fine

by

My Fine Motor Skills Are Definitely Lacking

I’ve determined that my fine motor skills are not what they should be.

my fine motor skills are definitely lacking

It’s not as though I can’t work a pen or pencil, although, if you’ve seen some of my writing, you might call that into question. 

When my son was little and watching me journal, he asked me a very thoughtful question. He said, “Daddy why are you scribbling?”  

I told him I wasn’t, that I was writing, to which he rebutted “you are scribbling”. 

So maybe I can’t wield a pen or pencil like other people. 

I get along just fine doing most things. My hands work well: I can type, hold a baseball and catch a ball in my hand. I have no trouble holding or using a hockey stick … though my thumb is a little sore after a collision playing hockey this morning. But when it comes to more intricate moves, maybe I am lacking. 

If you do something enough times you get the hang of it. And that should also be true when using your hands.

For instance, no matter how uncoordinated you are, if you practice tying your shoelaces enough times, you will get pretty good at it. … I’m glad to say that I have mastered that fine motor skill and I don’t think I even needed any remedial help with it. 

But there are a few things that I just can’t seem to master. One of them is a video game joystick. 

Maybe you have to be born after 1980 to use one. I can never get my thumbs and fingers doing the right things at the right time. 

I was not much into video games but when my son was just starting out, we would play hockey on his Nintendo. 

… Well, that lasted about a month. 

We started off about equal but within a matter of weeks he had surpassed my skill level and never looked back. 

Any time after that when he’d challenge me to play with him, I just smiled and said I was not in the mood. It was really because my fingers don’t work that well.

But there is one more thing that really bugs me and that is playing the guitar. I can practice the same thing over and over and never seem to get past a certain stage. 

There is a little lick I’ve been trying to master for literally half a year. It is a couple of chords and then a solo part. I’ve played it over and over but I can’t get it to sound like it fits. 

And my fingers on my right hand refuse to cooperate with my pick in my left hand. 

I’ve practiced that bit way more than I ever practiced learning to tie my shoelaces. But if I had had this much trouble mastering my shoelaces, I would have switched to velcro straps instead.

Maybe you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.

Here’s the thing: We all have limitations; there are things we just can’t master or figure out. But there is a God who has created this whole world, who has never fretted one moment about accomplishing any of it. He is worth trusting your life to and depending on when you’ve reached your limitations. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you find hard to master? Leave your comments and questions below.

Subscribe to my blog and receive posts like this one delivered to your email inbox twice a week.

by

I Was Prevented From Being Fined

The other day I was prevented from doing something that could have resulted in a big fine.

At the time I was a little frustrated, but now I’m glad the situation stopped me. A fine could have been thousands of dollars.

I’ve experienced this kind of unwanted, unsolicited restraint in the past and, to be honest, it can be downright maddening … until you discover what you’ve been saved from.

It happened when I was driving, speeding on the highway, passing cars. 

I consider it sacrificial driving because all the cars behind me could up their speed a bit, knowing that I would be the target of any radar up ahead. 

As I was cruising along, a truck pulled out into my lane. I had to slow way down, to probably about 15-20 km’s slower than I was going. 

The passing took an eternity and I was thinking all kinds of bad thoughts towards the truck driver in front of me. 

The longer it took, the more frustrated and furious I was with the hold up … that was until we passed a highway patrol car with radar pointing my way.

I would have been caught for sure; it would have been a big fine. 

That truck that was ticking me off saved me big time. 

Then the other day I took my drone to fly it around some locks on the Rideau waterway system. There are a number of locks around Kingston. 

I thought it would be picturesque to film above and around the locks and nearby rapids. 

The first lock I drove to was packed with people. There was some kind of art festival there, and it also looked like there was a wedding about to take place.

So I drove past and kept going to another lock up the river. This one was off the main road a bit and I thought maybe there would be no one there. 

But when I arrived there were five cars in the parking lot – enough people around that I couldn’t really fly my drone in a safe manner.

So I drove on, a little frustrated that I was prevented again from capturing what I thought would be some amazing footage. 

In both attempts it was the people who were present that prevented me from flying my drone – not that they said anything, but legally I can’t fly my drone within 30 meters of people. 

Later when I was mulling over a possible day or time when no one would be around, I started thinking about the symbol I saw on the sign there. I began to wonder who operated those locks. So I looked up the symbol and found that the locks are controlled by Parks Canada. 

… And the fine for flying a drone in a national park can be as high as $25,000!

All those people and events just saved me a good chunk of change. I would have flown my drone completely unaware that I could have been fined big time for doing it. 

My frustration is all gone. Thanks people!

Here’s the thing: Sometimes you may find yourself frustrated with God. You’ve asked Him, pleaded with Him, even begged Him, but the answer you are looking for is nowhere in sight. You can’t understand why God would not answer you. Just consider that your current frustration may be preventing something unwanted and unpleasant from occurring in your life. … Let your frustration with God go. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What frustration in your life might be a blessing in disguise? Leave your comments below.

by

Is It Possible To Be Too Involved in Something?

I got myself way too involved and didn’t realize it until I was deep into it.

The other day we changed our phone and internet service at work. 

We had been with the same internet company for 23 years but they couldn’t offer us any faster service than we were getting even though it was no longer adequate.

I still wouldn’t have made the change but the price point was almost the same for 10 times faster internet.

Even then I was still sceptical that the new company could give us increased service, knowing that the phone wires in our building were ancient.

I was assured by the salesman that it would be a very simple change over … no trouble; it would be seamless; I wouldn’t notice a thing.

Salesmen are all about the sale. They will tell you what you want to hear. I, on the other hand, knew our building and didn’t think for a moment that it would be seamless. 

But I was curious.

When the installer came, he realized about five minutes after he arrived that this was not going to be a simple change over. 

In fact, just getting a new cable to our building took all morning. Then there was all the inside work.

The installer had help in the morning, but in the afternoon he was on his own. 

He asked me if I wanted to see where things were going to go down in the basement and I said, “Sure.”

Costly reply.

In the process of showing me where things were going, he also got me to hold something … then pass him something else and help him follow a wire.

I then located a hole in the ceiling where he could feed a cable up through to the main floor of the building – a significant deal because we have reinforced concrete floors and he would have otherwise had to drill through it to get the wire up.

But by this time, my sermon writing had been abandoned and I was helping him trouble shoot some of the other things that needed to be negotiated.

It was like offering to help someone move who tells you he just has a small apartment and that one truckload will do it. But when you show up, nothing is packed in boxes and there is no truck. You are left lugging carloads of items piled throughout you car and trunk. 

… And the one trip it was going to take ends up being four or five trips back and forth. 

We’ve all been there.  

This time I got roped in by just wanting to see where the installer was going to put things … and, from that point on, he had a lackey he could count on. 

The seamless change, that I would barely even notice, cost me my sermon writing time, and an afternoon of being an assistant. 

The work that had been scheduled for 8:00 am – 12:00 pm, ended up being from 8:00 am – 4:30 pm, with me deeply involved in it. 

But you know what? The new internet speed is amazing!

Here’s the thing: Like anything in life, your relationship with Christ will take you deeper than you realized or thought it would at the start. Are you able to say “yes” to going deeper with Christ than you thought you would or could? Christ will always call you to deeper levels of relationship. Don’t ever settle or try to minimize the work you will be called to do. It will all be worth it.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What in your life has taken you deeper than you thought it would? Leave your comments below.