my day

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I Didn’t Think The “Wet Lands” Meant My Basement

It sure has been a wet spring where I live. There have probably been years where we’ve had more moisture in April and May, but I can’t remember any.

It always strikes me that when you have a record-breaking day, it is only record-breaking to a certain point, like “this is the hottest day on record … since 1923”, or “we haven’t had this much snow for 31 years”, or “this is the most rain we’ve had since Noah finished building his ark”.

It seems that with weather there is always a day somewhere back in time that was cooler, hotter, wetter that what we are experiencing today.

But I will say that, in the last month, my sump pump has NEVER gotten as much exercise as this … period.

I probably I need to qualify that too, however; we’ve only had the sump for 8 months.

We’ve lived in our home for 21 years, and when we bought the house it came with a sump pump in the basement.

I was not too familiar with sump pumps, having never lived in a house that had one before. So I didn’t pay too much attention to it.

For several years it would turn on and suck some water from the reservoir in the corner of our basement spare room. Any time I got to see it I was amazed at how fast the water shot out of the tube.

I remember one time being on our deck in the back yard and a firehouse volume of water came shooting out of the tube that extended from our house’s foundation.

It truly was remarkable.

But for many years I just forgot about the sump pump. I don’t think it did any pumping for years. I lost track of the last time I remember hearing it work.

One time we were looking at that area of the house and I tried to manually get it to pump. There was nothing; it didn’t work at all.

I figured that it was old and had stopped working due to lack of use. It had been that way for years.

Every once in a while we would get some moisture in our basement, but I never equated it to the sump pump not working.

This past fall, we took a look at our sump pump again and, sure enough, it still wasn’t working.

Now I’m not sure if the weatherman was warning people of a wet fall or not, but for some reason Lily and I thought we should replace our sump pump with a new one that worked.

I bought one, installed it, and I think it worked a few times last fall.

But that was nothing like this spring! We had a stretch of about 5 days of solid rain in which our sump pump came on every 2 – 3 minutes.

If we hadn’t had that sump, I’m sure our basement would have been about ankle deep in water.

Back in the fall, the thought of buying a new sump wouldn’t leave us. It stuck with us until we bought one … I’m sure glad it did!

Here’s the thing: God is speaking to us all the time, but often we are good at ignoring or dismissing His voice. Start listening and paying more attention to His voice; you’ll be glad you did.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What thought have you had that you are glad you acted on? Leave your comment below.

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I’m Wondering If Winter Is Coming Soon

I think we are reverting back to winter in this part of the country.

We came through a very mild winter this year, with not much snow, and temperatures that made it easy on the joints.

After a winter like that, the expectation is that summer will come early and be really hot and dry.

Well, all my expectations have been blown apart by what we’ve recently been experiencing. There have been some promising days, but not enough strung together in a row.

At the end of April, we were at our cottage for a week and had a real mix of weather.

One day the temperature got up to 26 Celsius with a good dose of humidity. It really felt like a mid-summer day.

That evening, however, it cooled off and by the next day we were wearing coats and shivering at the sudden 20 degree drop in temperature.

Since then it has been cool and rainy almost every day.

Last Saturday morning after hockey, it was still raining. As we left the arena and walked to our cars, no one could believe the rain was still coming down.

I turned to one of the guys and said, “Take it easy; see you on the ark.”

I haven’t seen the sun for so long that I’m beginning to forget what it looks like. I think it used to be this big orange ball in the sky, but I could be wrong.

Someone reported that it snowed really early one morning this week.

I realize that, at any given time, it is snowing somewhere in the world. But that somewhere is not supposed to be Kingston, Ontario – especially in May!

The weather has been so bad this spring that I haven’t been on the mountain biking trails yet.

I got an email from my biking club this morning that read, “All trails closed until further notice, due to rain and erosion.”

This is killing me!

About a month ago I saw an ad for a competitive baseball league for those over 60. I haven’t played ball in a long time but I thought maybe I would give it a shot this year.

Well, the last three weeks they have cancelled the games because the field is too wet. I still haven’t met the other guys I’ll be playing with.

