my day

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A Canada Look-Back, I Mean Ahead

On July 1 we celebrated all that has made Canada what it is today. This was our 150th birthday.

I’ve only shared 61 of those birthdays with the country, but just writing that puts it in perspective how young a country we live in.

I’m only 14 years shy of being half as old as Canada. Wow!

My grandmother – if she was still alive today – would have only been 17 years younger than our nation. Now that would be impressive! My grandmother passed away in 1983 at the age of 99.

It’s all nice to look back on your birthday, but I want to look ahead in this piece.

When I think of Canada’s 150th, it brings a few questions to my mind that I wonder about.

One question I have is, “Will the Toronto Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup in the next 150 years?”

It’s been 50 years since their last victory, but lately they seem to be making some moves in the right direction. I can wait a long time for it to happen, but I don’t have 150 years left in me.

I also wonder, “Will Donald Trump last 4 years in office, or will he even last the year?”

I get a CNN feed on my Apple Watch and 95% of the news that shows up is related to Donald Trump. I have never seen the news/entertainment industry so captivated with one person before.

Trump is like the Beatles were in the 60’s; no one could get enough of them.

As I watched TV and saw a protest on Parliament Hill, one question that came to mind was, “Will we ever come to a resolution with our Indigenous Peoples of Canada?”

The Prime Minister sat with the leaders in a teepee they had set up on the Parliament lawn. When he left, the Indigenous leaders were all encouraged and felt he had heard their heart. But a few hours later the protesters were trying to set up another teepee on the lawn.

I wonder if any real progress will be made on this issue in the next 150 years.

In light of global warming, my questions is, “Will the weathermen become more accurate in predicting rain and snow, or will the forecasts remain much the same – wrong about 50% of the time?”

Another question I have is, “With all the rights various groups have now, will we become cookie-cutter people, forced to think, talk and act like each other? … You know, shades of Orwell’s “1984”.

If that happens, it will cut down on the myriad of choices we have to make now. Things like fashion, interests, and food might not be all that exciting, but we won’t need an opinion; we will all share the same one.

Just think, when you need to buy a car, there would only be a few choices: Will that be a compact, mid-size or SUV?

I’m not convinced that what got us through the last 150 years will carry us on into the next. We are venturing into new territory.

Here’s the thing: We may have many questions about the future of our country and life in this great land of ours. We can’t foresee the answers to many of our questions, but there is an outcome that has already been determined. When Jesus died on the cross for mankind’s sins, He said He is coming back to take those who put their faith in Him to be with Him in heaven. That we can have confidence in. Make sure your faith is based in Christ because you can count on God to know the future.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What questions do you have about the next 150 years? Leave your comments below.

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I Think I Can Squeeze A Car Wash In Today

I think I will wash my car today. It could really use one; it’s been a while.

I have this power washer that I don’t seem to use very much. When I look at it, I have a desire to use it, but I never seem to get around to it.

Today will be the day that I get it out and spray down my car. It’s a good day to do it because we are in between rain days … and, if I wash the car early enough, I will have a good portion of the day to enjoy it before we get back into some lousy weather.

When I was in college, I was a professional car washer. I had a job with UPS washing their vehicles each night when they would return from delivering packages.

In those days that was the only form of advertising the company did. They believed that clean trucks communicated care – if they took care of their vehicles, they would also care for their packages.

Every evening I would wash down a dozen or more vans. I became rather quick at washing them too, so you’d think washing my car each week would be a cinch!

Well, it doesn’t seem to be that way. Though I like the look of my power washer, and have a desire to use it, I never really feel like I have the time at the moment to use it.

It’s always something I would like to do, when I have a little time.

The thing is there is always something else I need to or should be doing.

Sometimes when I fill the gas tank I run the car through the car wash there. The one by my place is quick and, like using my power washer, it doesn’t touch the car with brushes.

Opinions vary though. Some people think it’s best that a car wash not have brushes because they can scratch your car and rip off your side mirrors and antenna. Others say that if there are no brushes the car wash won’t do a good job of getting the dirt off your car.

