health

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I’m A Bit Of An Open Book

Have you ever found that being an open book has tripped you up? Well, I have!

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As a pastor, there are times I share things about my life with my congregation that kind of exposes me to their scrutiny.

I wouldn’t say that I reveal everything about myself to my congregation, however, there have been times my wife, Lily, has complained that she finds things out about me in my sermon, along with the congregation.

… Those conversations are a little revealing as well.

Over the years, I would say my congregation knows what I’m like. They know some things that I like, and some things I don’t. They’ve found out about situations I’ve been in.

They know about some of the problems I’ve had. They know some things that make me happy and some things that make me sad.

They also know about things that make me angry, or mad.

And they know about my health. They know I had a heart attack. They know I try to exercise and try to eat the right kinds of foods.

They know my weakness for Dr. Pepper … even though I’ve tried to convince them that it works together with my cholesterol medication.

They know my weakness for junk food and fast food.

When it comes to things like that, I’m a bit of an open book.

As a pastor, it’s not just your family who’s reading you, it’s your whole congregation who’s reading you.

So yesterday I was in a grocery store … pretty innocent – I mean a lot of people go into grocery stores everyday.

It’s just not a good sign when I’m in one. You see, Lily would rather me not go grocery shopping with her. There are too many things that catch my eye and end up in the cart.

And the things that catch my eye are never on her list of things that we need. They are, of course, items that work together with my cholesterol medication.

It’s good that I don’t go in grocery stores that often. They are big places with lots of people strolling, or trolling up and down the aisles.

But that’s where I was yesterday afternoon. Lily was off getting some healthy things down in the produce section … I was in the candy aisle.

And that’s when someone from my congregation spotted me. She paused, cleared her throat, and I looked up.

I was caught! I had already been to the chip aisle so the evidence was in my hands.

What do you say to someone who knows you had a heart attack, that you are trying to live healthier, but they catch you with chips in hand, drooling over a big pack of licorice?

Well, what you do is you play the card you can only play one day a year.

I looked at her, smiled and said, “You’ve got to have junk food for the Super Bowl!”

And that was a good enough answer.

Here’s the thing: Being an open book can trip you up sometimes. But you know, whether you think about it, realize it or not, we are all open books to God. He sees it all, even the things that aren’t seen, like our thought and words. So it’s best to be honest and up front with Him. Don’t pretend He doesn’t see or know. He does. Be quick to confess, and let His awareness of you control your actions, thoughts and words.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What have you been caught doing lately? Leave your comment below.

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I Gained Weight Just Being There

What is it with conferences that you automatically feel about 10 pounds heavier when you come home?

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Is there something in the water or the air that adds weight to your body? I’m not sure what it is but I don’t like it.

I don’t think I’ve ever come back from a seminar or conference feeling like I even broke even in the weight department.

Is there anyone out there who knows my pain?

This weekend my wife, Lily, and I flew to the metropolis of Steinbach, Manitoba for a church conference.

I only had a glass of water on the plane but I was sure I felt a little heavier as I walked into the Winnipeg airport.

The feeling that I put on weight in all the wrong places didn’t go away since the first thing we did when we pulled away from the airport was drive directly to a restaurant.

It certainly didn’t help that after lunch we drove an hour, then sat in an orientation session for another hour, and then guess what we did?

We had another meal!

There is no way my body had time to process all the food I’d eaten at 1 pm. I don’t think an athlete with a metabolism that’s fine-tuned like a violin could process what I’d packed away for lunch and be ready, waiting and eager to partake in evening morsels at about 5 pm.

Conferences are good for two things: long meetings where you sit down and don’t move much for a couple of hours and breaks where you stand in one spot, usually close to a table that has some kind of food on it.

You repeat this process only to break it up with large meals and spending time in a hotel room that’s about twenty feet long.

Is it any wonder that by the end of the first day I felt like I was waddling into my hotel and crashing onto my bed, almost bouncing Lily off the other side? (… just kidding about that one.)

Day two I had a plan. This time I wasn’t going to take in any snacks between meals … but the fruit looked pretty good on the tables so I stayed close by and ate an apple.

