Christ

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Just The Two Of Us From Now On

This morning when I got up, it felt different, like now there’s just the two of us.

just the two of us from now on

I’m not sure why that feeling hit me now because Lily and I have been empty-nesters for years.

It might have been that we had the kids home for Thanksgiving weekend and this morning there was just the two of us.

It could be that the house is fuller when the kids arrive – there’s a son-in-law, a girlfriend and a dog. 

When they all leave, it feels like … and then there was two.

In 1978 the rock group, Genesis, recorded an album called “… and then there were three …” In the late sixties the group consisted of five band members and by 1971 they had the lineup of musicians that would make them famous: Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford, Peter Gabriel, Steve Hackett and Phil Collins. 

However, this group didn’t stay together. A few years later, their lead singer, Peter Gabriel, left the band. Instead of replacing him with another singer, Phil Collins, the drummer, took over singing responsibilities along with playing the drums. They continued as a group of four. 

A few short years later in 1977, their guitarist, Steve Hackett, left the band. With both Gabriel and Hackett gone, the band’s next album was titled “… and then there were three …”

Like a band, it’s natural for the members of the family band to depart, spread their wings, get involved in new ventures. But this morning there was something more to how I was feeling than that.

Normally Lily and I are quite used to doing things just the two of us. This summer we spent a good deal of time at our cottage together. We usually do things just the two of us, whether it’s going out to dinner or doing something else. 

But Lily just retired at the end of September. So now it’s not like it’s just the two of us, it really is just the two of us all day long.

For years I would leave for work in the morning and be gone all day. This past year, though I was retired and at home, Lily was working and spent most days locked up in her home office. We were still separated all day long.

This morning when I got up, and the kids were gone and the house was quiet, and there was just the two of us, something was different. 

Lily and I are now doing the same thing – nothing. 

We don’t have different itineraries or schedules or even places to be. We now have the same job. As Lily’s new T-shirt says, “busy doing nothing”.

It just kind of hit me. For the first time in our marriage it really is just the two of us. 

There is no one or nothing that stands between us. There isn’t a time she is busy with someone else or some responsibility. We’re on the same schedule now.

I think I just got some inspiration for my kitchen sign board. 

Here’s the thing: It’s important to have someone about whom you can say, “it’s just the two of us”. No matter what your relationship status is, you can have that “just the two of us” kind of relationship with Jesus. He died on a cross so that He could have a relationship like that with you. So be sure to treat your relationship with Jesus like a close, “just the two of us” relationship … or decide to start a “just the two of us” relationship with Jesus. Pray and ask Him; He is willing. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: Who do you have a “just the two of us” relationship with? Leave your comments and questions below.

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Experiences Can Happen When We Least Expect Them

We should always be prepared for experiences that are out of season. Most of the time, it is easy to tell when things are out of season. 

experiences can happen when you least expect them

You know when you bite a Macintosh apple in the middle of July that you are having a not-in-season fruit.

In Canada apples ripen in the fall. So if you are eating apples in the summer, those apples were probably picked in October of the previous year. 

Now, with trade partners and global shipping, today we can often get fruit that might be produced in season somewhere else in the world.

Although grapefruit ripen and are picked in the summer months, I eat them right through the winter. I eat half a grapefruit every morning because, for much of the year, the grapefruits I eat come from Israel.

That’s an example of an out-of-season experience. 

But we have these experiences in other areas of life as well. 

The best sales usually come when a product is at its end or out-of-season. Whether it is clothes, BBQs or snowblowers, we look for those out-of-season sales.

When we lived in Alberta, we had a pastors’ conference every fall. In those days it was always held in Banff – a picturesque spot definitely worth seeing, but it is a tourist place. 

Summer in Banff is beautiful and an awesome place to go hiking, camping, etc. In the winter, it is a true winter wonderland with skiing, snowshoeing and shopping. Banff is as beautiful in the winter as it is in the summer. 

But there are bumper seasons in Banff. You could call them out-of-season times, when the weather is not as warm as in summer, but there is not enough snow to ski. 

That’s when we held our pastors’ conference. We could get hotel accommodations for several hundred people at a fraction of the cost of what it would be in season. 

Those conferences and experiences in Banff were simply due to the out-of-season time we met. 

This week I had some out-of-season experiences: I played hockey in July. 

I could have easily decided to go biking instead of playing hockey, but I don’t often get that out-of-season experience so I made good on it. 

