Christian

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I Couldn’t Find One, So I Created It

There are times you have to create something because you can’t find what you’re looking for anywhere.

Have you ever needed or wanted something but just couldn’t find the right thing? … Maybe it was an item of clothing or a tool, but no place had the right colour, or style you were looking for. You couldn’t find what you had in mind.

Maybe you needed a tool to do something that it wasn’t designed to do and you couldn’t find one that was.

It’s in those moments that you get an urge to create, to make something that will work for your need. Maybe it’s not a total new creation but an adaptation on something that already exists. You feel the need to design something different.

Well, that happened to me the other day.

I was building a new trail to bike on (you can read about that here) and I needed some kind of a scraping tool – a tool that would take the top layer of pine needles and half-decayed leaves away to expose the dirt below.

The logical tool was a rake. But how do you carry a rake with you on your bike when you are traveling through the woods, going up and down hills and around tight corners?

It’s just not practical. I needed to create a tool that would work for my application.

I first looked for options online and found I could purchase such a tool. It had a telescoping handle but was still too long … and it only cost $240.

I thought, “Wow, that’s a lot of money for a rake!” but there was more: you could also attach a saw or a shovel to this handle.

The price for the whole kit was over $600!

You’d have to be a paid trail maker to buy one of these kits. Building trails would have to be a full time job for you to justify paying that much money.

I needed a simpler solution for my trail building, so off to the hardware store I went.

I found what I thought would be perfect. It was an 8-inch wide plastic rake with a 12-inch handle.

The rake part was great but even a 12-inch handle was too long for me to put in my backpack.

An idea came to me to use the forest’s resources.

I was set. All I needed to do was take the handle off the rake. Then when I got to where I was building the trails I could find a tree limb, insert it into the rake and somehow secure it.

After several tries, the use of a drill, screwdriver, pliers and a heat gun, I extracted the handle from the rake.

I got a few drywall screws and a couple of plastic washers and off to the trails I went.

Everything fit in my backpack perfectly. And when I got to my spot, I had a whole selection of handles for me to pop onto my rake.

My new tool works great and the cost to me – just $8.50!

Not a bad creation. … Now I just need a patent.

Here’s the thing: When you find yourself in a place where you need something that you don’t have the resources for, know that you have a God who is the greatest creator there is. He has the solution to your need if you will seek Him, listen to Him and act on what He provides.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What have you been in need of lately that might require some kind of creation? Leave your comments below.

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I Just Developed A New Skill

I’m adding a new skill set to my resume: trail builder.

With the wet spring – and now summer – we’re having, I’ve had to get a little creative with my mountain biking.

There is a place that I go biking in the summer that normally has a few wet spots. But this year there is so much more water, it has created the need to carve out some new trails to bypass the wet zones.

What got me inspired was finding that someone had built a new section that continues on from a trail I normally ride. It’s a great addition so I thought I should do some building of my own in another area of the system.

I normally carry a folding saw with me, the kind that is used in gardening. The saw folds up like an extremely large pocket knife so I can keep it safely in my backpack when I ride.

I use it mainly when small trees or limbs fall across the path. But this year I’m using it to build some detour trails around the bog areas.

There is a section of trail at the farthest point of my ride that is blocked by soft, wet, boggy muck and this year there is no getting around it.

Up until now I have been getting to that point in my ride, then turning around and riding back again. But what I would really like to do is complete the loop.

So where the bog begins I’ve turned off the trail and have been cutting a new path.

I’m not cutting down trees or anything, mostly picking my way around trees or between them. I cut off the little dead branches that stick out and clear trees and limbs that have fallen or are already dead.

It’s been fun, like trying to put together a puzzle. I have to figure out which is the best way to go and sometimes I have to look at it from more than one angle to discover the best route.

Trying to get to the end in a straight line is out of the question.

The bugs – especially mosquitoes – have been pretty bad, but I’ve been loading up on bug spray and found that, though they are flying around me, they aren’t landing on me very much.

I’ve also been checking for ticks every time I get back, just in case one of those little beggars has attached himself to me.