I thought I needed to walk around more because in just two days my legs felt like they were covered in cellulite – can a guy even get cellulite? … at the very least, I’m sure I had lost all muscle tone.

At my age you don’t rebound quickly either. No, weight that only takes one day to gain will take a week to lose!

The thing is you don’t even realize you’re gaining weight when you are there. It’s like your body adjusts to the new weight overnight and you wake up feeling like you’re carrying the same poundage as the day before, which you’re not.

I think you have to be vigilant; you have to have a plan. You need to be disciplined to fight the conference convexity (look that one up).

So today I plan on no snacks at any break. I’m spending my time walking around the halls … maybe that will work.

Here’s the thing: Sometimes just being in a certain environment can have a negative spiritual impact on you. It’s not that you are doing anything wrong, but where you are is not generally conducive to spiritual health. You need a plan to ensure you can stay connected to God and are able to maintain a Christ-like attitude and posture.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you find difficult to maintain when you are away? Leave your comment below.

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Apparently I’m A Binge Drinker!

The other day I had a conversation with my wife, Lily, and she called me a binge drinker. I know some of you are now eager to hear some deep, dark secret of mine. Well, don’t start salivating like one of Pavlov’s dogs for some juicy morsels just yet. Let me explain …

I was complaining to Lily about how much water I have been drinking lately and how it’s interrupting my life. The thing is, the more water you drink, the more you find yourself visiting the washroom.

I used to use the facilities only a few times a day like when I got up in the morning, at noon, around dinner time and at bed time.

Not now! I’m hitting the john about every hour or so and it’s all because I’ve been drinking more water. Since we are supposed to drink more than most of us actually do, I got an app that helps me track how much water I drink. So naturally, I’m drinking more now.

In fact, I’ll have four glasses of water from the time I get up in the morning until the end of breakfast. When Lily heard this she shook her head and said, “You’re a binge drinker” … and I guess I am in a way.

So I started thinking, “When did it become so difficult to live that I’m not even drinking my water at the proper intervals?”

It used to be that we got up in the morning and didn’t think about when we drank water; we just did it because we were thirsty. Now it seems I need to read up a little more on the subject because my water bingeing is probably not that healthy for me.

I can still walk a straight line. I can even touch my finger to my nose and I never poke myself in the eye.

People don’t tell me that I’m slurring my words after I’ve had a couple of quick glasses of water either.

But I guess I still need some help because I found out I’m drinking too much water at meal times. My daughter tells me I shouldn’t be drinking water any closer than 45 minutes before a meal.

My question is, “How did people who lived 100 years ago survive?!” I’m sure they didn’t know this stuff back then. I understand that people didn’t live as long as they do now; maybe that’s why?

I think I may need a few lessons on breathing too. Apparently I breathe out of my mouth more than I should.

I wish I had a computer chip in my brain that could be reprogrammed so that I breathe and drink properly. When I look around it amazes me how many people seem to be living fine and they don’t follow any kind of breathing rules, or drinking rules for that matter.

All I know is that my mother taught me how to drink when I was a baby and I’ve been doing it ever since. And as for breathing, well I think a doctor smacked me on the butt when I entered this world and I haven’t stopped taking a breath yet.

Here’s the thing: We can be Christians with very little understanding of what that means. But if you want your life to be effective, then getting some special training is necessary. Don’t neglect the training you can get through the study of God’s Word.

That’s Life,

Paul

Question: Where could you use some focused spiritual training? Leave your comment below.

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A Momentary Action Can Change Your Life

A momentary action can make a huge impact on one’s life. The repercussions of that action can have long-lasting effects.

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Let me tell you about it …

This week as I was playing hockey, I crossed the blue line with the puck. A defender was right in front of me so I made a quick direction change in hopes that he would zig to my zag.

It took probably less than an second; it was just a subtle move to give me some free ice to keep moving forward.

That move may not have fooled my opponent, but it sure fooled my back. Immediately I felt a tweak down low near the base of my spine.

“Whoa!” I thought, “This doesn’t normally happen.” But I also recognized the feeling which brought a truckload of memories to my mind.

This was not the first time a momentary action had caused some pain in my back.

It started about three years ago when I was mountain biking on vacation. I carry a folding saw in my backpack to take care of small trees that have fallen across the path.