It seems like somehow we might have skipped through spring and summer and are heading directly into late fall.

The only evidence against that notion is that the leaves on the trees are starting to come out … but they are all curled up – I think they are in protest, refusing to open up until they see a little sun!

All I’m saying is we need a change in the weather. If something doesn’t change soon people from Vancouver will be moving back to Ontario because they can get the same amount of rain and overcast skies right here.

Here’s the thing: When things aren’t going well, or as you expected, it’s easy to get down, discouraged and question what might be wrong. That is exactly what the devil wants and promotes. He wants you focused on the negative and distracted from the truth of who God is and what He has done for you through Christ. To weather the storm, stand firm on your faith in spite of your feelings.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How have you been weathering the storm? Leave your comments below.

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Her Emotions Got The Best Of Her

Often it is our emotions that dictate our actions and reactions.

This morning I came back from early morning hockey to find the lights on in the living room.

Normally, on a Saturday morning after hockey, things are the same as when I left at 6:30 a.m. – dark and nothing stirring.

But this morning there was activity. There was a vacuum humming in the background and I wondered what was going on.

There were a couple of possibilities: Lily had a lot happening and she needed to get a good jump on the day, or we had a guy coming in to do the backsplash in our kitchen.

I knew that it was a guy who was going to be doing the work and his work would focus only in the kitchen, but that didn’t matter; the whole house needed to be clean before he arrived.

… Turns out that neither one of those reasons was correct.

Lily had the vacuum out because there was a trail of ants in our living room and there was no way they were going to survive on her watch.

She was so busy vacuuming the little critters up that she couldn’t tell where they were coming from or going to. But she didn’t stop talking to them … in a rather loud voice, I might add.

That Dyson vacuum really swirled those ants up. They either got a great ride out of the deal or it was like they were swooped up and taken from Kansas to the world of Oz … only there was no yellow brick road, just a garbage can at the end of their ride.

The ants kept coming though. Lily was so preoccupied with killing them that she wasn’t doing anything about dealing with the reason they were coming in or how to keep them out.

Finally I decided to remove a large poinsettia plant from the living room that may have been their destination. And Lily got some spray we had in the garage to attack them.

We wiped up around the plant and made sure that the area was clean. Then we sprayed the place where the ants were coming in, as well as the outside of the house.

You would think that after that we could get back to the regular activities of the day and let the spray do its thing, but no! Lily wanted to make sure the stuff was working so she stuck around and watched the ants curl up and die.

… It kind of amazes me that she is perfectly fine seeing that kind of a massacre but when I put on a shoot’em up, blow’em up movie, she can’t take it.

At least in my movies no one really dies; it’s all made up stunts.

When it comes to ants in her house, there is no way she’s taking prisoners alive!

As far as the ants were concerned it was a real-life horror and they were the main characters.

I think watching the hockey game tonight, no matter how rough it gets, will be tame compared to this morning’s events.

Here’s the thing:  When something grabs our emotions, we can’t let it go. I wonder if many Christians have an intellectual relationship with Christ but it has yet to get to their emotions. Faith in Christ is more than giving assent to a belief; it involves being emotionally engaged in what you believe.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What grabs you emotionally about Christ Jesus? Leave your comments below.

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How To Prevent Making Multiple Mistakes

From time to time I repost an article I have written in the past. This one is from May 2014. With all the wet weather we’ve been having, I haven’t been out to the trails on my bike. I’m kind of itching to get out there. This post got me thinking of biking. 

Have you ever made a mistake that led to another mistake that led to, well, a complete breakdown? I had that experience last week.

Lily had gone to Ottawa for the day taking my car, the one with the bike rack. I wanted to go for a bike ride at the end of my day so I had to put my bike in the trunk of the other car.

That’s normally not a problem; you just take the front wheel off the bike and slide the bike in.  For some reason, this time it was a problem.

I spent about a half hour trying to get my wheel off, and in the process I lost two ball bearings from the axle assembly and never actually got the wheel off the bike.

