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Losing Is Not An Option

I don’t like losing things. Maybe that’s why I keep my things close to me. 

I’m not the kind of person who puts my keys down on a table. I don’t pull my wallet out of my pocket unless I’m paying for something … and now that I use my watch for many transactions, I don’t even have to pull the wallet out that much.

I know where my things are so I don’t have to look for them. 

But there are times when things get misplaced, or you do something you don’t normally do and forget where you put that thing.  

Fortunately, in those circumstance, I’m pretty good at remembering my last steps. Usually within a minute or two of tracing my steps I can find what I’ve lost. 

I know people who are always putting their keys or wallet down and, as a result, are regularly looking for them.

Some people are not good at remembering where they put things, or they’re not very observant and don’t see things right in front of them. 

I remember when my sister was young, I could ask her to get something that was in the middle of a room and she would come back empty-handed. She’d say she couldn’t find it, and then I’d go into the room and locate it right away.

The other day, however, I was biking and lost my bike computer. I was surprised because this watch-sized computer locks very securely onto my bike. 

The biggest hindrance to finding it was that I didn’t know exactly where I’d lost it. I hadn’t noticed it was gone right away and when I did, well, let’s just say I’d covered more than several kilometres of trail.

And that’s the other thing … it’s not like it was on a road, or a clear surface. I ride on trails that are uneven, hard-packed dirt, covered with leaves, twigs and the like. It would have been easy for the computer to even bounce off the trail and be covered by foliage. 

I remembered hitting the end of my handlebar hard against a rock cliff outcropping that gave me a good jolt. Maybe it was there that the computer came off. 

I spent an hour going back very slowly over the trail but didn’t find it. 

A few years ago, I had lost a fitbit off my shorts while biking and never found it either. I figured that this computer would be the same, that I’d never see it again. 

Then, three days later someone posted on the bike club’s facebook page that he found it. 

Like finding a needle in a haystack, somehow this guy found my bike computer. Obviously he had greater observation powers than my sister.

I still don’t like losing things, but now I have a second chance with this little gizmo.

Here’s the thing: Sometimes we can lose our way, get off track, and not know how to get back. We are lost. Never forget that no matter how lost you feel, how far from God you have become separated, He doesn’t stop coming after us. God never loses sight of us and if you will stop where you are and look, you will be found by Him. What has caused you to lose your way? Give it up; confess it. He will pick you up and you will find your way.

That’s Life,

Paul

Question: Is there something that’s gotten you off track? Leave your comments below.

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Break The Busy With A Getaway

When you are really busy, sometimes getting away is the best thing for you. 

… I don’t mean getting away in the sense that you drop everything that is creating the busyness in your life. I mean taking all that’s making you busy with you on your getaway.

It’s that old saying, “A change is as good as a break.” 

There have been times when I’ve taken my computer and headed to a coffee shop and worked there for part of the afternoon. 

If you know me, that’s a very odd thing for me to do. 

First all all, I don’t like coffee, tea or anything mocha. I can go months without stepping inside a Tim Horton’s, and when I do, it’s for a donut, not a coffee. 

I’m never in line for a macchiato espresso grande with a shot of cream. … You get the idea; I don’t frequent coffee shops. 

But the other reason this would be strange for me is that I need quiet to study.

Coffee shops are not quiet; they are community gathering spots. People go there for coffee but also to talk, to catch up, to share coffee and conversation. 

When I study, I don’t like music in the background or I will start drumming on my desk. I don’t like noises outside my office window or I will be poking my head through the blinds to see what’s going on out there. 

I like silence or I get distracted; I lose my focus. 

But for some reason that I don’t understand, the times I’ve gone to a coffee shop to work, I’ve found that I can get things done. 

I’m able to shut out the individual voices and settle down in the hum of background noise. 

I look like I fit right in … except I’m the only one sucking back a three dollar water and nibbling on an oatmeal and raisin cookie.

I don’t do this all that often, but the break, the change of scenery, the different environment helps me to get my work done. 

Well, this week I was anticipating a very busy week, so Lily and I headed up to our cottage … you know, that “change of scenery” thing. 

I worked long mornings both days we were there, but I was working in the environment where I spend most of my vacation time. 

