Why You Get Springtime Colds

There’s nothing worse than a springtime cold – partly because you’re not supposed to get a cold when the weather is warm (or just “warmer” this spring).

springtime cold

Colds are for the dead of winter when it’s nasty outside, -30 and everyone is trapped inside to spread their germs around like kids trading hockey cards in Johnny’s basement.

But I could see this one coming on. I could have predicted it. I let myself get run-down and then put myself in situations where I could easily catch what someone else was trying to get rid of.

I had a couple of late nights and then a trip to Toronto and back the same night. The next morning I had to be up for a seven o’clock meeting, so I only got a few hours of sleep.

I knew right then I was vulnerable. My office is rather frigid at this “in between seasons” time of year, so I was also a little chilled during the day.

Then on the weekend, at a family get together, there were several who were fighting off colds and other bugs, and Sunday I shook a lot of hands at church, hands that are filled with germs.

Monday I started sneezing and blowing my nose. I don’t think I’ve ever sneezed as much as I have this week. I would say for the first four days I must have sneezed about thirty times each day.

I normally sneeze in two’s. My brother’s sneeze pattern is about 4 or 5 in a row. This week I was sneezing like my brother, multiple sneezes almost every time.

Friday morning I woke up with a sore throat and I worried that I wouldn’t have a voice to preach on Sunday. I know my congregation prays for me … I’m just hoping they’re praying that I have a voice and not the other way around!

The last two days I really haven’t felt all that great. But this morning, after a very restless night, I thought playing hockey would be the ticket to get me feeling better.

There was no sore throat when I got up so I put on an extra sweatshirt and let my pores push all those bad bugs out of me while I sweat. I wrote about this method in my blog “Guaranteed To Cure The Common Cold” (you can read it here).

This is not the time of year to be having a lingering cold. It’s no fun BBQ-ing and not being able to taste the Montreal Steak Spice on your steak, or being able to smell the fresh breeze while you’re outside doing yard work.

No one wants to be looking out the window at the green grass, budding trees and feeling too lousy to get out there to do anything.

It’s a different story in the middle of the winter with the snow piled up to the window sills and the wind howling at the front door. When it’s like that you’re almost glad you don’t feel like going outside.

I guess I better pay closer attention to the needs of my body.

Here’s the Thing: Like a springtime cold, when you find yourself in a situation when you think, “This shouldn’t be happening to me”, take time to dissect it. God may be trying to teach you through your experience. Don’t just accept it without seeking to find what God wants you to learn from it.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What have you learned from a situation you didn’t think you should be in? I’d really like to hear from you. You can leave a message below.

Why Fans Aren’t Worth Much – Part 2

In my last blog (click to read), I compared sports fans to recycle trash. Team owners and players consider fans to be more valuable than trash, but not much more.

Leaf fans

Just like we treat recycle items a little better than regular garbage, fans are treated likewise. The bottom line, however, is they’re still trash.

Some of you have been wondering when I was going to show my colours and now’s the time.  I’ve been a Toronto Maple Leaf fan for most of my life. I grew up in Toronto, so the team is engrained deep within me.

I was 11 years old when Toronto last won the Stanley cup in 1967. I’ll be 58 this year.

My kids, now in their 20’s, have never witnessed the Leafs win the cup. They’ve never seen them win the conference finals. But they have observed the Leafs missing the playoffs 12 times in the past 25 years. That’s half the time if you’re counting (excluding the 04/05 lock out year).

Last year the Leafs made the playoffs for the first time in 8 years. They did great, almost dumping the future Stanley Cup champions to the curb in the first round.

Fans had high hopes, and were in full support of this team. This year looked promising; the team was solid. They were playoff-bound right through until after the Olympic break.

There have been a couple of injuries since then that have hurt them, but that’s not the real problem. Sure Reimer let in 19 goals in five games, but Bernier has let in 12 in the last 3 games. Goaltending is not the issue.

The problem is morale. The Leafs are not playing like they did before the break. There’s no urgency in their game. No desire to win. They have no drive to make the playoffs this year.

What there is is a great deal of unrest in that organization right now. How this unrest surfaces is in treating the fans like they are recycle garbage.

While the team is fighting it out amongst each other or with the coaches in the dressing room, every night on the ice they are just taking the blue box to the curb for pick up the next morning.

