equipment

by

Equipment You Like Is Going To Stay With You

When you have good equipment, you wear it out before you give it up.

equipment you like is going to stay with you

It doesn’t matter what the equipment might be – a kitchen appliance or a tool on your work bench – if you like how it feels when you pick it up or how it works when you use it, it will wear out before you toss it out.

I was recently thinking about equipment I’ve had over the years at work and in sports. I have had equipment that has stayed by my side or in my bag for decades.

The skates I wore before my present pair, I had for 23 years. I loved them and hated to give them up. I don’t know how many blades I put on those skate or how many blade housings I had to replace, but I just kept doing it because I loved those skates.

The other day I was playing golf with a couple of high school friends. About four holes in, one of the guys came over to me on the green and showed me his putter.

It was the same putter as mine. … I’ve had this putter since I was 22 – that’s a 44 year old putter! 

There have been times I’ve thought about getting a new one, but as much as I might like to blame my putting on the putter, its the guy holding it that’s missing the putts. 

Over the years I’ve cut a few inches off the shaft and I’ll probably get it re-gripped one day, but I don’t think I’ll ever replace it. It’s like a part of me. 

Equipment you like is comfortable. It’s like that old sofa in your family room – it’s soft and you sink into it like a big hug that’s wrapping its arms around you. 

You could stay there all day … and, frankly, sometimes I do. 

I have a baseball glove that’s been with me for 39 years. The pocket is deep and wide and the leather has been soft from day one. I’ve caught many a fly ball with this glove. I’ve restrung it countless times. I love it and won’t part with it. 

As I’m winding up my career, there has been equipment that has been with me a long time, like my main Bible. I have lots of Bibles but there’s one that I use every day. It travels with me and is the Bible I preach from each week. 

I got one of these Bibles in 1988 and really liked it. I still have it. I used it the last two years for a Bible Study I led.

Its cover is worn out, the binding is shot and some of the pages are torn and held together with tape. The cover acts more like a file folder than a book. I can’t take it anywhere any more. I can’t preach from it; pages could fall out. 

But this beauty has memories and I’m not getting rid of it. It’s the kind of equipment you don’t toss out.

Here’s the thing: There are several verses in the Bible that state that God will never leave you nor forsake you. Those verses are addressed to those who love Him. The thing I like about those verses is that no matter how worn out or torn up we get, how old we become or tattered we look, if life has been rough on us or we have had tough falls and failures, God is not going to leave us. He’s going to keep us. … Pretty comforting, don’t you think? 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What equipment have you kept and don’t want to part with? Leave your comments and questions below.

Subscribe to my blog and receive posts like this one to your email twice weekly.

by

I Think I Might Be Losing My Touch

I may be losing my touch; on the other hand, I might just need a change in equipment.

I’m leaning towards it being the equipment’s fault, and not me because I don’t want to give into the idea that it’s really me.

Over the last month, I’ve noticed that I haven’t had the same touch with the puck when playing hockey.

I seem to be aiming right at the goalie when I shoot, or I’m missing the net. I just don’t seem to have the same authority when I fire the puck any more.

It could be that I’m in a slump right now … that happens even to the pros.

When I watch the pros on TV miss the net, I get frustrated with them. I figure, as professionals practicing or playing pretty much every day, they shouldn’t miss when they shoot, and they shouldn’t put their shots right into the goalie’s body. But they do sometimes.

I guess, based on that, I should give myself a break. But I don’t; I figure there is something wrong.

In some ways I’m hoping that it’s my stick. I’ve had the same one for a while now. It could be suffering from carbon fibre fatigue – that’s something like metal fatigue, only with the material the stick is made out of.

If it’s the stick, at least it wouldn’t be my fault. But purchasing a new stick that runs in the $300 range isn’t something I would like to have to afford right now.

If it’s me, I can’t fix that, but at least it wouldn’t cost me so much money.

I remember the days when I was in my 20’s and I would take my wooden sticks back to Canadian Tire for a refund when they broke.

All sticks would break, but if I could get mine to break within the first two weeks, I could get a new stick for free.

It was a good deal. I don’t think I paid for more than about four sticks per season … but in those days sticks only cost about thirteen dollars.

Now they are crazy expensive but are supposed to last a long time. I try to avoid taking slap shots to reduce the wear and tear on mine.

I do that for two reasons: first, economically, I want my stick to last a long time; second, I don’t have a great snapshot anyway.

I cut so much off my sticks that I ruin the flex point and technology of the shaft’s design.

Right now I don’t have any answers; I’m just a little frustrated.

Who knows? Maybe in a few weeks I’ll be able to work it out. Then I won’t have to blame my hockey stick for any of this.

But up until then, I’m putting all the blame on my stick … that way I don’t feel so old.

Here’s the thing:  Some people always look for someone else to blame. When something really bad happens, they blame God. It’s easier to blame God for something than to admit you are the problem or that it is a natural consequence. That way you don’t have to take any responsibility, or change, or admit to anything. But doing that only keeps you from owning up to the truth; it keeps you from getting back on track.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What have you blamed God or someone else for this week? Leave your comments below.