experiences

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Fickle Fans And Me Don’t Mix

In some cities fans are fickle; it doesn’t take much for them to give up.

I don’t get it – maybe because I grew up in Toronto, that hasn’t seen a Stanley Cup outside the Hockey Hall of Fame for 50 years.

I was 11 when the Leafs last won the Cup, but the thing is I still cheer for them like they’re going to win it this year.

… I figure I have at least a couple more years before I see that happen again.

But I know other cities – some that I’ve lived in – that are pretty quick to give up on their team if they aren’t doing well.

Those are fickle fans. A real fan is a fan through the good and the bad, the long and the short haul. The bottom line is you don’t turn on your team.

That’s what’s got me concerned about the city I live in right now. What kind of fans live here?

Some are whiners, some are only good time fans, some are complainers. Not many, apparently, are true fans.

The biggest hockey action in my town is OHL hockey – these are the kids that are feeding the pro ranks.

In my town, the Kingston Frontenacs are the top bill.

Last year the team made a run in the playoffs but fell short. This year was a building year. The team wasn’t supposed to do much, and were expected to finish near or at the bottom of the league.

Well, they surprised everyone – maybe even themselves. They ended up 4th in their division, giving them home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

Not too shabby in my books.

They did all this, mind you, with 13 sixteen and seventeen year olds, 4 of them on defence. That’s on a roaster of 23 guys.

To say they overachieved is a bit of an understatement!

But that doesn’t seem good enough for Kingstonians. The first two games of the playoffs saw smaller attendance numbers than an average regular season game this year … which was a far cry from last year’s attendance.

People blame it on many things: past experiences, higher ticket prices, waiting to see if they make it to the next round, and they don’t like where the arena was built. These are all excuses of fickle fans.

It’s almost like the fans said, “You had your chance last year and you blew it. We’re not doing that again.”

There are some people who wish for the good old days. They liked watching hockey then; those were real teams.

I remember my dad, at about age 70, was asked by another senior if he was going to attend a seniors’ service at his church.

He said he didn’t think he would go. The man replied, “We are going to sing hymns like the good old days.”

My dad’s reply was, “The good old days were not that good.”

We build the past up to be bigger than it was. The present is where it is at. Be a fan, not some fickle version of it!

Here’s the thing: When you make a commitment to Jesus Christ, it’s not some half-hearted, in the good times only commitment. You are trusting your life now and forever to Him and you need to give Him your all – not some whiny, looking back at the past, fickle version of it. Live your commitment.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How would you describe a real commitment? Leave your comments below.

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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.

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A Plan That’s Coming Together

My wife’s plan is slowly coming together, and so far it hasn’t cost me any blood, sweat or tears.

For the last couple of years Lily has wanted to redo our kitchen. All our appliances are over 20 years old and the counter top has a few nicks in it.

Those nicks, by the way, are all from Lily’s hand … although she only claims one of them to be hers for sure.

So the counter top seems to be the main item in this refurb, but along with it are some pretty expensive items that may be added a little later than sooner.

There was one item that she slipped in early and that was a new range. She said it made sense to have it in place when they came to measure for the new counter.

Now when I hear “range” I think of a farm, and cattle and grass and stubble. The range Lily had in mind was an induction top convection oven. I’m not sure what all that means other than you have to have the right kind of pots for the elements to work, and you can cook more than one sheet of cookies at the same time … which I’m all in favour of.

This reno may not have cost me blood, sweat and tears, but it is costing a few dollars.

I guess it’s time. This project has been on her list for ages and it seems that more than once we put it on hold because something else needed our attention and money.

At this point we are committed. A down payment has been made on the counter and they are coming to measure in a week or so. According to Lily they will install the counter about two weeks after that.

In the mean time, Lily has already painted the kitchen ceiling, and the range is in place. She still has to paint the walls, and arrange to have some tiling done above the counter.

But there is one other thing that needs to happen and it’s something I’m not too sure about … nor is Lily for that matter.

Rather than breaking the bank on new cupboards, Lily is going to paint our cupboards with some special cupboard paint.

That’s right, she found a paint that is specially designed for painting kitchen cabinets.

Personally, I’m afraid I will have to put on white gloves before I open any cupboard for fear of scratching the paint.

I can just see me putting on those white gloves just like the guy who carries the Stanley Cup.

We’ll probably have a little basket of them as you enter the kitchen. That way no one will be able to gouge Lily’s paint job.

