thoughts

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When It Rains, Make the Best Of It

I know the rhyme that goes, “April showers brings May flowers”, but I can’t say there is ever a time I like the rain.

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If I was a farmer, I’m sure I would change my tune. I understand that we need rain for things to grow, but given my life, rain doesn’t really fit into the picture that often … at all.

It especially doesn’t fit into my plans when I’m on vacation – it puts all kinds of restrictions on us and creates the need for extra planning.

That’s where we are right now – on vacation in the rain.

Sometimes you can associate a place with the kind of weather you experienced there. Like when I was about seven, my family took a vacation to the east coast of Canada. The only things I remember were cool days, overcast skies, rain and the smell of dead fish.

Needless to say, that over 50 years later, I’m still not eager to take another trip to the Bay of Fundy. The rain took all the fun out of the bay for me.

I don’t want my trip to Quebec City to be etched in my mind the same way. And that’s where I am right now, listening to the pitter patter of the rain on the window, as I contemplate the day ahead.

If it rained only at night that would be awesome. We could do all our sightseeing and traipsing around in the sun and be inside at night. I could live with that. It’s still April; it’s not going to be that warm at night anyway.

The best would be if it never rained, but the dew from the night would be enough to give the earth the watering it needed. That’s that way it was before God brought the flood.

If it hadn’t have been for Adam and Eve and their relatives ruining what God had originally made, it’s possible that no golf course would ever need a sprinkler system to water its course. It would all happen naturally at night.

Well, we know we’re not headed back in that direction, so rain is what we are stuck with. We need it, but we dislike it. It gets in the way of what we want to do, but if we didn’t have it, we would be crying for it.

So on our trip to Quebec, it’s umbrellas for sure! it’s planning our day around the rain and it’s making the best of what we have.

We are looking for those windows of sunshine to visit the places that would be miserable in the rain. And we are planning those indoor sights during times when it doesn’t matter how hard the rain comes down.

So far so good. Yesterday we managed to manoeuvre our sightseeing around the rain like we had a degree in meteorology.

No, that’s not true – weathermen are never right – more like a farmer who has an arthritic left knee.

Here’s the thing: We should make the best of what we have. Look for what we can do, instead of what we can’t. We should see the possible, not the impossible. There is something in us, however, that is drawn to the negative. We remember it so well. When that emotion starts to take over, seek the God of hope, who is with us, so we don’t lose hope in our present situation but believe God has a plan that will negotiate any condition we find ourselves in.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What typically has the power to get you thinking negatively? Leave your comment below.

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It’s Spring and I’m Sick Already

I hate getting sick; I really hate getting sick in the spring. When the weather starts to warm up and there is more to do outside, that’s when being sick is the worst.

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If it’s cold out, you don’t want to go outside anyway – that’s the time to be sick. You’re going to be inside, so what does it matter if you’re wearing jeans and a sweatshirt or a few layers of clothing and a heavy blanket?

No one is going to see you anyway; they are all at home too, unwilling to go out in the cold.

But you can’t live like that when it’s nice outside, and you certainly don’t want to live that way when it’s warm out. Every time you go by a window you wish you felt better so you weren’t stuck inside.

I don’t like admitting it, but I think I’ve come down with a cold or something. All week I’ve had this dry cold; there’s been a catch in my throat that makes me bark. I’ve felt fine, but the cough hasn’t gotten better – if anything, as the week progressed, it’s getting worse.

I’ve been thinking that maybe I’m reacting to some of my medications, or possibly I’m developing an allergy. But this morning, after playing hockey, I’m feeling a little weak and achy.

Now that’s a sure sign for me that I’m under the weather. That achy feeling combined with being a little clammy, that’s summertime sickness.

What makes it worse is that we’re going on vacation for a couple of weeks. It’s not a good time to be feeling this way.

I’ve heard some say that when we carry stress for a while and then we get a break, our bodies say, “That’s it! I’ve had enough!” and go on strike.

Others say when we push ourselves too hard and don’t recharge our bodies they are not able to fight off the germs floating around in the air and we become more susceptible to getting sick.

So I guess there is something worse that being sick in the spring or summer, and that is being sick in the spring when you’re on vacation.