Toronto should be the cleanest city in the world; they have the garbage picked up about three times a week!

Someone needs to shake everyone in that organization and get them looking at what’s really important. It’s not who’s being treated poorly, or who’s right or wrong. It’s the fans! Treat them like they belong in the house and not in a recycle bin on the side of the street!

Someone on the team needs to say, “Let’s give these fans what they want. Let’s forget our beefs while we are on the ice. Let’s remember the fans are still supporting us, the product.”

You don’t put the Cheerios box in the recycle bin when there are still Cheerios in it. The team needs to rally around the fans for the fans. Sports fans are the team’s most valuable resource.

My beef and my rant is about my team the Toronto Maple Leafs. But listen, your team is just one internal argument away from treating you as recycle trash, too.

Here’s the thing: When our morale is low, often we treat God like recycle trash. We ignore Him to focus on our issues. We blame Him for the state we are in. Instead, seek His support and encouragement and help. God is your most valuable resource.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How can you make God your most valuable resource?

I’d love to hear from you; you can leave a comment below.

When Your Son’s Life Parallels Yours

My son turned 23 the other day, and what stood out to me is just how much his life has paralleled mine so far.

grass

I thought for a moment that I had a “do-over” in him. And I wondered if a lot of parents think that … they see their son or daughter as a way to correct or change their own path. In some cases, they see their children as a way to fulfill a long-lost dream.

I didn’t dwell on that very long because I realized that he has some living ahead of him that I have no desire to do over.

When I look back, I don’t want to have to finish my education, or decide on a career, or choose a mate, or a number of other things. No, that’s for Mike to go through. All I can do, or want to do, is be a sounding board for him in all those things.

But still, it’s hard not to dream for him and want to make decisions for him when I see him having to make the same decisions and going through the same circumstances as I did.

There are times I want to shout out, “Choose this”, or “Do that and you will save yourself time and pain”.

But that would be cheating him out of figuring out life. That would be keeping him from growing up. That would be preventing him from becoming himself instead of a do-over of dad.

Besides, when we’re 23 there’s something inside us that compels us to experience things for ourselves and not take the advice of the wise sage.

We went out for dinner to celebrate this occasion. And there was a young family who sat at a table across from us: a mom, a dad and a daughter about 6 years old. I looked back at my family, all adults now, and flashed back to remember days long ago when my children were young

How often I have said, “Wow, he’s a lot like me in the way he thinks and the things he does, the choices he makes. Even his physical development parallels mine.”

Mike laughs at me and calls me a fatty. But I look at him, knowing my physique was identical at his age and say, “This is all yours in thirty five years!”

I never had this conversation with my dad, but I know there were lots of parallels between us, too.

Back at home to open presents after dinner, the last present he opened was a new 3 wood. I could see the excitement in his eyes, the longing to get on the golf course and play.

That’s something that he has become passionate about through his friends. It’s also with his friends that he has developed his ability. Though I share the same love for the game, he didn’t catch the bug from me.

But even in that, he parallels my life: picking up the game from a friend and being mentored in golf by him.

What’s good is we can play together and maybe this will be the year he finally beats me.

Here’s the thing:  A relationship with God is personal and though it may look like your journey to God parallels someone else’s, each relationship with God is unique. You can’t replicate your relationship with God in someone else. However, you can fellowship together in your relationships with God.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: In what ways has your life paralleled someone else’s?

I would love to hear from you. You can leave your comment below.

Why Your Past Can’t Really Catch Up To You

We turned back time in our house this past week. We’ve gone back to using a dishwasher instead of washing our dishes by hand.

dishwasher-services

And right now you are thinking, “Wait a minute. That’s not going back in time; that’s catching up to the present!” I would agree with you, however, our journey to using a dishwasher has a few twists and turns to it.

Back in the good old days – you know, those days that were never really as good as we think they were – well, back in those days, when Lil and I were first married, we did everything by hand.

As I recall, we even washed our clothes by hand. We didn’t really, but when my kids have kids, I’m going to say we did … and I’ll be so old by then everyone will believe me!

At the very least, we washed our dishes by hand. We pretty much followed this archaic method of cleaning soiled plates and cutlery for years. That is until we moved to Kingston.