It’s possible that this will work. My only fear is that in a year’s time, we will be looking to purchase new kitchen cabinetry … Cha Ching $$!

Here’s the thing: It’s easy to get in a rut, living with the same things, never changing or upgrading them. We can also live with things in our life, never dealing with or addressing them. We can do that for years, becoming very accustomed to those things – things that need to be replaced, things that need to go. There is no guarantee that making the changes will work out in the end, but give it a try. As uncomfortable as it might be, as inconvenient as it might seem while you are going through the change, in the end you will like the results.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you need to change in your life? Leave your comments below.

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I’m Going Through A Cold Spell Inside Me

I am cold and the temperatures outside are only serving to accentuate that fact.

Over the last few months I’ve dropped about 15 pounds. I’ve written a few posts describing the things I’ve done to lose this weight (you can read about them here and here).

I didn’t even set out to lose any weight, but rather to try to figure out what was causing my muscle issues when I played hockey.

The outcome of that experiment is that I’m not having muscle pain, I’ve lost some weight and the huge benefit is I feel great.

The downside to all this is that now I’m always freezing. I’m having a hard time keeping warm.

I will often wear my coat at work, and at home I immediately put on a sweatshirt. If I’m watching TV, I’ve probably got a blanket over me.

It’s frosty in my house. I’ve even thought of getting one of those TV blankets that has sleeves so that I’m actually wearing the blanket.

Well, not really; I wouldn’t get one of those things – that’s crazy! … well, unless they had a leopard patterned one … just kidding.

What’s making this worse is the temperatures outside. It’s halfway through March and suddenly we’re experiencing the longest cold snap of the winter.

I was hoping it would be getting warmer by now. But spring – really just spring weather – can’t come soon enough for me.

There is a senior man from my church who I visit fairly regularly who can’t get out to church. He’s always cold as well. He wears long johns in the summer … I’m feeling his pain right now.

I sure hope I level out by the summer time. I don’t think wearing long johns with shorts is that good a look … but I’m not a fashion guru.

These days when I shake people’s hands, I’m hoping that the warmth of their hands will transfer to mine and take some of the chill away.

Back in the fall when we bought a new vehicle, the only option my wife, Lily, really cared about getting was heated seats.

We had them added, but only for her sake.

Now I wish we had a remote for the heated seats so I could fire them up before I got into the car. At this point, if it isn’t instant heat, it’s not good enough for me.

In a couple of hours from now, I’m going to play hockey – more cold. I’m going to have to skate extra hard just to generate enough body temperature to combat the sub-freezing conditions of the arena.

Fortunately, my muscles are working well now, so I can go all out and skate hard.

I guess with every good thing there is something that’s not so good. But the way I feel right now, I will put up with being cold all the time. It’s worth it.

Here’s the thing: There are some things in life that we put up with, but are those things worth it? Are there things in your life that are destructive, harmful, negative, sinful that you just put up with? It’s time to take an inventory of the things we put up with; keep those things that are worth it and cut out the things that drag us down.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you put up with that’s worth it? Why? Leave your comments below.

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It’s Been A Month Of Exercise

In the past month I’ve only missed two days of exercise. For some people that might not be a big deal, but for me it’s huge.

This year so far I’ve been trying to complete the rings on my watch. I wrote a blog about it and you can read that one here.

The three rings represent calories burned while moving, standing for at least one minute for each of twelve hours in the day, and completing 30 minutes of exercise a day.

… That last ring needs some explaining: Exercise as recorded on my watch is any time my heart rate is elevated past a certain range for a minute or so.

Most days I will get a few minutes of exercise just doing what I do in a day. If I’ve walked somewhere fast or shovelled snow, I’ll get that ring to move a little.

There are some days – and in the last month there were two – that I completed that ring by doing everyday activities that elevated my heart rate for a total of 30 minutes in the day. But in the last 34 days, I’ve actually worked out 32 times.

… I haven’t been this active since I was in my early twenties and was always running, playing, and doing things every day!

Sometimes my workouts have been short, maybe twenty minutes on the bike or rowing machine; other days I’ve played hockey for 60 minutes or more.

There have been a few times that I’ve come home from work and felt too tired to exercise, but I’ve done it anyway.

Times that I couldn’t exercise between work and an evening meeting, even though it was 10:00 or 10:30 pm when I came home, I still put in time in the gym.

And that’s what’s helped me. I have a mini gym at home, one room in the house – my son’s old bedroom to be exact – where we have equipment and a TV.

