event

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I Can’t Believe I Forgot that Event!

How can you forget an event you had planned for and were looking forward to? … You might do that if you were very busy and it was just one of many things you had to do.

KF-Game-Spotlight

Well, I did that when I had nothing else to do. And it wasn’t like I remembered part way through and was able to just get there late. I didn’t think of it until it was over!

It was New Year’s Day, our daughter was in town and there was an OHL hockey game scheduled. Being the chaplain of the team, I’m kind of expected to show up to games.

I usually make arrangement for tickets the week of a game, but with the holidays things got messed up. So just two days before the game, I called a guy and arranged to get three tickets.

The tickets would be waiting for me at the main gate … They’re probably still there waiting for me.

I was looking forward to going with Lily and Karlie. We didn’t have anything else to do or anywhere else to go, so it was perfect.

New Year’s Day was a pretty lazy affair. I went to see Star Wars in an empty theatre with my son, took an afternoon nap, and worked on my sermon.

I was looking for something to do, wanting something to do before Lily suggested something that I didn’t want to do.

She suggested that we play a game … and in hindsight you’d think that would have triggered thoughts of the hockey game we had tickets to.

Since I’m not a fan of playing games, and since I had nothing else to do, I decided it would be a good time to put the winter tires on the car … I didn’t really want to change the tires but it was something that needed to get done.

After that task was finished, I checked in with Lily and Karlie playing a game, each of them trying to beat the other and beat their own scores.

That didn’t even jiggle loose any memory of the hockey game from the far regions of my brain.

I then decided it would be a good time to rent a movie. After checking out all the possibilities on TV and having to make a tough decision on a rental, I finally settled down to my movie.

The first couple of scenes came on and I don’t even know what it was, but all of a sudden I remembered – WE HAD TICKETS TO THE GAME TONIGHT!

It was 9:30 pm at that point; the game would have been over. I yelled down to Lily and Karlie, “We forgot we had tickets to the game tonight!” … I heard many groans of disappointment from the basement.

It turned out that the boys didn’t need me cheering them on. They won 5-3 on their own.

Maybe I need a little more in my schedule to keep me attentive to the things I have planned.

Here’s the thing: I don’t know how many times I have forgotten to ask God for help, until it was almost too late or was too late. There have been times someone else has said to me, “Have you prayed about that yet?”, and no, I hadn’t. The great news is God never forgets about us, so learn from your forgetfulness and keep going. There’s always another game.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What are some reasons why you don’t think of first asking God for help? Leave your comment below.

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Being Ready on Time

A while ago, Lily and I had a function we needed to be dressed up for.  I worked around the house in the morning, and wasn’t ready to go anywhere.  Lily, on the other hand, had already been out a couple of times that morning.

At lunch we made a plan to get out the door in 20 minutes.  Lily said, “I’m ready.  I just have to get changed, and I know what I’m wearing.”  Me?  Well, I still had to shower, shave, and I hadn’t thought of what I was going to wear.

Getting up from the table we both got busy.  By the time I finished my shower and was on to shaving, I heard a disturbing announcement.  The words were “this outfit isn’t going to work”.

I ignored the comment and kept going; I had a deadline to meet.  When I finished in the bathroom, it appeared that Lily had already tried on and rejected a couple of outfits.  I went straight to the closet, looked in, saw my blue suit and made my choice.  Lily was still deciding what to wear.

Given how we started, how was she panicking and I was right on schedule?  I think I figured it out.  It’s our approach to clothes.

When I looked in the closet and saw my blue suit, the only decision I had to make was which shirt to wear with it.  I have three:  a white one which was in the wash, a blue one which was not really appropriate for the occasion, and a grey one which would work just fine. It was that simple for me.

However, when Lily goes to the closet she sees individual pieces of clothing.  She has to determine which pieces might go together and look the best, kind of like choosing to purchase a new outfit.  She’s had the same clothes in her closet for some time and used them in different combinations, yet still she doesn’t think of what has worked before.  It’s a brand new outfit she is looking for!

I think that’s why there are so many women’s clothing stores in shopping malls.  Women are so used to looking for brand new outfits at home, the store becomes an extension of their home closet.

My solution would be to make an outfit playbook, like they have in football.  You lay out the outfits on the bed or put them on and take pictures of all the combinations.  Then, print them out and put them on your wrist band for easy access in making the call.  You just pick the combo that looks best to you given how you feel and how the defense is shaping up.

In the end, Lily found a combination that worked well and we made it to the function on time.  (I can’t help but point out that, despite how we started, I was still waiting at the front door for her – not that unusual.)

Here’s the thing:  We’re going to get ready for God.  Some will get ready quickly and some will take some time to figure it out.  But we will all get ready to meet God one day. I want to be sure that I’m fully dressed when the time comes and not caught still deciding about Him.  That will be one function I don’t want to be unprepared for.

Until Next Time!

Pastor Paul

Question:  If you stood before God today, and He said to you, “Why should I let you into my heaven?”  What would you say?