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It Feels Good When Something Works Out For You

It feels good when someone comes through for you. When it happens it kind of makes your day, makes you feel like you won something.

it feels good when something works out for you

It can happen with anything – someone able to book a tee-off time for you, a friend getting you into a restaurant that was booked solid for the next week, or your kids sending you on a trip across the country for your 35th anniversary … well, that’s another story.

This week I was the recipient of someone – actually a company – coming through for me. 

In a recent blog post I wrote about waiting to find out if I would get a replacement frame for my bike. (You can read that here.)

This is what happened …

I’ve had my current mountain bike for about seven years. I really enjoy it and have no need or wish to get a new or updated model. 

One day on vacation, however, with my bike up on a stand for some maintenance, I discovered I had a cracked frame. It was right at the joint where the crossbar connects with the upright bar that the seat post comes out of.

I probably should have seen this before. Now that I think back, my bike has made a little creaking sound when I ride it. In fact, this year I’ve noticed the creaking sound increasing more and more. 

The crack in the frame has probably been there for quite some time, but now it goes almost right around the joint. 

I still rode it for a while after I discovered the crack. In my mind I tried to determine if it snapped off, if I would do an endo over the front handle bars or if the bike would collapse under me and I would go straight down. … I never found out what would happen. 

To replace my bike now with the same model would cost $3500 – certainly not something I wanted to pay. Thankfully, my bike company has a lifetime warranty on its frames. 

So when I got home from vacation, I took my bike into the bike shop. They took pictures and sent them away to Giant, the bike manufacturer. 

I waited for about two weeks and then, just before Lily and I were heading to Vancouver (remember that anniversary gift?), I got a call telling me my new frame came in. I dropped my bike off at the bike shop the same day we were leaving town for our trip. 

When I got back this week, my bike was ready. They had transferred all my bike parts to the new frame and now I pretty much have a new bike … and I didn’t have to take out a loan to pay for it. 

I wasn’t a hundred percent sure I would actually get a new frame at no cost to me, but my bike company came through and, man, it sure feels like a win for me!

Here’s the thing: We pray for a lot of things. It’s worth taking note of the things you pray for, otherwise you might forget when a prayer gets answered. If you write down what you prayed for as a reminder, when God answers a prayer, you can acknowledge that He came through for you. Not only does it bolster your faith, but it also feels like a win. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What are you praying for right now? Leave your comments and questions below.

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Don’t Lose What You Once Learned

They say once you learn something you never lose it, but you may lose some skill.

lose what you once learned

That expression “it’s like riding a bike” is a bit of a misnomer. The expression means that once you learn how to ride a bike, you never forget how. What they don’t say is that you might lose your able to do it well.

Learning to ride a bike takes time. You have to learn how to find your balance on those two wheels. But once you have figured out how to balance yourself on a bike, you will always be able to balance yourself. 

Many people learn to ride a bike as kids, but as they get older they stop riding. Yet no matter how long it’s been since the last time they rode, once they get on a bike again, they still know how to balance themselves. 

This is true with a lot of things.

I learned to drive a standard gear shift in my 20’s, but I probably went twenty years without driving stick shift. 

I remember test driving a car that I was considering buying. It was a standard and I didn’t have any problem knowing what to do with the clutch and the shifting. 

But like that bicycle expression about not forgetting how to ride, but forgetting how to do it well, when I test drove the car, I ground the gears a bit and stalled it once. 

You might remember how to do something, but it doesn’t mean you can still do it with ease.

Last week they lifted the lockdown in our region of the province which meant I could play hockey again. 

Yes, I had to come to the arena dressed in my equipment like a 7 year old (read about that here), but at least I got to play.

It had been six or seven weeks since I had last tied up my skates and hit the ice. That’s not all that long considering some people go ten years in between bike rides … or like me, twenty years in between driving a manual transmission car. 

Six weeks is shorter than most kids’ summer break from school. 