That’s when we got a dishwasher. Oh, life was modern then. It seemed like the good life had arrived. Modern appliances would run things for us and we wouldn’t have to do any work around the house at all. Life was grand.

For seventeen years we lived in this blissful state; not a care in the world. It was even magical how the clean dishes reappeared in the cupboards and drawers.

But one sad day – it may have been “the day the music died” (American Pie) – life changed around our happy home. The dishwasher died. It stopped working; it was kaput.

I found myself washing dishes again, like the good old days. Remember them? I wrote about this in a blog last year, “Whatever You Do, Don’t Fix It” (Feb. 23, 2013).

I was getting used to washing dishes with my wife. I can’t say I enjoyed it, but I got pretty efficient at drying the various items, except for plastic. I don’t like drying anything plastic, including bags, especially bags!

One day, about six months ago, my son said he had a new dishwasher for us. I thought at first he was moving back home. But no, his friend’s father got a new dishwasher and they wondered if we wanted their old one. Mike said he and his friend would even install it for us.

I said no. Crazy, right? But I knew what would happen. It would sit in our garage for six months and then I would end up having to install it.

Well, deja vu! I just installed the washer this week, six months after it arrived in our garage with great promises.

So we are back to the modern life, the blissful happy home I once recalled. Life couldn’t be more simple, easy, fun. Though it’s louder in our house now – the blasted dishwasher makes a lot of noise and it doesn’t wash the big pots and pans.

… I’m still on towel duty, just like the good old days.

Here’s the thing: We may have had some significant Christian experience in the past. We may even keep looking back to that experience and claim it like it is current or reoccurring. But we need to have new and fresh experiences with God. We need to leave the good old days in the past.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What old experience has you looking to the past rather than for something fresh?

I’d love to hear from you on this. Leave your comment below.

How Driving Around Potholes Is Good For You

I’ve never been into monster truck racing, but lately I kind of wish I owned one. In the aftermath of winter – not that I’m saying it’s over, but it better be – I need to be driving something a little more substantial than my Hyundai Accent.

potholes

The road conditions in my town are like a war zone. My apologies to those who actually live in war zones; I’m sure it’s nothing like it. But from my perspective, I’m dodging bomb craters every few minutes.

It’s our crazy winter that has created these conditions, and if the city doesn’t soon get the road crews out there fixing the potholes, the mechanics in my town will be rubbing their hands together with sinister smiles on their faces. I think my car might already need new shocks or something.

I feel like a rally driver bobbing and weaving around land minds that want to take my car out. I’m not even using the double lanes to pass cars any more. I need that other lane just to get around the missing pavement so I don’t have to drive into oncoming traffic.

I’m sure in other Canadian cities the state of the roads are the same as they are here. … Now I’m starting to worry about an asphalt shortage!

I’m not sure that it’s even possible for us to have an asphalt shortage but I can see the construction companies starting some rumours to drive up the prices. We’ll all be paying for that if it happens.

I’m also predicting a tax increase this year. The bill for road work is going to be astronomical and I’m afraid it will take them until next winter before they make all the repairs that need to be done.

When I was a kid winters were harsher, but the roads seemed to last longer. Maybe they are skimping on the base of the roads. Is it possible that they are using cheap crushed stone from China under our roads? Maybe that’s why our roads aren’t holding up as they should be.

I’m in favour of starting a “buy Canadian gravel” campaign if it will help us drive on smooth pavement.

It could be that they are using a thinner layer of asphalt. They should lay that stuff down as thick as they do for airport runways. Those planes weigh tons more than my little car but those airstrips seem to last and last.

One area that is holding up are the speed bumps they put on some roads to encourage slower speeds. I haven’t seen any missing sections in them. I have, however, been secretly wishing the snow ploughs would push them off to the side with the snow.

No one would notice in the winter. Not until the snow melted would anyone see the piles of black top on the side of the road. They wouldn’t be able to replace them either with all the work they have to do filling potholes all over the city; there’d be no time.

Well, here’s hoping my vehicle will make it on another rally car race to work this morning!

Here’s the thing: In life there will be potholes. We can complain about them; we can blame others; and we can blame God. We can ask God to fill them, but most likely He will help us and guide us around them. We just need to stay alert to God’s direction in our life.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What are the road conditions like in your city, in your life?

I would love to hear from you; you can leave your comment below.