And I’m sure glad I did.

There’s nothing like showing up to the rink with your equipment bag slung over your shoulder, hockey stick in hand, wearing shorts and sandals. And there’s nothing like coming out of a cold arena into the hot sun after sweating it out on the ice in about 4° Celsius.

I haven’t played hockey in the summer for many years. I just haven’t had the opportunity. So there was no way I was going to miss getting in on some out-of-season experiences this past week. 

You just have to be ready to play any time anywhere.

Here’s the thing: There is a verse in the Bible that says “be ready in season and out of season”. It is a charge to a pastor by his mentor. But we should all be ready to speak about Christ, who He is and what He’s done for us any time an opportunity presents itself. Experiences in sharing what we believe can present themselves at any time; we just need to be ready.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: Would you say you are ready in season and out? What would it take to be ready?  Leave your comments and questions below.

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The Answer To An Age-Old Automobile Controversy

This post is from 2014. From time to time II like to republish posts I’ve written in the past.  I hope you enjoy it.

I believe I’ve uncovered the mystery to a controversy that has baffled mankind of a long time … at least since the passenger car was invented.

In fact, I feel a little like Banting and Best when they discovered insulin, or when a scientist discovers some kind of breakthrough that will lead to possibly finding a partial cure for a certain strain of a multifaceted disease that continues to develop into different strains.

Whoa, I got a little dizzy just writing that.  

Back to my discovery. I got in the car the other day and when I turned a corner the sun shining through the windshield almost blinded me. All I could see was a big red ball of light, so I quickly pulled down the sun visor to block it out.

When I did that, I stumbled onto something that could be a key to changing driving habits, all the way to changing insurance rates. 

When I pulled down that visor, I almost scared myself into the next lane of traffic. The shield covering the visor mirror was gone. I went from looking into the centre of the sun to looking at two eyes staring at me and it freaked me out.

Fortunately, I controlled myself and stayed in my lane. But not everyone is as composed as I am when they drive. And here’s my discovery …

The mirror in the visor is a driving hazard and the ones who are guilty of using it are mostly women. Because of it, they are causing untold numbers of accidents. 

Every time I look behind the visor, if my wife has been sitting in the seat before me, that mirror is visible. Imagine how many men have jerked the steering wheel to the left, when they’ve suddenly seen a pair eyes about six inches from their face. 

Or how about the light that reflects off a woman’s bleached white teeth, hits the mirror and like a laser pointer temporarily blinds some poor unsuspecting driver behind her.  Another accident.

Or what about the woman who’s putting on her makeup and drifts a little, causing the car beside her to swerve and careen into a light pole on the side of the road.

You see what I’m saying?  

Statistics says that “80% of collisions and 65% of near crashes have some form of driver inattention as contributing factors” (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2010).

I’m not saying women cause more fatal accidents. No, men are best at doing that. But statistics say that women are in more fender benders than men.

It’s that distraction factor, and a little piece of the solution could have something to do with the mirror that is on the back of sun visors. 

This is still an early discovery. Now I just have to figure out how to get Lily to place the cover back over the mirror when she’s done.

Here’s the thing: God is trying to teach us all the time, but often we are distracted by other things. Being attentive to little things can lead you to discover something amazing about God that you haven’t noticed before. You can learn much about God from life around you. Don’t be so distracted by something that’s right in your face that you miss learning about God’s character and how that relates to you.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What discovery have you made recently about God? I’d love to hear from you; you can leave your comment below.

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My Complaint Was Unjustified

I was a little too hasty with my complaint.

Spring is here and I should be writing about mountain biking, hockey playoffs or maybe baseball. 

… Or how about those Raptors and Kawhi Leonard’s four bouncer, rim shot, buzzer beater to send Toronto to the NBA Eastern Conference Finals?

But I can’t write about those things. I’m still trying to get my head around my latest bill from Bell Canada.

At the beginning of April I got a shock when our TV/Internet bill increased by $79 from the previous month. (I wrote about it here.)

I got a double shocker this month when my latest bill appeared to be devoid of any adjustments.

After the big increase a month ago, I had called Bell and complained. … I’ll make this short by saying they gave me a $40 reduction on my bill plus faster internet service. To get that, I was on the phone for way longer than an hour with more than one customer service rep.

Within a day or two I noticed some results. They kept their promise of adding three free stations and removing one station, but the internet service didn’t seem any faster. 

