alarm

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Waking Up Has Never Been Easier

There are some people who have an easy time waking up early … I’m not one of them.  

On Monday we had to catch an early flight out of Toronto. Even with staying overnight at our daughter’s, we still needed to get up early to make it to the airport on time. 

I’m definitely not one who wakes up by my inner clock. Even though I get up at the same time every day, I still need an alarm – otherwise I can keep sleeping.

As a teen, I used to prove that every weekend; I could easily sleep in until 11 or 11:30 am. But I didn’t like how much of the day I wasted so I started setting an alarm.  

I just don’t wake up unless that alarm goes off.

But not Monday. I actually woke up two minutes before my alarm was set to go off and it was set for a half hour before my regular alarm. 

I was amazed! … so amazed that I laid in bed those extra two minutes pondering what had just happened. This was a very rare moment for me and I needed to savour it, for at least two minutes – I think I even took three. 

I had gone to bed late, had to rise early and somehow my body knew when to stir me from my slumber.

If you don’t think that’s pretty amazing, let me tell you I’m the guy who would look forward to 7:30 am T-off times, yet be the one whose buddies would have to throw pebbles at my window to wake me up … while my alarm was going off. 

I also can turn off an alarm clock and never know I did it. I position my alarm so that I have to actually move rather than just flop my arm out of the covers and hit a button.

I’ve been getting up at 6 am for over 20+ years and I still don’t wake up on my own. I need a jolt to my system, that jumpstart to kick my brain in gear.

I need that voice calling me back from the deep.

This morning, however, I did the impossible, proving the impossible is possible. 

… I also fall sleep fast, and then not much will wake me. 

When I worked with youth, I never told them how soundly I slept because I feared they would leave the cabin as soon as I was out. I would try to stay awake as long as I could just to make sure my group was asleep before me.

I know, it’s a tough burden I bare.

But one miracle morning does not constitute a trend. I’ll continue to set an alarm to wake up … I don’t want to end up keeping the boys waiting for me Thursdays at 7 am for our men’s prayer time.

At least they won’t come to my window and throw stones at it until I wake up.

Here’s the thing: Christ is going to return one day. The question for each of us is, “How do we want to wake up to that?” If we only wake up to the blaring alarm, it will be too late to respond. But if we wake up to that inner clock, telling us it’s time to put our faith in Christ, we have time to ponder the amazing grace of God’s love for us and to respond by putting our trust in Him.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How do you like to wake up? Leave your comments below.

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I Just Didn’t Remember Doing It

I recently did something, but then moments later couldn’t remember doing it.

On a daily basis, when I leave the church, I set the alarm and lock the outside door. One day not long ago, after getting into my car, I thought, “I don’t remember setting the alarm or locking the door.”

It bothered me enough that I wheeled the car around to the front door, got out, tested the door, and looked to see if the armed light was red on the control pad.

Yup, I had set it, locked it and walked to my car … without really being conscious of doing it!

I remember my mother telling me that when I was young I would sometimes talk in my sleep. I apparently never made any sense; it was more like muttering to myself.

Doing something in your sleep is one thing; being fully awake and doing something you don’t remember doing takes it to a whole different level!

Maybe when I was locking up I was focussed on something else and wasn’t paying attention to what I was doing. … I’ve been accused of that before.

Sometimes when I’m on the phone with my wife, Lily, she can tell if I’m also working on my computer.

While talking to me, she will throw in a question. When I don’t respond right away, her next statement will be, “You’re on your computer; you didn’t even hear my question.”

I will then pause to listen to the question she asked. But because I’ve been working on my computer and not listening, I don’t always get the background to the question. She usually has to repeat the whole thing again.

She gets frustrated. Me? Just amused.

But again that’s a little different than doing something and not knowing you did it.

I think I have been doing the same routine of setting the alarm and locking the door for so many years that it is ingrained in me.

It’s like it’s second nature; I don’t have to think about it to do it.

It’s like tying your shoes. You don’t consciously think about the movements your fingers make in tying your shoes laces; you just do it. Only if you had to describe the process to someone would you think about each step.

When I was leaving work the other day, and didn’t remember setting the alarm and locking the door, I was just deep in thought about something else and went through the motions like I was tying my shoes.

Now you have to wonder, “What in the world was I thinking about that was so captivating that I didn’t remember my lockup routine?”

Truth? I don’t even remember what so captivated my thoughts that I wiped a few seconds of my life from my memory banks.

But that’s a whole other story.

Here’s the thing: It’s not always easy asking God for help, wisdom or guidance when you are in the middle of something. You are focussed on the matter at hand and not necessarily thinking about God. If you can find a way to remind yourself to check in with God in the midst of your decision or action, the more you do that the more second nature it will become … until you automatically, without thinking, confer with Him on matters you need Him to weigh in on.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How would it help you to check in with God like it was second nature? Leave your comments below.

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What To Do In A Hotel Fire

We’ve all heard fire alarms go off. All through grade school we have been trained in what to do when a fire alarm sounds. But what about when the fire alarm goes off in your hotel while you are staying on the fourteenth floor?

firealarm

Fourteen floors of sheer terror – doesn’t it sound like a movie? I remember seeing “Towering Inferno” in the 70’s. I’ve also grooved to the popular hit “Disco Inferno”, of that same era (google it and enjoy).

I grew up in Toronto and we would get US news from Buffalo on TV and there were always fires being reported at 6 and 11. It was either a three alarm fire in Cheektowaga or a four alarm fire in North Tonawanda, but you knew every night there was a fire burning somewhere in Buffalo.

With that kind of background and experience, I was ready when our fire alarm started ringing at about 11:45 pm. At that time, you’re kind of in for the night and I wasn’t looking forward to spending the next few hours outside, wrapped in a blanket in my skivvies.

But alarms in hotels are different. They are not meant to scare the life out of you, rather just to gently get your attention that something is not quite right.

At first I didn’t know what it was. I thought maybe the alarm was coming from somewhere in the room. In my sweep of the room, however, I realized it was clean and the noise was coming from out in the hall. Then a voice, that was muffled by our closed door, soothed us by telling us not to be alarmed, that they were investigating the problem, but not to use the elevators.

At that point, I casually went over to the door and looked at the map that indicated where we were and where the stairwell exits were. I took a careful mental note.

As I went back to the TV, I started to think about what I would take if we had to go. My computer was still in my backpack, so it would go with me. I was staying calm just like the nice man’s voice over the intercom was telling me to do about every three minutes.

Then I heard the fire engine sirens and I thought, “Hey, this might be the real thing.” Still not panicking, I started thinking about the lessons learned as a 5th grader at Rivercrest Public School.

We had to line up when the fire drill alarm resonated through the school halls. The teacher would get us ready, remind us of our exit, and to remain in single file.

I remember in high school, during a student protest, someone pulled the fire alarm and we all got out of class. That was exciting.

I was ready to run down the fourteen floors to the bottom if I had to. I often take the stairs when I make hospital visits. There’s been more than once that I’ve still been huffing and puffing walking into a patient’s room on the 10th floor.

Not long after the fire truck sirens stopped, the nice man’s voice said they had fixed the problem and thanked us for our patience. He had to repeat his announcement because the alarm sounded again!

Here’s the thing: Sometimes you just have to be ready for things that are unexpected and out of your control. You have to be able to roll with them. In life, we should be ready to meet God now, because we don’t know when things unexpected and out of our control might happen to us.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: In your experience, what has been your reaction to alarms? Leave your comment below.