I worked from a sofa, with the sun breaking through the windows. I didn’t walk around; I didn’t sit looking at the scenery. It was just a different, quiet, relaxing atmosphere to work in. It was a getaway. 

I was able to get a lot of work done, while also getting a much needed break.

Maybe the incentives of the cottage helped me get more done because, along with work, I was able to get in a bike ride, a little time on the beach and take in an amazing sunset (check out my quick video here: vimeo.com/292474748 ).

All in all, this getaway helped me accomplish what I needed to set me up for what would take place from Wednesday to Sunday.

Here’s the thing: Have you ever found yourself in a rut when spending time with God, like you are going through the motions? Maybe there is no emotion when you are doing your devotions, nothing stirring your heart towards God. Well, perhaps you need a getaway, a change of scenery, a fresh place to spend that time. Try something different and see if your time with God isn’t transformed by a getaway.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How could you be refreshed by a getaway? Leave your comments below.

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Braking Is Overrated

There are times when it’s necessary to put on the brakes, but more often it’s better to be aware and adjust your speed. You don’t always have to brake. 

I drive behind so many people who put on their brakes going down a hill, with no one in front of them, and not going faster than the speed limit. They just like to put on their brakes.

Maybe they like to test their brakes to see if they’ll work in an emergency. 

To be honest, we don’t need to brake as much as we need to be aware of our surroundings.

When I mountain bike, I try to use my brakes as little as possible. Every time you touch the brakes, you lose some momentum. 

It’s not exactly the same in a car, but still we should look first before we brake. Many people brake before they look … or just hit the brakes because they haven’t in the last thirty seconds.

What really bugs me is the bumper sticker I’ve seen lately while driving around my city. I saw two cars in front of me the other day, both with that same sticker. It read “I brake for turtles”.

There may be many things you should or could do when you see a turtle on the road, but braking is not one of them.

Turtles don’t move very fast. It’s easy to gauge where they will be when your wheels go by them. You can move slightly in the lane to make sure they come between you tires.  

Please don’t brake. You’re more likely to cause an accident if you do, and then you might skid or be pushed by another car right into the turtle, squashing him in the middle of the road. 

I like turtles. We owned a turtle for about seven years. 

I remember when we got Winston, the water filter was so powerful it would literally push him around the tank, despite his desperate paddling like mad to get some control. … He was only the size of a toonie at that time.

We gave him to a family several years ago and sadly lost track of his address. With no cell phone or email for him, we had no way of tracking the poor little guy.

I still think of Winston and wonder what he might be doing today – maybe sunning himself on his rock or, heaven forbid, in some kind of turtle soup. 

I do like turtles, and I don’t want to see them get hurt, but let’s not brake for them. 

… For that matter, I can’t remember the last time I saw a turtle on the road, yet our city spent eleven million dollars to put up fencing so that turtles couldn’t get on the road! 

Instead of braking, look. If you see a turtle, you can avoid hitting it without evasive maneuvering or screeching to a halt. 

A good rule for driving – whether there is a pack of turtles on the road or you just haven’t touched your brakes in the last ten seconds – is to simply let your foot off the gas and look.  Just look around; just be aware. You might even save a turtle’s life.

Here’s the thing: Many times we react quickly to what is happening in our lives. We react immediately, much like touching the brakes on a car. But rather than reacting, it is better to pause, get a sense of what God might be doing or teaching you, and then respond with the correct action. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you need to refrain from reacting to right now? Leave your comments below.

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Contrasts and Comparisons

There are some contrasts that automatically illicit a comparison.

The other day when I was talking with friend in Calgary, he mentioned that overnight they had gotten their first snowfall. It left just a light dusting over the ground and probably by midday would be all gone. 

But this was September 14th, and it made me feel kind of sad for him. In fact, I felt so bad about that snow report that I couldn’t bring myself to tell him what the weather was like in eastern Canada. 

It was 9:30 in the morning and the sun was shining in my window. It was 24°C outside, but felt closer to 30° with the humidity. I had the air conditioner on in my office.

Then he told me it would probably get up to 6 or 7° that day. I just couldn’t rub it in.

I felt for a moment like I was in Florida and it was the middle of February or something. I almost mistook the evergreen tree out my window for a palm tree.