I just have to build one more small section to connect the loop, and then I’ll rake the path to give me a harder surface to ride on and create some definition to the trail.

I’ll write about my rake in my next post; I had to use a little ingenuity on that one.

I’m feeling pretty good about my new found skill. Though it’s just a small section – it’s not like I’m creating a kilometre or more of trail – I’m creating something out of nothing.

Here’s the thing: Sometimes in life we hit a wall and have to go in another direction to get around it. Where do you find the inspiration for that? Don’t stall out; don’t turn around and go back the way you came. Seek God for the path He wants you to take to get past that wall. He may tell you through the Bible, through a pastor, a friend or even something you read … Be listening.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What wall have you come up against recently? How are you getting around it?  Leave your comments below.

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I Got Caught Dancing In the Rain

Have you ever just wanted to go outside in the rain, just to feel it and enjoy it?

When I was a kid, there were the odd times during the hot summer months that we wanted to go outside in the rain. I even remember begging my mom to let us go out.

… That seems like a long time ago, and a silly, childish desire now.

I don’t know too many people, especially my age, who purposely try to get caught in the rain.

We protect ourselves from getting wet. We will take a water repellent jacket with us if we think it might rain, or carry an umbrella just in case.

We don’t want to get soaked.

I kind of tossed all that advice and thinking out the window the other day when I went for a mountain bike ride.

I’ve gone before when it looked cloudy and have just made it back in time. But the other day was a different matter.

I got caught – big time!

I’d been looking at the weather app on my phone and it was supposed to rain at 3 pm.

That should have given me enough time to eat lunch and get my ride in before the wet stuff came.

Those weather apps are pretty good at telling you when it’s going to rain. I even have one that shows where the rain clouds are currently positioned, and the direction they’re travelling so you can estimate how long it will be before they get to you.

All this seems great but it didn’t do me one speck of good the other day.

What those apps are not that awesome at is informing you of the volume of rain that will be hitting the earth.

I thought I had a good window of time for my ride, but less than three minutes after I hopped on my bike I felt the first few drops of the liquid sunshine.

I decided to keep going, thinking once I hit the trees it wouldn’t be too bad. Before I made it to the woods, however, the rain came down in buckets.

I got completely soaked, but I thought it would be better under the cover of the trees. … Well, not that much.

The thing about trees is they only have leaves. They do a great job of blocking out sunlight, but rain just blows right by them.

The amount of water hitting me in the woods was a little less intense, but I was not getting wind blown dry by any means.

When I got off my bike, everything was a mess. I hosed all the dirt and forest debris off my bike.

But me? – I had enough tiny twigs and woodsy, leafy material stuck on me to provide the kindling for our next fire.

All in all, it wasn’t a bad ride for getting caught in the rain.

Here’s the thing: How many times have you been caught in something you didn’t want to be caught in? You never planned for it, and you didn’t think you were at risk, but there you are – caught. Do you turn back, give up, complain about it, or see it through with all that it brings? God may be showing you something new; He may be preparing you for something special. It’s best to see it through and grow. It just might turn out to be something good.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What have you been caught in and how did you respond? Leave your comments below.

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I Don’t Want A Negative Opinion

Yesterday I started to form a negative opinion of a restaurant I actually like.

My opinion is based on an experience – if fact, my last experience at this chain of restaurants.

My wife, Lily, and I were traveling and needed to stop for gas and something to eat. I noticed a “Five Guys” burger place close to where we were gassing up, so when the tank was filled we made our way over.

When you have eaten in a restaurant before – maybe many times before – you kind of have an expectation of how things will go … especially in a chain restaurant where they try to create the same eating experience in every franchise they establish.

When we entered, there were several people in the order line ahead of us. It seemed like the two guys ordering at the counter either didn’t know what they wanted or were ordering for an army.

Turns out they didn’t know what to order. It’s a burger joint; they make burgers – no chicken, no fish, just burgers.

How hard is it to order a burger? I’m sure it wasn’t their first burger.

… But that wasn’t the issue. After the cashier finished with that marathon two-burger order, she disappeared.

