dependent

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The Debate About My Face Is Heating Up

We have a bit of a debate going on in our family that is centred on the condition of my face.

the debate about my face is heating up

Something small should not be the centre of attention but in reality the small things often are. When you have a hang nail, it’s such a small thing but it really does take a lot of your attention. A sore baby toe can cause you to limp like you have a broken leg. 

Of course your face is front and centre. It’s the feature that most people see right away. Your face naturally draws attention to it. 

And I guess that is why we have this debate going on. 

But still, I don’t tell Lily how to apply makeup or what kind of makeup she should put on. She determines what kind of hairstyle she will wear and, for that matter, when and where she will get her hair styled.

That’s why I’m surprised that my face is up for debate right now. After all, I’m just growing a little hair on it. 

About a week ago, I was sick and while I was sick I didn’t shave for a few days. Normally I don’t go more than two days in a row without shaving. But the way things worked out, I didn’t shave for three days. 

When I looked in the mirror that fourth day, I took a good long look and thought maybe I should grow this a little longer. I had a couple more days when I wouldn’t be facing anyone so I thought there was no harm in seeing how things would go.

It’s been a very long time since I’ve had facial hair. 

Out of college I had a moustache that I didn’t shave off for 30 years. In 1998 I add a goatee and kept that for 16 years. My kids were in their twenties and had never seen me without facial hair. 

Then, about 8 years ago, I shaved it all off. Other than a long adjustment period of wondering who the guy in the mirror was every morning, I haven’t thought about having facial hair since. 

… Well, that was until this past week. 

Now I’m interested in how it is coming in. My hair colour is more of a sandy blonde so it’s coming in very light. Some people say it’s coming in white or silver, but we will just call it “blonde”. 

The problem is my wife, Lily, is dead set against it. She wants it gone. I want to see how it’s going to turn out. 

She says she might go on strike. I’m not sure if that means I won’t be getting any meals or if I won’t be getting any kisses. … Maybe she means both. 

All I know is that my facial hair seems to be coming in really nice and I’m liking what I see. 

Besides it’s about -20 degrees outside and I could use a little face covering. 

Here’s the thing: We often think that we are independent and can determine what we do and how we live. But in reality, our lives are really dependent. Others do have a say and ultimately God determines our eternity. It makes sense to have a right relationship with someone our life depends on. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What in your life is dependent on someone else? Leave your comments and questions below. 

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I’m Realizing How Dependent I Am

The other day, I realized how dependent I am on my glasses. I don’t have a prescription, and I don’t wear them all the time, but I can’t do without them.

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It started in my 40’s. I noticed after studying for a period of time that my eyes would get all blurry. I couldn’t focus on anything.

That’s when I got my eyes checked. The eye examiner said that I needed reading glasses and handed me a prescription.

I never filled it. Instead, I went to a drugstore and found a pair of readers with a mere +115 strength. They seemed to work fine.

Well, I’ve been doing that for the past 18 or so years, but now my glasses are +250 or +275 … I can’t tell for sure; the marking has rubbed off.

Over the years, I’ve realized I need to keep my glasses close by, even though I don’t need them all the time. You never know when someone will want you to look at a picture on their phone or I will need to read a label of some kind.

I remember times when we would rent videos and I would forget to bring my glasses. I’d say to my son, Mike, “read the description on the back for me, will ya?” I couldn’t see all the tiny print.

Now I keep a few pairs of glasses at home, and a pair on my person. But the other day, I forgot them.

I left them on my night table … something I almost never do.

I got to work, fired up my computer, and within a minute knew that I wasn’t going to be able to work without glasses.

Fortunately, I had a spare pair at work. Now the problem with always having your glasses with you is that you don’t pay attention to the spare pairs you’ve put in places you might need them.

It had been a few years since I needed to use that spare pair at work. And even at that, it was just once and then a year of so before that.

So I flipped on those glasses in my desk, and I could tell right away that they weren’t strong enough. So I searched around to see if I had another pair.

I did, but I think they were even older. I had to put one pair of glasses on and then stretch my arm out as far as I could to try to read the strength of the lenses printed on the arm of the other glasses. It read +125.

Well, that ship had sailed a long time ago. I’m double the fun and double the strength now.

I knew that if I continued to work with those glasses, I would have a hard time finding the door of my office in about 25 minutes.

So I took off to the nearest drugstore and bought a pair of beauties. I don’t really want to be seen in public with them on, but I was able to work all day without the feeling that I was watching an old 3D movie without the glasses.

Here’s the thing: Your Christian life should grow more dependent the longer you are a Christian – just like how I need my glasses more and more and at greater strengths. We should become more and more dependent on Christ in our daily life. Never think that you are set, now that you’re a Christian. You need more of Christ and in stronger doses.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How have you become more dependent on Christ? Leave your comments below.

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I Need an Electricity Plant in my Backyard

I wondered the other day if I’m getting a little too high-tech for my own good. Nothing wrong with high-tech but it requires a lot of electricity, and I’ve been noticing my dependence on it.

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Every day I have a laptop, an iPad and an iPhone with me, so you could say I’m fairly tech-oriented. All these gadgets need to be recharged, and the other day I had all three charging at the same time. If the power goes out at work, I’m good for as long as the batteries on my electronic devices hold up.

I have a system for charging that keeps my stuff working well. You can ask my kids, I have drilled it into their brains: you don’t charge your device until it is just about out of power; you don’t stop charging it until it’s fully charged; and when it’s done, you unplug.

My charging philosophy has done me well, and my daughter can attest to it. She has a 6 year old laptop and only now is the battery needing to be replaced.

If my use of high-tech tools stopped there, I would be nothing more than your average tech-savvy professional. But wait … I rely on a few more battery-powered devices to get me through my day.

I mentioned in a recent blog that I got a new weed trimmer. It’s cordless, runs on a battery, and the cool thing is I can use that battery with about 50 other products by the same company. I’m slowly working on getting them all (don’t tell Lily), but for now I have a cordless drill which can swap batteries with my whipper-snipper.

Isn’t that awesome? However, they need to be charged. They don’t run forever without being plugged in.

There’s even more. I have a cordless electric razor that needs to be reinvigorated with electricity and I have a blade razor/trimmer that requires a battery. To finish off my morning ritual of getting ready for the day, I use an electric toothbrush.

Yesterday was a big day for me tech-wise – maybe even a record. I had to charge my razor, all three of my computer devices, plus replace the battery in my pro-glide razor … and I think my toothbrush needs to be recharged.

Did you feel the power drain? Did the lights dim or flicker when you were getting ready for work? Don’t sweat it; it wasn’t a potential brown out across the eastern seaboard. It was just me plugging my high-tech stuff into an outlet.

There’s no end to my need for electricity and power. I have a bike computer that wirelessly calculates my distance, speed, and time all through the power of a little battery. And one more thing I almost forgot … There is a guy who has developed a hockey skate blade with a little heater in it that slightly warms the blade, giving you a little advantage on the ice. And ya, it needs a battery. And ya, I need a pair!

All I need now are solar panels on my roof and I’m set.

Here’s the thing: There are many things we can become dependent on, and if we lost the use of them, our life would be significantly altered. The key is to depend on something that we can’t be cut off from. How dependent are you on God?

Question: What have you become so dependent on that you couldn’t imagine doing without? Leave your comment below.