socks

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I’m Missing Another One And The Total Is Mounting

It happened again just yesterday; another one went missing.

I'm missing another one and the total is mounting

Before you think the worst scenario, I’m not talking about some child abduction or any kind of kidnapping attempt. 

However, it surprises me how many times in a year that emergency system on our phones goes off to let us know that a child has been taken. It should never happen and it is always concerning when that message is broadcast.

But there are other things that go missing in our lives, some of them regularly. Fortunately most of the things that go missing are found. Like how many times do your keys go missing, even for a few minutes? 

Sometimes my reading glasses have gone missing. I’ve checked my pockets, my night stand and the last place I remembered using them, only to realize that they were on my head. 

The glasses were never really missing. It was my sense of feeling and awareness that went missing on those occasions. 

When you think about it, there are a lot of things that go missing every day. Whether it’s a piece of paper, your wallet, a nut or bolt, glasses, even your coat, anything can go missing, can’t it? 

One time, I had a hockey game but was feeling sick. My parents told me they didn’t want me to play, but I didn’t listen and went anyway. 

I put on my equipment and when I went to put on my skates, one was missing – just one skate. It turned out that my dad had just taken it out of my hockey bag. I didn’t play hockey that night. 

Most of what goes missing is found again, sometimes moments after it disappeared. But some things that go missing are never found again.

It was one of those things that went missing yesterday. 

I have a drawer where I keep all my socks. They are organized mostly by colour, but I have another section that is organized by numbers. That area is for single socks that have no mate. One sock out of a pair has gone missing. 

You might think it strange, but when a sock goes missing it is rarely found … well, at least in my experience. 

I have – based on yesterday’s new acquisition – a total of five single socks in that section of my sock drawer. 

By the very nature of me having a section where I keep these odd socks, you would think that I have hope of one day finding the missing socks. That’s not the case. I have doubles of a lot of my socks so I keep the odd ones in case a matching sock from another pair goes missing. Then I’ll still have a pair.

Socks that go missing don’t get found. I’m convinced the washing machine eats them or the dryer fries them and spits the pieces out through the vent.

All I know is I’m not going to see that sock again. 

Here’s the thing: Some people think that wherever we end up, we will be together and it will be a party. But heaven and hell are very different. Heaven is a place of community with God and others who have placed their faith in Christ. Hell, however, is not a place of community. When someone goes there, they go missing. People in hell will not get to console each other or take comfort in being with others. There will be no sense of togetherness whatsoever in hell. So while you can, be sure you are heading to the place of community where no one will go missing. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What is the most common thing to go missing in your life? Leave your comments and questions below. 

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Choose Your Socks Wisely

This is a reblog of a post I wrote on May 21, 2013

They say you never know what a day will bring, but sometimes you can sense a day is going to have a certain theme to it. It would be nice if you could go to a drawer and, like picking out a pair of socks, pick your day’s mood (and, of course, check to make sure there’s no holes in it).

4635034683_c9c77541d4_z

Some people get up on the wrong side of the bed. Others roll out of bed the wrong way and voila, their day seems to be magically selected for them. Fortunately for me, I usually roll out of bed feeling good about what is ahead for me.

Unfortunately, that feeling doesn’t always last very long. The sock drawer effect happens and I pick out a day of frustration to wear like a ratty, old pair of sweat socks.

That happened to me recently. For the first hour or so (getting up, doing my devotions, showering and having breakfast) everything went well. Then I was informed that I needed to drive my wife somewhere on my way to work.

Sometimes it just takes a little rewriting of the daily script to initiate “a day of interruptions” theme. … Oh, and believe me, that did it! Driving Lily to her destination, I was a little agitated. It detained me from getting down to my planned work.

When I finally got to work, in walked an unplanned, unscheduled, perfect illustration for my “interruptions” day. The man was seeking help but each time he had come the previous week, he had been told to come back as I had been on vacation.

The last time he had been told to phone first before he came in. Instead, he just showed up. He was in need of some financial assistance and though I am not a money lender, as a pastor I am used to trying to help out people in his position.

He needed food and the solution was to get him a grocery store gift card. However, after being put off a few times already, he was not in a mood to be put off again.

As I listened to his story, my heart went out to him. Yes, it would be an interruption for me to stop what I was doing to go buy him a gift card, but I felt that’s what I should do.

Unfortunately, he had a few restrictions. He could not go to the grocery store that was the closest to the church. The next closest did not have a store near where he lived.

That meant this interruption would take even longer. Half way there I remembered I had taken my wallet out of my pocket and it was still on my desk at church, so I turned around and went back.

I got the wallet, drove back to the grocery store, and bought the gift card only to notice that the store was affiliated with a grocery store that was close to the church. I could have purchased the card there and saved half the time!

That’s how my day went, one thing after another … until I got home and changed my socks.

Here’s the thing: You can focus on the frustration of each day and get all agitated inside. OR you can view the events of the day as things God brings your way and deal with them as opportunities to serve Him. Your choice.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What is your biggest frustration?  Leave your comment below.

by

Choose Your Socks Wisely

They say you never know what a day will bring, but sometimes you can sense a day is going to have a certain theme to it. It would be nice if you could go to a drawer and, like picking out a pair of socks, pick your day’s mood (and, of course, check to make sure there’s no holes in it).

4635034683_c9c77541d4_z

Some people get up on the wrong side of the bed. Others roll out of bed the wrong way and voila, their day seems to be magically selected for them. Fortunately for me, I usually roll out of bed feeling good about what is ahead for me.

Unfortunately, that feeling doesn’t always last very long. The sock drawer effect happens and I pick out a day of frustration to wear like a ratty, old pair of sweat socks.

That happened to me recently. For the first hour or so (getting up, doing my devotions, showering and having breakfast) everything went well. Then I was informed that I needed to drive my wife somewhere on my way to work.

Sometimes it just takes a little rewriting of the daily script to initiate “a day of interruptions” theme. … Oh, and believe me, that did it! Driving Lily to her destination, I was a little agitated. It detained me from getting down to my planned work.

When I finally got to work, in walked an unplanned, unscheduled, perfect illustration for my “interruptions” day. The man was seeking help but each time he had come the previous week, he had been told to come back as I had been on vacation.

The last time he had been told to phone first before he came in. Instead, he just showed up. He was in need of some financial assistance and though I am not a money lender, as a pastor I am used to trying to help out people in his position.

He needed food and the solution was to get him a grocery store gift card. However, after being put off a few times already, he was not in a mood to be put off again.

As I listened to his story, my heart went out to him. Yes, it would be an interruption for me to stop what I was doing to go buy him a gift card, but I felt that’s what I should do.

Unfortunately, he had a few restrictions. He could not go to the grocery store that was the closest to the church. The next closest did not have a store near where he lived.

That meant this interruption would take even longer. Half way there I remembered I had taken my wallet out of my pocket and it was still on my desk at church, so I turned around and went back.

I got the wallet, drove back to the grocery store, and bought the gift card only to notice that the store was affiliated with a grocery store that was close to the church. I could have purchased the card there and saved half the time!

That’s how my day went, one thing after another … until I got home and changed my socks.

Here’s the thing: You can focus on the frustration of each day and get all agitated inside. OR you can view the events of the day as things God brings your way and deal with them as opportunities to serve Him. Your choice.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What is your biggest frustration?  Leave your comment below.