I remember being in a discussion on which system was better. When my brother-in-law, who worked for Petro Canada overseeing the car washes in the region, was brought into the discussion, he simply said, “Oh, we touch your car all over the place!”

My neighbour across the street washes his car regularly by hand, but I like the idea of using my power washer. You don’t have to get so up close and personal with the vehicle, and you get to use a tool.

For me, washing my car is about using the washer as much as it is about getting the car clean.

I hope the sun stays out today because I am really talking myself into power washing some dirt off my car.

Here’s the thing: There are things in life that we have access to but never get around to. We might even like the idea, but never find the right time. If God is calling you to something, wanting you to move in a direction, don’t keep putting it off. If Christ is calling you to give Him your life, find the time, make a decision and trust your life to Him. There is no sense in not doing what’s available to you. You never know when it won’t be available any more.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you need to act on today that you might be tempted to put off again?  Leave your comments below.

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It Was A Plan B Picnic

Our annual church picnic turned out to be a big hit in more ways than one.

We hold a picnic every year in June; we’ve been doing it for years. This year, however, there was a little hiccup to putting it on.

We normally get a permit to hold it in the park. That permit gives us control of the large stone BBQ pit and covered pavilion … oh ya, and access to the baseball diamond.

This year we couldn’t get the permit. Some other organization must have beat us to it.

Our options were to either just show up at a park, bring our own BBQ’s and have our picnic, or to hold it at our church. We have a large lawn behind the church with trees along the edges.

Well, we decided to go with the church lawn as the site of this year’s picnic. It was easy to get people to come since we hold it right after our service on Sunday.

But the downside was that we don’t have any of the features of a park, like a climbing centre for kids or a ball diamond. We don’t even have swings.

So we purchased a jump and slide castle for the little ones, and came up with several games we could play on the field.

The week before the picnic, I sensed God speak to me about inviting the people around the church, and giving out free hamburgers.

I told the congregation and everyone thought that was a great idea.

Since our church boarders on three streets and we are across from a shopping centre, there is a lot of vehicle and pedestrian traffic that goes by our church.

What we decided to do was put up signs along the road, that just said, “Free BBQ. Come on over.”

Not only did our congregation get to enjoy hamburgers, salads, cake and desserts, but so did many people from our neighbourhood.

Maybe what put a smile on my face more than anything else was seeing people in our congregation interacting with those who stopped by.

People weren’t shy to chat it up, and the fact that the food was free made them all the more curious to talk and ask questions.

Several moms came with their kids and, of course, the kids wanted to jump in the castle and play the games.

The one thing we didn’t have, though, was a petting zoo. … Apparently there were a few moms and kids who came because they had seen on Facebook that the church had a petting zoo.

That was unfortunate for the church around the corner. I guess we got some of their potential guests.

When it was all said and done, it was a great day. People were well fed, had fun, socialized and we made contact with a lot of people we might never have met.

Maybe next year we need to offer pony rides. Just kidding.

Here’s the thing: Sometimes in life you can get discouraged when Plan A doesn’t work out and you have to resort to Plan B or C. The thing is our Plan B might just be God’s Plan A all along and we didn’t know it. God can turn any plan into the right plan if we choose to listen to His direction.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: Have you had a Plan B that turned out to be Plan A? Leave your comments below.

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Dad’s Day – What A Memory

It’s Saturday and I just got a Canadian Tire ad on my phone for Dad’s day.

The ad said I only had one day left and they had gift ideas for every type of dad.

It got me reflecting on what type of dad I was. As my mind wandered around our local Canadian Tire store, I thought, “Am I an automotive type of dad, or a fishing and hunting type of dad?”

I could be a hardware, fix-it-yourself type of dad or maybe a gardening and outdoor living type of dad.

Out of all the sections in that store, I would have to say I’m more the sports type of dad.

But Canadian Tire is just selling products a dad might like; that is not really the type of dad I am.

When I look back on how I’ve interacted with my kids, that would be a better indicator of what type of dad I am. Now that my kids are adults, there’s a lot of time to look back on.

