plans

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My Cell Phone Has Sent Me Into Depression

I’ve been getting a little depressed lately and the cause has to do with my cell phone. I’ve been thinking about getting a new phone but the thought of it has got me down because of what it’s going to cost me.

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To just purchase a new iPhone will cost me more money than I’ve spent on my last two iPhones put together. I realize I purchased my first iPhone 6 years ago and then my last one 3 years ago, but still! – to get a new one I will have to pay about $100 dollars more than my combined purchases so far!

That’s kind of ridiculous. And I just saw a statistic that Apple has sold 700,000 iPhones. I thought the whole idea of manufacturing was that it brings the cost down.

I’m sure there’s a good reason why the price is so high. It’s probably because they’re making the cell phones so thin now that it’s hard to get Siri to fit inside.

Somebody has to be in there to answer my questions.

But I could live with the increased cost of the phone if that was it. But no, there’s more cost involved. To get a new plan (which I have to do because they don’t offer my old plan any more), I’m going to have to pay more money and get less for it.

I’m sure they have a team of bald-headed, hairy eye-browed men wearing dark-rimmed glasses figuring out how to extract the most from us.

On a new contract, I’ll have to pay $10 more per month to get one twelfth the data that I presently have!

This is significant for me because that data is my internet connection when I’m at my cottage. If I buy a new phone I’m going to have to spend more money to get internet while I’m there.

But as bad as all this sounds, what makes it more depressing is seeing US cell phone commercials on TV.

In Canada our big phone companies pretty much own all the television networks in the country.  Instead of blocking Super Bowl commercials, they should block out those US cell phone company ads.

They are depressing the average Canadian, making us feel worse than we did from all the extreme cold and snow we faced this winter.

I don’t know if I can take it to watch another T-Mobile commercial offering unlimited talk and data to its costumers for the mere cost of $50 a month! … Our big companies don’t want to even sell you a smart phone unless your monthly plan will be at least $60 per month.

And my cell phone company wants me to share everything with other people, only I have no one to share with. My kids are on their own and my wife has a plan with her work.

Maybe Rogers would like me to adopt someone … but I looked on their website and didn’t see any profile pictures of Canadians looking to be sponsored on a monthly basis.

I’m too depressed to make a decision. I guess I’ll just keep using what I have for a while longer.

Here’s the thing: There is all kinds of pressure on you to get on board with some kind of plan for your life. God has a plan, but He won’t force you into it. Be sure that the loud voices out there, trying to sell you on their plans, don’t keep you ignoring the plan God has for you.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What pressure to conform have you found yourself under lately? Leave your comment below.

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New Year’s Eve Plans

Wow, the end of another year! It came up quickly and we had no plans as usual.

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Well, I guess we did have plans; they were the same plans we have most years on New Year’s Eve: we hang out, snack a little, and watch some New Year’s Eve countdown show on TV.

That’s pretty much it. There have been a few years where we’ve varied our pattern but this is the regular “no plan” plan for the end of the year.

But I was leaning away from that plan this year, and it was all because of a TV advertisement for a New Year’s Eve show this year.

I saw an ad for this year’s New Year’s Eve show on ABC called, “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve”.

The problem with this show is that Dick Clark is no longer with us. In fact, he’s been gone for over two years now. What kind of a New Year’s show is it when the host of the show is not really ringing in the new year with you?

How great a new year can it be if the host isn’t joining you in the celebration?

There is just something wrong about it, that almost says there’s nothing worth looking forward to in the new year.

Maybe the executives at ABC are getting older and don’t have the same optimism as they used to, so why not have a deceased person’s name on the advertising? Nothing spells excitement like that!

I had in mind we should change things up this year. It was kind of late to be making plans with only three days to the big day, but I thought we needed to make the night a little more interesting and add a little hope to the evening.

The problem with putting more effort into NYE is that it happens so often that you blink and it’s here again. And you start to think, “Didn’t we just have New Year’s not that long ago?”

That’s what age does though; it speeds up time for you. A year for someone in their 50’s is like a year and a half for someone in their 20’s.

When you’re in your 20’s you can barely remember the last new year’s, and so it’s a big deal every time it comes around.

But when you get a little older, you feel like you just booked your dinner reservations for last December 31, and now you have to do it again already.

When you’re young, a new year offers all kinds of new opportunities and hopes, but when you’re older you just hope things will hold their own in the new year and there won’t be any surprises.

When you think of it, New Year’s Eve is really for the young, or the young at heart.

After some thought, we changed up our plans and went out … but still made it home in time to watch “Dick Clark’s postmortem New Year’s Rockin’ Eve.”

