointment?

The only thing that is ten minutes these days is how long it takes for my chicken wing order. When I call up for wings on Saturday night, they always say, “They’ll be ready in ten minutes.”

Why I want to focus on ten minutes is because if I spend even ten minutes on something, at the end of my day I’m going to feel like I made progress, like I got something done on my list.

The long and short of it is, I’m going to feel better; I’m not going to feel the same pressure on my shoulders.

So how it will work is this: I will give ten minutes to as many things on my list as I can each day.

I may use my ten minutes on a to-do item as a break between my work on the “next” thing. I might even stack those ten minutes up and work consecutively on them at the end of my day.

… We’ll see how this plan works out.

Here’s the thing: All the things you have going on in your life will crowd out other things. You get to the point where you say, “I don’t have the time for that.” You might say you don’t have time for God. But you do have ten minutes somewhere … and that’s a great place to start. Give Him ten minutes if that’s all you have, but be consistent. See if your time with God will become a “next” kind of thing for you.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What are you doing to make progress on your to-do list? Leave your comments below.

by

Tough Experiences Become Fond Memories

It’s funny how you can look back on tough experiences with fond memories.

The other day I was sitting in the dressing room at an arena talking about playing hockey outdoors.

There was a young guy with us, probably about 14 years old. He had no clue what most of us experienced growing up playing pond hockey.

I’m sure he’s played some hockey outdoors, maybe even on a frozen lake or pond, but certainly not in the conditions most of us did.

When I was growing up, the only indoor hockey you got to play were league games, and then even some of them were on outdoor rinks.

On those cold winter nights you would layer up under your equipment and then somehow fit a toque under your helmet.

That pompom was always a sore spot – literally! It made your head sore in one spot.

Fortunately, in those days hockey helmets never fit all that exactly so there was a little wiggle room for that little wool ball on the end of your hat.

But that really was nothing compared to the after school hockey we played on the Humber River.

We lived pretty close to the ravine and it was a perfect spot to set up a hockey game. We would get our stuff together and carry our skates slung over our hockey stick, like a hobo leaving town.

We had to cross the high school football field and walk down the hill into the ravine, being careful not to fall as there was no real path; it was almost straight down.

Sometimes we had to bring shovels, or a net, but often we used our boots as goal posts.

We would play until it was too dark to see, or we got too cold to keep going.

The latter was most common. We would get so cold that we couldn’t or wouldn’t take off our skates. We just couldn’t bare the pain, so we would walk home in our skates.

That’s right! – we had to climb out of the ravine with our skates on, dulling them on the dirt and snow, gouging them on the rocks and stones.

Usually by the time we got up the hill, we were crying or on the verge of it. It was a long walk going from one end of the football field to the other.

… And we’re talking a Canadian football field – 10 yards longer plus the extra yardage of the end zones.

By that time our fingers didn’t work to hold on to our boots. We had to carry them like you would a baby in your arms.

Our toes were so cold, the pain was excruciating. But there was still one more hurdle to climb.

And yes, we had to climb. We climbed a 6 foot metal frost fence because the thought of walking around and taking the extra time was unthinkable.

Boots and sticks were flung over the fence, then skates and all we climbed up the fence and over.

From there it was a short distance to the warmth of our home, to mom, hot chocolate, and the utter pain of thawing toes and fingers.

We’d swear we’d never do that again. But the next night we’d be at it all over again.

Here’s the thing: Those tough times shaped us. We were stronger, more determined because of those times. When you battle spiritually, remember those wounds will bring a perseverance and character that you will look back on with fondness.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What has been a tough experience that made you stronger? Leave your comments below.

by

Apple Computer Prices Are Off The Charts

I’ve been a really loyal Apple computer fan over the years, but the other day I got a little discouraged with the company.

apple-macbook-2016-16

My computer is about seven years old, is still running well but showing signs that it’s time to replace it. In fact, the plan was to replace it this coming spring.

A few years ago I made an investment in my laptop to keep it going for another couple of years. Back then it was running slowly, so I maxed out the ram and put a gigabyte hard drive in it.