I spent time playing with them … even if some of that play time was them playing on and around my body while I napped.

I read stories to my kids at bedtime … so what if I changed the stories a bit and got them all hyped up instead of settled down to sleep?

I helped my kids with a whole variety of things from learning things, to figuring out things, to making things. … That “ab dolly” Mike and I made – though it didn’t turn out so well as a workout machine, it has come in handy over the years assisting in moving things from one spot to another.

As a dad, I showed up to games and tournaments to cheer on my kids. I even did some coaching in the early years. It was always great to watch my kids compete and play hard at whatever sport they were in.

My kids got to see me at work more than most kids get to see their dads, and they also spent time with me while I did my devotions early in the mornings.

I’ll never forget when my then 5 year old son sat next to me one morning while I was writing in my journal. When I’d written over a page he asked me, “Dad, why are you scribbling?”

I replied, “I’m not scribbling, I’m writing.” He shook his head and said, “You’re scribbling, Dad.”

… There are still adults who think the same thing about my writing.

When I look back though, what stands out to me is that the time went by too fast and I missed doing way more than I did.

And one more thing, I should have talked to my kids more. I answered a lot of their questions, responded to them and showed interest in what they were doing, but I didn’t share my heart with them as much as I should have.

They could have gotten a better understanding of my relationship with God than I let them in on.

You can’t go back, but I do have the future. I need to let them in on that side more.

Here’s the thing: We can’t go back and do things differently, but we have the future and we can start from here to do things with our kids, to help them and share our hearts with them so that they know what makes our faith tick.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you need to start doing from now on with your kids? Leave your comments below.

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Wow, It’s Just Another Birthday

It’s my birthday today (Friday), and they say I’m one year older … but I don’t feel one bit different than I did yesterday.

I don’t really feel any different one day to the next, but I guess as you look at the past and then ahead to the future, that’s when you start to feel your age.

This year I joined a baseball group for those over 60 – I think I’m the young guy on the team. Playing ball again has got me looking back to years gone by.

In Monday’s game, I tracked down a few fly balls and, though I got to most of them in time to make a play, my quadriceps muscles have been killing me the rest of the week.

I never really thought about my muscles years ago. When I needed some speed, I just ran harder. Well, now it’s not so easy; now I pay the price for trying to get to a well-hit ball … couple that with three all-out sprints to first base and I wish I had a wheel chair to move around in this week!

I did manage, however, to play golf with a friend near the end of the week. He made a comment that he never thought walking 18 holes was exercise, but now he does. That’s crazy talk! … but I had to agree with him.

During my previous game I had carried my clubs around the course. I found out that I can do that for nine holes without a problem, but I’m not able to carry my clubs for 18 any more. Yet years ago I had though nothing of it – it was just walking.

When I look back on things, I definitely see how I’m a year older today.

Then when I look forward, I see what is to come … and it’s coming quicker than I really want it to!

I performed a funeral last week and visited a few elderly people in my church. All these people were very vibrant when I first took this position. I guess that’s what staying in one place for a long time does – you get to see people grow up and grow old.

I’ll admit I’m not really excited about life in a senior’s home or nursing home. Maybe I’ll change my tune when I get to that age … all I know is that I feel it closing in on me.

I also know that the longer you live, the less friends you have. But when your best friend is your doctor, simply because you see him more than anyone else, you know you’re really getting old!

Well I thought today I might take a day off of exercising, and even cheat a little on what I eat, but with all these thoughts of aging, I might have to re-think that.

Maybe I’ll have to double up on the exercise and ask for the senior’s meal at the restaurant tonight … which we all know is not a discount but just a smaller portion.

Here’s the thing: When you think about maturing in your relationship with God, it can be hard to tell one day from the next if you are progressing. At times it might seem like you’re moving forward, but other times going backwards. Well, look in the past and look ahead to the future to evaluate your maturity in Christ over a longer period of time. Then make sure you don’t stop where you are at, but keep moving ahead.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What have you noticed about your relationship with Christ over many years? Leave your comments below.