Here’s the thing: If the sound of giving in to getting older doesn’t seem all that good to you, then fight to stay young at heart. Get out of your rut and breathe some hope and excitement into your routines like New Year’s Eve. And while you’re at it, take a look at your relationship with God – have you gotten safe, comfortable, boring with God? Look at this new year as an opportunity to enhance your relationship with God. Consider how you can engage with God in more hope and opportunity.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What did you do on New Year’s Eve this year? Leave your comments below.

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Sleep Is Just Like Temptation

Have you ever been too tired to function? Sleep has you in its grips, and no matter what you do you just can’t seem to stay awake.

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It happens to young children …

One time we were driving home from church. The sun was shining with all its might through the car windows. Music was playing; Lily and I were talking.

I glanced in the rearview mirror and I saw our two year old slowly slipping into a sleep.

We were just two minutes out of the church parking lot.

Lily spun around and started making noise, waving, wiggling toes … she would’ve done jumping jacks if it wasn’t for the seat belt . . . well  . . . and the car roof.

From the vantage point of the mirror I could see Karlie sinking deeper and deeper into sleep and there was nothing that Lily could do to stop her. Sleep had overcome her. No power on earth was going to reverse the spell that was claiming our daughter.

I also remember watching my dad and grandfather get KO’d by reclining chairs they sat in on Sunday afternoons. My brother and I played as my dad and grandpa talked and then … silence.

We couldn’t figure out what happened. It was like a drug had been administered by my grandmother during our meal. They were gone . . . for hours!

Now Lily administers that same drug, because I can sit down to watch a perfectly riveting golf tourney on TV and in minutes find myself fast asleep.

Actually, I find myself a few hours later waking up to something other than the golf tourney!

Sometimes sleep can’t be stopped. It’s powerful; it’s controlling. It can be welcomed but also dreaded.

That was the case for me the other day. I had been away for two days and not slept very much. I had sat through an all-day meeting and then had a two hour drive home.

About half way into the drive I started feeling tired. I turned up the radio and tried to sing along, like I had my own personal Karaoke contest going on and I was winning (can you actually win at those contests?).

I ran my fingers through my hair, squeezed my arms, rubbed my neck … but my eyelids still got heavier and heavier. I’m sure I closed them once or twice for longer than a blink.

… Not too scary having that happen in a big old recliner. it IS scary when you’re in a tin box moving down the highway at 130 km’s per hour!

Did I write that? I’m sure I meant 119 km’s per hour.

I knew I was in trouble but was having a hard time thinking. I just knew I needed to pull over.

I prayed, “Lord help me get to a travel centre.” When I saw a sign for one, I fought sleep like crazy to get there. I pulled in, reclined my seat, and slept for 40 minutes. I then drove home refreshed.

Here’s the thing: Temptation can be powerful – just like sleep at times – so powerful that it’s hard to think of alternatives and exit points. It’s those times you need to have a plan in place and know what you should do. I knew I needed to get off the road. I didn’t have to think about it; I knew it. When you’re under extreme temptation, you have to already know what to do, so that all that’s left is to pray that God would help you do it.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How have you learned to fight off temptation? Leave your comments below.

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It’s Raining

Currently I’m on vacation some where near a sandy beach, on Lake Huron.  While I am away I am featuring a guest blog about once a week.  Today’s blog comes from Dr. Munier Nour who currently lives with his family in Calgary. He and his wife, Mary, have been married for 7 years and have two young sons aged one and three. Munier is a subspecialist in the field of pediatrics. He and his family lived in Kingston and attended KAC until 2010.

I’ve struggled to write this blog entry for a few weeks now. I’ve started writing a few times and have always just thrown it away. I think I’ve wanted a neat and tidy package of a story to tell people. I want to share a story of resolution and pack in a quaint lesson learned. But as much as I’ve tried that’s not a story I can tell… yet. Mine is still a work in progress.

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Despite putting this task aside for the last time this morning my confirmation came this evening that I need to articulate my struggle – if for no one else, then for my own benefit. We spent the evening in hospital with our youngest son for the third time in the past few months.

A year ago I had a neat little plan for our family. I had finally finished my ridiculously long medical training, we had our two healthy children, and my dream job was about to become available. It looked like I couldn’t have planned it better. I would quickly interview for the job, get it, we’d move into our new home and life would be in cruise control from there on. I had it all figured out. God had different plans.