How Shredding Makes More Room In Your Life

I think I would really hate to work for a secret service agency with all those redacted documents and shredding that goes on.

shredding

Not that I really know much about what they do, I’m just imagining it all. What’s got me thinking about it is my wife Lily’s new kick on cleaning out our files. I have to agree that we have a serious stockpile of paper.

We have files full of old utility bills, income tax – you name it, we’ve kept it. And it’s all getting shredded. Lil really loves her shredder! It’s a Royal 1212X; apparently it crosscuts the sheets so that even CISIS or the NSA or FBI couldn’t piece the confetti together.

I’m thinking she might burn the motor out (which wouldn’t be a bad thing), her shredder’s been humming for days. We have bags and bags of shredded paper.

It’s not all going to fit in the garbage/recycling this week. We have an old bean bag chair that’s a little flat … maybe we could puff it up with a few bags of shredded paper.

If anyone knows of a wedding coming up soon, I’m sure Lily would sell some of her shredding to throw at the happy couple.

It’s not just saying goodbye to the paper during her Watergate-style purification of files, it’s the noise. Someone should seriously come up with a muffler for these machines.

While it’s destroying any evidence of my name and address on Union gas bills, it keeps me from hearing the TV or concentrating on reading, or focussing on writing things like this blog.

Lily likes it when we do things in the same place, even if we are doing different things. Generally that’s a good thing and I agree. But in this case, I’d consider me in the family room and her in the garage with her precious shredder close enough to being in the same place. At least it’s under the same roof.

What concerns me most is that we have a large filing cabinet, about four feet wide, with four draws. I could be in for a noisy spring and summer. She just better not take it on vacation this year.

I understand what’s at the heart of all this paper mutilation. Lily doesn’t want our personal information ending up in some recycling plant or land fill. She can’t handle the thought of someone digging through garbage to find info to steal our identity.

But I can’t see the seagulls in our neighbourhood being able to lift our credit info and charge some vacation to our card like the penguin on the CIBC Visa commercials might do (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9BIsrSPRFY).

Lil is not one to take chances. So I guess I should be grateful that she is making room in the filing cabinet for the next twenty years.

Oh wait, I think she’s saying something … I think she said she’s nearly finished … though I may not have heard her correctly over the racket of that blasted shredder!

Here’s the thing: It’s not easy when you recognize that you need to get rid of something in your life that is causing you harm. It takes some work, and it’s going to mean a disruption and annoyance to your old way of life. But when you come through it, the benefit is a life that has more room for the Holy Spirit to work in.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How often do you do a life-clearing to make more room for God in your life?

I would really love to hear from you. You can leave your comment below.

How Pain Can Be Profitable

The other day I bit my tongue. I didn’t just nip it, I chomped down on it hard. It’s not the first time I’ve done it either.

bites-his-tongue

You’d think it would be no big deal. It’s not like breaking an arm or having knee surgery (though it felt like I needed to reattach part of my tongue!). But for a few moments, everything, EVERYTHING stops and you are completely incapacitated by the pain.

I was in the middle of saying something to my wife at the time, and then in mid-sentence I was silenced. Lily turned around, wondering why I stopped, and then wondered if I was having a stroke or something.

I wasn’t moving; my mouth was half opened. I couldn’t speak; my eyes filled with water. She was really concerned and asked, “Are you okay?”

I couldn’t immediately reply because of the pain, but also because of the piece of toast I still had in my mouth. That’s what caused the great tongue bite in the first place.

I’m thinking if this is going to happen to me more often, maybe I should just drink Boost – that way I wouldn’t have to chew any more. I’m over fifty-five so people wouldn’t even think that’s odd. In fact, people under thirty expect that someone my age would be drinking that stuff by now.

Besides not biting my tongue, there are benefits to not chewing and just focusing my attention on swallowing.

… Things like no more cooking – Lily would like that because meals would take under two minutes. I’m sure I could chug a bottle, box or can of that stuff, whatever form of packaging it comes in.

This wasn’t even the worst tongue biting I have harmed myself with. I once bit down on my tongue so hard I put my right incisor into the middle of my tongue and, yes, I was bleeding.

To make matters worse, I couldn’t stop the bleeding either. I was on a blood thinner at the time and it wasn’t like I could put a bandaid on it. It seemed to take forever to heal.