Then this month’s bill showed the free stations, but no mention of the upgraded internet, and the same price for TV and Internet as the month before. 

Back to the phones I went! … If nothing else the phone company is ensuring we are still using their services because we have to call them all the time to complain! 

This time the conversation was more disturbing and discouraging than the previous month. 

I talked to two customer service reps who didn’t want to budge. They basically dismissed what I had been told a month earlier. They said that the notes for that complaint didn’t say anything about the credits and changes we had agreed upon. 

In the end, the rep said that she would have her manager call me.  

So I have to wait for the manager’s call … which also means there may be a follow up to this post some time in the future.

Then this morning, as I reviewed my bill again, I noticed something I had missed before. All the itemized charges are the same as the previous month, but there is an amount in an adjustments box with no explanation.

That adjustment is a credit. It only shows up on the remittance page, but it brings my bill to what was promised me the month before.

So I didn’t get faster internet and there doesn’t seem to be any record of or reason given for the credit, but I got one. 

The question I still have is, “Will this credit show up every month?” There is no record of what it is for, so it would be easy to just drop it.

As it stands now, when the manager calls, the only thing I can say to him is … in the words of Saturday Night Live’s Emily Litella, “Never Mind”.

Here’s the thing: I’m distrustful about what my tech company has given me. They might take it away as fast as I received it; it only shows up as a mystery item on my bill. How many times do we treat God that way when He gives us something? We treat Him as though He might take it away at any moment, or we are suspicious of whether it was God who gave it to us in the first place. You might not be able to trust your tech company, but you can trust God. Give Him the credit and praise He deserves.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What has God provided for you that you didn’t really thank Him for? Leave your comment below.

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Our Stuff Doesn’t Last As Long Anymore

Things don’t last as long as they once did. We also don’t try as hard to make them last.

This is particularly true with clothes … and many other things.

When I was a kid, I remember my mom would sew my ripped jeans at the knee. Sure, I had a stitch line that looked like a crease going across my knee, but I would get more time in those jeans.  

Mom also had some iron-on patches and sometimes, if the rip or the hole was too big to sew together, she would iron on a patch. 

The patch usually was a close, but not exact, match. It was really noticeable that I had a hole in those pants. But, hey, at least my skin wasn’t showing through. 

Nowadays we extend the life of jeans by just wearing the ripped skin-showing hole or holes in the knee. … Some pants already come that way. 

Years back there was a progression with pants. They would get sewn, then patched. When the patch started to lose its grip and begin to flap, Mom would cut those jeans off above the knee and you’d have a pair of shorts to wear. 

You really could get a lot of wear out of a pair of pants back then.  

Not so much now. 

My favourite jeans have a hole in them. I just noticed it. It’s going to get bigger too, so time is running out on these good ol’ pants of mine.

They seem to be coming to an end far too quickly, and the rip isn’t even in the knee. 

The hole in my pants is developing in my back pocket. It’s where I keep my wallet. 

It’s not that I carry huge amounts of cash in my wallet or that I have three inches of credit cards and identification back there either. It’s just that I have a hard case for my credit cards and a billfold with pointy edges. 

That combo creates extensive friction against my pants pocket and, though from the front the pants look fine, my right back pocket is starting to look like a real mess. 

It’s not fashionable yet, and I can’t cut them off at the pocket either. Sewing and patches? Well, I don’t think that style is ever coming back. It’s time to start looking for new jeans. 

I’m looking forward to the day when I won’t have to carry credit cards or cash with me. I do make many purchases electronically from my watch, but if we went cashless, if that became more fashionable, my pockets wouldn’t wear out and I could wear my favourite jeans for years. 

There is one thing that might save my jeans: it’s called darning. Some of you have never heard of the word … because nobody does it any more. 

When I was a kid, if you got a hole in your socks, your mom would say, “ah darn”, and then she would take needle and wool and close up the hole. 

My back pocket hole is darn-able; it’s not that big. I even said “darn” the first time I discovered it. Maybe I’ll bring back darning. 

… Not the word, just the fixing hole part. 

Here’s the thing: When it comes to relationships, we often don’t put effort into keeping relationships that are in need of repair. We just move on. Even with the Lord, we can be guilty of not trying hard to keep up our relationship. All relationships are worth it – especially your relationship with Christ. So do what you need to do to preserve, repair or fix your relationship with God.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What relationship needs repair in your life? Leave your comments below.