It was a brutal failure; I couldn’t believe it. I’ve taken the front wheel off bikes dozens of times. But my new bike is a little different. No, it’s a lot different.

I would describe the differences but I would either hypnotize you in the process or put you to sleep – probably sleep would come first. Then you’d wake up and have an urge to bark at every bike you saw after that.

Taking the wheel off a bike with quick release should take about 30 seconds, at the most. I spent 30 minutes and never got it off. I could have used better lighting, but still.

I looked for videos on the internet to show me what to do. I examined the part and used an allen key/wrench to remove a part I should never have touched.

All the while, my neighbour, who works at the bike shop I go to, was right outside my garage cutting his grass. Did I ask him for help? Of course not; why would I do that? No, what I did was I took the axle apart and lost two very tiny ball bearings on my garage floor!

I never did go for that bike ride. Later that night I realized what I had done wrong. It should have taken me 15 seconds to get the wheel off, but it was too late now; I’d gone and lost some pieces.

So, here were my mistakes, if you’re counting . . .

I should have had better lighting and, along with that, I should have put on my reading glasses to get a better look at what I was doing.

I should have asked my neighbour for help. That was the dumbest thing I didn’t do. And I shouldn’t have taken apart the axle, especially standing in a garage.

I’ll tell you how the story turned out in my next blog.

Here’s the thing:  It is easy to make a mistake, but the smart thing is to correct that mistake before one mistake leads to another. The best thing we can do is look for someone who can help us. I know God is willing to help but He’s waiting to be invited. I also find that I will sometimes make more than one mistake before I ask Him for that help. So it’s what I don’t do that keeps me making mistakes . . . Seek God’s help first.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you do to keep from making multiple mistakes? I’d love to hear from you. Leave your comment below.

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It’s Always Amazing When The Impossible Happens

Sometimes we wish for the impossible and sometimes the impossible happens.

We opened up our cottage last week and spent our time relaxing, cleaning and walking on the beach. The weather was up and down; it was like Calgary weather.

Calgarians have a saying, “If you don’t like the weather now, just wait fifteen minutes.”

We didn’t have snow but at times we needed jackets, at other times our umbrella, and then one day we just needed shorts, t-shirts and sandals.

That’s right, one day it was hot, humid and 26 Celsius (79 F). It was like a mid-summer day … but it was short-lived.

We were back to wearing jackets later that evening and for the rest of the week, so it was not a difficult decision to leave the cottage early.

But it wasn’t the weather that triggered our decision.

Our daughter, Karlie, had spend three weeks in Cambodia and was flying home Saturday morning. We decided to pick her up at the airport.

Our cottage is a couple of hours away from the Toronto airport so we had a bit of a drive. The traffic wasn’t heavy, but we left kind of late.

In fact, we left so late that when Lily checked Karlie’s arrival time we knew there was no way we would be able to make it. It was pretty much an impossibility.

So I did three things to try to make the drive less stressful.

First, I told Lily we were not going to make it on time, so she would not be stewing over this fact all the way there.

Second, I drove really fast – not fast enough to have my car impounded, but not too far off.

The third thing I did was pray. I asked God to somehow get us there in time. … I felt like a hypocrite asking God for help and breaking the law to assist God in making it happen.

Periodically Lily would check the flight’s arrival time and every time the website indicated it was arriving earlier than before.

I wasn’t panicked by this but I did have unpleasant thoughts of our daughter arriving home and sadly finding no one at the airport to greet her.

That wasn’t a nice picture in my mind and it drove me to push the gas pedal down a little harder.

Along the route there were several little towns through which we had to slow down, but they were so small we’d blink and be through them.

However, coming out of one of those towns, we found ourselves behind a police car.

That really put a damper on our progress. It cut into what I could do to get us to the airport in time. While behind the officer, my speed was cut by about 35 km/h … and he stayed in front of us for 50 kms!

We had no hope of getting there on time in that unfortunate circumstance. But impossible happened …

Amazingly enough, Lily was standing there waiting for Karlie when she came out of customs.

