moving

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Once Is Enough Or Should I Keep Up With It?

If I can do things once, I will work very hard to make that happen. 

once is enough or should I keep up with it?

I think I’ve always been a “once” kind of guy. 

When I’ve had some dishes that needed to be carried to the kitchen, I’ve loaded myself up. 

At other times I’ve taken so many clothes downstairs to be washed that I’ve dropped some along the way. 

… But that has never stopped me from trying to do it the next time. 

Years ago, when I was working as a youth pastor out west, there were times the church was asked to help someone in the congregation move.

This was always an assignment for the youth pastor and the college and career pastor. Dave and I had a motto back then, “Dave and Paul – the one trip movers”. 

That was our handle because, if it was up to us, we would cram everything in that house into the truck so we didn’t have to go back for another trip.

There have been so many times that I have been overloaded, using my body, chin, knees to get things from point A to point B. 

It’s just who I am. It’s part of my make up. We are all made differently and some people would never try to do the things I do. They don’t care if it takes two trips; so be it. 

Not me. I want to get it done once. Let’s not take longer; let’s not do this again. 

So that is why I’m having a little dilemma right now. 

I look out my front window and see a good-sized pile of leaves out there. I’m pretty sure my neighbour is wishing I would quickly scoop them up. But that goes against my grain because half the leaves are still on the tree.

At this point the tree looks a lot like my hair. On the outset it looks like I have a full head of hair, but really it’s thinning. The tree has lots of leaves, but you can tell it’s getting rather thin on top.

If I go out there and collect the leaves on the ground, they will only be replaced in the next couple of days with a completely new set of fallen leaves … which means I will have to go out and mulch leaves a second time. – I don’t even like writing that sentence.

If I wait a little longer, I will only have to do it once. The pile that is already there will also get blown around. Some leaves will stick around but others will land on other people’s lawns and I won’t have to deal with them at all.

Right now I have a couple of days of really nice weather to decide the fate of the fallen leaves. 

I used to be able to blame this decision on my schedule. These days, other than biking, golfing and doing a chapel talk, my schedule is fairly open. … Decisions!

Here’s the thing: We tend to not want to deal with our sin. If we do, we would prefer to only deal with it once, like when we ask Christ to forgive us of our sins. The problem with not regularly dealing with our sins is that they cause us to grow cold and distant from God. To keep your relationship with Christ warm and close, you need to confess your sins when they happen. Stay on it.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you need to do now, instead of waiting for later? Leave your comments and questions below.

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How To Get Moving On Spring Cleaning

This post is from May of 2015. From time to time I repost articles from the past. I hope you will get a smile as you contemplate your own spring cleaning.

You know it’s spring when you get invited to sweep out your garage. The other day my wife informed me that she was going out to sweep all the dirt and grit from the winter out of our garage.  

I knew right away that this information was intel that I was to gather for a secret mission that was coming up – specifically the mission was to come on out and help her sweep.  

I pretended that I was still gathering data on the subject to delay my decision, but after a few minutes I decided to at least check up on the operation in the garage. 

Just as I thought, she was doing a great job. But the work had halted because she was talking to our neighbour. That’s one of the problems with working outside in the spring – everyone’s outside. 

To make it worse, we haven’t seen them or talked to them much because all winter we drive right into our garage and go in the house. Now that the weather is sort of, thinking about turning warmer, people are outside and we have to catch up.

That makes tasks like sweeping out the garage take twice as long. I had joined the conversation but when we were done I grabbed the other broom and started sweeping with Lily.  

Of course I wasn’t doing it quite the way she likes it done. Apparently the broom I was using creates a little more dust in the air than her broom. Or was it the technique that she used that kept the dust from forming clouds in the air? I’m not sure.

Once we settled that dust issue, however, we really were working like a machine. I wouldn’t say I would eat off the garage floor but it was looking pretty clean.  

That’s not to say that there won’t be other missions out to the garage to clean and put things away. I noticed that we have a mission to the dump coming up soon.  

This operation will have to take place in the next few days and it will involve our son who has a large vehicle this week. I’m just concerned that our communications have some outside interference (his friends) and we may miss the target unless we move in quickly.

All these covert operations that are signs that spring is upon us gave me a desire to try an overt operation. I’ve been waiting to do this for a while now.  

I took my bike rack that I got for Christmas and mounted it on the roof of my car. There was no camouflaging this from aerial surveillance or from ground recon work. 

The rack is in plain view and is a clear signal to all that spring is here, even though we need the temperature to warm up a bit to feel like it’s spring.

Here’s the thing: Having a quiet time with God is so important because though it is more of a covert action – something that no one else really sees – it is something that prepares you for what lies ahead. You will be far more prepared to face the challenges and opportunities that will come if you have prepared your heart with God first, in your private time with Him. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question:  What do you have to clean up that won’t be noticed too much but will make a big difference just the same? I’d love to hear from you. You can leave a comment below. 

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I Just Crossed Something Else Off My List

Well, I think I’ll cross one more item off my list of things I can and will do.

You get to a certain point in life where you have to remind yourself that you just can’t do things you did twenty years ago and think they will have no effect on you.

My son was moving on the weekend and needed a little help from Mom and Dad. This was his first big move that he’s had to do himself.

The last time the company moved him. All he had to do was grunt and point. He didn’t even have to pack!

Not this time – it was all on his shoulders. Plus he didn’t need to take some of his belongings to the next place.

Guess who gets to store those? Fortunately, we no longer have that second car taking up room in the garage so we have a whole half of the garage just waiting to receive his stuff.

Years ago when I was young, the church that I worked for used to call on the youth pastor and college pastor any time someone needed help moving. 

I did lots of moving back then. We even came up with a name for ourselves: “Dave and Paul, One Trip Movers”. 

And we did our best to get every person’s junk onto one truckload so we didn’t have to go back.

That was years ago though … a distant memory. I can’t do that kind of moving any more. It takes a toll on you.

This time we did a round trip from Kingston to Burlington and back in 24 hours. We brought all the stuff back to our home that our son doesn’t need right now. 

The next day we were up early to drive back to Burlington – a total of 975 km in all. About half way through the day, I realized how tired I was. 

That’s when you question yourself, “Do I really want to do this again? I know I did it in the past and can still do it, but it’s not as easy as before.”

I remember a few years ago when I shingled my cottage roof, looking at the job and thinking it wouldn’t be very difficult. I had experience shingling roofs, albeit 30 years earlier. 

When we finally finished the work, I remember saying to Lily,  “Well, I’m not going to do that ever again!” 

It was one of those items I crossed off my list of things that I can do. 

When you are young, new things get added to the list of things you can do all the time. It’s exciting.

But at this stage of life, I am happy to cross a few things off that list that I don’t need to or have to do any more.

I think moving people is one of those things that’s going to end up being crossed off the list. 

Of course, when it comes to family, you have to make exceptions. 

Here’s hoping for a company move next time.

Here’s the thing: There are things in our lives that we used to do, that we didn’t think anything of. But as we grow in our relationships with Christ, we need to keep evaluating our actions and cross off those things that don’t meet with our level of maturity in Christ, which should be constantly increasing.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you need to cross off your list of things you do? Leave your comments below.