Toronto Maple Leafs

by

Unrealistic Expectations Can Really Leave You Deflated

We all have expectations, but unrealistic expectations are never met. 

unrealistic expectations can really leave you deflated

There are all kinds of expectations, ones we keep to ourselves, ones we share with others. 

Some of our expectations are based on logical outcomes from patterns we see. Some expectations are wishful thinking or based on a hunch. 

Unrealistic expectations are just not good.

Sometimes our expectations depend on someone else’s actions. But if we don’t verbalize to that person what we expect, well, it’s still unrealistic.

There was a time – or should I say there have been many times – that my wife Lily expected me to do something but never told me what she expected.

… Like the time I got ready for biking and she got all disappointed because she thought we would spend the afternoon outside working in the yard together. How was I to know that was what she expected? You can’t expect something from someone that they don’t know anything about.

When I was a kid, I pulled out my tooth and put it under my pillow. In the morning my tooth was still there. I expected the tooth to be gone and some coins in its place. But I had not told anyone I had pulled my tooth out, so how could the tooth fairy (Mom and Dad) know how to meet my expectation?

We can also have expectations that are just pie in the sky. They are not based in reality. The data doesn’t confirm what we are hoping for, but we expect an unrealistic outcome anyway.

This was the story of the Toronto Maple Leafs this year. 

Fans were furious and fed up with the team after they failed to advance to the second round of the playoffs. The team certainly didn’t meet their expectations. Now they are calling out all the responsible people who should be let go because of their failure.

I, on the other hand, was pretty happy with how the club did in the playoffs. But my expectations were based on some realistic data.

The Leafs had not beat Boston all year. They finished third in their division behind both Boston and Florida, and ended up seven points behind Boston in the standings.

How could any Leaf fan go into the playoffs expecting them to come out on top in the first round?

I figured they would win one game. They won three and they could have just as easily won a fourth. The Leafs took a team that was better than them to the seventh game and overtime. 

They far exceeded my expectations, but not the unrealistic expectations of so many other fans. 

If people question why they were in that spot in the first place, it’s a money thing in my opinion … too much money invested in four players. It handcuffs them from rounding out the team.

Leaf fans (of whom I am one) were expecting something the team could not produce. Yet we criticize the players and the coach for not meeting our expectations. 

The coach actually got them to play a defensive style of hockey that could win.

For me, I still remember their 1967 Stanley Cup victory and until they change the data, I’m not having unrealistic expectations about the club.

Here’s the thing: We all have expectations for the end of our life. If our expectation is unrealistic, our hope for the end of our life will go unmet and even be far worse than we imagine. God’s word has given us clear expectations for the end of life and, if we follow God’s plan for us, our expectation will be realized. Trust Jesus with your life.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: For what do you consistently have unrealistic expectations? Leave your comments and questions below.

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

by

I Gave Up On Them … There, I Admit It

I have to admit it: I gave up on them … but maybe it was for the best. 

I gave up on them ... There, I admit it

It is strange talking about hockey and the Toronto Maple Leafs in the middle of the summer, but anything goes this year.

By the time this post is published the final game of the series will already have been played. Their win last night might not matter, but what does matter is how I responded to the game last night. 

First, I wasn’t sure I could take watching the game at all, so I went for a long walk on the beach with my wife, Lily. The Leafs were battling it out while I was getting great drone shots of the sunset.

When I did start watching the game, I will be the first to admit that I turned the TV station when the Leafs went down 3-0 in the final half of the third period.  

I gave up on them.

I was convinced that it was over and that their season had come to an end. I’d seen the scenario take place too many times to watch it play out to its end. 

I flicked the channels for a bit, settling on a movie when I decided to check my watch. … I get scoring updates on my watch. I figured the game was over so I looked to see what the final score was. 

I couldn’t believe my eyes!

It said the game was 3-3, and that could only mean one thing: we were in overtime! 

I quickly grabbed the remote and turned back to the game. The first overtime period had just begun. 

There were chances at both ends. At times it looked liked the Leafs were beat, but our goalie made a save or one of our players cleared the puck. 