I couldn’t remember what she looked like because she wasn’t quite as tall as the cash register so I never got a good look at her from my position fourth in line.

Close to five minutes went by before she returned to the cash and started to serve the next guest in line.

By the time we placed our order, we had been in line close to fifteen minutes.

Now if we were eating at the Keg, and waited fifteen minutes to order, I wouldn’t think anything of it. But this was a burger place … did I mention they only make burgers?

Then we waited for our food.

We had to clear our own table because obviously the paid staff weren’t doing the job. I picked the cleanest table and then wiped it down with some napkins.

When we finally got our food and started to eat, Lily and I began to reminisce about some of our other restaurant experiences.

We had a doozy a few years ago at a Burger King that has been etched in my mind forever.

That experience was almost matched at another Burger King, so now I can’t go into a Burger King without thinking something is going to go wrong.

I know Five Guys is a good restaurant and their food tastes great; I just don’t want my latest experience to taint this opinion.

They say it takes seven compliments to undue one negative one. I’m wondering if the same is true with an eating experience.

If so, I need to get back to “Five Guys” seven more times so that what happened yesterday doesn’t jade my opinion of a restaurant I actually really like.

Here’s the thing: You may have had an experience in your life where you blamed God or felt God didn’t treat you the way He should. Be careful not to let your view of that experience taint your opinion of God who is holy, good and all powerful. He’s God and He loves you and has a plan for you. Remember who He is and keep going back to Him. Don’t let one experience taint your opinion and keep you from seeking Him.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What experience with God in the past has given you confidence in Him? Leave your comments below.

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I Hit Trees; I Don’t Hug Them

I had a run-in with a tree the other day. It didn’t work out so well for me.

It was dusk when I went for a ride on the trails. I guess my depth perception was not quite on spec with the low lighting.

I cut a corner kind of tight and my shoulder clipped a tree as I went by. I think I only polished the bark of the tree, but it gave me a nice-sized raspberry.

It almost, but not quite, knocked me off my bike. It did send me on a collision course with another tree. Fortunately, I kept my balance and narrowly avoided the tree on the other side of the trail.

It’s not the first time I’ve been stopped by a tree while riding trails on my mountain bike.

There was one time when I came around a corner, and a recent storm had caused a large tree branch to hang over the trail at about shoulder height.

Well, I caught that tree with the upper part of my left arm and it kicked me right off the back of my bike. It was like I had hit the ejector button on my seat.

This time I think I misjudged the tree because I couldn’t see the trail as well as I needed to. I had some glasses on that go clear when there is little light, but I think they may have been slightly fogged up.

At any rate, soon after my incident with the tree, I took my glasses off and could see the trail and obstacles a lot better.

If this had happened years ago, that tree would have been thinner and maybe it wouldn’t have been so close to the trail. If I had hit it when it was young, it would have moved with my impact and provided a little give.

But now that tree was solid; it never even budged. It almost seemed like it was leaning in towards the trail just a little … like it was waiting for me to come by just to give me a shot.

I’m not blaming the tree; it’s not like it tripped me up. I was the one steering my bike. I take full responsibility for pointing my wheel too close and leaning in a little too early.

But I tell you, I went from traveling at about 12 km per hour to about 2, in one second.

It was like those crash tests that they do with automobiles. The auto manufacturers do it to test air bags and the car’s crash engineering. They put a dummy inside a vehicle and then they drive the vehicle into a brick wall.

In my case, I was the dummy.

I wasn’t trying to prove anything, but I now know how those dummies feel, that’s for sure.

Here’s the thing: We can be going along in life and rather quickly run into some kind of trial that stops us instantly. How you respond to that trial is important. You need to improve your eyesight, take assessment of the situation, and then put your focus on the trail ahead. Often on a trail we can’t see very far ahead, so rely on the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Seek Him regularly and often to stay on the path and avoid further obstacles along the way.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What obstacles have knocked you back lately and how are you responding? Leave your comments below.