This particular summer there was a big tree too high to go over, too long to go around. I needed to get rid of it. It was too big for my saw but I thought I would just saw a little every day until I got through it.

I worked on it for a couple of days but then got impatient. I jumped on it … nothing. I kicked at it … again, nothing. So I put my arms around it and yanked.

It was a momentary action, but it sent a sharp pain to the base of my spine that left me lying on the floor of our trailer for about four days.

Since then, there has been a couple of other instances that a momentary action has given me the same result.

One time I bent down to pick up a knife I had dropped on our kitchen floor. That led to some more flat out time for me.

All these memories came back to me the moment I felt the tweak in my back. I went to the bench and stretched a little. And then a curious thought was planted in my brain: “Maybe I can just work it out by playing the rest of the game.”

So I did, but I spent the next two days pretty much flat out on my bed. The rest of the week, I’ve been moving pretty slowly. I’m hoping to be able to stand and preach on Sunday without any twinges of pain and without seizing up.

One momentary action about three years ago has now weakened my back so that new momentary actions continue to make a big impact on me.

Here’s the thing: Coming to faith in Christ is like a momentary action. It’s a decision to turn from self-rule to Christ’s rule in your life. There may be many factors that have contributed to that momentary decision, let alone the years it may have taken to get to that point. But in one moment you are changed and the impact of that change has long-lasting effects, right into eternity. You can also expect other momentary actions, triggered by the first one, that will cause more long-lasting effects as God continues to mould you and shape you into His image.

I don’t recommend the momentary action that caused my back issues, but I do encourage the momentary decision to give your life to Christ. You won’t regret those effects!

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What momentary action has left long-lasting effects on you? Leave your comment below.

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Are You As Well Rested As You Should Be?

For the most part, we are good at talking about getting rest and needing rest, but we are not that good at actually getting the rest we need.

We starve ourselves of rest in two ways: We don’t sleep enough and we don’t rest from our work like we should.

Some say they need eight hours of sleep a night; others say they don’t need to sleep more than a few hours a night.

But all sleep is not rest. Many people turn sleep into a serious workout. Some snore like thunder. Some stop breathing as if they keep dipping below the surface of the water.

Those people have to wear a splint or put on a breathing machine. From what I understand, if you didn’t sleep all that well before, your quality of rest plummets even more with those apparatuses. The only good thing is that you will be sure to keep breathing.

But maybe breathing is over-rated.

When we brought our daughter home from the hospital for the first time, we had her sleeping in a bassinet beside our bed. I’m usually a sound sleeper but Karlie breathed so erratically that first night, I kept waking up to see if she was ok.

In the morning, I said to Lily, “She’s got to learn to breathe on her own. She’ll either figure it out or not, but she’s got to do it in her own bedroom, because I can’t sleep with her here!”

That was 26 plus years ago … Karlie figured it out.

But that’s only part of the rest we need. We need rest from our regular work. The Bible says we should take a Sabbath each week: one in seven.

However, with work, activities in the evenings, and shopping available seven days a week, it’s hard to take that rest. There is always some work to do, always somewhere to be, always something we need to obtain.

We say we take a day off but the truth comes out when we are exhausted at the end of the weekend, when we don’t have the energy we need to do all that we want to do, or when we find ourselves too tired to be as productive as we should be.

I’m a pastor. I should be a promoter of this rest, since it’s God’s idea and He actually made it one of His commands to us. But sadly, I end up working on my day off like most other people.

The key to this rest we need is not to do nothing. Rather, we are to do something we enjoy, something that we look forward to, something that invigorates us.

For me that might be a day of playing sports, watching some professional sports and chowing down on some hot wings with a glass of Dr. Pepper to wash them all down.

For someone else it might be completely different. But the end result should be that I feel rested and ready to get back to work the next day, that I’ve acknowledged God and given Him thanks.

This coming Monday, I’m going to get serious about taking a Sabbath.

Here’s the thing: It seems like the easiest one of God’s commands to ignore or excuse. In the course of a week it can slide by without any harmful side effects. But an unattended Sabbath can lead to serious health and relational complications. Don’t cheat yourself or God on your Sabbath; get serious about taking it.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What makes taking a Sabbath difficult for you? Leave your comment below.