The whole purpose of taking a vacation right now is to get some needed rest. Well, I’m going to be restless if I’m only able to look out the window at birds, see the trees bud and watch the grass turn green.

I wouldn’t mind it so much if all I had to do outside is rake the lawn or clean the deck, but the trails are opening up for mountain biking and golf courses are right ready to put the pins on the greens.

What I need is some kind of pill that will fast-track me back to health. Since my heart attack three years ago I now take pills every day … what’s one more pill if it will get me the results I’m looking for?

The reality is I’m just going to have to slow down, get some rest and wait it out. Oh, and take vitamin C.

Here’s the thing: The need for rest is built into us. We need it, but often times we don’t get enough of it because we are doing too much. Sickness is a forced rest for the body. Spiritually speaking, falling to sin is a sign you need to find rest in God. When temptation to sin is too much for you, that’s an indicator you need to spend time resting in the Lord.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What are your indicators that you need to take a rest? Leave your comment below.

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Keep Those Hot Cross Buns Coming

Today we dug into our last package of hot cross buns. I love those things and for many years they were only available in short supply right around Good Friday. Now they show up in grocery stores more often.

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That’s a good thing, because I could eat them all year long. Even though raisin bread is available in the stores throughout the year, it’s not the same as hot cross buns.

I’m not sure why they call them “hot” cross buns; we just pulled our last package out of the freezer. They weren’t hot, rather they were frozen rock solid.

But I guess they put “hot” in the name because that’s how you eat them. Have you every tried cold cross buns? They’re not that good; I wouldn’t eat them, or at least that many.

I don’t even like to pick off a loose raisin and eat it before it gets toasted. If a raisin falls off when I cut the bun in half, I stick that raisin back into the bun so I can savour the taste later when it’s hot.

I’m lucky to be eating hot cross buns a week or two after Easter. Back in the 1500’s, Queen Elizabeth I outlawed the sale of hot cross buns outside of Good Friday or Christmas.

The history behind them is that hot cross buns were a reminder of Jesus’ death on the cross. … I can’t say that every time I eat a hot cross bun I remember the cross of Christ. Maybe I should.

Maybe with all the availability of hot cross buns now, it has taken the symbolism away – we don’t even think of the cross.

I’m sure some people don’t even notice that the markings are supposed to be a cross.

The cross isn’t even their biggest feature anymore. The packages advertise “with extra raisins”. And that’s a real selling point for me – the more raisins the better.

The cross actually stirs up religious controversy. Some religious people think that they have become far too available, and have lost the meaning.

Some reformers dislike them, not because they don’t lend to their palette, but because they see them as more of a Catholic superstition.

Some people think they should take the cross off the buns year round and only put the cross on them when they are sold at Easter time.

Personally, I would eat them cross or no cross … they taste good. I don’t buy them because they have a cross on them, I just like them.

Now I’m sounding like Matthew McConaughey selling Lincolns in televisions ads. Only I’m pushing hot cross buns and not getting paid for it.

There’s got to be something wrong with that.

Here’s the thing: We shouldn’t need a cross on a bun to remind us of Christ’s death, especially at Easter time. We should remember Christ all year long. We should have a daily reminder that Christ is with us all day long. You could keep a symbol with you, but often with symbols, we get so used to seeing them, that we don’t really see them anymore. The best way I can think of is to, at the beginning of your day, take time with Christ. I read in a book once where a famous pastor would swing out of bed in such a way that his knees hit the floor first. So before he took one step in the day he took time to invite Christ into his day. It’s something to keep in mind.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How do you remember to invite Christ into your day? Leave your comment below.

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I Was Driving Myself Crazy

I came to realize about a month or so ago that my driving was leaving much to be desired. It’s not that I can’t negotiate a left hand turn, or parallel park my car. The handling of my automobile is just fine.

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It was my attitude behind the wheel that left much to be desired. I found I was getting too upset when I drove; other drivers did things that literally were driving me crazy.

But that wasn’t healthy for me, or for others on the road, and it wasn’t showing me to be under God’s control either. So over the last month or so, I’ve taken some measures.

I’ve slowed down, and consciously thought, “I don’t need to race to where I’m going”. I’ve started to allow more room between my car and the vehicle in front of me.