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To Share Life, Some Old Barriers Must Be Crossed

We can now share life with others like never before, but there still remain some old barriers.

I remember when I went away to college years ago. Back then you were cut off from what your family was doing until you went back home.

Sure, we could send and receive letters in the mail to keep up with life on the other side of the country, but by the time we got it, it was old news.

We could call on the telephone, but with the time zone differences and the long distance charges, at least with my family, it was a rare, “special occasion only” form of connecting.

It’s not like that today. We have all kinds of social media and communication technology at our disposal. We can share life with anyone, any family member, no matter where they or we may be.

Distance is no longer a factor to sharing life.

Just the other day, on Canada Day, my wife, Lily, convinced me to stay downtown and watch the fireworks even though I like to be home Saturday night before I preach the next day.

We stood for a long time on a pier waiting for the big event to happen. We figured it would be a good show since it was Canada’s 150th birthday.

We arrived at the pier in daylight with really no one around us, but as the sun went down, more and more people crowded around to get a good spot to watch the fireworks.

Our son was in town and managed a great vantage point, with some friends, on a boat in the harbour.

When the light show began, Lily thought she would video some of it and send it to our daughter, Karlie, in Toronto.

But then she thought, “Why don’t I just video chat the whole thing!”

It was pretty neat. We were standing on a pier in Kingston, holding a phone so that Karlie could watch the fireworks from another city. We could converse with her and see her just like she was standing with us.

In that moment we were sharing life together … even though she was 250 kilometres away.

It’s truly incredible that we now have the ability to carry on with others far away as if they were right next to us.

But even with all this ability to share life, sometimes we have a hard time communicating thoughts and emotions that are inside us.

And it doesn’t matter if a person is beside us or in another country – no amount of technology or social media will cut through the difficulty of sharing parts of our lives with others.

That old saying “you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink” describes the barrier that will always exist regardless of how our communication progresses.

We can share life together wherever we are, and yet not really share life at all.

Here’s the thing: Some of us find it difficult to share what’s going on inside us – sometimes we can’t even put a finger on what we are experiencing. Though sharing life experiences is important, it’s equally important to share your thoughts and feelings. The great news is there is an avenue for that. God is listening and wants you to share those thoughts and feelings with Him. He can also provide you with great counsel if you will learn to listen as He shares with you.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How have you used technology to share life with someone? Leave your comments below.

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A Canada Look-Back, I Mean Ahead

On July 1 we celebrated all that has made Canada what it is today. This was our 150th birthday.

I’ve only shared 61 of those birthdays with the country, but just writing that puts it in perspective how young a country we live in.

I’m only 14 years shy of being half as old as Canada. Wow!

My grandmother – if she was still alive today – would have only been 17 years younger than our nation. Now that would be impressive! My grandmother passed away in 1983 at the age of 99.

It’s all nice to look back on your birthday, but I want to look ahead in this piece.

When I think of Canada’s 150th, it brings a few questions to my mind that I wonder about.

One question I have is, “Will the Toronto Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup in the next 150 years?”

It’s been 50 years since their last victory, but lately they seem to be making some moves in the right direction. I can wait a long time for it to happen, but I don’t have 150 years left in me.

I also wonder, “Will Donald Trump last 4 years in office, or will he even last the year?”

I get a CNN feed on my Apple Watch and 95% of the news that shows up is related to Donald Trump. I have never seen the news/entertainment industry so captivated with one person before.

Trump is like the Beatles were in the 60’s; no one could get enough of them.

As I watched TV and saw a protest on Parliament Hill, one question that came to mind was, “Will we ever come to a resolution with our Indigenous Peoples of Canada?”

The Prime Minister sat with the leaders in a teepee they had set up on the Parliament lawn. When he left, the Indigenous leaders were all encouraged and felt he had heard their heart. But a few hours later the protesters were trying to set up another teepee on the lawn.

I wonder if any real progress will be made on this issue in the next 150 years.

In light of global warming, my questions is, “Will the weathermen become more accurate in predicting rain and snow, or will the forecasts remain much the same – wrong about 50% of the time?”