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The Secret Behind Staying Disciplined

There are people who are highly disciplined and then there are those who aren’t. Disciplined people seem to be able to set their minds or wills to something and follow through time after time.

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But there are times when even disciplined people find they don’t have the discipline to keep to their normal routine.

It’s like their discipline has vanished.

Now I’m no expert on discipline, and I am certainly not a highly disciplined person, but I am able to discipline myself to regularly follow certain rules, habits, and plans that I have set for myself.

For instance, I know that in the early morning I am the most alert, creative, productive, and focussed. So I get up at 6 am every day, and during those early hours I spend time with God; I study, I read and I write.

I do not vary from that routine, and I am able to discipline myself to work at these things daily. I don’t take appointments in the morning, and I avoid getting involved in other activities in the morning.

There are other things that I can discipline myself to do, but sometimes I just don’t have it within me to keep to them. It seems that I’ve lost my discipline and have no will power at times in the eating and exercise departments.

I need to stay away from junk food and fast food, and I need to exercise thirty minutes a day. Just reading that last sentence over, I should easily be able to do that!

But even though I have all the equipment at home to ensure I do thirty minutes of exercise,  lately I’ve not been all that consistent.

I don’t have the will to do it … or something.

Even though I know I’ve gained a few pounds, and even though I know that for my health’s sake I should be on this, the discipline to do it is not there.

The little thing in us called our will is key to turning this around. I believe our discipline is built on our will. If our will is set on something, then discipline is easy.

So getting your will to want something, like a healthy body, is the key to being able to discipline yourself to eat right and exercise.

Your will is based on your wants and desires, and if you want something bad enough, you will be able to discipline yourself to do what it takes to get it.

The only problem with that is we are geared for immediate gratification over delayed, long-term gratification. So wants and desires that I can achieve right now are more powerful than wants and desires I have to wait for over the long-term.

For me to be able to see my long-term wants as most important, more desirable, I need to be able to look forward to something immediately after I keep to my discipline.

… Last night it was pizza after I had worked out on the bike and rower for thirty minutes.

Here’s the thing: Spiritually speaking, when we find it hard to stay disciplined, when our immediate wants and desires (temptations) seem so powerful, we have additional help. We have God who will provide what we need to stay disciplined. You might not know what He can do to help you, but all you have to do is ask. Call out to Him, “Lord I need your help right now”, and let Him work on your will, your desires and wants.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you do to keep disciplined? Leave your comment below.

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Real Time Adjustments Keep Life Enjoyable

I’ve been thinking lately about my body, and how it has changed since I started taking medication. It’s been three and a half years of swallowing foreign substances and I figure that will continue the rest of my life.

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I realize that I need to take the concoction of pills I down every morning. They are helping my body – at least they better be helping!

I never took medication until I was 56. I used to like filling out medical forms and checking “no” beside all the questions. I very rarely took even an aspirin.

But the other day at the dentist’s office, the hygienist was updating my file. She asked if I was taking any medications; my response was, “Oh ya; I sure am”.

Compared to many people, I don’t take that much, but to me, I feel like I’m taking a ton. It’s four pills a day, but I like to call it 3 1/2 because I got my doctor to reduce one pill in half.

For all the good these little formed chemicals do for me, there are a few drawbacks. One of them is with my muscles.

When I play sports – especially hockey – I feel that the circulation in my legs and feet is restricted. It was really bad at first. I couldn’t skate for more than a minute without feeling like I needed to sit down and allow the blood to flow through my veins again.

When I mentioned it to my doctor, he looked at me like I was making it all up, but told me to take a break from one of the pills for a week and see what happened.

That week I had no symptoms at all; it was great. I concluded from that experiment that it was my cholesterol pill that was creating the problem.

When I went back on that pill the symptoms didn’t return as strongly as before. I began to notice that how tight my equipment or my skates were made a real difference to how I felt on the ice.

So I didn’t tie my skates as tight, and I was gentler when it came to wrapping shin guard tape around my pads. It made a significant difference.

But this year my feet are in great pain when I come off the ice. I can’t sit down they hurt so much. But I noticed that about halfway through the game my feet stop hurting.