The contrast was just way too much for me to say anything. 

Besides, it’s September and the cold weather will be coming to us soon enough. I just didn’t want to jinx what we were experiencing here in Kingston.

Yes, I know that sounds superstitious, and I know there is nothing to it. 

… But when my hockey team is winning 3-0 near the end of the game, I don’t say the word “shutout” until the game is over … I’m just say’n.

It’s not like I turn my ball cap around backwards, or flip up the brim when my baseball team starts a comeback. 

… Oh wait, I have done that … never mind.

Relax, I really do know there is nothing to all that.

It was still impossible to avoid comparing my region’s temperature with his.

The contrast in weather in different parts of the country only really makes a difference when you know someone in that part of the country. Then you compare. 

I compare the weather I’m experiencing in Kingston to what my son and daughter are experiencing in Toronto. 

And I do the same with Lily’s family in Ottawa. 

I even compare the weather when I’m at our cottage with the weather back home in Kingston. 

I always feel better when it is nicer where I am than in another region. But that doesn’t mean I have to gloat or make someone feel bad for experiencing poorer weather than me. 

I don’t have to verbalized a comparison of the contrast. They might be perfectly fine with the weather they are experiencing. 

I could tell my friend was embracing his weather. And that was another good reason for me not to burst his bubble with my +19° difference.

It’s all good.

Here’s the thing: It’s almost impossible to not make a comparison of contrasts. And if the contrast has to do with a spiritual condition, there’s often an immediate and natural reaction of feeling better than them. But remember, if it wasn’t for Christ in your life, you would be where they are. Let that thought stop you from comparing and cause you to put yourself in their shoes. After all, you’ve been there. Then respond to them without comparing. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What have you been comparing lately? Leave your comments below.

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I’m So Frustrated With This City!

I have to rip on a city. I don’t want to call them out, but I can’t help myself right now. 

Richmond Hill, Ontario is just beyond the borders of Toronto, and is part of the GTA. The people that run that city have deep issues they need to seek help for. 

Here’s my story:  

The other day we left Kingston to spend the night at our daughter’s place in Richmond Hill. No big deal – thousands upon thousands of parents do this kind of thing all the time.

But it was 6 pm when we left home and we forgot to tell our daughter to get us a parking pass. 

No, our daughter doesn’t live in a parking lot or on a major street or even a busy street. She just lives on a residential street in a quiet part of the city. 

But you can’t park at night on a street ANYWHERE in Richmond Hill without a parking pass! 

It’s not the cost that bugs me so much; it’s the hassle of obtaining a pass.

It was later in the evening when we got to her place. Our daughter was out of printer ink so we had to drive to her work to order and print the parking pass from the city’s website. 

Where I live, if I need to park somewhere, I go on an app on my phone, and in a couple of clicks I’ve paid for my parking. It’s all done via the app – no printing required; nothing to put on the dash of your car.

It’s simple and quick. 

Not in Richmond Hill! They apparently don’t know about cell phones and apps. You have to print out a copy of the pass that you ordered on their website.

Not only that, but Richmond Hill has now added a complication to the process. Before, we could go on the website and type in the address of where we wanted to park. Now we’re required to have an account! 

You have to sign up and create a password – including a capital, a number and some other squiggle mark – just to park your car!

It’s not getting easier to park in Richmond Hill. And unfortunately, after doing all that, our payment was declined due to some website error … three times … on two different valid credit cards by two different people.

So there we were, at our daughter’s work, at almost 10 pm, with no way of obtaining a pass to park on her street. 

We had to go back to her house, get her car, and drive back to her work to leave our car there for the night. 

Is it possible for Richmond Hill to be a more uninviting city? I think not!

Maybe they don’t like the riffraff of family visiting their children.

Whatever their reason for making people’s visits so frustrating, it makes me want to grab a can of spray paint and graffiti something on their city hall.  

What am I thinking?! I’d probably have to get an account on their website to pay for a graffiti pass.

… You know, I feel a little better getting all that off my chest.

Here’s the thing: There are times when we get really frustrated with God. Maybe we are going through a difficult time, or God’s not answering our prayers. Often we bottle those feelings up and hold them against God. But instead, we should tell God how we feel. Let Him know your frustration. There are so many Psalms that start with the Psalmist wondering why God’s not helping, but by the end of the Psalm he has turned to praising God. Get it off your chest and see how God will change your feelings.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What’s been really bugging you lately? Leave your comments below.