Here’s the thing: In spite of my attempts to help God answer my prayer, the police car was like God saying, “I don’t need your help with this, Paul.” God can do what is impossible and He doesn’t need your help. He can do a really big thing, and sometimes will even make your selfish, personal request a reality. Don’t put off praying for anything and everything. God is able.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What prayer has God answered for you lately? Leave your comments below.

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I Need An Alternate Routine

My routine has been working for me for a few months now, but all that is about to change.

Back in December I developed a new plan for eating (read here) and exercise (read here). It’s been working for me and I feel great. I have more energy, and physically I’m able to play my sports at an increased level.

I’ve really enjoyed this run; I don’t want to see it come to an end. But I need to make some changes and I have a week to figure it out.

I took a week of vacation and we opened up our cottage for the year. But in doing that, it took me away from some of the routines that I have made over the last few months – mainly my exercise routine.

I’ve been trying (successfully, I might add) to do at least 30 minutes of exercise a day. I’ve been playing hockey two, sometimes three times a week and then on the days I don’t play hockey, I work out at home.

There I have a treadmill, a bike on a trainer, and a rowing machine.

On my week away, however, I’m not playing hockey and I don’t have access to equipment other than my bike.

For the summer I can ride my bike, but there will be some rainy days. Because I ride dirt trails, if the trails are too wet from the day before, biking is then also out of the question.

So what am I going to do at the cottage to keep up my exercise?

I can walk, which would make Lily happy because she would love to go on more (or some) walks with me. But for that to be exercise I will have to walk at a fast pace, certainly not the way I walk around a mall.

Some people run, but I have bad knees so that’s not an option for me. I’m at a bit of a loss.

I feel like I need to be a MacGyver in this situation. You remember the TV show, don’t you? He could make things happen even when he didn’t have the proper materials or equipment. MacGyver would rig something up to get the job done.

I need to figure out something I can rig up for those rainy days, and as an alternative to biking every day of my time away.

There is one other thing I need to consider. When Lily and I went shopping to get groceries for the week, I had my eye on the candy aisle the whole time.

For me, vacations or being away is synonymous with snacking. It’s what I do!

I had a very difficult time not throwing a few chocolate bars and bags of candy in the grocery cart.

I can see that the only way forward, the only way that I will succeed, is to have a plan before I go and then to stick to it.

Here’s the thing: Planning is important for accomplishing your goals, but you also need a plan for when your plan doesn’t work. That is exactly the same when it comes to temptation. You need a plan to live right, but you need an alternative plan in place for when temptation comes. Make a plan today.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What alternative plan do you have for temptation? Leave your comments below.

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I’m An Unsatisfied Shopper

I’m not the most knowledgeable grocery shopper, but I know there is a conspiracy in the food industry.

Yesterday my wife, Lily, and I dropped in on our son who is living about 300 km’s away from us. The plan was to spend the night, have breakfast together in the morning and then be off.

When we got there I was a little hungry and Mike, at one point, said he was feeling a little hungry as well.

Looking through the cupboards, we observed a typical twenty-something male’s kitchen.

It reminded me of Old Mother Hubbard’s kitchen – she didn’t have anything in her cupboards either.

Mike had an early appointment so he needed to get to bed. I needed to stretch my legs after a disappointing finish to the Leafs’ game so I said to Lily, “Let’s go shopping”.

We didn’t have much time but we hit Walmart because it was open late.

I don’t normally go on grocery shopping trips with Lily because I put things in the cart that she would not buy on her own. They’re usually things that aren’t good for me.

But there I was with an assignment to find hot dogs and hot dog buns.

It wasn’t too hard; I quickly found the large hot dogs that came five in a pack. Mike just has to feed himself so that was a good number to get.

Then I went searching for buns. I found them in another part of the store.

They don’t have the hot dogs and the hot dog buns close together, and I know why – it’s so you don’t see the discrepancy when you buy the buns!

The grocery people are hoping that, by the time you find the buns, you will have forgotten how many hot dogs came in the package.

But being the keen sharp-minded shopper that I am, I noticed right away.