The TV is critical because I don’t think I could keep working out without some kind of distraction.

I have three basic pieces of equipment that I use: a treadmill, my old bike on a trainer, and a rowing machine.

When I think about how well I’ve done exercising this past month, I also realize that it’s just a month. It’s too soon to say that I have a pattern or a way of life now that includes daily exercise.

And that is the important thing for me to remember. I’m not doing this to reach a goal, or to say that I completed something. I’m doing this to make a change to my life.

When I was young, I naturally got exercise every day. At my age and with my work, I have to build exercise into my routine because my days don’t naturally produce it.

I feel so good right now, maybe this is how I always felt when I was in my twenties … now I’m not taking it for granted.

Here’s the thing: I now have to work at something that I didn’t have to even think about 40 years ago. There was a time in your life when you didn’t think about changing or renewing yourself. But when you become a Christ-follower, you have to daily put on the new self, your Christ nature, by building the fruit of the Spirit into your life. Don’t neglect your new self.

That’s Life!

Paul

Galatians 5:22-23

Question: What are you doing to daily exercise your new nature?

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I’ve been Neglecting My Guitar 

I need to play my guitar; I think it’s feeling a little neglected.

I don’t play the guitar all that well, and maybe that’s part of the reason it has been sitting on the shelf so-to-speak … but I do like to strum and play some songs.

When my kids were young, I would play songs like “Cat’s in the Cradle” by Harry Chapin, and they would bounce up and down on the bed, while screaming out the words to the song.

I’ve played the guitar for about 30 years, but I have about 5 years of real experience … and about 6 months’ worth of talent.

When I was a youth pastor I wanted to lead my teens in worship, so a friend and colleague got me started.

I never really progressed much past that, and it was a bit of a relief when the students in my youth group got good enough to lead. They formed bands and took over all the worship for the group.

Since that time I’ve really only played for myself and my kids. Both of them now play a little too … and I think they’re both better at it than I am.

I chock it up to not having great hand-eye coordination. I see where my fingers need to go on the strings to form the chord; I just can’t get them on the right strings fast enough.

It’s like I’m in slow motion.

It’s easy to tell it’s been a while since I’ve played the guitar: there is a thin layer of dust on the guitar neck and when my wife strummed the strings, wow, were they ever out of tune!

And speaking of tuning, I’ve never been great at that either. Maybe my hearing is off, because even with my digital tuning device, I can still mess up the tuning.

With all these negative thoughts, you might wonder why I bother to still own a guitar.

The truth of the matter is I don’t even put it away. My guitar is always on a stand, prominently displayed in our family room. Why, you ask? – so it’s always right there, ready to be played.

It’s like keeping my hockey sticks in the car all winter long, or keeping my golf clubs in the trunk all summer, just so that I am ready to play at a moment’s notice.

I don’t think Lily would appreciate me keeping my bike on the roof carrier though. That might be too over-the-top – plus then our vehicle wouldn’t fit in the garage.

Hearing that out of tune guitar this morning did stir something in me. I think before the day is done I will try to bring those strings into harmony with each other and then pluck away for a little while.

I’ve always found playing the guitar a little soothing to my soul.

Here’s the thing: There are times in our life when we might find that we are neglecting God with our time. We can get busy doing other things; family responsibilities can get in the way; our Bible collects dust, and we become a little out of tune with our Lord. Let me encourage you! No matter how long it’s been, don’t play the guilt song. Just pick up that Bible and sit with the Lord for a while and have a conversation. He hasn’t gone anywhere; He’s right there waiting for you to check in with Him again.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What has kept you from spending time with God in the past? Leave your comments below.

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Tempted With Files On My Desktop

The other day I wrote about cleaning up my computer desktop. Just a few days in, I’m already tempted to leave files on my home screen.

When I cleaned my desktop, it looked so good I just had to admire it for a while. I never wanted to leave another file on the screen again.

But a few days later, I find that my desktop is the natural, easiest place to put files.

For example, I had just downloaded a recording of my sermon from Sunday and it landed on my home screen. The recording needed editing before I could post it on the website. Naturally, I wanted it right in front of me to remind me I needed to do that.

Fortunately I had time right away, did my editing and then posted it to our site.

But then I had two files on my desktop – the unedited version and the one that was posted. I could have trashed the original download, but I thought I’d keep it just in case, while the edited version needed to be uploaded to an external hard drive for storing.

That involved another step which I wasn’t sure I wanted to do right then.

