adventure

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The Hot Tip That Led To Disaster

The other day I discovered that a hot tip that leads to new adventure can also lead to great disaster.

I had just finished a mountain bike ride when a friend told me of a new side trail that runs along the lake. He said it was really amazing.

A couple of days later I decided to ride that trail and brought my go-pro camera along thinking that maybe I would get some cool shots. 

Oh, I got some cool shots alright!

This side trail my friend told me about was a side trail off of the main trail that we usually ride. It was easy to miss. I rode right by it, stopped and went back.

When I got to the part of the trail that went along the lake, it was different than I had imagined it when he had described it to me. 

I thought it was right down by the water and that I would have a clear view of the lake. 

Not so. 

This trail was built on the side of a steep hill. And when I say the trail was “built”, I literally mean it. They actually had to build the trail like a shelf, using rocks and earth and tree logs to level a 2 1/2 foot wide trail through this very steep, almost straight down embankment to the water. 

You could see the water – but only through the trees – and it was about 40 – 50 feet down from the trail to the water’s edge. 

It was beautiful, but you needed to stay alert because there was no room for error. If you slipped off the trail, you’d go straight down.

I decided to set my camera up and film myself riding past it. 

The only problem with this trail was that you needed good momentum to be able to stay on it. Stopping to set up my camera removed any momentum I had had. 

I thought I would get some great shots … and I did. In fact, I got one shot that I was not anticipating. 

I rode my bike past my camera, but didn’t have the speed I needed to maintain my balance. When I came to a tight spot, I started to wobble and slipped off the trail … heading straight down. 

I got one foot out of my pedals, but there was nothing to step down onto.

I went over the edge, flipping down the hill until I was stopped by a rotting log and some tree branches. 

It was tough to make my way up the slippery hill to my bike and then to the trail.

My bike computer had also gotten knocked off my bike. I later found it 30 feet below me in the lake, just off the shore. 

But I did capture the first part of my fall on video, and you can check it out by clicking here to watch it on my YouTube channel. 

I ended up with some scrapes on my face, arms and leg, but other than that, God really protected me.

As for my hot tip about a great bike trail? It was a great new adventure, but also a great disaster. 

Here’s the thing: In life we are enticed to experience great adventures – adventures, that when played out, will ultimately lead to disaster. God invites us to His great adventure, which will be full of its share of difficult sections, as well as amazing, breath-taking trails. God’s adventure, however, will not lead to disaster … which can’t be said about other hot tips you may be enticed by.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What kind of an adventure are you on – one that leads to God or disaster? Leave your comments below.

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Parking Downtown Can Be An Adventure

If you drive a car at one time or other you are going to face some parking issues. The bottom line is that there are more cars in the world than parking spaces.

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I remember when they were building the hockey arena downtown in my city; the cry from the people was that there was no parking. Where will people park?

At my church, during the week, we allow two businesses to use our parking lot. On Sundays we use their parking lots because we don’t have enough room for all the cars.

On Friday I had a lunch meeting downtown. As I drove I thought, “It won’t be easy to find a spot.” I decided that I wouldn’t try to be greedy and look for a spot right outside the restaurant I was going to.

The first spot I found, however, fooled me. There were lines suggesting it was permissible to park there. I got out of my car, looked, and decided I needed to back up a little more to really be between the lines.

Since I was out of the car, I thought I’d pay the meter first, so I went over and threw in all the change I had, figuring that would be sufficient to cover my meeting.

When I came back to the car to put the parking pass in the window, I noticed a street sign right at the tail end of my car.

I thought maybe I should check out what that sign said. I was suddenly a little disappointed with the city! On the road they had markings for a parking spot but on the sign above they took the spot away with a no parking sign from that point on.

Now I had a parking pass but no spot to park in. I got in my car and looked around trying to figure out what I was going to do.

I looked back behind me and on the other side of the road there was a parking space. I checked the traffic and, when it looked clear, I swung out of my spot and did a three point turn (perfectly, I might add) in the middle of a busy downtown street and raced for the vacant parking spot.

I pulled in and, since I already had my parking pass, I was pretty pleased with myself.

I got to my meeting and it was not only delayed, it went longer than I had anticipated. When I got out I hurried to my car, fully expecting to see a parking ticket on my windshield.

There was no ticket – I beat the system! In fact, I was two for two that week … which I think is a much better percentage than my son has.

… I get his parking tickets addressed to me on a regular basis because the car is in my name … I’m not sure his Star Trek cloaking device is working all that well.

Here’s the thing: I’ll take a chance on finding a parking spot and, at times, even take the chance I’ll get back to my car before the ticket officer arrives. But I’m not going to take a chance at getting into heaven. I want to be sure I have the right ticket. That ticket is my faith firmly placed in Jesus Christ as my saviour and my Lord. Oh, and there’s no trouble finding a parking space there.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What kind of chance are you taking with God right now? Leave your comments below.

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I Got Left Behind

No one likes to be left behind, to stay put while others go somewhere. It doesn’t even matter where someone is going or why; it’s the fact that they get to go while you remain that’s the issue.

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That’s what happened to me this weekend. Lily left town and I’m left to stay home.

In our relationship, I’ve mostly been the one who’s gone somewhere while Lily has been left behind.