It’s a short enough time to remember some details of the last time I skated.

But let me tell you, in that six weeks, though I didn’t forget how to put on my equip or do up my skates, I certainly lacked something out on the ice. 

My legs didn’t want to move as fast as I remembered them moving six weeks earlier. My shot didn’t seem to be as accurate as it once was. 

And I got out of breath way faster than I did less than two months ago. 

My first game back on the ice felt like I had been off for 4-6 months. 

It was not really “just like riding a bike” … unless you picture the rider weaving all over the road. 

Here’s the thing: In the past year, many or most of us have not been involved in any regular ministry or service to God. Consider getting back to serving in some capacity and, although you haven’t forgotten how to serve, it will take time and perseverance to get your serving back to the level it once was. Don’t neglect serving God.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What can you do right now to serve the Lord? Leave your comments and question below. 

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I Forgot And Now It Will Cost Me

I realized the other day that I forgot to do something last fall and now it’s going to cost me.

I Forgot and Now It Will Cost me

It’s that old procrastination thing. If you don’t get right at something, you’ll pay the consequences later. 

I used to do that with school projects and papers. I would delay getting to them and then I would end up pulling all-nighters the night before the projects were due.

When I started preaching, I told myself that I would not do that; I couldn’t do that. I had heard about pastors who burned the midnight oil every Saturday night to have something to preach in the morning. I knew I would never survive doing that. 

And in twenty-four years I’ve been preaching every Sunday, I can say that I have not done that more than a couple of times under special circumstances. 

You would think, however, that discipline would translate into other areas of my life … but not so.

There are many things in my life that I end up leaving and have to later pay the consequences.

Right now I have a situation with my mountain bike that I’m kicking myself about.

Last year, near the end of the mountain biking season, the front shocks on my bike were not working well. I took my bike in and the people at my bike shop helped with a temporary fix that would see me through until the cold and snow forced me to put my bike away for the winter. They told me to then bring it in and they would work at rebuilding the shock when they had a little more time and I wasn’t using my bike.

It sounded like a great plan to me and so off I went with my bike working not too badly, but not perfectly. 

The biking season ended slowly and I started to play more hockey. Though I thought I still would get in a ride or two, it never seemed to happen.

At that point, I should have taken my bike into the shop and had them work on the shocks. But no, I didn’t do that; I waited a little longer. Then every time I thought about taking it in, I had a reason why it wasn’t a good time. 

At the end of February I again thought about taking my bike in. They wouldn’t be very busy and would have plenty of time to work on it. 

But still I just didn’t make the time to take it in. 

Now the store is closed because of the coronavirus shutdowns. When we finally get done with all this isolating and the store reopens, everyone and their uncle will have their bikes in for tune-ups and my bike will be a low priority.

This is really going to be costly – and not just monetarily – to rebuilt or install new shocks.

Here’s the thing: Do you find that you can get right to certain things but then there are other things that you procrastinate on? Well, the one thing you don’t want to procrastinate on is what you do with Jesus. Jesus Christ will be returning one day … and these days it seems like a possibility more than at any other period in our lifetime. When He does come back, it will be too late to decide where your faith lies. You have to do it now. That’s one decision you really don’t want to procrastinate on.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What have you been procrastinating on that you really need to act on? Leave your comments and questions below.

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Visually This Shouldn’t Have Happened

The other day I saw something that shouldn’t have been happening.

It could happen, but often it’s an optical illusion … like when you put a fork in a glass of water and it looks like it is bending. 

Years ago I went on a bike hike with a buddy. We were going camping, and our road trip was to take us about five hours, which we stretched into about eight.

Along the way we had some long, uphill climbs to make, but one part of the road looked straight and flat.  

As we started on this long, straight stretch of road, I noticed it was getting easier to pedal. I started to move up the gears and with each gear it got easier to pedal. 

It was a straight road and I was in shock at how we were clipping along. I stopped pedalling because it was a waste of time; we were flying but the road looked flat. 