But as I looked at my clean screen, I didn’t want it to be blemished so I quickly put the file where it was to go and trashed the original.

My desktop was pristine again.

But for how long? How long will it be before I’m in a hurry or won’t know where to put a file or folder, defaulting to let it just sit on my desktop?

And when one things sits there, soon there will be more. The more there are, the harder it is to clear that screen.

It’s like the episode of the “I Love Lucy” show where Lucy was working on an assembly line in a chocolate factory. Her job was to move chocolates from a conveyor belt into boxes.

The machine started off slowly, but quickly sped up. The chocolates started coming too fast for Lucy. She was frantic and tried different tactics to keep up.

She first put her arm down on the conveyor belt to pile the chocolates up but that just made a mess. Then she started to dump them into her apron to clear the conveyor belt and catch up.  And then she started to eat the chocolates.

In the end, she was doing everything. She had chocolates backed up, her mouth was full of them, she had chocolate all over her face and her apron was overflowing.

What a mess!

It was an chaotic scene. … But that’s also how my desktop gets filled back up.

I love how it looks right now. But I just know the conveyor belt is going to speed up with all those files.

Here’s the thing: Sin works like that in our lives. When we sin once, it’s easy to confess it before God. But sometimes we sin and are not prepared to confess it, often because we are ashamed or still upset. So the sin remains. Then we sin in another area and let that go as well – more unconfessed sin. Pretty soon we are looking like a scene out of “I love Lucy” but with our sin instead of chocolate. Keep short accounts of your sins; deal with each one right away. Don’t let sin build up in your life and hinder your relationship with God.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you do to keep your desktop clear, or your soul right with God? Leave your comments below.

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I’m In Need Of A Desktop Cleaning

It’s my day off but I’m going to do a form of cleaning that I don’t really consider day off kind of work.

In the cartoon “Popeye”, when he would get to the end of his patience or the end of himself, Popeye would say “that’s all I can stands; I can’t stands no more”. Then he would eat a can of spinach.

You really should read that out loud with one eye shut, speak out of one side of your mouth and have a pipe stuck between your teeth.

Okay now that you’ve said it, that’s how I feel about my computer desktop. I’ve written about this before but it’s time again to address the mess that I have to stare at each and every day.

I have a few home screens that I switch between and, on two of them, I have family pictures. Those faces are skewed because of the number of files that are littering my home screen.

You would think that having those files right there to see would make it easy to find them, but it doesn’t work that way. When you have a screen that looks like mine, it takes longer that if they were filed in some kind of logical order.

Well today’s the day that I’m going to make my computer a little more functional again.

I’m not sure what got me to the point of not being able to “stands it” any longer, but it may have been a comment made by someone the other day.

I was showing a group of people a seminar video from my computer which was hooked up to a projector. For a brief time, the whole group could see what my computer screen looked like.

To make it worse, the projector showed my screen at a lower resolution so the aspect of my screen changed and all the files were condensed and jammed together.

One person said, “Your desktop is a mess.”

Now I didn’t want to call him “Captain Obvious”, but I’ve been living with this messy screen for about a year now.

I just have not wanted to tackle it. There was always something else to do.

I didn’t want to have to think up places for these files to go. It was easier to just leave them there and not deal with them.

Well, today I’m going to deal with it. I will probably trash some files, organize others into folders, and probably move some to a hard drive off my computer.

One of the reasons I’ve taken so long to do this is that I don’t have a space problem on my computer. I have tons of room on my hard drive.

If my HD was nearly full, I would have been forced to do something with these files by now. But there’s no necessity for that.

The only reason I am doing this at this time is that I’m feeling like Popeye the sailor man today – “I can’t stands it”.

Here’s the thing: How is your life right now? Is it a little cluttered with sin, some poor habits, maybe even an attachment to something that’s not healthy? Maybe it doesn’t seem that bad to you right now. But why wait till you “can’t stands it” any longer? It’s impeding your progress now. Don’t wait until you’re buried under it. Do some house (life) cleaning with God today. Confess those sins, turn from them, and ask God by the Holy Spirit to help you clean up your life.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What’s been cluttering your life these days? Leave your comments below.

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I Didn’t Realize How Precious Quiet Is

My house is quiet right now. Normally at 9:30 on a Saturday morning there is the sound of footsteps on the hardwood, the sound of dishes pre or post breakfast being put in the dishwasher.

But not this morning.

It’s just me at home; Lily has gone to Toronto to visit our kids. Sitting here right now, I am very aware of the quiet.