I’m realizing my skates naturally give a little the longer I am in them. Possibly what’s happening is that my skates get looser.

So, for the next outing, I won’t tie my skates as tight and see how that feels.

It’s little adjustments that I find I have to make to keep me doing the same things I’ve been doing and not give up on some of the things I like in life.

Here’s the thing: As natural as it is for us to have to make adjustments for our bodies as time goes on, in order to keep doing things that are meaningful to us, we also have to make adjustments to our time with God as life stages and circumstances change. These adjustments are necessary to keep us having a meaningful time with God. Don’t give up or hope to get back to God later. Make adjustments now and keep your relationship with Him fresh and enjoyable.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What adjustments to your quiet time with God have you made in the past year? Leave your comment below.

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Have You Become Desensitized To Life?

Have you ever thought that you may have become desensitized to something? Have you got to the place where you don’t notice something or it’s not as effective as it once was?

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For instance, if you walk into the house when someone has just cooked up a batch of fish, the fish odour is overpowering. You want to plug your nose, try not to breath more than you have to. But after a while, if you stay in that environment, you don’t smell the fish any more; you become accustomed to it.

This same thing can happen in our bodies. If you take a certain penicillin for a long enough time  it doesn’t have the same benefit for you. Your body becomes desensitized to it and you need to find something else to help you get better.

It happens all the time and every day. We just don’t appreciate what’s around us.

Take, for instance, the beauty of the trees turning colour. We can be driving through rural Ontario during the height of the colour change of the trees yet not really notice it. We’ve seen those colours so many times that we don’t “ooh and awe” around every bend in the road.

This week it happened to me in another way.

We had a guest at our church who came to give us a report on a ministry he was involved with. Just before the service, as usual, the worship and tech teams gathered in a corner near the front of the church to pray. I then went to sit down with our guest and the worship team took to the platform.

Just as they hit the first few notes of the first song, our guest turned to me and said, “You have a really great team there”.

I said something like, “Ya, they are a great bunch”. But then I looked at them – no, I really looked at them.

As the music started to emanate from their instruments and their voices blended together, I started to have a new appreciation for our worship team.

I got a little proud of that group up front.

It’s not that I didn’t think they were great before our guest made that comment, it’s just that I had become accustomed to them being up there. I was desensitized to what they bring to the service, to how good they sound together, to the skill with which they perform.

It was great because, as we continued with the worship, it was like I was experiencing it for the first time, all over again.

It wasn’t new, but it was like it was new, fresh for me again … like the first time in the fall when you see a maple tree with its leaves turned bright read. Your senses are awakened and you soak it all in.

Here’s the thing: We can become pretty complacent at church, so much so that we focus on the negatives: I don’t like the songs; the sound wasn’t right; I didn’t like the topic; the people weren’t that friendly; there were too many people, or not enough people. (Feel free to add your personal favourite complaint of church.) All of that comes from being desensitized to the wonder, the beauty, the goodness that’s around you. The great news is that you can be re-sensitized to it all so that it’s fresh and new and amazing again. Just step back and reset your senses and then take in all the beauty of the colours of the landscape before you.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you find you get desensitized to most easily? Leave your comment below.

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Is It Really Time For A Change?

Apparently it’s time for a change in our country. That’s the mantra floating through the air in Canada this last month.

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I hear it in every commercial for the Liberals and NDP. It’s either time for a change or it’s time for real change. Even the media have been telling us the voters want change.

I’ve heard people say the Conservatives have been in power too long so it’s time for a change. The government is not doing enough for some people; certainly they want a change – a new government who won’t do enough for a different group.

Sure, this election seems like it’s all about change, but is change really what the election should be about?

When I go to McDonald’s and order a Big Mac instead of a Quarter Pounder, I might say that I feel like a change. I might not even have a reason for the change; I just want something different.

But that’s called a craving; I don’t need a reason for a craving.

It’s fine for hamburgers, but is it good for an election? Let’s face it, the parties who want change, who want us to vote for a change, just want us to pick them.

For the opposition, change is good because it gets them what they want. They may try to disguise it to look like they really want what’s best for the country, but the bottom line is they just want to replace the government with themselves.