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Can You Really Love Enough?

According to Hughie Lewis, “Love is a Curious Thing” – that was the title of one of his songs from the 80’s.  

But love is also complicated. 

Last week when I was writing my sermon, I was struck by an aspect of love in a fresh way: When you love someone, that love must grow or it will die. 

In other words, if you don’t continue loving more, you will end up loving less and less. 

Love decays if left unattended.

That is true with everything in this world. 

You leave metal out … it rusts. You leave grass alone … it gets full of weeds. You leave food out … it goes bad. You leave a pond without any water flow or some kind of filter … it gets stagnant. 

Pretty much everything decays, rots, or spoils if you don’t treat it, take care of it, or help it along in some way. 

There is plastic, however … it seems to last and last and never go away. Landfills are full of it; the oceans have flotillas of it. But even with plastic, scientists are finding that if you leave a plastic bottle of water in a warm environment long enough, it will produce cancer-causing molecules in the water. 

Nothing stays the same. 

Mountains erode; natural disasters get more disastrous. Why would we ever think that love can just stay the same, that it doesn’t change? 

There is an old joke about a couple who went to see a marriage counsellor. The wife complained that her husband never told her that he loved her. The man replied, “I told her I loved her on our wedding day and, if anything changes, I will let her know.” 

Unfortunately, that’s not true. Your love can’t stay the same; it will either increase or it will decrease.

When a couple gets married, they can look in each other’s eyes and say, “I love you with all my heart” and it’s true. 

But after a few years, that couple has shared many experiences – some really good ones and some not so good. 

If knowing each other more through those experiences doesn’t cause each one to increase their love for the other, it will produce a decrease. 

The more you know, the more you have to love or you will love less because you now know more. 

Perhaps we have so many marriages that end in divorce because people are still loving their spouses with the same amount of love they did when they got married – only that’s not enough love to hold a couple together after a few years. They need to love more.

For love to increase in the wake of experience, you have to embrace the good and you have to deal with the bad. 

You must determine to expand your love, nurture it, care for it, and constantly attend to it. 

You can’t love enough. There is always more.

Here’s the thing: If you recognize that God loves you, and sent Jesus to save you from hell, and your reaction to that is to love God in return, that is truly a great thing. But unless you love God more than the day you gave your heart to Him, you will love Him less. As you get to know Him more and experience more with Him, you have to love Him more, or you will love Him less. It’s that simple; love doesn’t stay the same. You can’t love enough. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How are you going to love God more? Leave your comments below.

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I’m Looking For A Good Sunset 

I like a good sunset, but I usually gaze at them only when I’m at the beach. 

The other day I discovered it’s not a bad idea to look for them elsewhere.

… We had finished dinner with our son, Mike, who was home, spending some of his vacation with us. We were letting the meal settle when Lily said, “Why don’t you go out and show Mike your new drone?” 

I wasn’t too excited at first. I’d flown my drone over our house many times and was bored with videos of just sky and subdivisions below. 

But she urged me a couple of times to do it, saying that the sun was setting and I could film the sunset.

You know, it’s one thing to stand on a beach, looking over the glistening water at the sinking fireball just above the horizon. It’s a totally different thing to look up over the fences, houses and wires to see a little portion of the sky as the sun begins to disappear.

I could stay on the beach for a long time watching the sun go down and the clouds change colour from orange to red to purple. Trying to see the colours in the sky over the tops of houses is not something I like to spend a lot of time gawking at.  

Well, we went outside and I figured I would take the drone up, show Mike how it flies, give him an idea of the quality of video and pictures you can get with it … and then bring it down. 

When I got the drone up, however, the sun had just snuck below the horizon. The sky was absolutely amazing! 

From where we were standing in front of our garage, we could not have known there was any kind of a sunset. But when the drone got up to 20, 30, then 90 metres high and turned to face the west – Wow! The sunset was every bit as spectacular as if we were standing on the beach with the whole sky as a visual screen right before us. 