Another question I have is, “With all the rights various groups have now, will we become cookie-cutter people, forced to think, talk and act like each other? … You know, shades of Orwell’s “1984”.

If that happens, it will cut down on the myriad of choices we have to make now. Things like fashion, interests, and food might not be all that exciting, but we won’t need an opinion; we will all share the same one.

Just think, when you need to buy a car, there would only be a few choices: Will that be a compact, mid-size or SUV?

I’m not convinced that what got us through the last 150 years will carry us on into the next. We are venturing into new territory.

Here’s the thing: We may have many questions about the future of our country and life in this great land of ours. We can’t foresee the answers to many of our questions, but there is an outcome that has already been determined. When Jesus died on the cross for mankind’s sins, He said He is coming back to take those who put their faith in Him to be with Him in heaven. That we can have confidence in. Make sure your faith is based in Christ because you can count on God to know the future.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What questions do you have about the next 150 years? Leave your comments below.

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I Think I Can Squeeze A Car Wash In Today

I think I will wash my car today. It could really use one; it’s been a while.

I have this power washer that I don’t seem to use very much. When I look at it, I have a desire to use it, but I never seem to get around to it.

Today will be the day that I get it out and spray down my car. It’s a good day to do it because we are in between rain days … and, if I wash the car early enough, I will have a good portion of the day to enjoy it before we get back into some lousy weather.

When I was in college, I was a professional car washer. I had a job with UPS washing their vehicles each night when they would return from delivering packages.

In those days that was the only form of advertising the company did. They believed that clean trucks communicated care – if they took care of their vehicles, they would also care for their packages.

Every evening I would wash down a dozen or more vans. I became rather quick at washing them too, so you’d think washing my car each week would be a cinch!

Well, it doesn’t seem to be that way. Though I like the look of my power washer, and have a desire to use it, I never really feel like I have the time at the moment to use it.

It’s always something I would like to do, when I have a little time.

The thing is there is always something else I need to or should be doing.

Sometimes when I fill the gas tank I run the car through the car wash there. The one by my place is quick and, like using my power washer, it doesn’t touch the car with brushes.

Opinions vary though. Some people think it’s best that a car wash not have brushes because they can scratch your car and rip off your side mirrors and antenna. Others say that if there are no brushes the car wash won’t do a good job of getting the dirt off your car.

I remember being in a discussion on which system was better. When my brother-in-law, who worked for Petro Canada overseeing the car washes in the region, was brought into the discussion, he simply said, “Oh, we touch your car all over the place!”

My neighbour across the street washes his car regularly by hand, but I like the idea of using my power washer. You don’t have to get so up close and personal with the vehicle, and you get to use a tool.

For me, washing my car is about using the washer as much as it is about getting the car clean.

I hope the sun stays out today because I am really talking myself into power washing some dirt off my car.

Here’s the thing: There are things in life that we have access to but never get around to. We might even like the idea, but never find the right time. If God is calling you to something, wanting you to move in a direction, don’t keep putting it off. If Christ is calling you to give Him your life, find the time, make a decision and trust your life to Him. There is no sense in not doing what’s available to you. You never know when it won’t be available any more.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you need to act on today that you might be tempted to put off again?  Leave your comments below.

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It Was A Plan B Picnic

Our annual church picnic turned out to be a big hit in more ways than one.

We hold a picnic every year in June; we’ve been doing it for years. This year, however, there was a little hiccup to putting it on.

We normally get a permit to hold it in the park. That permit gives us control of the large stone BBQ pit and covered pavilion … oh ya, and access to the baseball diamond.

This year we couldn’t get the permit. Some other organization must have beat us to it.

Our options were to either just show up at a park, bring our own BBQ’s and have our picnic, or to hold it at our church. We have a large lawn behind the church with trees along the edges.

Well, we decided to go with the church lawn as the site of this year’s picnic. It was easy to get people to come since we hold it right after our service on Sunday.

But the downside was that we don’t have any of the features of a park, like a climbing centre for kids or a ball diamond. We don’t even have swings.