Life’s been good. Well . . . that is until the other day when I found myself behind a car with a bumper sticker in the shape of a stop sign that read, “STOP TEXTING”.

My wife will tell you that I’m not very good at texting and driving, though that’s just the back seat driver in her talking.

But seriously, I try not to text while I’m driving. I use a bluetooth speaker to make and receive calls, so when I read the bumper sticker, it didn’t dawn on me that the sticker was shouting out at me.

However, after following the car for only a few seconds, the sticker was actually shouting out at that car’s driver. I found myself reading the sticker and then looking in disbelief at the driver through her rear window.

She wasn’t paying attention to the road! When the way was clear to make a right hand turn, I could see her head bent down. She crossed the line a couple of times, again doing what looked like bending down to get something.

One car beside her had to move over for fear of getting sideswiped.

I read the sign again, “STOP TEXTING” and said (in a calm voice, because now my attitude was in check), “Ya, stop doing whatever you’re doing and drive”.

Eventually I pulled up in the other lane and passed her. I thought it might be better if she was behind me rather than directly in front of me … FAR behind me.

I took a look at her as I went by; she seemed oblivious to how she’d been driving. She didn’t look like a texter. She had grey hair – the majority of her hair was quite grey. Enough said.

I don’t think she was texting. I do think that she believes it’s very dangerous to text while driving and that it angers her to see someone doing it.

But after driving behind her for a few minutes, I wished she had a sticker on her car that read, “KEEP YOUR EYES ABOVE THE DASHBOARD”, maybe even a bobble head sign that sat on her dashboard.

As I glanced behind me, I realized my blood pressure hadn’t risen a bit. Now that’s progress!

Here’s the thing: We might get upset with those that text and drive because it’s distracting and dangerous. Whatever she was doing was also distracting and dangerous. … It’s easy to see the sin in other people. But if seeing their sin gets you angry, then evaluate yourself. There’s a good chance you are harbouring a similar sin. Deal with your sin, and you will find compassion to help others deal with theirs instead of judging them.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What have you learned about yourself by watching others? Leave your comment below.

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Make Good On Your Promise

In my last blog, I wrote about how saying “sorry” doesn’t make good on your promise to deal with the hurt one’s received. (Check out that blog here!)

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I just got a new credit card for the precise purpose of collecting reward points. This will eventually enable me to purchase a new cell phone on points.

The reason the credit card company was trying to communicate how terribly sorry they were is because they declined my card on my third purchase … MY THIRD PURCHASE!

My card is through Rogers Bank, and why wouldn’t they have a bank? They own television stations, a cable company, an internet service, and a cell phone provider. They need a bank.

My first purchase on the card was for $24 at Swiss Chalet for a meal with my wife and son. With my initial purchase I got 5,000 points, and that’s $50 towards a new phone.

Two days later, I followed that purchase up with one for about $100 to my auto mechanic. That’s the first time I’ve actually been slightly disappointed that my repair bill was so low.

I had anticipated a bill of around $300-$500 and in my head I was thinking cha-ching – rewards points, come to papa!

You can imagine my dismay now that my bill will be getting me less than half the points I had pre-calculated.

The very next day we had scheduled a hot water tank replacement. I specifically told Lily we would be using my new card since the purchase would be around $1000 and I would pocket about two thousand points for the purchase.

That’s when Rogers Bank ran out of money. I just started with the guys, but they weren’t expecting me to purchase something over $500, I guess.

I have a limit of $10,000 on the card – you’d think they would allow me to put that much on it … I only wanted a thousand.

Their reason for declining my card was that it was out of my regular pattern.

I replied to the guy on the phone, “Out of my regular pattern?! How can I have a pattern?! I just got the card four days ago and this is my third purchase!”

Of course, he was very sorry for the inconvenience, “and the embarrassment” I added.

I’m not sure Rogers Bank is going to make it. The guy I talked to couldn’t give me rewards points for my lost points on the declined purchase. His supervisor also didn’t have the authority to give me those rewards points.

These Rogers rewards points must really be worth a lot or they are running this bank on a shoestring.

It’s been four days since my decline, eight days since I’ve had my card. I haven’t seen any reward points yet – not the bonus points I was promised and no word from the president of Rogers as to whether they will break their piggy bank and give me some “sorry” points. I’m waiting . . . patiently.