In a series of seemingly rapid fire steps all my hard work and planning for a care free life seemed to come undone. It started out with our youngest son getting quite sick and being hospitalized with breathing difficulties when I was on the other side of the country. If narrowly missing an ICU admission wasn’t enough, he went on to repeat the process not two weeks later (and again tonight). Weeks later we were told that he also had another rare issue. It seems he had suffered from a perinatal stroke before he was born, a condition previously called hemiplegic cerebral palsy. While he has only shown mild symptoms it has been very difficult to understand and grasp this as parents wanting nothing but the best for our child. Following these medical events, I received the news that my prospects for work would go to another applicant – leaving me with essentially with no options of work in my field in the entire country.

It’s at this point that I feel the need to say something quaint or cliché. Something like ‘everything happens for a reason’ or ‘God’s got something bigger and better in store’ or ‘God will never give you more than you can handle’. While these are all good intentioned, the fact of the matter is I don’t really want to hear them right now – plus I’m not sure they even necessarily apply.

When I turn to passages like the story of Jesus calming the storm (Mark 4:35-41) my tendency is to look down on the disciples. How could they not realize Jesus was in control? How could they not understand that they were still safe? How could they have so little faith? In the midst of my storm, I wish I could say I was different from them.  I feel the rain starting and I run and panic.

As I’ve begun to navigate this small storm – while it is not easy – I am comforted to know I am not alone in this boat and that He commands even the winds and the water.

Question: When the storms come in your life, where do you turn?

 

When everything is wrong
The day has passed and nothing’s done
And the whole world seems against me
When I’m rolling in my bed, there’s a storm in my head
I’m afraid of sinking in despair.
…
‘Cause I’m a child of little faith
I feel the wind and forget Your grace
And You say, “Peace, be still.”

Teach me, Lord to have faith
In what You’re bringing me will
Change my life and bring You glory
…

There on the storm, teach me God to understand
Of Your will that I just cannot control.
There may I see all Your love protecting me
I thank you Lord, You are the calmer of the storm.

  —  “Calmer of the Storm” by Downhere
http://youtu.be/Z5gqZHifyQM

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From Plans To Reality

Some people are big planners; others are not. I don’t happen to be a natural planner. I HAVE to plan and so I do it, but it’s work for me. It takes considerable effort on my part.

In a perfect world, I would wake up every morning and say, “It’s a brand new day!” You have to say it out loud though, and with a Jamaican accent. And one more thing, you really have to roll out the “br” sound. Try it with me: “It’s a brrrrrand new day!” (Don’t forget the Jamaican accent.) … I know you feel better just saying it.

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That’s how I would love to approach each morning: every day a blank page, and me eagerly awaiting what will happen. The only problem with that is I have responsibilities and I have wants and dreams cluttering that wishful blank page.

This morning in my devotions I read Proverbs 16:9 which says, “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.”

That means all that I’ve done in my life so far is really the Lord’s doing. My plans, my dreams and my wants – all the things I’ve gone after – have only come to be because God established them.

That also means the custom platform shoes and knee-length coat with an 8 inch fur collar I bought in the 70‘s was because God established it for me (maybe not, but I really wish I could find a picture of that get up). It means that my plans and dreams that haven’t materialized or worked out are because God didn’t establish them.

I could be sad or angry that I haven’t gotten all I wanted, hoped or planned for, or I could take comfort that I did get what God wanted, planned and dreamed for me so far.

Going on from here, I could stop planning and dreaming, sit back and start each day with “It’s a brand new day” and see what happens, or I could try to figure out what God has planned for me and follow that.

But how can I know God’s plans in advance? And how detailed are God’s plans? Are His plans as detailed as what I will have for breakfast, or whether I should buy a new Apple product – it doesn’t matter what, anything will do. (I’d sure like Him to establish that plan!)

Maybe we can’t live that way. Instead, we have to keep making plans, keep dreaming and hoping but roll with what actually is established. I wonder if most of our frustration is just being upset that God changed our plans on us.

We would be happier if we were prepared for changes to our plans and pleasantly surprised by what He establishes.

Here’s the thing: To live a content life we need to be happy with what God brings our way. We need to be okay when He changes our plans. But we still need to keep planning, dreaming, hoping and wanting. If we stopped, we would probably be dead.

Thanks, Lord for ordering my steps. It’s just what you wanted, so it’s just what I want too.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How important are the plans you make for yourself?  Leave your comment below.

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Like Lemmings Jumping Off a Cliff

We haven’t received all that much snow this winter, but whenever I have had to travel, the snow has come in piles!  Out of the last five trips I’ve made to either Toronto or Ottawa, I’ve traveled through a snow storm each time at least one way.

I know it’s Canada and winter, and snow is one of our best GNP’s (Gross National Product) but still, every time I travel?  Come on!  You can pretty well track our snow fall by my travel plans this year.  They’re lucky down in Florida that I don’t have a trip planned to the sunshine state.