There may not have been any reflection off any water below, but the colours were incredible. I couldn’t get enough video of it. Finally I switched to the camera and shot some stills of the incredible scene.

If Lily hadn’t encouraged me to go out and show Mike my drone, I never would have even known the sunset was as spectacular as it was. 

When we are at the lake, we make a point of going to the beach at sunset. At home we never give it a thought. 

My sight lines might be restricted in my front or back yard, but 90 metres up I can record the whole sky. 

From now on, I will be taking note of the time of sunset and getting ready to fly my drone to get a glimpse of the magnificent painting that’s filling the canvas that day. 

Here’s the thing: It is really easy to become blind to what God is doing. You get busy with life and what’s coming next. Maybe you’re too focussed on what’s concerning you, or busy juggling the many things you have on your plate. Just like how we can miss the sunset that’s right outside, showing off God’s creative handiwork, we can miss the amazing things God is doing in our lives. Stop and look around; take notice. God is active in your life; He is speaking to you, answering your prayers, and opening doors for you. Just take some time to notice. Don’t miss His magnificence in your life on a daily basis. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What keeps you from noticing God in your life? Leave your comments below.

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The Perfect Match Is A Myth

I think it’s a myth that two people can be a perfect match. I don’t think two people can ever be perfect together. 

Do you remember the old fairy tale of Goldilocks and the three bears? In that story, Goldilocks stumbled into the bears’ house and tested out several things in the house: three bowls of porridge, three chairs and three beds. 

Each time she discovered that the little bowl, chair and bed was “just right”. 

This story is so far from reality, no wonder it’s a fairy tale! … Forget the three talking bears, and the fact that they lived in a house, made and ate porridge, sat in chairs and slept in beds. That wasn’t the wild fantasy. 

The real fantasy was that some of that stuff was “just right” to Goldilocks! 

That doesn’t happen in real life. There is never a perfect fit. 

We can get close, but it will never be perfect. 

I’ve been married for 33 years now and you would think that my wife and I would become more and more of a perfect match over the years. 

Not so. 

Recently there have been two glaring examples how we are not a perfect fit. 

The first example is with clothing. You would think that by now if Lily asked me to comment on her outfit that I would be able to tell her what I thought and it would help.

It doesn’t. 

I don’t know how to comment on her outfits. If I say it looks really nice, I may have said it too quickly or without looking at her long enough to make an informed decision. Maybe my facial expression wasn’t quite congruent with the comment I was making. 

At any rate, whatever I say it is not “just right”. 

There is no perfect fit here. 

And then yesterday, Lily and I were walking across a parking lot to enter a store and she exclaimed, “I can never figure out how we can walk together.” 

She was walking fast and trying to adjust to my slower pace. Sometimes, however, she has a hard time keeping up with me. 

Lily just wants us to be able to walk together at the same pace, but it’s never “just right”.

I’m not trying to move out of step with her; my stride just changes with where I’m walking to, and the purpose of our walk.

For instance, yesterday we were walking into a store. I can’t tell you how unexcited I was about doing that. Thinking about shopping makes me tired, so I’m not walking too fast into that. 

On the other hand, earlier in the day we were going for a walk in a park and Lily was having a hard time keeping up.  

For the record, at the time, I didn’t know she was working hard to keep up with me.

In that instance I was looking forward to getting out of the heat, so my mind was set on getting through it with few delays.

You see, we are not a “perfect” fit. It’s never “just right”. … but we’re really good together!

Here’s the thing: When you are evaluating your church, or your small group, or maybe the ministry you serve in, don’t evaluate it for a perfect fit. It’ll never be “just right”. Don’t wait for God to make it perfect or bring something perfect along. Trust Him to make you good together. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: With whom have you found you are good together? Leave your comments below.

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There Is More Than One Kind Of Listening

The other day I needed to listen very carefully … not that we shouldn’t always be listening, but sometimes it’s more crucial than at other times.

There are times when you don’t have to listen that attentively – like when you are doing something, working on something and you also have the TV or radio on in the background. 

You don’t really need to listen carefully to what your ears are drinking in. You are focussed on another project.

There are times when you should be listening but you choose not to – like occasionally when my wife, Lily, asks me to do something or tells me something so I can do it right. 