If they can get us to believe we want a change, a hankering for a new party to lead the country, that works in their favour.

But hey, it’s not like we’re all pregnant with whimsical cravings for pickles and ice cream or a minority Liberal government with an NDP opposition on top.

Choosing a government means we have to think of what’s best for the country as a whole. That also means it won’t be the best for every segment of the country. Some groups will not get what they want.

The bottom line is the government has to do what’s best for the country at large.

That’s why I question the Liberals wanting to run a 10 billion dollar deficit. Sure, the arts will get more money, as will other groups, but someone’s got to pay for it. It won’t be the richest 1% either, because they have lots of ways to reduce their income.

It will be the middle class … it’s always the middle class.

The NDP think they can spend their way to a balanced budget. They will take care of the environment, pay for daycare, fix our medical system, and give you what’s behind curtain number three (hint: the car is never behind curtain #3).

So that’s why some parties want us to believe it’s time for change. Because if we thought about what they really want to do, we wouldn’t want to change.

There isn’t a perfect party, and there is no government that will make everyone happy. But if we focus on what’s best for the whole, a stable and secure country is what we all really need.

Here’s the thing: Every day we’re tempted to do what’s wrong over what’s right, and choose bad over good. When we give in to our whims and our desires, we’ll give in to the temptation to sin. We won’t consider the consequences, or the pain it might cause, just anticipate an immediate gratification. If we think through about the temptation instead of reacting to it, we will choose not to sin more often.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How are you going to think through your decision this election? Leave your comment below.

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How You Can Tell It’s Really Fall

Go ahead, say it, it’s officially fall. The weather has turned colder, we’ve lost the humidity, and I got my first cold.

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I was really hoping for summer weather to last right through to the end of October, but sadly the air has a feel of fall to it. Even on warm days, it’s a fall warm and not a summer sizzle.

Temperatures through the night dip a lot lower now. It’s brisk out when I’m leaving for work in the morning. The thermometer gets a bigger workout at this time of year with all its ups and downs. The weather is more unpredictable.

Conditions outside are one thing, what concerns me most is the condition of my body. I could blame it on the weather with its hot and cold effect, or I could blame it on some late nights and not getting the rest I need.

But I’m going to blame it on my wife! Lil has been saying she thinks she’s getting a cold for the last few days.

It’s hard for her to tell at this time of the year because she has some killer allergies that really put a strain on our Kleenex supply in the house.

But there were a few signs like the body aches and the congestion that gave it away.  Unfortunately for me, I didn’t know soon enough because I’m pretty good at staying clear when she’s under the weather.

That’s right, I’m not the greatest nurse in the world. My policy is if you’re sick, you’re on your own and it’s your responsibility to keep a distance of several feet from me.

I know you are probably thinking that I have a double standard when it comes to sickness, but I don’t. I don’t want people hovering around me; I don’t want anyone trying to give me special treatment either.

My motto while I’m sick is, “Leave me alone and stay clear”.

I’m having a little easier time living up to my motto today because Lil is away right now and I’m alone. There isn’t anyone around to stay clear from; there’s no one to offer special treatment.

Though I want to be left alone when I’m sick, I don’t like the fact that she took off after infecting me with her disease.

But there is nothing I can do. I have to accept the fact that I’m sick and I need to ride it out or try to do something about it.

My son has a cold busting solution that he uses, called the Cold FX bomb. It’s about a three day cycle of pumping your body with various doses of Cold FX medicine.

I don’t like drugs. What works for me is to sweat it out. I’ve got rid of a cold in one day with this method. And today is perfect – I have a day off, and I’ll be going to the hockey rink for a little pick up.

I’l wear a few extra layers under my equipment and hopefully, by the end of the game, the aches will be gone and tomorrow I’ll be a brand new man.

Here’s the thing: There are many things in life that can negatively influence us towards God. We need to be vigilant to keep ourselves away from them. But when we slip and recognize that we have been influenced negatively, we need to take bold steps to rid that influence from our lives. Today I read Psalm 119:7. The message was this: Keep an upright heart before God while you learn your righteousness … Good to keep in mind.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What are the influences you have to keep an eye out for? Leave your comment below.