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People Are Too Delicate

I’m afraid that we, as humans, have become too delicate. We’re not tough enough; we’re soft.

We have great fears for our personal safety that motivate us to make laws and restrictions that prevent us from just enjoying life. 

When we are born we don’t come with warning tags tattooed to our bottoms that read, “Warning: this package is fragile”, but we kind of treat people like those tattoos exist. 

The other day I was in a hockey arena change room and, for some reason, began talking about some of the stunts I pulled as a youth pastor back in the 80’s and 90’s.  

They were fun stunts that had some risks attached to them … but no one ever got injured too badly.

Having said that, in every city we ever travelled to, someone from my youth group visited a hospital … and never to give them a tour of the place. It was always a concussion, broken collar bone, asthma, infection or stitches related necessity.

These former students are all fine now, in their forties and with families of their own.

One time I had some of my youth play a game of chubby bunnies. My intent, however, was to make it as gross as possible. 

At the time I couldn’t think of anything grosser than brussels sprouts so that’s what we used. 

You know how the game chubby bunnies goes – well, maybe you don’t because, according to one guy in the change room the other day, they have outlawed chubby bunnies!

I’m not sure how “they” would do that. I’m not sure the police would raid a youth group because of a rumour that a game of chubby bunnies was going down at Beulah Alliance Church. But maybe church boards and insurance companies would frown on the game.

The game is played with contestants who each put a marshmallow in their mouths and say the words “chubby bunny”. They continue to add one marshmallow at a time, saying “chubby bunny” until their mouths are packed so full of marshmallows that they cannot say the words “chubby bunny” anymore. 

It’s really funny to watch and hear them say “chubby bunny”. 

Using slightly warmed brussels sprouts gave the added effect of green slime oozing out their mouths and down their chins when they attempted to say “chubby bunny”.  

It was awesome and hard to look at all at the same time.

But I guess we couldn’t play that game now because someone once choked on the marshmallows and died. 

It’s incredibly sad that someone died, but it’s also hard to imagine just how many people played the game and lived to laugh and talk about it. 

Today we try hard to protect against fun that comes with risk. 

But life is not safe: You can get hit by a car, trip over the sidewalk and hit your head, or fall off your chair to devastating results. 

Thankfully, that’s not most of the time. We are not that fragile and we shouldn’t treat each other as if we are. 

We should enjoy life; live it to the full. 

Yes, there will be some risks involved; some hospital visits may follow. But keep in mind that with every injury, every trip to the hospital, there is a great story to tell. Let’s not deprive one another of those opportunities.

Here’s the thing: Living for Christ is not without risk. Don’t try to live as a Christian risk-free. If you do, you will miss out on much of what God has in store for you. Living life to the full will come with risks, but oh what powerful stories you will have if you risk for Christ.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How have you been living life a little too safely? Leave your comments below.

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My Injuries Keep Coming

I’m finding it more difficult to diagnose minor injuries than I used to. 

Years ago, when I had an ache or a pain, I could pinpoint the precise cause or incident of my injury. Now, when I find myself with a bit of discomfort, I’m not necessarily sure what happened to bring it on.

This is all new for me. For my wife, Lily, on the other hand, this is a phenomenon that has plagued her most of her life!

Throughout our marriage when Lily would say, “I’m sore”, and I would ask her what happened or what she had done, she would always say, “I don’t know. I’m just sore.” If she got a bruise, about 90 percent of the time she didn’t know how she got it. 

I’m kind of catching up to her in this regard, because lately I’ve had some sore spots on my body that are a little mysterious.

I wrote about my sore elbow back in the fall (read about it here), and although it is now slowly getting better, it’s been six months of pain. … I still have to be careful to warm up before I start taking shots on a goalie. 

It turned out to be a ligament problem and I’m still not completely sure how I got it … although possibly it was from excessive wrist shots in hockey.

The latest thing that has been bugging me is a sore thumb around the joint on my left hand. It’s been sore for a few weeks now. 

And I don’t have a clue how it happened!  

I wondered if I was getting a touch of arthritis when the knuckle at the base of my index finger of my right hand got swollen and very painful.

I didn’t have any explanation for my knuckle either, and it has been swollen now for close to two weeks. … It doesn’t help that I sometimes move it the wrong way or that people shake my hand with a little pressure. 