Heres the thing: Have you promised God that you’d give Him your life? But you’ve actually kept control of some or a good portion of it for yourself? All that does is cause Him to question your sincerity. Make good on your promises and let Him lead. Don’t frustrate God’s plan by holding back and not giving Him everything you promised.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What are you most tempted to hold back from giving to God? Leave your comment below.

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When Sorry Seems To Be the Hardest Word

Sometimes saying sorry just isn’t enough. That’s true when the words used to say sorry are hollow or come without sincerity.

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It’s not hard to ascertain a person’s genuineness when saying sorry; we pick it up in their voice,  their facial expression, their posture and gestures.

When someone is truly sorry, it’s often easy to forgive them. Our heart goes out to them for we see the pain they are in. Even though they may have inflicted pain on us, we are moved to ease the pain they are in.

But when the words used to express their sorrow come out as a memorized line that they have rehearsed for a play they are starring in, well, it takes more than words to prove there is depth to the expression that lies beneath the thin wavelengths of sound coming from their mouths.

Sometimes sorry doesn’t make the mistake go away.

This week I had a credit card declined when making a purchase. That was just a little embarrassing.

So when the credit card company called to say sorry, I wanted to know they were more than just Easter chocolate words … you know, fully formed chocolate outside shell, but hollow on the inside.

The company representative on the other end of the line must have said he was very sorry about a half a dozen times. But every time I heard the word, I thought to myself “Oh, that makes it all better now – NOT!”

You see, I had just received the credit card no more than four days before this incident. I got the card because it’s my latest scheme to get a new cell phone. With every dollar purchase I make with this card I get two points that I can use towards purchasing a new phone.

But even better than that, I got 5,000 points for just taking the card. It was a no-brainer for me! I slipped my old MasterCard out of my wallet and slipped the new one in. Awesome! – and we had a large purchase to make right away which would get me a lot of points.

We needed a new hot water tank so it made perfect sense to me to put this on my new Rogers MasterCard and get 2,000 points for the purchase, rather than put it on Lily’s PC MasterCard and get about the same number of points towards groceries.

What do you need food for anyway when you have a chance at reducing the price of a new phone?

Not only was having my purchase declined an embarrassment, ending up missing out on all those points that went to Lily’s grocery bill really fried me.

So I said to the guy on the other end of the phone, after his 5th or 6th “sorry for the inconvenience”, “How about you give me some reward points on my card?”

Apparently, he was only authorized to express hollow words. For a truly sorry gesture on the part of the credit card company, he would have to have his supervisor give that.

To be continued . . .

Here’s the thing: When we have sinned, we may be sorry before God, but our words better not be hollow. You see, being sorry for sin also means you have to do something about it, and that involves not continuing in your sin. Be sure that when you ask God for forgiveness you mean it, by way of ensuring you take steps not to commit that sin again.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How have you felt when someone’s sorry words are nothing more than hollow? Leave your comment below.

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What A Mind I Have!

Sometimes our minds surprise us; sometimes they let us down.

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It is a rare occasion when I’ve finished writing my sermon before about 6 pm on Friday night. But this past week I finished writing my sermon at 1:40 pm.

I can’t tell you how good it felt to be done that early in the day. It was like a burden had been lifted from me.

There is a weight that preachers carry with them as they prepare sermons. It feels heavy like a backpack that you can’t take off until you get to your destination.

But when the sermon is done, the backpack comes off and you feel light again.

I celebrated by going for lunch. I decide to try a new chicken fast food restaurant close by and I even got myself a pop. I was feeling good.

The crazy thing was, though I finished my sermon in record time for once, I still had more writing to do. So after a not-so-inspiring chicken lunch celebration, I was back at it. This time writing a funeral message.

The amazing thing was I was still focussed and by 6 pm I had finished that message and I was really done for the night.

I was feeling great, mentally exhausted, but ecstatic that I was all done.

In the evening, Lily and I went to a store and saw someone we knew from a distance. About two minutes after that I realized how my mind had let me down despite how focussed I’d been in writing messages that day.

Seeing that guy reminded me that I had forgotten to do something very important earlier in the day.

My message had flowed out of me like a tap turned all the way on, but I had forgotten to fill the baptistry tank in the sanctuary!