I have to admit that there are occasions – and I won’t tell you how many – that I have chosen not to fully listen to what she is saying.  

… I’ll be questioned on this later, by the way.

For instance, when she asks me to swing by the grocery store on my way home and pick up a few items, I don’t always pay attention to the details of what those items are. I don’t hear the size or the brand or the colour; I’ve stopped listening. I’m busy planning my route or another task I’ll do on the way.

The thing is I always have an out in those situations: I can call her when I get to the store. I can look at two kinds of yogurt and text her a picture of them to make sure I get the right one. 

I don’t feel I need to listen to her entire description before I’m in the store. … It’s a time when listening isn’t crucial. 

But there are times when you really need to listen. 

The other day I was flying my drone. It was a cloudy day at dusk – not the best conditions for visibility. I had taken the drone up to about 90 metres high and over 100 meters away. 

I usually go back and forth between looking at my control screen to see what the drone is viewing and watching it in the air. But with those conditions, when I took my eye off my drone to look down at what it was recording and then back again, I lost sight of it. 

I’ve lost a drone before, (read about that here) so I got this sick feeling in my gut when I didn’t know where it was. 

I immediately stopped it going forward, and looked at my screen to make sure the drone was pointed back in my direction. Then I started to bring the drone back. 

But I still couldn’t see it. At 90 meters high on a dull, dark, cloudy day, it was just a speck in the sky. 

What I had to do was listen very carefully for the sound of the drone’s whirling propellers. 

When I could hear that sound, I knew the drone was close. I scanned the sky where the sound was coming from and there it was – a little black X against a dark grey sky. It was directly over my head. 

Here’s the thing: If you want to hear from God, if you want to know what He wants you to do, you have to listen for Him very carefully – not listening like you’re picking up a few groceries, but listening like the survival of your drone is on the line … or like your life depends on it. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you long for God to speak to you about? Leave your comments below.

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I Just Couldn’t Find it

This article was originally posted in 2012. 

Have you ever looked for something that you were certain of its location, but still couldn’t find it?  Don’t those times drive you insane?  

I find myself living out the definition of insanity, “doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result.”  We probably all do that at times.

You either dig around in a drawer or a room, searching the same spots over and over,  hoping to find what you are looking for.  

You start talking to yourself, your blood pressure rises, you get angry with yourself, and then at the thing you’re looking for, until you don’t even want it anymore.  In fact, you hate it now, but you just HAVE to find it!

We’ve all been there; it’s not a pretty sight.  Your family starts out sympathetic, even helpful, but as you start to get frustrated, they start to vacate the area.  

As you start to sound like Gollum (from the Lord of the Rings), your family members look for things to do, errands to run, other places to be.

The other day, while preparing my sermon, I had three illustrations I wanted to use: one was a personal story, and the two others came from books.  I could remember some of the details for one of the illustrations, and even remember the book I had read it in.  

I had seen the title of the book the day before on one of my shelves, so I went directly there.  With the book in hand, I sat down at my desk and started looking for the story.

I looked at the beginning of each chapter because often times they started with a story.  That didn’t help.  I looked at the chapter titles to see if any of them would ring a bell.  

I was sure the story was in this book, but I wasn’t having any luck finding it. 

I was getting a little frustrated and I lost my confidence that I was even searching the correct book.  I got another book out by the same author and started looking through it, even though I didn’t think it was in there.  

Then I turned to the internet.  I googled the gist of the story with the author’s name.  I had to change my search three times before I got some results that seemed promising.  I looked at several hits but none of them were helpful.  

Then I discovered a document someone posted referencing the story.  Finally some hope.

The bad news was the document didn’t have the story details.  The good news was it confirmed that the story was, in fact, in the original book I had been looking in.  So I set to work to find the story.  I started at the back of the book this time.  I looked on pretty well every page for mention of it.  I finally found it . . . in the INTRODUCTION! 

Here’s the thing:  Sometimes I get all caught up in what I’m doing.  I know what to do, and it’s usually something small, within my power.  What I don’t do is ask God for help right away.  I fuss and stew instead of turning to the One who can guide me right to what I need.  Don’t wait until you’ve exhausted every avenue before you seek God, turn to him first. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question:  What have you learned from frustrating times like I described?  Leave your comment below.