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An hour before returning from my latest trip, the snow started falling.  It seemed pretty light so I wasn’t worried.  But when I finished my meeting and went out to my car, all the cars looked the same.  They were all white with about three inches of snow on them.

I picked my car out of the line up, opened the door and reached for the snow brush.  It was one of those snow days that when you finished brushing the snow off your car, the part you first brushed off needed another brushing.  You could just keep going around your car brushing off the snow.

Once I got going, I realized the roads were going to be slippery – and you know what that means:  Everyone who can’t drive is out on the roads trying to audition for that TV show, “Canada’s Worst Driver”!  I saw a few that I think would be good candidates.

The highway was packed, visibility was poor and then we got diverted off the highway.  I found out later there was a 60 – 80 car pile-up we had to detour around.  It was during that detour that I realized how conditioned we are to just follow.

It was one lane, stop and go, bumper to bumper.  Everyone just started following the car ahead.  We traveled for an hour like this.  Then I noticed a sign indicating a turn back to the main highway.

When I got to the corner, the cars ahead of me didn’t make the turn.  They kept on the single lane road like lemmings, just following the car ahead, without thinking about where they were going.

I looked in my rearview mirror as I drove the route back to the highway.  No one followed me.  I was the only one who made the turn; everyone just kept going straight.  When I got to the highway, there were no other cars on it.  I had three lanes to myself for about twenty minutes.

It was like the other cars were looking for some official to direct them back to the major route.  I kind of chuckled to myself as I sped down the highway, thinking that there were people still traveling bumper to bumper when they could be back on the highway traveling 80 -100 kph faster.  I made it home much sooner than I’d originally thought.

Here’s the thing: It can seem like the right thing to follow what everyone else is doing.  We blend in and it’s comfortable.  But often following the majority keeps us from the better plan God has for us.  We need to keep checking the signs God gives us in His Word to get back on His path and not stay stuck on a detour.

That’s life!

Paul

Question: What do you do to keep from following everyone else?  Leave your comment below.

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It All Changed in an Instant

They say things can happen in a spilt second.  One moment everything is fine, and the next everything has changed.  That happened to me this week when I put my back out.  I was feeling good, keeping up with my aerobics and weights, and looking forward to playing hockey later in the day.  Then in one moment, aerobics, weights and hockey were all put on hold.

Sometimes things don’t happen quite so fast.  I remember a time shortly after getting my driver’s license, when I was returning home with my brother after a late night hockey practice.  It had lightly snowed while we had been practicing and there was a fresh, thin blanket of snow on the road.  Everything looked so peaceful.

As we left the arena, we turned onto an access road that took us to the main street.  It was a short, two lane strip of road, with no one in sight, and not one tire mark in the snow.  I thought I would show my little brother how to fishtail the car down a street.

We were driving my dad’s ’74 Buick LeSabre, with a 350hp engine, and rear wheel drive.  Looking back, it was a Sherman Tank without the caterpillar tracks!  As I started down the road, I began fishtailing the car back and forth.  Then . . . I gave it a little too much gas, and the car started to fishtail too far.  I panicked and jammed on the brakes with complete inexperience.

The fishtailing stopped but we started sliding, heading straight for a fire hydrant.  It was like slow motion.  There was no way to deviate from the course.  My life flashed before my eyes – not because we would die in the crash – because I knew my dad would kill me when I wrecked his car.  It seemed like an eternity, as we just kept sliding closer to the fire hydrant.

And then a miracle . . . the front tires hit the curb just before the hydrant and the car bounced back.  That was a long time to experience very little change.  I told my brother not to say anything to Dad and that was that.

The other day, however, feeling fine, I bent down to pick up a knife I had dropped.  In a split second I knew the next few days would be uncomfortable.  I got this sharp and stabbing pain in the base of my spine.  It was like that knife had been dropped into my lower back.

Immediately I realized my error.  I had bent with my back and not with my knees.  I’ve heard of people putting their back out by bending over to pick up a sock or something that weighs next to nothing.  I’ve seen Lily put her back out, without picking up anything.  I always thought that was weird.

Now I know what it’s like.  It sounds funny, “I put my back out by picking up a knife”.  But it wasn’t funny to me and it changed my life for the next few days.

Here’s the thing:  Sometimes we can see outcomes unfold from the decisions we make, and sometimes they happen so quickly we can’t anticipate the outcome.  If I am in a regular habit of bringing my decisions to God, and then following His direction, it will cut down on those times I find myself edging towards a big disaster, or suddenly appearing in the midst of trouble.

Until Next Time!

Pastor Paul

Question:  What’s your plan for ensuring your decision-making doesn’t lead to trouble?  Leave your comment below.