Obviously, it was an optical illusion … something like the Magnetic Hill and the Reversing Falls in New Brunswick.

I had been to both those places when I was about 7 years old. Both of them are nothing more than optical illusions. They look like something is defying gravity, but in reality it’s not. 

What I experienced the other day was not an optical illusion. 

My wife, Lily, and I were driving through Toronto on the 401. It was late in the afternoon on a Sunday, with many people on the road returning from their cottages at the end of the weekend.

Lil was looking at a driving app that gives you tips on the best route to take.  

And though we were going straight through Toronto, the app said that we should get into the collector lanes at a particular point because they were moving slightly faster.

We were not going too fast in the express lanes so we moved over and noticed that we were actually moving a little faster. 

But that was very short lived. Shortly after we got into the collectors, we were reduced from four lanes down to three because of construction. 

This was followed by another lane reduction a few kilometres later. At this point you could tell we were moving slower than the express lanes that had no reductions.

I was starting to question the app for getting us into the mess we were in, because you know that every time there is a lane reduction, the cars in that lane have to merge into your lane.  

And then after a few more kilometres we got another lane reduction. If you’re counting, we went from four lanes of traffic down to one lane.

And of course, we slowed down during the reduction. 

But then the most amazing thing happened. With high cement barriers on both sides of our lane, we started to pick up speed. We started going faster and faster, and when I looked over to the express lanes, the traffic in all four of those lanes was going slower. 

We were whipping past them at a fast clip. It was no optical illusion. 

With how slow the trip had been up to that point, it was almost a miracle. 

Here’s the thing: Your life can look like it’s going well. From your vantage point and everyone else’s, your life is moving along nicely. But it’s your inner spiritual life that is the unseen determining force of your future. Don’t get lulled by what is visual. Pay attention and get your spiritual life right with God. Your physical life will not defy your spiritual life. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What part of your life looks better on the outside than it is on the inside? Leave your comments below.

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When You Fall, Get Back Up

There is a saying that when you fall off a bike you should get right back on it again. 

The saying doesn’t specifically refer to riding a bike, rather it’s a reference to anything you fail at. You should get right back at it and do it again.

We’ve all followed that rule with many things in life, including riding our bikes. 

When that first date didn’t go so well, you didn’t stop dating; you got right back at it. When you didn’t make that team, you didn’t stop playing the game. 

When you failed a test you didn’t quit school, and when you stubbed your big toe, you didn’t stop going barefoot, and resort to wearing steel-toed boots to bed.

No, you got right back at what you were doing. That’s what we’re supposed to do. 

There are some things, however, that are harder to get right back to.

I remember one time as a kid that I got sick after eating corn on the cob. The corn had nothing to do with me being sick, but as I was losing my lunch over the toilet bowl, the sight of …. you get the idea and the picture. 

I couldn’t look at corn for a long time. After that incident I didn’t eat it at all for a few years. 

But slowly, my love of corn returned and I did eventually get back on the bike and start eating it again. 

In fact, when I was in high school at a youth event, in a challenge with another guy, I ate something like 18 cobs of corn! … No, I was not sick after that, but I did feel like I was waddling around for a few hours.

I say all that because, though we are supposed to get right back up when we fail or have a bad experience, it’s just difficult to do sometimes.

That’s what I’m experiencing these days. I haven’t been riding on a trail all week. There have been some days when the weather hasn’t been good, but many days when it’s been a perfect day for a ride. 

Instead, every day I’ve chosen to ride on the road.

The reason? The last time I rode my trail, I stopped to build a new section. When I got back to the cottage, I found another tick. (You can read about the first tick I brought home here.)

I’m two for two. Both times I’ve worked on a new section of trail, I’ve brought home a tick. … I hope it’s only been two! 

This one I found on the bath mat just outside the shower. I take it that the tick didn’t feel like having a shower with me.