So we purchased a jump and slide castle for the little ones, and came up with several games we could play on the field.

The week before the picnic, I sensed God speak to me about inviting the people around the church, and giving out free hamburgers.

I told the congregation and everyone thought that was a great idea.

Since our church boarders on three streets and we are across from a shopping centre, there is a lot of vehicle and pedestrian traffic that goes by our church.

What we decided to do was put up signs along the road, that just said, “Free BBQ. Come on over.”

Not only did our congregation get to enjoy hamburgers, salads, cake and desserts, but so did many people from our neighbourhood.

Maybe what put a smile on my face more than anything else was seeing people in our congregation interacting with those who stopped by.

People weren’t shy to chat it up, and the fact that the food was free made them all the more curious to talk and ask questions.

Several moms came with their kids and, of course, the kids wanted to jump in the castle and play the games.

The one thing we didn’t have, though, was a petting zoo. … Apparently there were a few moms and kids who came because they had seen on Facebook that the church had a petting zoo.

That was unfortunate for the church around the corner. I guess we got some of their potential guests.

When it was all said and done, it was a great day. People were well fed, had fun, socialized and we made contact with a lot of people we might never have met.

Maybe next year we need to offer pony rides. Just kidding.

Here’s the thing: Sometimes in life you can get discouraged when Plan A doesn’t work out and you have to resort to Plan B or C. The thing is our Plan B might just be God’s Plan A all along and we didn’t know it. God can turn any plan into the right plan if we choose to listen to His direction.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: Have you had a Plan B that turned out to be Plan A? Leave your comments below.

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The Grass Isn’t Much Greener On The Other Side

We arrived at our cottage last night, just before dusk, and I noticed the grass had not grown very much. The grass was long but it wasn’t any thicker than it was when we were here the last time … and we had seeded it then. 

We don’t get up to our cottage all that frequently, just a couple of days in each of the months leading up to our vacation.

We do the same thing after our vacation as well. That means there is not a lot of time to really take care of our lawn and encourage its growth.

Last year we put in an underground sprinkler system on a timer to make sure the lawn gets the water it needs.

If you’re asking, “WHO put in an underground sprinkler?”, well, we did it ourselves and it’s more like we McGyver’d a system together on the cheap.

Anyway, I thought this would make sure our grass was green and lush.

We do have a rather sandy base to work with, so a beach volleyball court would probably have been easier to achieve than thick, green grass.

All that aside, I really thought that when we arrived yesterday there would be new grass growing and we wouldn’t be able to see the ground in between the individual blades.

It’s not like that at all.

It’s been a good three weeks – maybe even four weeks – since we’ve been up. (My brother cuts the grass in between our visits.)

But I thought the grass would be greener and thicker and newer.

We put grass seed down before we left last time, but what a disappointment.

It’s in the same scraggly state as when we left it. Neither Lily nor I have a particularly green thumb, but how green does your thumb need to be to grow grass?

There are only a few things that are needed to grow grass. You need dirt, water and sun. My dad proved that you don’t need anything else.

Before I was born, my dad and mom moved into their first home in the late fall.

They decided to wait until the spring to deal with their non-existent, all dirt lawn. In the spring they noticed little green shoots coming up, so they let them grow and later went on their summer vacation.

By the end of the summer they had a lawn. It was green and that’s all they cared about … though they were afraid that it was 100% weeds.

The next spring the back yard was a sea of yellow dandelions. But when the yellow was gone, it was green again.

For years my dad was afraid to have the weed man spray our lawn for fear that it would kill it all.

The bottom line is, I know it doesn’t take much to get a green lawn.

So during this visit, I’m scheduling our sprinkler system to come on more often and we are going to lay down a heavy layer of seed.

By my vacation, I better need a swather to cut my lawn!

Here’s the thing: Sometimes when things don’t work, we just give up. When God is developing you, urging you deeper into relationship with Him, sometimes it doesn’t seem to be working. Don’t give up; just keep allowing God to finish His work in you because what He has in store will be well worth it all.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What’s growing in your life right now? Leave your comments below.