You see, another church had asked to use our church for a baptism service on Sunday afternoon and the guy I saw Friday night while shopping was from that church. Seeing him triggered my memory.

For a Sunday baptism, the tank must be filled and the heater turned on by Friday so the water will be warm enough.

I was ripped, upset at myself for not remembering. I was devastated that I would have to spend the rest of the evening babysitting a baptistry tank (it’s a 2 hour process).

How could my mind be so sharp that day but still let me down so badly?

I wanted to blame someone, or something, for how my day turned out. But in the end I had no one to blame but myself.

Here’s the thing: When something goes wrong, we want to blame someone else. It doesn’t change the outcome, but we feel justified being angry at whomever we pin the fault on … even if it’s God. However, accepting responsibility enables us to see how God works things out. I normally have a long day writing a sermon. This week God enabled me to write both messages in the time it usually takes to write one. Though the baptistry issue cost me time Friday night, God used that guy I saw to remind me about what I’d forgotten. When I put the blame in the proper place I can see how God helps me even when my mind lets me down.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How has your mind amazed you and failed you in the same day? Leave your comment below.

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My Car’s Been Talking To Me

Car maintenance has never been my strong suit. I have not always even been successful at making sure I had gas in the tank to keep my cars rolling – my dad used to call this practice “driving on fumes”.

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It takes discipline to keep an automobile in good shape and I’m not even that disciplined at getting regular oil changes … “regular” for me is between 5,000 – 12,000 kilometres, or every three to five months.

I have a neighbour who faithfully washes his cars in his driveway. If I can take my car through the carwash at the gas station a couple of times a year I’m doing good.

That’s what we have rain for, isn’t it? I figure rain is nature doing its thing, helping the grass grow, making the leaves shine, and bringing back the glimmer to the cars on the road.

I am also not good at getting the mechanical parts of the car taken care of. Since the fall I’ve had a little rattle in the front end. I know what it is; I’ve had it before.

I need a new link kit. Now, I can’t really tell you what a link kit looks like or exactly what it does, but it has something to do with stopping that sound my car makes when I drive over a pot hole, or an uneven surface.

This link kit may even be instrumental in maintaining connection between my front wheel and the car, because now that it is long past the fall, my wife is telling me that she fears the wheel is going to come off some time when she’s driving.

Though it’s true that any mechanical failure that could happen to the car will happen when she’s driving, I’m not positive but I don’t think the wheel is going to come off.

Still I need to “put a man on it”, and get this work done on the car.

It used to be easier to do this kind of thing. I would book an appointment and Lily would shuttle me in our other car. It was that simple.

That process is not as easy right now. Our son has our other car most of the time so I need to coordinate with his schedule which seems to be rather full and unpredictable.

I just haven’t made an attempt to figure out a time.

And while all this nothing has been going on, the roads in Kingston (that were once paved with gold but now need some gold plating work) are really making my car sound worse and worse.

Lily is amazed that I’ve been able to put up with the sound for so long, but I just turn up the radio a little louder.

OK!  . . .  I’m going to make an appointment today to take my car in.

Here’s the thing: There are things you know you should do. Maybe God revealed something to you in prayer, and then you read something in the Bible that challenged you in the same area.  You may have even had other people in your life speak to you about that very thing. But there’s that sound, it’s getting louder but you’re not doing anything about it. Don’t put it off any longer. Decide today, right now, and begin to address that something that God wants you to work on.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What have you been putting off that you need to do today? Leave your comment below.

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Inspiration Can Be Unexpected 

This is a re-post of a blog I published on November 20, 2012. What I wrote is good for me and all of us to keep in mind. Enjoy.

Inspiration can come at any time – sometimes when we least expect it.  This week I was woken up at 5 am with inspiration.  I don’t normally get up at 5.  

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My alarm regularly goes off at 6 am and if it doesn’t, I’m afraid that I would naturally wake up around the time my 21 year old son does on a Saturday.  Does noon sound like a good time to get up?

Five in the morning was pretty early for me to wake up on my own, but there I was, wide awake, looking at the red glowing numbers on our ceiling. 

I like my projection clock because I don’t find the blazing white light of an alarm clock staring me in the face when I turn in bed … that’s too much like heading down a tunnel with a bright light at the end of it! 