Now it’s not completely quiet – there are the faint sounds of cars going up the street, and the chirping of birds every once in a while.

But it’s quiet and that is rare for me.

For Lily this would not happen because, though she is home alone most days, and could possibly experience the quiet that I am right now, she has tinnitus so she always has a background track of static or white noise going on.

It’s interesting that she has this ear condition and not me. In my late teens and early twenties I went to a lot of rock concerts where the sound left your ears ringing when it was over.

I went to one concert – Emerson Lake and Palmer (ELP) – that was actually outside in a football stadium. My seat was half way back from the stage and it still left my ears ringing for three days afterwards.

Yet here I sit in silence … except now the hum of the furnace is kicking in.

I wonder how much we take note of the quiet. Mostly we are surrounded by noise. We turn on the TV or play our music, not really to listen to it, but to have a background track to our life.

When I go biking, if I’m alone I will often put my earbuds in and listen to tunes. Rarely will I just ride unaccompanied.

Even yesterday when I had finished writing my sermon, and I was finishing up some work that didn’t require much focus or concentration, I turned on some music to fill the air with sound waves that just added a little distraction to the routine work I was engaged in.

In the quietness of the present, I remember the days when our children were young and they wouldn’t interrupt the silence … they were the background track to our lives.

There was always noise from them, and if there wasn’t, that was not a good thing.

But here I am – no kids, no TV, no iTunes – just me and the clicking of the keyboard.

I have to say, it’s pretty peaceful; it’s calming, unhurried, unforced.

And those words remind me of verses in the Bible, in Matthew 11:28-30, that Eugene Peterson interpreted for “the Message”.

It may be one of the most peaceful passages in the Bible:

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me – watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

You might want to read that again, slowly. We could do with a little more peace and quiet in our lives.

Here’s the thing: I don’t need to say much more. Find some quiet in your day – five minutes, ten, whatever you can eek out – and spend some unforced rest with God. It will bring peace into your noisy life.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you do to find some quiet time? Leave your comments below.

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Decluttering Electronic Waste

I’m looking at a pile of electronic waste I need to dispose of. It’s surprising how it can accumulate and become clutter that you live with.

Recently we were cleaning up the laundry room to prepare for a new washer and dryer (read about that here), and I noticed how much old electronics we had kicking around.

There’s an old TV – tube television that is – with a built-in VCR, an old laser printer, and a couple of satellite receivers.

I don’t want to say this too loudly in case Lily hears it, but I think if I looked harder around the house I could find more old electronics that could find their way to the electronic waste site.

And that is the problem right there. With any other trash in our house, we collect it in waste bins and then put it out by the curb for the garbage truck to haul away.

It happens weekly so there is never too much of a build-up. Maybe at Christmas time we need to put out more than one bag of garbage, but other than that, most weeks we put out less than half a green garbage bag of trash.

Then there is the recycling. We have a green bin as well as blue and grey boxes. But again, they are picked up weekly; we never get a build-up.

With electronic waste, it’s different. It doesn’t go to the curb; you have to take it somewhere.

I’m never sure where that somewhere is either, giving me more reason for keeping it in the house.

Electronic waste also still looks useful, unlike other garbage. It might not work, it may be old technology, but when you look at it, it looks like you could still turn it on.

So I hate to get rid of it. I’m thinking maybe there will be a time when some parts can come in handy or someone will come up with a great idea for an alternative use for these items.

Years ago Apple made a computer that had a nine inch screen. Did I mention it was a monochrome monitor? Yes it was.

Well, after computing had long progressed past the Mac plus or Mac Classic, people starting using the frames of these computers for things like goldfish bowls.

That may not be an exciting alternative use for the product, but you never know what someone will think up.

I have an old desktop computer that still sits on a desk in our basement … I’m sure that one day there will be a use for it. In the meantime, it has a real retro look to it.

These old electronics, that are spread out in different rooms in our house, seem to fit somehow. But now that a few of them have been placed together in a pile, I can see they really are good for nothing.

They just have to go.

Here’s the thing: It’s good to review your life and evaluate the things that are not of value, or may be negatively impacting your spiritual life. When you identify them as such, then you realize how they stand in your way of having a more meaningful relationship with God. If you don’t evaluate them, they will clutter up your life, preventing you from realizing why you seem to be stuck spiritually. You need a disposal of waste to declutter your spiritual life.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How do you evaluate the clutter to your spiritual life? Leave your comments below.