Going anywhere has some adventure, some intrigue to it; staying home is nothing but familiar.

Sometimes we try to trick our mind so it sounds like it’s better to stay behind. We might say something like, “Oh I hear it’s really cold in Florida right now.”

That might give momentary relief, hopefully long enough until the person leaves so they don’t witness you begging to go along as their luggage.

The fact is, it doesn’t matter how rotten the temperature is in Florida, going there has two very big selling points. First, it’s adventure – you are the going person and not the left behind chump.

And secondly, it’s Florida, and we live in Canada. We have three feet of snow on our lawn … the best Florida could produce on its worst day would be something that looked like manna from Biblical times.

And that’s where Lily has gone. No, not to some Biblical times place; she’s gone to Florida.

Yes, she’s driven to Florida with her mother and sister. I saw inside the trunk and I would not want to be part of their luggage. Nor do I think I would fit in very well as a tag-a-long.

They’re better without me and I’m better to stay home. See how my mind is working hard to adjust to being left behind?

It won’t be too bad here for me. I’ll probably shovel snow a few times this week. They may only get a couple of beach days.

I get to go to work everyday this week and have some evening commitments, too. They won’t even have a schedule to keep. They may have a hard time remembering what time of day it is.

I will be eating some of the finest foods, made and cooked by Lily’s own hands, then frozen solid in the freezer, so I can easily slip them in the microwave and nuke them.

They’ll have to spend money and eat out at restaurants like Applebee’s, Bob Evans, and the Olive Garden. Well, maybe not them, but they will have to eat out.

Here in Kingston we’ve been having quite a bit of sunshine of late; you can almost feel its tanning effects on your face … or maybe that’s frostbite from the windchill effect.

It doesn’t matter. If I stay outside long enough while she is away, my skin will be just as red as hers … though I will have to be careful I’m not out too long so the tip of my nose doesn’t chip off!

Here’s the thing: God wants you to journey with Him. It is a daily invitation to walk with Him, not just on your own, and to experience your day with Him. Go with Him. The crazy thing is, you are going that way anyway. If you travel with Him, however, you’ll experience the adventure and not be left behind.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What trip do you long to take right about now? Leave your comment below.

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When They Grow Up, They Get Smart and Everything

A few months ago I wrote a blog I called my replacement blog. I had written a blog that my editor (wife) didn’t want me to post. She felt that it was not fare to the person I wrote it about.  So instead I wrote the blog that appeared on July 13th called “My Replacement Blog”.  Since that time my daughter Karlie as given me permission to post the original blog I wrote back in July.

 On that special day when your first child is born, you really don’t have any idea what will transpire over the years. Sure, you may look right into her scrunched up closed eyes and dream about things to come. You might even take that little wrinkly, slippery body in your arms and begin to make plans.

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But you really don’t have a clue what the next few days will bring, let alone the next several decades.

My daughter, Karlie, is coming home after living on the other side of the country for the last six years. No, she won’t be living in our home, but Richmond Hill is under 3 hours away, and not the 36 hours of straight driving distance that she’s living now.

She should arrive next week … that’s if she doesn’t do anything foolish. Ha, like that would happen! My daughter is responsible, sensible and very determined.

But … she’s also adventurous. So, when she goes for a motorcycle ride with a friend and after the ride the friend says, “Hey Karlie, you want to try riding this bike? She says . . .

The responsible and sensible Karlie says, “No, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”  But the adventurous and determined Karlie says, “Ya, sure I’ll try.”

Now if you were going to try to ride a motorcycle for the first time, you would probably pick some really open area with no obstacles around. When I taught Karlie and Mike to drive, we went to a big parking lot, and to streets that had no cars on them.

That’s the sensible thing to do. Karlie and her friend, well, they chose a parking garage. There weren’t many cars around, but there were cement posts in the vicinity. But with some careful instruction on what to do, Karlie got on the bike with no helmet.

Did I really say she didn’t have a helmet? That must have been a typo. After all, she’s sensible, and in a parking garage. It wasn’t a long ride; short, in fact. Her friend described it as “I’ve never been more scared in my life watching that.”

Somehow she found one of those cements posts in the parking garage. She ran right into it. She wrecked the bike, got a ride in an ambulance, and got a $300 fine. Not bad.

The amazing thing is she’s alive! … and received only a few stitches on her cheek, a black eye and swollen face. No broken bones, concussion or death. We’re praising the Lord right now for His protection.

I love this girl; she’s my daughter. I’ll take her adventurous side as well as her sensible, responsible side. But I wouldn’t have dreamed 24 years ago – on the day Calgary won the Stanley Cup – that my little squirmy, wrinkly baby (who looked very similar to the babies on either side of her in the nursery) would be sporting the same beat up face as one of the guys contending for the Cup!

Here’s the thing: It would be nice to be able to protect those around you, to keep them from harm, or at least weigh in on the decisions they make. That may be a reality when a child is small, but is impossible as they get older. We can become relegated to worry about them and for them. However, God can care for them better than we can, no matter how far away they are. Our job is not to worry, but to trust. Trust God with those you love. It’s really all you can do, and the best you can do.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What’s the scariest story your child or loved one has told you? Leave your comment below.