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I Never Thought I’d Like This

This is a repost of a blog post I published in June 2013

I find it interesting that you can trick yourself into liking something you don’t really like – in this case, something you don’t usually like doing. Recently, I bought a new weed trimmer.

This garden tool goes by several names, “weed-whacker”, “weed-eater”, “whipper-snipper”, and I’m sure there are a few more.

Regardless of the name, they don’t really have anything to do with weeds. They are designed to trim the long strands of grass that grow along the edge of your lawn that your lawn mower can’t get.

Now, I don’t really like yard work. I cut the grass when it needs it, but while I’m cutting the front lawn, I keep looking at the basketball hoop in my driveway thinking, “It’d be nice to take some shots right now.” Funny thing is, it’s the only time I have that urge. When I’m done cutting the lawn I no longer have the desire to make a few hoops.

I can think of a million things I could be doing when I have to do yard work, and none of them include taking care of or maintaining anything growing around my property.

So it really surprised me the other day when I got my new cordless … we’ll call it “grass trimmer”, and was anxious to get out there and start using it. The really amazing thing was that not once did I have the urge to put it down and pick up a basketball.

My new trimmer is fantastic! I can push two buttons in and turn the bottom part so it can be used as a edger. I have never edged anything in my life so it came as a real revelation that edging really makes your lawn look good.

When I was all finished I went in the house and looked out the window at how stunning my walkway looked leading up to our front door.

I used my knew toy . . . err . . . a . . . I mean, tool to trim both front and back yards and the battery didn’t die before I was done. It normally takes me about 25 to 30 minutes to cut my lawn, front and back. And usually I can’t wait to get back to doing pretty much anything else.

I even got out my leaf blower afterwards to blow away the grass that blew onto the cement walk and the driveway just so that it looked neat and showed off my trim work.

The only thing that I am concerned about is how long my new found infatuation will last.  This baby is new but how will I feel about using it when it’s another week old or in three months?

By the end of the summer will I be wishing the battery isn’t charged so I don’t have to get out there and trim? Will I be looking longingly over at my basketball hoop and accidentally cut the tops off my wife’s flowers?  I don’t know.

But I do know that my wife, Lily is happy right now and I’m liking the look of my lawn.

Here’s the thing: Sometimes a fresh look at something can give us new inspiration or cause us to find new meaning. Whether it’s a familiar Bible passage, or an old problem, or whether it is God Himself, take a fresh approach and you might be surprised to find something you really like.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What have you found a new enjoyment or appreciation for? Leave your question below.

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I Had To Wonder If I Was Still Alive

The other day I had to pinch myself to see if I was still alive. That’s right, it was a scary moment for me.

A few weeks ago I had to renew my driver’s license. I filled out the paper work, got my picture taken and then waited for my new license to arrive in the mail.

Well, it arrived alright and when I looked at the picture on my new license, I wasn’t a hundred percent sure that the picture of the guy on the license wasn’t dead!

That’s when I pinched myself.

My eyes were open in the picture but that was the only thing that made the picture look like there was possible life there.

I understand the aging process, but how do you go from looking like you were alive five years ago to dead now?

There were some other factors that came into play with the picture, the main factor being the quality of the photo.

I’ve stepped into one of those shopping mall photo booths before, and for a couple of bucks you get a string of pictures that are pretty poor in quality.

The thing is you are usually making funny faces so, first of all, you look like you are alive, and second, your face is lit up by the flash so that you can tell the blood is still flowing through your veins.

When I got my driver’s license, there was a flash that nearly blinded me but it didn’t brighten anything up. The fact that the license is grey in colour only accentuates the lifeless look of the picture.

The next time I have to get a new driver’s license I’m going to put on makeup. I don’t have bags under my eyes but apparently under certain conditions I do!

The worker who was serving me wasn’t a photographer – I realize that. She did warn me not to smile, but come on! When she looked at the picture on the screen, why didn’t she gasp and say, “We better take that one again, sir. You look like you’re dead.”