And then about three months later I opened it up again. It’s been a couple of years now and still that spot on my tongue can open up like a boxer’s face that has had one too many punches.

When you bite your tongue hard you also can appreciate what it’s like to have your tongue pierced. You’ve seen those sales clerks or waiters who speak kind of funny because they have this little silver ball in the middle of their tongue.

They kind of talk with a lisp and your eyes are directed right to their mouths like you’re a lip reader. You can tell they’re having a hard time forming the words they are trying to say. You feel like helping them out by finishing their sentences.

Well I have three days to get my tongue back to normal before I preach on Sunday.

Here’s the thing: When you bite your tongue, the pain lasts for a while. When God wants you to learn something or correct you on something, the pain or angst you feel also lingers for a while.  Keep on being faithful through it; don’t look for other solutions. Learn the tough lessons and move on.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What lessons have you learned by going through the pain or angst of the teaching?

I’d really love to hear from you; leave your comment below.

Get Your Email Inbox To Zero, Part 2

This is part two of a blog I posted on Saturday, March 1, 2014. So if you are reading this and haven’t read the first part, check out “How To Get Your Email Inbox To Zero”.

For me the biggest concern I have with bulging email inboxes is the feeling of not being caught up, and that I may have missed something. And believe me, there have been times emails have got buried and I didn’t do what I was supposed to do.

inbox 0

In my last post, I said I needed help. So I went looking for some help to get control of this “rascally little rabbit” email inbox.

I combed through the google suggestions based on searches like “overflowing email inbox” or “help I’m buried underneath a thousand emails” … you know, usual search line phrases.

And to boil down all the information, I decided on three components to zeroing out my email inbox. The first is a decision process which is called D.D.F.D. that stands for “Do it, Defer it, File it, Delete it”.

I start by applying this process to each email. If I can address the email in 2 minutes or less, I do it; if I can’t, I defer it to a later time. If I might need to reference it later, I file it. If I don’t need to respond to it, I delete it.

It sounds like a simple process, but I have found myself staring at emails, contemplating which action I should take. Sometimes I need to do it AND file it, and then I always need to delete it from my inbox (I think I’ve been hypnotized).

Anyway, the process is vitally important but I needed some apps to help me make it all happen.

I use an app called “Evernote” to file emails in that I may need to reference later. Basically, I email the email to my Evernote account and it is then stored in the cloud, off my computer and especially out of my inbox.

The app I use to defer things to is called “Nozbe”. This app turns emails into tasks, and I basically email the email to my Nozbe account, also stored in the cloud.

That’s the basics – ask me if you want to know more. The bottom line is I’ve zeroed out my inbox for the last 5 days now. And there’s no looking back!

You wouldn’t believe how good this feels. I feel in control, and on top of things. When I look at that inbox and see nothing in it, I get this big ol’ smile on my face.  … Well I would get that big ol’ smile on my face if I was a 250 pound state trouper from Georgia.

I still have to delete my trash and my sent folders, but my finger is hovering over the erase button . . . . and  . . . oh, there. Gone! I did it.

Here’s the thing: In my last blog, I said dealing with an over-full inbox is like sin. The first step is to admit you have a problem. Identify the sin you have difficulty with and seek God’s help. The great thing is that God will forgive you.

Then take steps to distance yourself from that sin. Like zeroing out my inbox, it takes some planning, commitment to that plan and discipline. There may be times when my inbox starts to build up, but I can get right back at implementing my methods. And the same is true when you sin again: seek God in repentance and get back to your plan.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question:  What steps do you take to keep sin out of your life?

I’d really love to hear from you; leave your comment below.

How To Get Your Email Inbox To Zero

I have an email problem like many people do. I have too many and my inbox just keeps getting bigger.

inbox-full

I need to do something with my unruly inbox. I have hundreds of emails in it and it keeps growing.

I could give up and get a new email address, cancel my present one and start fresh. But that would cause all kinds of problems and it would just mean I would start accumulating email in a new inbox.

My real problem is not that I get too many emails in a day – I don’t think that’s anybody’s problem. We can always delete those little suckers in an instant.

I can usually tell by the subject line if I don’t need to read an email. I can then hit delete faster than the pictures and graphics can load on my screen.

