skating

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A Rally Call For Your Family; Do Your Have One?

Hockey is a rally call for my family; I don’t know what your family’s rally call is.

A rally call for your family; do you have one?

When we get together we talk hockey, even a little bit in the summer. 

There have been a few years when my family has gotten together for our Christmas gathering in between Christmas and New Years. The evening entertainment has usually been watching the World Junior hockey tournament. 

My family enjoys humour around hockey as well. The other day I got a tweet regarding the many NHL teams that are reporting players who are out with covid. The tweet read, “If you own a NHL jersey of any kind, please report to that team’s stadium now for practice. You have been called up.”

I immediately sent it to my son and texted, “I’m leaving for TO now with the Leaf jersey we got you as a kid.” 

He didn’t text me back. He just called me and asked when I’d be getting there. We had a good laugh.

I only have two siblings, but in each home we have embraced the game and that is why it is one of the focal points of our families. 

About sixteen years ago my father passed away. One thing I remember about my dad is that he would always watch us play hockey – not so much when I was younger, although he did coach me for a few years. 

It was really when my brother and I hit our late teens that he started making it out to all our games. He would drive us or just show up at games. And when the grandkids started playing, if there was a game they were playing, he would want to attend.

After dad died we wondered what we could do at Christmas that would remind us of the bond we have together. I think it was my sister who suggested we rent ice and have a family hockey game. 

We’ve been doing it ever since.

The kids were younger when we started, but now they are all adults and the games are fast. At one time we played the old guys against the young guns but we can’t do that any more. They are bigger and faster. Now they have to watch out for the two old guys (my brother and I) with the suspect tickers. 

So we divide up as evenly as we can and just enjoy the rivalry.

The other week we assembled for our annual Christmas get together and our traditional hockey game. Then we met back at one of my siblings’ homes for an awesome Christmas family meal. 

Of course there are some in the family that wouldn’t care if we got together for a game of hockey, but over half of us would really miss that time on the ice before we settle in for the spread. 

Here’s the thing:  Every family has a rally call. The other rally call we have is our faith in Christ. This year my brother-in-law shared how greatly honoured Jesus is when the audience stands in the singing of Handel’s Messiah. Kings and queens stand in His honour. It’s a rally call to all of us to bow before Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. I hope you will this year. Merry Christmas. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What is your family’s rally call? Leave your comments and questions below.

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Some Injuries Tempt You

When it comes to injuries, I’ve had my fair share … but I’m tempted to ignore some more than others.

I’ve had injuries where there was nothing I could do but wait until the injury was better before I resumed activity. 

I think of the many times I’ve hurt my left knee – I have a torn ACL (anterior cruciate ligament). Before I knew what that was, I had injured that knee many times. 

My surgeon went in and cut out a portion of my cartilage and decided that I could treat the ACL with a brace – not a cheap, off-the-shelf kind of brace, but one that was moulded to fit my knee exactly. It was pretty pricy and, over about 25 years, I’ve had two made.

When I injure that knee, I’m out of commission. I hobble around for a week or two, but know my knee won’t be stable again for another few weeks.  

There is no playing hockey, no exercise involving my legs at all. I can only sit around and get out of shape. 

But there are other kinds of injuries that tease you a little. You get hurt but think, “It’s not that bad; I can still keep going. I just won’t go as hard as normal.” 

… In theory that’s great, but in reality it doesn’t work out that way.

Recently, I pulled a groin muscle playing hockey. It didn’t seem that bad; it was more of a nagging kind of pain … you know, one that you can play through. 

“This injury isn’t going to sideline me,” I decided. I played hockey a few days later with the idea that I would take it easy and not skate too hard.

The problem was the game was fast. There were a lot of young guys on the other team so our team had to work to keep up.  

Without thinking, just keeping pace with the level of play, I found myself skating pretty hard at times. In fact, I could feel a little pain when I took off quickly or tried to out-skate a guy on my heels. 

I could do it. It was the kind of injury that wasn’t going to hold me back. 

But I paid for it the next day. It was sore to walk without a limp. Even getting in and out of the car required some delicate manoeuvring. And when I slipped on an icy patch of sidewalk, I thought I tore the muscle more. 

This injury that wasn’t too bad, and had tempting me to keep going, had just gotten worse. Now I was looking at having this nagging injury for a very long time – maybe all season. 

So, I’ve made the decision that I’m going to stop skating until this thing gets better. 

I might miss a week of hockey, but it’s better than playing with that nagging pain every time I move a certain way. 

Here’s the thing: There are some things in your life about which you think, “I can keep doing this; it’s not that bad; it doesn’t hurt me, or my witness; it doesn’t cause pain to anyone else.” You may think you have it all under control, but the reality is you need to stop it. That thing will just nag at you and will, at some point, become a problem that forces you to stop. Listen to the Lord’s voice quietly telling you to stop now before it gets worse.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What might you be doing that’s not that bad, but you really need to stop doing? Leave your comments below.