At one point, my son texted Lily and asked how my heart was doing. Lily texted back, “He gave up on them, but is watching now”. 

His response was “maybe it was the healthiest thing he could do.” 

The curious thing is, if I had have been at the game in person, I would not have left the building until the final horn sounded. I would have been there to watch every agonizing minute of the game. 

But being at home, watching from my couch, the sense of despair ate at me. Then it became 3-0 and it was too easy to just turn it off. It was too easy to walk away, find another program to watch, focus my mind on something more pleasant, become distracted from how I was feeling. 

As tense as the overtime was, I didn’t turn away. There was hope, a chance the Leafs could win. 

And then it happened. The four big stars of the team came together – Rielly to Marner to Tavares to Matthews, who made no mistake. 

They WON!! 

And my heart, at least for then, was at rest.

Here’s the thing: Maybe you are not a quitter. You would never give up on God or church. But maybe from your couch it becomes easier to have your heart turn to other things. Maybe all the bad news, the changed world, the no magic fix for the virus, the possible years we will have to distance and protect ourselves is too discouraging. So the easy solution is to turn your attention elsewhere. Let me just say, this is not the time to give up on God or the church. Now is the time to tune in, show up, be more vigilant than ever. Christ won on the cross and He will come in victory. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What’s your plan for staying connected to Christ? Leave your comments and questions below.

Subscribe to this blog and receive posts twice a week delivered to your email inbox.

by

Hockey Is Like A Drug To Me

The title of this post is not completely accurate – really it is the Toronto Maple Leafs that are like a drug to me … and not necessarily in a good way. 

To make this analogy work, hockey would be the needle and the Leafs would be the drug.

It seems like every year, come playoff time, I inject myself with this drug and I overdose. 

I’m not talking about watching too much of the Leafs, or watching too much hockey in general.  I’m talking about OD’ing with my emotions. 

You see, a drug is supposed to give you some euphoric feeling – like everything is groovy, everything feels more real, and you can be like superman. And I’m sure you’ve heard all the other descriptions of how some drugs manifest in an addict. 

I do call myself an addict here because I can’t seem to stop taking the drug. 

And like a true addict, I don’t admit that I have a problem at all, even when the symptoms are pointed out to me.

But the day of the game, I’m a little agitated. I can’t tell you why – maybe I got up on the wrong side of the bed; maybe I didn’t get enough sleep the night before.

Maybe it’s just that the Leafs are playing Boston tonight in game 4 of the playoffs … and the drug is flowing through my veins, rapidly making its way through my corpuscles to my heart. 

I know this because, by the time dinner rolls around, I’m not just a little hangry because I need food. There is way more going on than that.

I’m nervous like a junky who’s late for his fix. I can’t really sit still, so I pace between rooms, semi-listening to Lily tell me what has happened during her day, and trying to pick up on the predictions and analysis of the pregame show on TV.

I’m like a caged lion on the prowl … and it’s uncontrollable. 

When the game starts, I’m all tense. It’s like I have a rubber band around my arm and my veins are starting to pop for my injection.

And that is when I overdose. 

I never hit that high where everything is going to be all right. I never get that sense of sailing on silver clouds. … Maybe you get that reference, but it doesn’t matter. You know that this is a bad trip I’m on. 

And it lasts about two and a half hours. 

Well, that is not exactly true. If the Leafs lose, I go into a downer and then you might as well not talk to me, talk around me, or make comments, funny or otherwise. 

I’ve bottomed out.  

If the Leafs win, well it’s not like it was a great trip I was on. It’s just a relief that it’s over and I’m happy I’m still alive or that the Leafs are still alive in the playoffs. 

At any rate, I’m left feeling alone in my addiction. No one in my family really understands.

Here’s the thing: Two thousand years ago, Jesus was feeling much like I do. But His passion was for us – a love for everyone that He had in abundance – so much so that He endured all kinds of emotional and physical angst and pain. No one understood. He went through those agonizing hours to pay for the sins of the world – your sin, my sin – not just for a win, but for eternity. Christ died on the cross for you. Think on that this Easter.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What has you all tied up but you can’t give up? Leave your comments below.

by

The Best Fans Are Die Hard Fans

A true fan is a die hard fan … that means they will cheer for their team no matter what happens.