Getting rid of my unwanted email is not a big deal. My real problem lies in two other areas:

First there is the issue of what to do with emails that I need to act on or follow up on later.

I stare at those messages, some with grammatical and spelling issues (I’m one to talk), and they dare me to put them in some folder or clip them to some app that I will forget about in a day.

I get uneasy touching them because I know if I move them out of my inbox I’ll forget to respond, or follow up, or remember the details. So I just keep them in my inbox; it’s safer that way. But it’s bulking up my mail program in the mean time.

My other problem area is in saying goodbye to my correspondence for good. When I’ve dealt with an email, or responded, and all the action is complete, I still think I might need to refer to it some day.

So I put it in the trash but I don’t empty the trash. I have over 14,000 emails in my trash!

And then, just in case I need to refer to an email I sent, I don’t make them disappear forever either. I have over 4,000 sent emails in that folder!

I might need some psychiatric help on this. Maybe I was never able to really detach myself from my mother or something.

Maybe deep inside I have an electronic addiction like those hoarders that collect things so that there are piles of junk four feet high throughout their house. Only with me, I have four feet high piles of email spread all over my mail program.

They say the first step to overcome your problem is to admit you have one. Okay, I admit it, I’m an electronic hoarder and I need help.

Here’s the thing: We all have a problem with sin. There is something about it (that sin that keeps enticing you) that we have a hard time resisting. We know we should get rid of it but we keep it around. We don’t seem to have the will to completely detach ourselves from it. Our first step is to recognize this problem we have with our sin. Then call on God for help.

I’ll continue this theme in my next blog.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you do to completely rid yourself of sin? I would love to hear from you. You can leave your comment below

What To Do In A Hotel Fire

We’ve all heard fire alarms go off. All through grade school we have been trained in what to do when a fire alarm sounds. But what about when the fire alarm goes off in your hotel while you are staying on the fourteenth floor?

firealarm

Fourteen floors of sheer terror – doesn’t it sound like a movie? I remember seeing “Towering Inferno” in the 70’s. I’ve also grooved to the popular hit “Disco Inferno”, of that same era (google it and enjoy).

I grew up in Toronto and we would get US news from Buffalo on TV and there were always fires being reported at 6 and 11. It was either a three alarm fire in Cheektowaga or a four alarm fire in North Tonawanda, but you knew every night there was a fire burning somewhere in Buffalo.

With that kind of background and experience, I was ready when our fire alarm started ringing at about 11:45 pm. At that time, you’re kind of in for the night and I wasn’t looking forward to spending the next few hours outside, wrapped in a blanket in my skivvies.

But alarms in hotels are different. They are not meant to scare the life out of you, rather just to gently get your attention that something is not quite right.

At first I didn’t know what it was. I thought maybe the alarm was coming from somewhere in the room. In my sweep of the room, however, I realized it was clean and the noise was coming from out in the hall. Then a voice, that was muffled by our closed door, soothed us by telling us not to be alarmed, that they were investigating the problem, but not to use the elevators.

At that point, I casually went over to the door and looked at the map that indicated where we were and where the stairwell exits were. I took a careful mental note.

As I went back to the TV, I started to think about what I would take if we had to go. My computer was still in my backpack, so it would go with me. I was staying calm just like the nice man’s voice over the intercom was telling me to do about every three minutes.

Then I heard the fire engine sirens and I thought, “Hey, this might be the real thing.” Still not panicking, I started thinking about the lessons learned as a 5th grader at Rivercrest Public School.

We had to line up when the fire drill alarm resonated through the school halls. The teacher would get us ready, remind us of our exit, and to remain in single file.

I remember in high school, during a student protest, someone pulled the fire alarm and we all got out of class. That was exciting.

I was ready to run down the fourteen floors to the bottom if I had to. I often take the stairs when I make hospital visits. There’s been more than once that I’ve still been huffing and puffing walking into a patient’s room on the 10th floor.

Not long after the fire truck sirens stopped, the nice man’s voice said they had fixed the problem and thanked us for our patience. He had to repeat his announcement because the alarm sounded again!

Here’s the thing: Sometimes you just have to be ready for things that are unexpected and out of your control. You have to be able to roll with them. In life, we should be ready to meet God now, because we don’t know when things unexpected and out of our control might happen to us.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: In your experience, what has been your reaction to alarms? Leave your comment below.