That certainly gave it new life and saved me a lot of money not having to replace it then.

But now I can’t update the operating system to the latest version – the computer is too old.

Best Buy has a trade-in offer if you buy a new computer, but my computer is too old for the trade-in rebate!

The computer is running fine and I won’t have a problem waiting until the spring to replace it, but when I do it’s going to cost me a lot more money.

Apple products have never been cheap. They are extremely well made, durable and reliable … but they are expensive.

I’m okay with that. But the new MacBook Pros they’ve just come out with also come with beefed up price tags.

Granted it’s been seven years since I bought my last laptop but, even still, the latest model is about $400 more than last year’s model.

To add to that, they are no longer upgradeable. That means when it gets a little older and shows signs of slowing down, I won’t be able to add ram or put in a newer, bigger, faster hard drive.

There’s a good chance I won’t be able to get seven years out of my next computer.

… I thought the whole idea of manufacturing was to mass-produce items so they cost less.

Companies are always looking for ways to entice more people to buy and keep buying so they add features that cost more … and there are always lots of people who want the latest and best model.

Consumers really jump through hoops for companies because they don’t want to own something that might be a little older or out-of-date.

Out-of-date matters when it comes to things like milk and maybe medication. But if a product still works, it’s not out-of-date.

If you look at all the cars on the road there are more newer cars than older cars. We seem to need to keep up with what is being produced.

Maybe it would be better if consumers got the companies to jump through their hoops … but that would mean we would have to be satisfied with what we have.

I don’t see that happening in the near future. And because of that, we’re all paying more to have the new bells and whistles on the products that are produced.

Here’s the thing: Consumerism is a threat to your spiritual life. We are so used to the latest, the newest, the updated, that when fads and counterfeits to God and the Bible come out, we can be tempted to go for them. We should always stick to the Bible as our rule. It’s old, but it’s reliable; it’s extremely well made (it’s “God breathed” 2 Timothy 3:16 ).

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What perfectly good product have you been tempted to upgrade? Leave your comments below.

by

The Day I Got My Reprieve

I got a one day reprieve yesterday that was pretty amazing.

slow-motion-of-a-man-sneezing-video-id510824986

Let me take you back three days earlier … I was doing a funeral service for a family, after which we went to the cemetery for the interment.

I generally ride with the funeral director in the lead car and this time was no exception. It was a quick ride because the cemetery was literally minutes away.

When we had finished at the graveside, I gave my condolences once again to the family and got  back into the lead car.

The funeral director got behind the wheel and shut the car door. Almost simultaneously to the door being shut, he sneezed really hard.

Immediately I thought, “Is there any way I can keep myself from breathing for the next few minutes until we get back to the funeral home?!”

That would have been a tricky act because how do you talk and not take a breath? … I’m sure he would have noticed if all the words out of my mouth came while I was exhaling. You could only keep that up so long.

But I knew it was not good. I was trapped in a car with the germs swirling around our confined compartment.

What were the chances I would escape unscathed?

Turns out, not that great! The next morning I woke up with a sore throat. All day, though I was drinking water by the gallon, it seemed my throat kept getting a little sorer.

That was Friday, and I still felt good despite my sore throat. The next morning, however, my sore throat remained so I tried my personal remedy for getting rid of a cold: sweat it out on the rink.

And that’s what I did. I wore something around my neck and an extra tee shirt. After hockey I still felt okay but, as the day wore on, my sore throat also turned into laryngitis.

That’s okay … unless you’re a pastor and you have to preach the next day! By dinner time I had nothing coming out of my vocal cords. I could only whisper one word at a time.

It was not looking good. I went to bed early and my wife, Lily, prayed for me that I would be able to speak the next day.

At church on Sunday, the service leader also prayed for my voice. Someone else offered me some throat lozenges.

When I got up to preach, my voice was clear – no cracking, no trouble putting sentences together. I didn’t even need to take a drink while I spoke.

I felt a little weak but, other than that, I didn’t feel too bad.

