praise

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He Shoots, He Scores!

“Hello Canada, and hockey fans in the United States” … that’s the way Foster Hewitt would start the radio broadcasts of Hockey Night in Canada when I was a kid. We used to beetle out after church Sunday nights, grab the car keys from my dad and sit in our freezing car listening to the hockey game on the radio.

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That’s what you had to do to keep up with your team. But that was then. Now, staying on top of what your team is doing is a whole new ball game.

I just got something that takes all the effort out of tracking your team’s goals and it came just in time for the end of the playoffs. My wife and kids bought me a Budweiser red light for my birthday. For those who don’t know what that is, let me tell you about it.

In hockey arenas, at each end behind the nets and the boards, is a red light that turns on when a goal is scored. Along with the light, in most arenas, a horn also goes off to announce a goal.

Well that’s what my family got me. And if you’re thinking it’s just a nice souvenir, let me tell you, this puppy is a working, fully functioning red light. It’s connected to the internet and when my team scores a goal, the light and the horn (sounding like a fog horn) go off.

Lily was testing it out and turned down the volume of the horn. I just looked at her, and shook my head. That was all she needed to realize the volume on MY light only has one setting and that will be on max. And it was right about then she realized, she may have made a mistake in getting it for me.

The beauty about this red light is you can choose which team or teams you want it to work for. And yes, that’s right, you can choose all 30 teams if you want.

I can just picture myself settling into bed on a Saturday night, and having the horn and light go off because the Vancouver Canucks scored a goal on the west coast. That would be awesome (but I’m not choosing them).

I was pretty excited to try it out and, since it was near the end of the playoffs, I didn’t have many games left. So I selected both teams in the running – Boston and Chicago – just to make sure it would go off during the game. In the three previous games of the series, the two teams had scored a combined total of 12 goals.

I was hoping for a couple of goals to see it work. But what happened made my day. It was beyond my wildest dreams! Chicago and Boston combined for 11 goals in game 4; my red light was working like a Trojan! … And I loved it every time it went off.

Here’s the thing: The amazing thing about God is that He wants to hear from us. In fact, I would say He is excited when we speak to Him. We call it prayer, and it happens all the time, all over the world. And like when my light lights up and it brings a smile to my face, when we start to talk to God, He can’t help but be pleased. Keep talking to Him; it brings Him praise.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What brings a smile to your face every time? Leave your comment below.

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Say Good-bye to That Mullet

About four months ago, I wrote about how I’m not very observant. I had missed noticing that my wife had gotten a haircut while I had been away on a trip. Well, it turns out that Lily isn’t a cracker jack CSI herself when it comes to noticing someone’s haircut!

For this entire past week she didn’t notice that I had had every single hair on my head shortened. In fact, I had to tell her I got my hair cut. For me this was no big deal, it wasn’t like she didn’t notice a big blob of mustard dangling from the corner of my mouth.

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She acted like it wasn’t a big deal either, but for some reason, me not noticing her new haircut was a big deal. She says it’s not the same thing … but it seems like EXACTLY the same thing. And our two faux pas prove a hair cut is easy to overlook.

However, some things are impossible to miss, like a child’s growth when you haven’t seen them for a few years. The first words out of your mouth are, “Wow! Have you ever grown!” You can’t help but notice something like that.

Or when you haven’t seen your high school buddy for twenty five years. He shows up at a gathering and you wonder who the new guy is, only to find out that this “new” guy with no hair, a ball cap and a good sized belly is your old school friend. When you finally recognize him, you ask yourself, “What happened to that guy?” because you undoubtedly are going to notice that kind of change.

Those changes are easy to be aware of, but how should any one be expected to notice someone’s hair that is maybe a quarter of an inch shorter and in the same style as when you left for work in the morning? That’s right! No one should have to notice something like that.

There should be a rule across the board that there has to be a certain amount of change differential for something to be worthy of being noticed. Anything less than that differential doesn’t have to receive a comment.

Now, if I had a mullet and got the “party in the back” cut off, that should be worthy of being noticed. But even if that dazzling image eluded her inspection, it wouldn’t cause me much concern.

And when Lily’s “hairdo’s” escape my scrutiny, I only have to go another four weeks or so until I get another shot at it. One thing I am glad for is that it doesn’t take her four weeks to get over my lack of observation or I’d be spending more alone time in front of the TV.

… During playoff season that’s not all that bad … Hey … !

Here’s the thing: Out of all the things we should notice in life, the most significant are what God has done and is doing. We should notice what He has created and marvel over it. We should notice the prayers He answers for us. We should notice how He wants to shape us through the circumstances in life. And we should praise Him for who He is and what He has done. God’s activity in the world and in our lives should never go unnoticed.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you have the hardest time noticing? Leave your comment below.