I haven’t hit the trails since; these two ticks are keeping me out of the woods. I now have a partial trail that leads to nowhere. 

Fear of what could happen – and Lily not being too excited about the friends I’ve invited in – have stopped me so far. 

I may not finish that trail but I just have to get back to mountain biking. 

Here’s the thing: Sometimes it can be something very small – even as small as a tick – that stops you from going deeper with God. What does God want next for you? What failure, fear, or distraction is keeping you from moving forward with Him? Get back on your bike and ride. Go deeper with God. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What has ever stopped you in your tracks? Leave your comments below.

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It Was The Worst Or The Best – You Be The Judge

I crashed my bike the other day and it was either the worst or the best crash of the year.

I usually have a number of crashes to pick from in determining my most spectacular crash. This one rated up there. The bike was alright, but my body suffered a little more than usual.

On the trail I was riding, there is a section that goes right through a corn field. It’s pretty cool riding along a 4-foot wide trail with walls of corn about 6 1/2 feet high on either side of you. Your elbows slap the sheaves of corn as you ride through this gauntlet.

On one bend in the trail, I took it a little fast and maybe a bit wide. I got too close to the stocks and, before I knew it, I spilled all over the place.

I hit my head on the ground; I think I bounced at least once. I had the wind knocked out of me, so I gasped to get my breath back.

And, oh ya, I was sore.

The thing is all I could think about was the guy gearing up to go biking when I had set out. I figured he would be coming along at any moment. I was hidden by the corn and a curve in the trail so I could see an even bigger crash looming.

The only thing I could think of to do was what you do when you get hit in hockey: get up fast and try to make it look like you’re not hurt.

I was aching and still a little dazed but I kind of flopped on my bike and started riding.

By the time I got out of the corn I didn’t think of checking to see if I was okay. My head cleared and the pain had subsided.

I just rode on.

As I continued on the trail, I kept thinking, “I’m going to be sore tomorrow.”

I was right about being sore, but wrong about the timing! I started feeling really sore on the drive back, and by the time I got home I was not moving very well.

The ground where I had fallen was like cement and, in talking to a guy who farms, I learned that the corn sucks everything out of the soil.

I’ve felt sidewalks that have more give to them than the spot where I fell!

I figured I had bruised some ribs, and though my wife and daughter think I might have cracked a few, I’m holding to my diagnosis.

I talked to a friend who said cracked ribs can take 6-8 weeks to heal … I definitely don’t have that kind of time to give to the healing process.

Here’s the thing: Depending on how you look at something difficult, it can either be the worst or the best. My fall may have been my worst crash this year, but certainly not my worst crash ever. I could also look at it as the best crash this year, the most spectacular because it was a big crash but I walked away from it. In your life, God can give you the right perspective to have when going through difficult or troubled times. Look to Him – what you’re going through could be the worst, or maybe it’s the best.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How has God helped you see the positive in difficult times? Leave your comments below.

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How To Prevent Making Multiple Mistakes

Have you ever made a mistake that led to another mistake that led to, well, a complete breakdown? I had that experience last week.

rockshox-tru axle

Lily had gone to Ottawa for the day taking my car, the one with the bike rack. I wanted to go for a bike ride at the end of my day so I had to put my bike in the trunk of the other car.

That’s normally not a problem; you just take the front wheel off the bike and slide the bike in.  For some reason, this time it was a problem.

I spent about a half hour trying to get my wheel off, and in the process I lost two ball bearings from the axle assembly and never actually got the wheel off the bike.

It was a brutal failure; I couldn’t believe it. I’ve take the front wheel off bikes dozens of times. But my new bike is a little different. No, it’s a lot different.

I would describe the differences but I would either hypnotize you in the process or put you to sleep – probably sleep would come first. Then you’d wake up and have an urge to bark at every bike you saw after that.

Taking the wheel off a bike with quick release should take about 30 seconds, at the most. I spent 30 minutes and never got it off. I could have used better lighting, but still.

