temperatures

by

Deceived By Green Grass And Mild Temperatures

We can perceive things wrongly and be deceived, so that we make assumptions on what something looks like. 

deceived by green grass and mild temperatures

Shadows in the middle of the night cause objects to look different, bigger, scarier than they really are.

The weather here has been a little like that. For the most part, the weather has just not seemed to match the season … but we know that can happen anywhere, any time. 

When my daughter, Karlie, lived in Calgary she said one year they had either snow or hail in every month of that year. 

I remember one Canada Day in Kingston that was very uncharacteristic of that time of year. There were all kinds of family friendly things to do downtown by the water, so we decided to check them out. We had planned to stay downtown for the afternoon and enjoy the bands and fireworks at night.

When we parked our car the temperature was about 25 degrees celsius. We were all dressed in shorts and T-shirts. But some weird cold front came screaming into the region and in a matter of hours – maybe four hours or so – the temperature dropped by 20 degrees. 

By the time the bands were playing and we were finding a spot to watch the fireworks, it was about 2 degrees. 

We had come prepared for the temperature to drop a few degrees, but not that low. We needed winter parkas! On July 1st it’s supposed to be warm. We are not supposed to be huddled together trying to keep the kids from getting hypothermia.

Right now in Kingston we are in the middle of winter, but until this week it didn’t seem like it. 

On Sunday we had green grass showing on our lawn. Sure, we had tiny snow piles from where we shovelled our driveway, but it didn’t look like it was the middle of winter. 

If you took a quick look, you might think it was the tail end of the cold, that spring had already sprung. It looked like the big old, cold winter had pretty much been beaten. 

But then Monday morning we woke up and wondered if that green grass on our lawn had been an illusion. Falling snow covered everything and didn’t seem to be slowing down one bit. 

In the end we got 42 cm of snow … and me and one other neighbour are the only ones on the street who don’t have snowblowers. 

Now it looks like the middle of winter. There is no deception, no mismatch of seasons. We definitely have ourselves some winter.

I can’t say I like it any more than I did that July when the temperature dropped by 20 degrees. But at least when I look outside, I don’t get fooled into thinking that summer is coming any time soon.

Here’s the thing: Life can be a little deceptive. Your life can seem to be doing really well – solid relationships, financially secure, healthy and in great shape. You could assume that you have nothing to worry about. But if you have not cared for your spiritual side, you’re deceived. Though from your perspective, externally life looks good in every way, what is not seen may reveal a different reality when you face God. Ensure your spiritual side is right with God and then you will not be deceived.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you need proper perspective on right now? Leave your comments and questions below.

Subscribe to my blog and receive posts like this one to your email inbox twice weekly.

by

I’m Going Through A Cold Spell Inside Me

I am cold and the temperatures outside are only serving to accentuate that fact.

Over the last few months I’ve dropped about 15 pounds. I’ve written a few posts describing the things I’ve done to lose this weight (you can read about them here and here).

I didn’t even set out to lose any weight, but rather to try to figure out what was causing my muscle issues when I played hockey.

The outcome of that experiment is that I’m not having muscle pain, I’ve lost some weight and the huge benefit is I feel great.

The downside to all this is that now I’m always freezing. I’m having a hard time keeping warm.

I will often wear my coat at work, and at home I immediately put on a sweatshirt. If I’m watching TV, I’ve probably got a blanket over me.

It’s frosty in my house. I’ve even thought of getting one of those TV blankets that has sleeves so that I’m actually wearing the blanket.

Well, not really; I wouldn’t get one of those things – that’s crazy! … well, unless they had a leopard patterned one … just kidding.

What’s making this worse is the temperatures outside. It’s halfway through March and suddenly we’re experiencing the longest cold snap of the winter.

I was hoping it would be getting warmer by now. But spring – really just spring weather – can’t come soon enough for me.

There is a senior man from my church who I visit fairly regularly who can’t get out to church. He’s always cold as well. He wears long johns in the summer … I’m feeling his pain right now.

I sure hope I level out by the summer time. I don’t think wearing long johns with shorts is that good a look … but I’m not a fashion guru.

These days when I shake people’s hands, I’m hoping that the warmth of their hands will transfer to mine and take some of the chill away.

Back in the fall when we bought a new vehicle, the only option my wife, Lily, really cared about getting was heated seats.

We had them added, but only for her sake.

Now I wish we had a remote for the heated seats so I could fire them up before I got into the car. At this point, if it isn’t instant heat, it’s not good enough for me.

In a couple of hours from now, I’m going to play hockey – more cold. I’m going to have to skate extra hard just to generate enough body temperature to combat the sub-freezing conditions of the arena.

Fortunately, my muscles are working well now, so I can go all out and skate hard.

I guess with every good thing there is something that’s not so good. But the way I feel right now, I will put up with being cold all the time. It’s worth it.

Here’s the thing: There are some things in life that we put up with, but are those things worth it? Are there things in your life that are destructive, harmful, negative, sinful that you just put up with? It’s time to take an inventory of the things we put up with; keep those things that are worth it and cut out the things that drag us down.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you put up with that’s worth it? Why? Leave your comments below.