Well that was Sunday morning. By late Sunday afternoon I went to sleep, not feeling well. I even took some Tylenol before bed, and I don’t usually do that.

This morning I was hoping I would be a little better, but nope. I feel worse – achy, shivery, with a little bit of a headache.

But did I ever get a reprieve Sunday morning! Prayer works.

Here’s the thing: Some of our needs are selfish; they are for our own benefit. We wonder why God doesn’t necessarily answer them the way we want. But if your need is in line with God’s purposes, you can count on Him answering your prayer. I never doubted that I would be able to preach; I was just amazed how He did it.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How has God come through for you in a big time of need? Leave your comments below.

by

Thank Goodness The Christmas Season Has Begun

In the United States, Thanksgiving is the indicator that the Christmas season has begun. In my house it’s when the Christmas tree gets put up.

img_2525

For some people, they start to get into the Christmas spirit when Advent starts – the four weeks when we anticipate the coming of Christ into the world. In churches a candle is lit, scripture is read and someone says something about the signs that Christ was coming.

Some people get into the Christmas spirit when they see snow on the ground. In some places that happens pretty early in the fall.

Others have that Christmas spirit for most of at least half the year. They start their Christmas shopping then too.

But honestly, I don’t think that any of that is really the Christmas spirit. They’re all just things we attach to a time of year. We like tradition.

Memories are powerful so when we see, hear, smell or touch something that brings back a memory, we relive that event. We can see it again in our mind and it brings some great emotions with it.

So the Christmas spirit has more to do with our memories and our emotions than it has to do with the coming of Christ.

All the generosity and kindness and brotherly love, it probably has its root in our feelings and not in the fact that Christ has come to save mankind.

Maybe the Christmas spirit has nothing to do with Christmas. Maybe we don’t need Christmas at all to experience all the good cheer we have at this time of year.

… Well, before we go too far down that road, we should investigate the real reason we have the kinds of memories we have at this time of year.

It’s this time of year that we identify as the time that God sent his Son to earth. That’s a pretty big deal in itself but not an incredibly emotional, memory-producing event.

What does create the emotional memory is why God sent Christ to us. God sent Christ to us as a gift to save us.

Down through the years people have received this gift of Christ and have been saved from their sins.

So when the time of year comes around when we remember Christ’s coming to us, the memories of the gift of Christ have brought all kinds of warm emotions that have resulted in expressions to others of generosity, kindness and brotherly love.

In our time, we have focussed more on the memory of the caring acts and so we respond in kind.

We attach the memories more to presents, festive happy gatherings, and acts of kindness to one another … but that is pretty superficial and temporal.

The real Christmas spirit should come when we realize that Christ is God’s gift to me, and that by receiving this gift I am forgiven of my sin.

That’s the real Christmas spirit. And that can influence your life and actions all year long. So actually, the Christmas spirit is not part of a season but part of who you are.

Here’s the thing: God sent His gift. If you’ve received this gift, then act like every day is Christmas. If you haven’t received the gift of Christ, do it now . . . Christmas is coming!

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What gets you thinking about Christmas? Leave your comments below.

by

I Had a Sleeping Bag Nightmare

Last night I slept in a sleeping bag … and I remembered why I don’t like them very much.

featured

We were on our board retreat at a cottage and I got the chance to try out one of our sleeping bags that has been kicking around our house for more than a few years.

I don’t remember this one from before, so I may have never slept in it, or it’s been so long since I have that I don’t remember it.

What I do remember now, after spending a night in and out of it, is how twisted they get.

The guy who came up with the idea must have slept very still – they’re great if you sleep on your back with your legs straight.

A mummy would do very well in a sleeping bag.

The problem is when you move … and I must move around when I sleep more than I used to.

At one point in the night I couldn’t turn because I was caught up in the sleeping bag. I was lying on a part of it that was constricting my movement.

I felt like I was in the shape of a pretzel and I know the sleeping bag had somehow become twisted into a knot.

I ended up unzipping the bag for most of the night, but that created its own problems.