I had just tossed a package of 5 hot dogs into the cart and now I was holding in my hand a package of 8 hot dog buns.

At this point we should take a poll: Does anyone else think that these are weird numbers? Why 5 hot dogs, and why in the world 8 buns?

I’m not sure why they do that. You need the same number of dogs as buns!

I did the math – you and I would need to buy 8 packs of dogs and 5 packages of buns to have a bun for every hot dog.

That’s 40, by the way, and if you were feeding a football team I can see you buying that many. But for a family or for a single guy? Who would do that? – no one!

And who would leave you with extra buns so that you need go out and buy more hot dogs … only to need more buns to finish them off?

It’s a conspiracy.

Here’s the thing: We are driven to get more – more things, more experiences, more money, more … you name it! There is always something more we want. This desire for more is never satisfied, and it takes away from being at peace with yourself and with God. He wants you to be satisfied with where you are and what you have, and from that place of satisfaction He will add the more.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What is keeping you from being satisfied? Leave you comments below.

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This May Be The Coldest Time Of The Year

For me, this is becoming the cold time of the year. I know that it’s the middle of April and the snow is long gone, but I’m freezing!

When I’m in my basement, I have to have a blanket over me just to prevent my body from going into hyperthermia.

As you go down to our basement, you can feel the temperature change when you get about halfway down the stairs. The staircase is only 12 steps long, but at about stair 5 I’m feeling the cold.

It doesn’t help that we’ve had a lot of rain – it’s probably a little damp in the basement.

Still, I’m freezing and I have to spend a lot of time in my basement right now. It’s hockey playoffs and I’m not going to miss watching the Leafs play in the playoffs for the first time in four years.

I will do what I have to in order to survive the frigid temperatures of my family room.

I fully understand that in a couple of months I will be loving the fact that it is cooler in the basement, and I will gladly spend time down here just to keep cool.

But right now, I can hardly bear it!

I’m thinking about keeping some mitts and a wool toque down here for when a game goes into overtime, or double overtime like it did last Saturday.

… The problem with that is it would be really hard to type out this blog post wearing something covering my fingers.

In the middle of the winter when the snow is flying and the temperatures outside are well below zero, I’m warm in my basement because the heat comes on regularly.

But the upstairs is not cold because that’s where the thermostat is. It might be 21 degrees upstairs but down here where I am right now it’s only 17.

I remember when I was a teen and I worked at a restaurant part time. Every once in a while we would have to get something out of the walk-in freezer.

When you first went in you would shiver, but then it was okay … for a couple of minutes. After that your blood started to solidify. You started moving in slow motion and you just prayed that the door wasn’t locked from the outside.

That’s the way I feel down here some evenings.

I don’t like coffee or tea; I really don’t like any hot drinks … but I’m starting to think a little hot chocolate might be in order.

… Maybe with a few marshmallows on top.

The one thing that is good is that my exercise room is down here. I’m exercising more because it’s the only way for me to generate a little heat in my body!

I can see my time in the basement lasting another couple of months with hockey playoffs going to mid June. … I guess I’ll feel like I’m sitting ice level in an arena for a while.

Here’s the thing: You may find yourself in an environment that is not the most comfortable. It may be that God wants to stretch you in an area that you find difficult to adjust to. Don’t try to move to a more comfortable environment until you warm up to your knew environment or until God wants you to move out of it.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What new thing is God leading you into? Leave your comments below.

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Relationships Come And Go

When you think about it, many of our relationships are short-lived.

People come into our lives for a period of time and then they leave again.

Though there are some relationships that we will have for all our lives, or for good portions of our lives, an abundance of our acquaintances are short-lived.

These relationships may not be completely gone from our lives, but they become more of a memory than an active connection that we keep.

I recently thought of this because, as the chaplain for an OHL team, the players are around for a maximum of four years and then they vanish from our lives.

As a pastor, I have experienced this in a variety of ways. I’ve worked with other pastoral staff who came into my life and then after a time left. When I was a youth pastor, I had teens in my ministry for about seven years and then they would start to leave for higher education or work.