I think if I worked at it I could look a little cheery even without smiling. I just needed a second chance.

I’m the one who’s carrying around the picture of the dead guy in my wallet for the next five years. You would think they could turn the screen around and ask me if I was okay with that picture before it was printed and laminated on my card.

I hope I don’t get pulled over by the police because I might get arrested for driving with no vital signs!

I’m thinking maybe I should try to photoshop my driver’s license. Then I could add a smile and cover up the bags under my eyes.

Maybe all I need to do is add a twinkle in my eyes to show I’m still kicking.

Don’t give up on me.

Here’s the thing: There are many people who are walking around like they are alive but a picture of their souls would prove that they were really dead spiritually. When you physically die, it’s too late to change the condition of your soul. The great thing is that while you are still physically alive, trusting your life to Christ will change the condition of your soul and give it life – life that you will keep right through eternity.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What is the condition of your soul? Leave your comments below.

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When A Project Takes A Long Time To Develop

Sometimes you wait a long time for something to develop, then in a flash it’s done and it’s completion takes you by surprise.

It happened to me this morning. For what seemed like several weeks, the leaves on our maple tree were budding.

But we’ve had some pretty cool and rainy weather for the last while and it seemed that the leaves’ progress from bud to full grown was stunted.

I’d look out our living room window and see the little leaves still shrivelled up, not wanting to open. With every day of rain and coolness, it was like they just wanted to stay curled up to keep warm.

After a time I wondered if they would open up at all this year. Maybe they would stay in this dormant state all summer.

But this morning after an early hockey game, as I drove into my driveway, the sun was shining, creating highlights and shadows on and around our tree.

The leaves had opened up; they were big and full and dense.

Up until this morning, though all the leaves were on the tree, you could still see through it … not this morning.

The leaves have now created a beautiful rustling wall to the other side of the street.

It took so long for the leaves to get to this point, but when it happened, it took me by surprise.

You kind of forget about the incremental progress that was being made, now that the tree is in its full glory.

… I’ve been working on a project at work that is developing much like how our tree came alive this spring.

There have been many steps to the project, and many different people involved. It seemed that each step, however, was dependent on someone else do some little thing so that we could progress to the next step.

There also seemed to be one person who was in the middle of the progress or the hold up – just like the weather was the hold up for my tree.

We would get one thing done and then we would sit, not really knowing what to do next but having to follow up and nudge this person to move the project along.

After numerous phone calls over three days, I finally reached him in person. I explained our progress and asked him for his input. All he could say to me was, “I’m just the middle man.”

There were three parties that were involved in bring this project to completion. He worked for none of them. He was just the middle man.

We all needed him but the speed of the project was dictated by the speed of his response to each completed step.

I think this project right now is at the stage where the leaves are almost ready to unfold.

All I can hope is that by early next week this project will be fully complete and I can forget about the incremental progress that we’ve made along the way.

Here’s the thing: God’s plan for us, at times, may seem to be developing slower than we would like. That can be frustrating. We might want to try to get in there and hurry it along on our own. But there are many parties involved in a plan, and there may be a middle man who is slowing things down. Just be sure that you are not that middle man.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What project is God working on in you that you would like to speed up? Leave your comments below.

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The Day Never Seems To Come

Have you ever been looking forward to something, but that day never seems to come?

This spring I though I would try something new. Well, “new” might not be the right word, more like try something I have done in the past.

Back in March, Lily saw an ad in the paper for senior’s slow pitch softball. Wow, I just realized how old that sounds, and how that makes me feel.

Anyway, I can’t tell you what it’s like because it hasn’t happened yet.

After seeing the ad, I thought about it, remembering the days I used to play in a slow pitch league. It was a fun time so I responded to the ad.

I was told they play on Mondays, which is good because that’s my day off. During the winter I play hockey on Mondays at noon so this would be a great summer replacement.

I got my glove out in anticipation that we would start in a week or so. I noticed that some of the lacing had given way, so I took the time to replace a portion of the leather lace. That got me a little more exited to start playing.