On a bed, two independent blankets work together just as described – independently. But in an unzipped sleeping bag you are in a fold … I liken it to a taco.

You get all that meat, cheese, lettuce and tomato bits in the fold of the taco shell; it looks good until you take a bite. Then all that stuff starts squirming out of the fold of your taco and making a mess.

Well, there I was all night long squirming out of my taco – uh, sleeping bag.

The good thing about it was that the cottage was warm so I didn’t really need much covering. But boy, when that bag constricted around me like a python, it was like I was fighting for my life!

Here’s something the sleeping bag manufacturer could consider: They should make different widths of sleeping bags.

For young people the sleeping bag can be narrower, but for people who have lived a little, have a few more dreams that they wrestle with when they sleep, they should make the sleeping bags double wide.

I’m just saying I need a little more wiggle room than these things give me.

Sometimes when my alarm goes off in the morning I am so comfortable in my bed that I have to convince myself that I need to get up.

Not this morning! I was up right away, quite happy to get out of my tangled mess. It was like I won the battle with the snake.

He had me in his grip, he was squeezing the life out of me, but I stretched and pulled and moved and fought my way free to live another day.

Well, maybe that was just what I dreamt last night.

Here’s the thing: Have you ever struggled with God on something? Maybe it was a big issue in your life and you needed Him to come through for you. Maybe you’re struggling with Christ just about whether you will trust Him. Keep struggling to the end because, in the end, you will find the freedom that only God can provide.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What’s the thing you are wrestling with right now? Leave your comments below.

by

First Sign Of Snow And I’m Off Shovelling

Well, that was a different first snowfall of the year. Usually I don’t even shovel the first snow offerings.

first snowfall

But looking out my living room window this morning, I noticed the corner of the roof – there was a build-up of about 5 inches of drifting snow hanging over the eavestrough!

I thought to myself, “This looks like a Monday morning in mid February.”

Any early snow we get is wet and doesn’t really stick to the roads. It’s usually less than an inch thick and the green grass underneath still sticks out like porcupine quills.

Often it’s gone the same day or at least by the next day – kind of like an early warning sign, “Don’t forget winter is coming”.

That was not the case with this dump.

The wind was up, the snow was drifting and I had to do some shovelling.

It started early Sunday morning and, by midday Monday, it was still blowing.

There are a few things that don’t change year to year: we get winter, I get older … and I still don’t have a snowblower to make my job any easier!

While I was shovelling away this morning, I was picturing myself standing behind a bright red Briggs and Stratton with the snow churning up in the scoop and then flowing out the shoot onto the lawn.

It was a beautiful image, but then I had to lift a shovelful of snow over the growing pile and the image disappeared quicker than it came.

It’s not that I loathe shovelling snow, it’s just that I really don’t like it.

It’s like cutting grass in the summer; you cut it only for it to grow back again. You know your first session with a snow shovel is only going to lead to more.

I once knew some people who had a heated driveway – now that’s the way to do it!

It’s the reverse of artificial ice where they put pipes in the cement, and fill them with a freezing solution so the water on top of the cement will then freeze.

The process is the same for a heated driveway, only you push hot water through the pipes causing the snow on the surface of the cement to melt.

… I wonder what the cost would be on a double car driveway? It would be worth checking into.

Today the shovelling wasn’t as bad as the realization that this is just the start and there will be many more snowfalls and snow storms that will grace this land we live in.

For now all I can look forward to is tomorrow, when the temperature should be above zero and we should get some rain.

Ha, when are we ever happy to have rain? … only when we know it will melt some snow so we don’t have to turn on that heated driveway system … it probably costs a bundle to operate.

Here’s the thing: Like the first snowfall warns us to get ready for winter, motivating people to shop for snow brushes, shovels and snowblowers (Lily?), so the signs of the times warn us to get ready for Christ’s return. I don’t know when He is coming but we need to make sure we’re ready. Like it’s a guarantee we will have another snowfall, it’s a guarantee that Christ is coming again.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What are you doing to prepare for Christ’s return? Leave your comments below.