I looked for videos on the internet to show me what to do. I examined the part and used an allen key/wrench to remove a part I should never have touched.

All the while, my neighbour, who works at the bike shop I go to, was right outside my garage cutting his grass. Did I ask him for help? Of course not; why would I do that? No, what I did was I took the axle apart and lost two very tiny ball bearings on my garage floor!

I never did go for that bike ride. Later that night I realized what I had done wrong. It should have taken me 15 seconds to get the wheel off, but it was too late now; I’d gone and lost some pieces.

So, here were my mistakes, if you’re counting . . .

I should have had better lighting and, along with that, I should have put on my reading glasses to get a better look at what I was doing.

I should have asked my neighbour for help. That was the dumbest thing I didn’t do. And I shouldn’t have taken apart the axle, especially standing in a garage.

I’ll tell you how the story turned out in my next blog.

Here’s the thing:  It is easy to make a mistake, but the smart thing is to correct that mistake before one mistake leads to another. The best thing we can do is look for someone who can help us. I know God is willing to help but He’s waiting to be invited. I also find that I will sometimes make more than one mistake before I ask Him for that help. So it’s what I don’t do that keeps me making mistakes . . . Seek God’s help first.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you do to keep from making multiple mistakes? I’d love to hear from you. Leave your comment below.

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What Everyone Ought To Know About Maintenance

The word “maintenance” has a tag-along emotion for me . . . it’s called frustration.

I get frustrated with maintenance because I want to enjoy the thing that needs to be maintained; I don’t want to work on it.

Bike Maintenance

Bike Maintenance

I want to use something and not have to care for it or fix it. In the 80’s I didn’t want a PC because you needed to know DOS and a series of commands and what pressing the “Ctrl+Alt+Del” keys did. I just wanted to use a computer, not figure out how it worked.

I like to ride my bike; I don’t like cleaning it. I want to just pull the cord on my lawnmower and start cutting the grass. I don’t like having to scrape the grass off the undercarriage or keep it tuned.

The problem is, in the last week, my avoidance with maintenance has accentuated my frustration. I broke the chain on my bike, probably because I didn’t clean the gritty oil off it.

My lawnmower is having a hard time starting these days and it’s not cutting evenly because it needs a tune up and a wheel adjustment.

And my computer needs some file maintenance soon or I will run out of space on my hard drive.

This was all fresh in my mind when I watched a little 3 minute video on how to clean your bike after a ride so it’s ready for your next ride. The guy on the video said you could do it in five minutes, but somehow (through the magic of video, I guess) he showed us in three.

I’m almost convinced that I need a new attitude toward maintenance, but for that to happen I really need a new emotion to go with the word. I’ve been thinking of some emotions that I could associate with maintenance – emotions like affection, confidence and satisfaction … but I can’t seem to trick myself and instead I feel annoyance, contempt and suffering.

Some people love maintenance, maybe even more that using the item. But not me. I know my things would last longer if I had a warm, fuzzy attachment to the word but it’s just not that easy. I can’t turn a switch on and like it.

I thought of a couple of solutions. I could give away my stuff when it needs some maintenance, and just bless people with things that sort of work. But that would require me needing a lot of money to replace my items.

Also, I could farm the maintenance out to people who like doing it. But that too would be costly and I would be without my beloved whatever, while it was being serviced.

There doesn’t seem to be an easy solution for me that works. I might have to do maintenance even though I don’t like it, even though it frustrates me. I might have to just discipline myself in spite of the piggy-backed emotion that comes with the word.

Here’s the thing: Relationships, like with things we own, require maintenance. We might like the idea of just enjoying our relationship with God but to maintain that relationship, we need to connect with Him, grow in Him and serve Him. That kind of maintenance might seem like work that we might not want to put our energy into, but maintaining our relationship with God will require us to discipline ourselves in order to connect, grow and serve.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How disciplined are you at maintaining your relationship with God?  Leave your comment below.