I left my glove on my desk in the family room. When I go by it, I sometimes pick it up and throw a ball into it for a few minutes, just to get the feel of the glove on my hand and the ball getting squeezed between the webbing.

However, it seems that when each Monday rolls around, either the weather is bad or the previous few days have been so rotten that the field is in no condition to play ball on.

It’s now getting near the end of May, the Blue Jays are trying to climb out of the worst start in the club’s history, and all I’ve done is throw a ball into my glove a few times.

It’s Monday as I’m writing this post, and I will still have to wait at least one more week until I get to play!

… Lily and I had been looking at our schedule and figured that the long weekend was the only time in May we’d be able to get to our cottage. We decided to go after church on Sunday and come back on Tuesday.

It wasn’t until two days later that I realized I was going to miss the first day on the diamond … and it would be my fault, not the weather’s.

Well, right now sitting on the couch at my cottage, I understand that it is raining in Kingston … they won’t be playing today anyway.

It’s not looking good for me and baseball this year.

I remember when I was a kid and we would save the box tops of our Alpha-bits cereal to send in and get some prize.

We always had to wait 46 weeks for the thing to arrive. It was actually 4-6 weeks but it felt like 46!

Well, baseball this year, it feels like I’m waiting 46 weeks.

Here’s the thing: When you ask God for something, it’s easy to act like you’ve put in your order and are waiting on God. God is not an order desk, however, and you will receive your answer when He decides it’s best. When that time comes, it’s instantaneous, not 46 weeks.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How long have you been waiting for something? Leave your comments below.

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It’s Like We Have A Brand New Kitchen

With just a little paint, our kitchen will be finished, for now. We’ve been working on our kitchen for about two months, but it’s coming to a close soon.

When I say “we”, I mean Lily and the people she has employed to work on it.

I have to say that the project is looking really good and the little things we did have made a huge difference in the look of the room.

Don’t get me wrong, Lil is not done. She still wants to get a new dishwasher and fridge, but those are going to have to wait for a while – the old ones haven’t died yet.

What won’t wait is new lighting in the kitchen. Apparently, the new lighting we purchased about 3 years ago (Lil says it’s more like 10 years, but who’s counting?) does not go with the new look of our kitchen. That means we have to take out perfectly good and relatively new lighting so we can spend more money on getting something that she will feel better with.

In my parents’ day, you fixed things in your house that were broken or were getting worn out. You didn’t just change something because you wanted a new look.

That’s why in some homes that were built in the sixties and seventies, you still might find a blue toilet, or an avocado-coloured bathtub.

They worked so why replace them?

That’s not how things work today. You make one change and that will start a ripple effect of changes to make everything match the first change you made.

Maybe it’s better that we do things this way now. It prevents you from going to use the washroom and finding yourself in a time machine that has transported you back to 1974, leaving you afraid to look in the mirror for fear you might be sporting an afro, big bell-bottom overalls, no shirt and platform shoes!

I had an outfit like that back in the day – minus the afro.

Personally, I will be glad when we are all done and there are no more … oh, one more thing.

I like the changes but I’m going to have to get used to opening and closing cupboards again. It’s been nice for the last month to just take whatever I needed off the shelves without opening or closing doors.

It’s too bad that the open concept look wasn’t the style Lil was going for. But really, it wouldn’t be right not to show off her work.

Lily used a special painting system to renew our kitchen cupboards. It was a four-step process, that turned our cupboards from an medium oak colour to black. That and new handles have made the cabinetry look completely different.

We also had a new counter and sink installed. Then she completed the makeover with a white tile backsplash.

Lily has done a great job on the kitchen and though I have questioned her ideas and teased her throughout the process, our kitchen truly does look stunningly new.

Here’s the thing: Your life with Christ is much the same as refinishing a kitchen: it takes time and effort to make the changes, and there will always be more changes to come. Be happy with the changes that God has made in you, but also be aware that there will be more to come. It’s like our kitchen – there will always be one more thing.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What change is God making in your life right now? Leave your comments below.