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That’s A Wrap, But It’s Never The End

“Well, that’s a wrap” are words we say when we’ve finished something significant. 

that's a wrap, but it's never the end

I recently put these words up on the sign board in our home. 

But the truth of the matter is that when you wrap something up, you’re not really done. Something else has to take its place. 

When a film director says, “that’s a wrap”, he’s just referring to the filming of the project. There is still the whole editing work that must be done.

Even when you finish wrapping your presents for Christmas, there is still Christmas morning when people are going to unwrap all the wrapping you did the night before. 

… I’m speaking from personal experience, but your story might be a little different.

The reason why I put the words, “That’s a Wrap”, on my sign board is because I’ve just retired. The end of a 37-year career has been wrapped up and it is complete.

The reality of this hit me, more than anything, when I had finished packing up all my books, cleaning out all my files and finally taking down all my pictures and memorabilia from my office walls. 

I turned off the lights in the office, looked back inside for a moment and paused. 

The room was empty; there was nothing personal left in there. It was now just a generic office space, dark, lifeless, devoid of personality.

Can an office have life and personality? Well, it can if you put your own life and personality on its bookshelves and walls.

It was a sad moment realizing that over 26 1/2 years, I’d spent a lot of time there. 

It was all over now – “a wrap”.

But like with anything that gets wrapped up, there is something after it. There is something new or different, something that will take its place.

“That’s a wrap” just leads to what comes next.

For me what comes next will unfold over time. But what first needs to happen is to establish a new routine. 

I’ve only been retired for five days now, so I’m not an expert. I’ve also spent most of that time at my cottage, so it feels more like a vacation than a retirement. When I get home, that’s when it’s going to be important for me to establish a new routine. 

I will end up with a routine no matter what, but I want my new routine to be something I design, something I desire and not something that just unfolds. 

When that first Monday morning hits, what will I do from 6 am to dinner time? How will those hours break down? 

I know that for me, I need things that will motivate me to get at tasks or activities and stick to them … or else I could revert back to those summer days when I was 15 years old. 

Remember them? – sleep till noon, wander around for the afternoon until you finally do something with your friends at night. 

… I don’t want to go back there. 

Here’s the thing: There is no real end when “that’s a wrap”; we roll into the next thing. And at the end of life, we will roll into eternity; our soul doesn’t end. It’s so important that you have a plan for what is next. The only way you can be sure that your “next” will be good is to plan now. Be sure you have a relationship with Jesus Christ. He came for you, paid for your sin and is waiting for you.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How are you planning for what’s next? Leave your comments and questions below. 

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When Enough Is Enough

When do you say, “enough is enough”? When does one get to the end of her rope and start to climb back up? 

A person can only take so much before he starts to lose it. 

Like with a hockey team that’s having a difficult season, you want to cheer them up, to tell them a win is just around the corner. … but it might not be. 

How do you keep them from giving up? How do you deal with things that take you to the edge of the cliff? 

It’s a tough question to answer. 

Where I work part of the building has a flat roof. It’s an older church and it was built in three main stages over a 60 year span. For the last little while we have had a leak dripping from the ceiling of one of the flat roofs.  

That’s not the problem, however. The problem is we have had repairmen come to fix the leak almost 10 times! 

And what is worse is that after every time they have come to fix the leak, the leak has gotten worse! It keeps spreading.

The latest development is that now the roof leaks regardless of whether it has been raining and regardless of the temperature. 

Right now the temperature is in the -15 C range, and it is still leaking! 

The water keeps coming in and so do the bills. 

When do you say, “Enough is enough! No more money until you fix the problem.”? 

I remember when our daughter was a baby, she had a strawberry birthmark on her forehead. One night she rubbed it against the bumper pad in her crib and it started to bleed. Lil and I couldn’t get it to stop so we took her to the emergency department at the hospital.  

The doctor looked at it, said she was fine and then left the job of bandaging the spot to a nurse and an intern. 

Lil and I watched as this pair tried several different ways to bandage our daughter’s forehead. 

We really raised our eyebrows when they put some gauge on the birthmark and then attempted to put a mesh band around her head to hold it in place. 

I could see Lil getting more and more upset as our daughter Karlie kept crying and grabbing at the mesh band.  

Finally Lily got to the end of her rope. 

She blurted out, “That’s enough! Get the doctor.” They stopped everything and one of them quickly went to get the doctor. 

… I realize the roofing company has to pay their employees for the work they are doing on our church, but they are not even slowing the leak down; they are making it worse with every visit! 

Maybe it’s time to say, “enough is enough”.

Here’s the thing: When you watch the news, and catch the latest media buzz, you realize that our world is getting sicker and sicker. The weather shows us this is true, and people and countries show us this is true. At some point God will say, “enough is enough”, and He will make things right. … Be ready and prepared for that day. You just don’t know when that will be. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: When was the last time you had enough? How did you handle it? Leave your comments below.

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The End Will Make Up For The Beginning

Sometimes the end can make up for all the disappointment that’s gone on before it.

That kind of sums up yesterday for me. I woke up to rainy drizzle which kind of set the tone for the day.

I checked the weather to see what I could expect and, though the rain was supposed to stop, it was to remain cloudy and cool for the rest of the day.

The outlook was not favourable to hit the beach, or really do anything outside; I wasn’t sure I would even be able to get my exercise in.

I have a radar app on my iPad which I also checked and noted that once the rain had ended there would be no more.

However, that proved to be a lie because there seemed to be a blowing mist in the air that made me feel like turning around and going back inside every time I attempted to go outside.

So what do you do when the weather is like that? … There were some who went golfing, but at 16° C with precipitation in the air, that’s not my kind of golfing weather.

In those conditions, if you hit a shot thin, your hands start to vibrate and, even if you don’t have arthritis, you’ll feel like you just got it for a few minutes. Sometimes your whole body feels like it’s vibrating – like a cartoon character that has just been electrocuted.

That’s not for me.

So the beach was out and golf was off my list. The only thing left to do was go shopping in town.

I went to a few big box stores but, though I didn’t have to focus on the weather while I was shopping, I wasn’t having any success finding the things I was looking for.

Another disappointment.

By late afternoon I was done with shopping and back at the cottage, a little more depressed and kind of tired from all the walking I’d done in the stores.

It didn’t help my mood that I had to have the windshield wipers on intermittent the whole way back.

I couldn’t bring myself to exercise so I just flopped on the couch for a while. Then out of sheer determination and fear that I would break my exercising streak of about half a year, I braved the outdoors again and exercised.

It provided little comfort, however, and didn’t put me in any better of a mood.

Well, that was until about 7:30 pm when the clouds rolled away, the wind stopped swirling and the sun came out and brightened things up.

And even that late in the day, with very few hours to enjoy it, somehow the day was redeemed. The sun made an appearance in the end and it changed everything about the day.

Here’s the thing: That is what it’s going to be like when Christ returns for those who follow Him. It won’t matter how bad the day, or life has been up until that time. All the disappointments, the discouragement, frustration and even harm that has taken place won’t be a consideration. When Christ comes it will be like the sun coming out at the end of a cloudy, rainy, cold day. And it will change our outlook and our disposition completely … forever.

It will be a great day.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: Are you prepared for Christ to change your day? Leave your comments below.