With the transient nature of our society, there are always people coming into my church and then moving on to other places.

They say a church needs to grow by about 10% a year just to stay even because about 10% will be moving on each year.

… There is something about an old relationship that stays with you even after you lose contact and that is the memories.

It’s memories that keep a past relationship current in a small way.

For instance, I have some really good friends from back in my high school days that I don’t see much any more – some I haven’t been in touch with for years.

But I still feel like I have a connection with them, and that link is my memories.

Unless our memories fail us, even when we no longer have contact, there is still some semblance of an intact relationship.

This past week I said goodbye to a few of the Kingston Frontenacs who will be moving on from OHL hockey, and it was a sad parting.

They will be moving on to new things in different places; I won’t see them on a weekly basis. They were in my life for a time and now they’re gone.

But there are memories that will create a bond so that if our paths cross again our relationship can pick up where it left off.

When you think about it, memories are so important to a relationship. The more significant memories you build, the more connected you will remain, no matter how far apart you are, or how infrequent you have contact.

On the one hand, relationship do come and go. People are part of your life for a time and then they are not. But because of memories, they never really leave.

I guess the thing we need to concentrate on more than anything else is to have significant experiences with the relationships we have now. Then when that contact is gone, our memories will serve to keep our relationship active.

Here’s the thing: We should focus on having significant experiences with the Lord so that in those times when we feel alone, forgotten, or far away, our memories will serve to remind us that our relationship with God is current.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What past relationships do you have that are still vivid because of the memories you have? Leave your comments below.

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It’s Nearing BBQ Season And I’m Not Ready

It’s a little early in the year, but lately I’ve been thinking about my BBQ.

Maybe it’s because the hardware stores have pulled them out from winter storage and put them on display for all us meat lovers.

Around here, early April is not really BBQing season, but I have a problem with my barbecue and, if I don’t figure out a solution in the next few weeks, I will miss some of the season.

Our present BBQ is about 6 years old which, in BBQ years, is like 15. It seems that when we take the cover off it after a winter, it has aged at least 2 years.

Metal and harsh winter conditions don’t do well together so BBQs start rusting and deteriorating over time.

In essence, my 15 year old BBQ needs some help. … If it were a dog, I could take it to a veterinarian and pay for an operation to help give it a few more years. But it’s not so easy with a BBQ.

Every grill is a different size. Believe me, I’ve checked out every big box hardware store in my city, and I’ve done it more than once.

It’s impossible to find the size of grill you need for your BBQ. You can replace burners and heat shields because they come in universal sizes, but grills? – that’s a different story.

Actually, you can buy universal grills – I’ve tried them before on other BBQs that I’ve owned – but they’re all the same. They don’t work.

Every time you take a scraper to them they shift and fall down onto the burners. Even flipping burgers can cause these universal grills to move and drop off the supports.

We have a cast iron grill now which I think is the hardest to maintain. You have to season it with oil to keep it from rusting … continually … who has the time to do that?

I should really think about buying a new BBQ this year and be done with it. But it’s one of those 4 burner, all stainless steel models with a cabinet underneath. I just hate to have to toss out all that metal just because I can’t find a grill that will fit it.

What I would really like to get is a stainless steel grill that fits because I think it would be easier for me to maintain. But if there is a place that sells such a thing they are not advertising.

There’s a great business for someone to start: making grills for all sizes of BBQs. It would save the landfills, keep people from having to buy new BBQs every few years, and would prevent a whole lot of wastefulness.

Too bad there wasn’t an old BBQ junk lot somewhere, where you could buy cheap parts for aging BBQs … that’s just wishful thinking.

Here’s the thing: As much as I would like to keep my BBQ and just replace what is absolutely necessary, the reality is the whole thing has got to go. Spiritually the same is true when we come to Christ. You might think you can keep certain things in your old life and only replace a few parts, but the Bible says in Christ you are a new creation. You can’t hang on to those old parts that aren’t working properly because they can make you ineffective. Embrace the new nature, your new nature in Christ.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What are you hanging on to that you just need to replace? Leave your comments below.