This particular morning I wasn’t just awake; I was awake and focused.  My mind was fully engaged and I was ready to get out of bed.  

I had struggled the day before putting my sermon outline together, and just couldn’t see how I should organize what the passage was communicating.  

I was extremely frustrated and my deadline for completing my sermon was clearly on my mind and getting closer.

In the midst of my frustration I did what you are supposed to do when you are in a jam – I prayed. I asked God to help me complete my outline.  

After all, I want to preach what God wants the congregation to hear; it’s really His message.  Maybe that bugged me even more when I didn’t get the outline by the end of the day.

The week before I had been in a similar place and somehow it all came together by Friday.  But that was last week.  That was little comfort given my current situation; I was not happy.

It’s totally quiet in our house at 5 in the morning … not even the turtle is stirring at that time of day.  What woke me up, and what captivated my thoughts was my message.  

I popped out of bed, and for the next hour I finished putting together my outline.  It was all in my head; my mind was brimming with words and verses and how they connected together.  

It wasn’t like I was working; it was more like I was a secretary taking dictation. God had filled my mind with what He wanted communicated. 

I closed my computer at 6:08 and got ready for my 7 am men’s prayer meeting.  

I was energized, my outline was complete, and I wasn’t just ready to write my sermon, I was eager to get at it!  It’s funny how God didn’t give me the outline piece by piece the day before when I had asked Him.  

Instead, He put it all in my head during the night.

Here’s the thing:  I write a sermon every week and I can become comfortable thinking that it is my sermon, my message that He’s helping me complete.  This week God reminded me that it is His message, and His sermon that I preach.  No matter what we do, we work for Him; He doesn’t work for us.  How often do we forget that? 

That’s Life!

Pastor Paul

Question: What has God inspired you with this past year?  Leave your comments below.

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We Need A New Best Before Date

When you buy a bag of potato chips – not that I would buy one – but if you did buy a bag, you would find a “best before date” stamped on it.

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That’s a good thing because many things have a shelf life, and after that much of their goodness is gone.

In the case of fruits and vegetables, they have a “best before date” built right into them. When a banana’s skin gets brown, we say it’s overripe. It’s a nice way of saying it’s rotting (it doesn’t hurt the fruit’s feelings).

We toss things out if they’ve gone past their “best before date”, whether it’s stamped on their package or written all over their face … I mean, skin.

I wish we could have a “best before date” for snow. If snow had a “best before date” I think that February 28th would be a really good date to stamp on it.

But better than a stamp, it would be great if snow just started to rot around that date. In Canada we call that melting – and that would be perfect right about now!

What’s bugging me today is that it’s near the end of March, the temperature outside is -14 C and the snow on my front yard is still very … let’s say “ripe”. It’s showing no signs of going bad.

To be fair, it’s getting thin in some spots, but there is still lots of it in most places. … It’s like a guy who is going bald. At first you can see through a patch of hair and tell that he’s thinning, but you don’t think bald because he still has so much hair.

That’s all I can say about the snow on my front lawn: it’s thinning. But what if it had a “best before date” of February 28? By now it would be all gone; it would be bald.

At one time going bald was not considered something to cheer about. But today being bald is a fashion statement for men. Some guys shave their heads just so they can have that look.

So, I think that when it comes to snow, we really need to consider that trend. If the end of February really is a good “best before date” for snow, one of two things needs to happen:

Either the sun cooperates and melts that snow away, or the city has to take measures to shave it bald, and in the case of snow that would mean haul it away.

Maybe the city could hire their summer staff a little early on years when the snow was only thinning in March and have crews come along with shovels and dumpsters for the snow.

Better yet, have them come with industrial-sized hair dryers and dry out the snow. I understand that for guys going bald using a hair dryer speeds up the process … at least that’s what a friend told me years ago before he went bald.

Here’s the thing: When life bring hardships, hassles and hurts, we just want them to go away; we want to get past them. The best way to see that happen is to apply some heat and effort.  Turn your attention to the heat of prayer and the effort of searching God’s word. As you pray and study during difficult times, you will find that God brings you into a new season.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you need to spend more time praying and studying for right now? Leave your comment below.