adjustment

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My Eyes Need A Fine-Tune Adjustment

I don’t think my eyes are as finely tuned as some other people’s.

My eyes need a fine-tune adjustment

Lately I’ve been working on some projects using saws, drills, screws and what not. 

I built a teleprompter using an old picture frame, plywood and an aluminum strip. I just made a rig for my teleprompter and camera to fit on a tripod stand. 

I also got the parts to make a jig for my router. I need to cut a groove in some 2x4s for the top of my fence. 

Now you need to know a few things about me. Woodworking and making things with my hands have never been things I am proficient at. In fact, there was a time when I was banned from using anything sharp … well, I was allowed to use a knife to cut my food. 

You see, I had had a couple of accidents. 

First, I was cutting off the bottom of a door. I did a few things wrong: I used the wrong saw and, instead of cutting the door while on a flat surface, I held it up with my hand. The saw slipped off the wood and the very toothy saw blade ripped into the base of my index finger. 

… Let’s just say we had to replace a few ceiling tiles that had red stains from when I flung my hand up. 

That was a trip to the hospital. Fortunately, I missed a tendon and still have full use of my finger.

About three months later, I was using a utility knife to cut a strip off some hard board. The knife slipped and sliced the same finger, only this time near the tip.  

That was another trip to emerg in order to stop the leakage.

Besides my issues of cutting myself with sharp objects, for some reason I can’t seem to get anything straight. My eyes are just a little off. I can get things close, but not perfect. 

When I am cutting things with a circular saw, my cuts go straight for the first part but end up veering slightly to the left or right. When I’m drilling a hole, I can’t seem to make a hole that isn’t on a slight angle. When I screw two pieces of wood together, they might not come together perfectly inline.

I’m not saying that my measuring is off. I think I just need my eyes adjusted. I’m usually close, but close isn’t good enough. 

It’s like my eyes need to be tuned a bit, brought into sharper focus. 

I’ve been watching YouTube videos, getting tips on making these projects and they look great on the screen. The carpenters seem so precise. They do it with ease. 

But when I go to make something, I’m off just a bit. My end result is not quite like the example. 

Now I’m about to make a jig, and I am going to have to drill about 32 holes, evenly spaced, around an 8×10 piece of plexiglass. What are the chances I will actually be able to drill in the middle of each of my markings? 

Here’s hoping. 

Here’s the thing: At times in your life, things don’t come together the way you would like them to. Even with all your trying, you can’t make it work out right. You are just not seeing the situation correctly and you need an eye adjustment. God will be your expert help to fine-tune what you don’t see correctly. Don’t live with something that isn’t quite right. Seek God for what you don’t see and let Him adjust your eyes to see clearly. 

That’s Life!

Paul 

Question: What do you have trouble seeing clearly? Leave your comments and questions below. Hit the like button if you found this helpful, and subscribe to keep these posts coming.

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I Propose We Make An Adjustment To Christmas

I’ve been doing a bit of a review of Christmas and I think we need to make an adjustment going forward.

This, of course, is coming from a guy who only works one day a week and on the same day every week … they call us pastors.

No.

I don’t really only work one day a week, but I’ve had many conversations with people over the years who think I only punch the clock on Sundays.

But like that same, one day I work each week, I think that we should celebrate Christmas on the same day of the week every year.

You know, they do that with the Super Bowl and with Thanksgiving and, well, there are many holidays we celebrate on a certain day of the week.

It’s birthdays we don’t celebrate on any particular day of the week, but on whichever day they land on.

… I guess I see the point of Christmas falling on different days of the week. After all, we are celebrating the birthday of Christ.

But the thing is we don’t really know what day he was born on so the actual day is not as significant as, say, what day June 16th falls on. That’s my birthday, by the way.

And here is my big appeal, my proposal for when we celebrate Christmas: let’s set Christmas Day as being the Monday on or following December 25th.

So what if some years Christmas would fall on New Year’s Eve – like next year? That’s even better – we’d get two holidays in a row!

Sure, some people who normally get the week off between Christmas and New Year’s would get ripped off a little. … Maybe they could just give everyone the week off following Christmas/New Year’s.

I’m just proposing this because a Monday Christmas would work so much better into a pastor’s schedule.

And who’s the busy guy around Christmas anyway?

No, not Santa – a pastor!

This Christmas has been the easiest on my life in years. And I have to wait for 2023 until this same scenario comes around again.

This year there was thankfully no Christmas Eve Service on a Wednesday, leaving me just two days to get a sermon ready while trying to enjoy my family being around.

Yes, there are things we pastors do to prepare for those kinds of years, but it definitely puts more pressure on us.

We don’t get to relax and fully immerse ourselves in family, fun and food … well, maybe we do get to fully engage in the food part.

The bottom line is that having Christmas on a Monday gives me the most time to be prepare for the next Sunday. It gives me more wiggle room to be all in for both Christmas celebrating and Christmas work.

Something tells me that this is only a pipe-dream of mine and that we are not going to set a specific day of the week to celebrate Christmas on.

I guess I’ll just have to keep preparing for Christmas like always and look forward to six years from now when I’ll get to enjoy Christmas like I did this year.

Here’s the thing: We can enjoy the Christmas holiday; we can also busy ourselves so that it’s not so enjoyable. The most important thing is that we celebrate and worship Christ all year long, every day. There should be no set day for that. Make every day the day you spend time with God, and thank Him for sending Jesus.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What did you like best about this Christmas? Leave your comments below.