One of the guys I play hockey with said it was gout, but that was because he had just finished experiencing some gout in his foot. I knew his diagnosis was only based on his experience and had nothing to do with really being able to identify my problem.

But yesterday at church, I may have figured something out. 

I asked my doctor if I possibly have a bit of arthritis, but when I described what I was experiencing, he didn’t agree. So I responded that maybe I did just injury it. He kind of nodded.

A few minutes later I was talking with a group of other people and the topic of injuries came up.  While I was relaying to them my conversation with my doctor an idea came to my mind. 

I had grabbed a puck out of the air with my hand a week or so ago. Maybe – just maybe – my sore knuckle was a result of catching that puck with my hand. 

My conclusion: injuries come more easily as we age, but also our memory is not as sharp in identifying incidents with injuries. 

Here’s the thing: The only way to prevent sin from going unnoticed in your life is to stay diligent in identifying and addressing it each time. When you let sin slide, your memory starts to fade, and you then don’t easily identify the ramifications to that sin. Stay on top of your sin by identifying it right away and dealing with it. It will lessen the chance of a lingering sore spot.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What mystery in your life do you need to identify? Leave your comments below

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The Case Of The Disappearing App

We all know what disappearing ink is like, but I have an app on my phone that sort of behaved the same way.

When I was a kid it was fun to try to make a secret message that no one could read, except the person you wanted to get the message because they had the formula to see what was written on the paper.  

Disappearing ink is made with lemon juice and to read it you need to get the paper close to a heat source. Then what was written in invisible ink can be seen.

There are also other ways to get ink to disappear. For instance, over time, in certain light ink starts to fade. 

On the wall of my office hangs my ordination certificate, signed by the six men who interviewed me and agreed that I should be ordained. That was almost thirty years ago and the signatures on that certificate are quite faded. In fact, they will likely disappear completely in the next few years. 

The proof that I’m a Reverend will be gone. I may have to retire. 

Ink doesn’t last forever. I shouldn’t expect more of it. 

But the other day, six pages of notes suddenly disappeared on me – notes that I’d made in writing my sermon. 

I probably have a peculiar way of studying, but I stand and make notes on a white board. When the white board is full, I use an app on my phone to scan the contents of the white board and turn them into a PDF. 

Then I erase  the whiteboard and start writing more notes. 

By the time I’ve finished making my notes, which I do over three days, they are all saved into my app as a PDF. I then refer to that PDF on my tablet as I write my sermon. 

Well, this week I opened the app to view my scanned notes, and the app opened as if it had never been used before. There was a splash screen and then some “let’s get started” slides. I thought that was strange, but I also figured that perhaps the app had updated during the night. 

But when I went to find my scanned whiteboard images, there was nothing. 

Nada. None. Nowhere to be found. They just all disappeared. … and I had no intention of making them secret notes! 

I searched the app for a way to get them back. Nothing. 

I started an online chat with a representative from the app, but couldn’t help but notice how much time was ticking by. 

I should have been well into writing my sermon, but I hadn’t started. Instead, I spent two hours trying to recover my disappearing scans. 

In the end, the person I was chatting with had to pass my problem off to more technical employees who would get back to me sometime after they investigated my problem.

I couldn’t wait for that to happen, so my notes were lost to me in writing my sermon. 

… I still haven’t heard back from the company. I’ve finished writing my sermon, so I don’t really need them, but there is still no sight of my disappearing notes!

Here’s the thing: Guilt can be disappearing on us. You might think that’s a good thing – it is and it isn’t. Guilt serves a purpose to draw us back to God in repentance – that’s good. But if we don’t act on that guilt, it begins to fade and will completely disappear, leaving us in our sin and drifting away from God – that’s not good. Don’t let guilt disappear. Act on it and draw close to God. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What have you let disappear that you want to get back? Leave your comments below.

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What To Do When Your Hotel Stay Is Lousy

From time to time I repost an article that I have published before. This post is from April 2014, enjoy.

This week I stayed in a hotel that was less than ideal.  I was in the Toronto area for meetings and, since the hotel I normally stay in was booked solid, I was registered in at a different hotel. 

I don’t need something too fancy, but when the first thing you do when you get in the room is check for bugs that tells you something! 

On my way to my room, I pushed the elevator button and waited what seemed to be about the time it would take an elevator to travel ten floors. The curious thing was this hotel only had three. So you have to ask yourself, “What was that elevator doing for all that time?”

When I got into the elevator it was empty, but there was a fresh aroma of B.O. in it, like that was the scent they were using to keep the cab fresh-smelling. 

I was only going to the second floor so I could have held my breath … except at this hotel a trip to the second floor was like riding a regular elevator to the 6th floor.  

I had to use a couple of breaths to make it.

There was a trail of dried mud chunks leading down the hall, stopping just a room before mine, so I could find my way easy enough. 

When I got inside the room, I saw it had everything I needed – a bed, a bathroom and a counter thing I could use as a desk. 

But the room was pretty stark. There wasn’t a picture in the place, and everything was bolted down. There was some laminate planking deal on the floor. 

I thought for a moment how easy it would be to clean this place. All you’d have to do is bring in a big ol’ hose, turn it on and then let it drip dry for the next guest. 

That night I had one of the worst sleeps on record. If I had been doing a sleep apnea test, I would be hooked up to one of those breathing machines by now for sure. I’ve slept on floors that were more comfortable! 

My pillows were just a little bigger than those squares you throw in the bean bag toss game. I found out in the morning, however, that the bed beside me had normal sized pillows. I must have been sleeping in Goldilocks’ bed all night, and let me tell you, it was not just right!

All night long there was this high-pitched, ear-piercing sound, something like the sound an old vacuum cleaner makes when the bag needs to be changed. 

Again, I found out in the morning that this sound was not from a neat freak staying in the room above me, but was coming from the motor of the mini fridge in my room. 

I could go on but I think that’s enough for you to take in for now. By the way, that was my first night there. I had one more night after that.

Here’s the thing: My hotel had essentially everything I needed to stay there. But the quality of my stay was the pits. You have everything you need to live in this world, but the quality of your stay will be determined by where you choose to live – with God or without Him.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What hotel horrors have you encountered? I’d love to hear from you; leave your comment below.

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My Easter Present

I got a present for Easter this year. It was sitting on our doorstep.

We don’t usually exchange gifts at Easter, though this year Lily’s birthday did fall on Easter weekend, so she got some cards and a few gifts.

Traditionally we used to give our kids some chocolate Easter eggs when they were young – we’d even send them on a hunt to find them.  

The present at the front door, however, was an actual present with a card. It was hanging on our doorknob. But when I took a closer look in the bag, I realized it wasn’t an Easter present for me after all.  

The present was a Hulk action figure … I’m confident I haven’t taken up playing with toy dolls. 

There was a card in an envelope that gave a little more insight into the mystery of the present at our door. There was a name on the envelope, but we didn’t recognize it. 

Somehow, whoever delivered the present thought someone else lived in our house, or they made a mistake on the house. 

Since we’re the original owners of our home and have lived here for the last 23 years, I don’t think they were mistaken on who lived in this house.  

Our guess was that the present was delivered to the wrong address. 

In the process, I wondered who gives presents at Easter … I don’t mean some form of chocolate; I mean a present like you would get on your birthday. 

Then Lily and I remembered how busy the roads were earlier that day. The malls were packed with shoppers. 

We learned later through a Facebook post that Easter shopping is incredibly busy, rivalling that of Christmas. 

I was feeling a little like Sherlock Holmes as I began using my keen detective senses to deduce who this present belonged to.

I opened up my computer and typed the family name in the search line. I was not sure if I had the spelling correct because there was an “o” that could have been an “a”. 

I knew at once I was on to something when several suspects popped up immediately online, all from far away places through. … I can see someone going to the wrong house in a city, but it’s hard to believe someone missing the house by a whole country. 

I narrowed my search to my city and bingo, there it was: the name and address of the people this present belonged to. I knew immediately this was them because their house was one street over from ours. 

I surmised how the mistake had been made. Our two streets are next to each other and are both cul-de-sacs that look similar. 

And when I went to take the present over to the rightful owner, their house was the third house in on the left, just like ours.

A great mystery had been solved … but no Easter present for me … or was there?

Here’s the thing: We like gifts and look for any excuse to get them, but we already have a great gift at Easter. You see, at Christmas God hands us a present all wrapped up – it’s beautiful, it’s hopeful, our eyes are attracted to it. At Easter we get to open up the present. Christ comes out of the wrapping, having died for our sins, and then come alive. He’s our present. Take Him by faith and He is yours, and you are His forever more. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What did you give or get this Easter? Leave your comments below.