In my last post, I mentioned that I would be writing two blogs about fans. You can check out the first post here. I wrote about how sneaky fans can be. They just show up and sometimes you have no idea who they are until they bring out their jerseys.

This post – like my last one – focusses on the Toronto Maple Leafs. It’s my team, what can I say.

They have fans everywhere. In every city and arena they play, you will find people cheering for the Leafs.

… And they will keep cheering. They will show up every time and they will take the abuse that other fans dish out. 

Leaf fans are die hard fans. 

The other night the Leafs were in Ottawa for a game, and the “Go Leafs Go” chant was definitely louder than the “Go Sens Go” chant.

The game was all Ottawa, which was surprising because Toronto is tied for the fourth best team in the NHL right now, and Ottawa is dead last. Yet the game looked like Toronto was headed to the first overall draft pick lottery instead of the Senators.

As a team, the Leafs know how to disappoint their fans like no other team. When you haven’t won a championship in over 50 years, you know there has been much disappointment. 

The jokes about the Leafs have circled for years: “Why are the Leafs the best golfers? Because they are finished playing hockey in April”; “It’s spring time – the Leafs will be falling”.  

I’ve heard these jokes over and over. And every time they lose, it just adds to the fan abuse we Leaf fans endure.

They have laws against physical abuse, verbal abuse, elder abuse … they need a whole new category for Leaf fan abuse. 

No other team has taken it on the chin like Leaf fans.

The other night when they played so horribly, I had a hard time watching. I had a few other things I needed to do, so I chose to do them in another room from where the TV was. 

I could hear when they were being scored on and I listened as the announcers commented on their horrible defence. 

But I just couldn’t get myself to watch it. 

Maybe that makes me a bad fan. But I’ll be tuning in to the next game with high hopes that this past week was caused by nothing more than team flu-like symptoms and that they are all better now. 

The thing is, all the disappointments, all the mockery that is heaped on Leaf fans doesn’t deter them from cheering for their team.

You see, there is this undeniable hope, this deep-seated belief that one day we will be proved Stanley Cup champions again. 

And no amount of hardship will dissuade these fans or deny them of the joy that is to come. 

Here’s the thing: This life brings with it, at times, much disappointment and hardship. There are dissenters everywhere, all around you. Yet, as a Christian, you believe in the return of Christ, and that one day the joy of being united with Him and all those who claim to be His will be uncontainable. Die hard fans never give up on their team and Christians never give up on their Saviour – no matter what the circumstances or conditions they find themselves in. Cheer on!

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What conditions make it hard for you to cheer on? Leave your comments below.

by

Fans Can Be Sneaky

Fans are sneaky because you don’t know where they will turn up.

For this post and next(click here), I’m going to write about fans – not the kind that cool you down, but the kind that cheer you on.

The fans I’m focussing on are the Toronto Maple Leaf fans. One reason I’ll focus on them is that I’m a fan and the other reason is that they are an interesting group.

Recently the Leafs made a western road trip, including games in Calgary, Vancouver and Edmonton. The most interesting thing about these games was the number of Toronto Maple Leaf fans in each arena.  

Everywhere the Leafs play, there are blue and white jerseys in the crowd. In Florida it’s understandable because it’s winter and mostly Canadians from Ontario go to the hockey games there. 

But there are Leaf fans everywhere. 

On this particulate western road swing, the Leaf jerseys at these three hockey towns rivalled those of the home crowd.

In each arena there were “Go Leafs Go” chants that the home crowd had a hard time overpowering. 

In Calgary, at one point, there were “Freddie, Freddie, Freddie” chants for the Leafs’ goalie. …This kind of chanting never happens where the opposing goalie is being cheered like a hero.  

It was unbelievable. 

In Vancouver, where the Leafs lost in overtime, the announcer commented, “Well, at least half the crowd are going home happy tonight.” … It’s pretty rare – or I should say never – that there are as many opposing fans in the seats as hometown die hards.

Maybe you could point out that the Super Bowl is filled with fans from both sides. That might be true, but the Super Bowl is played in a neutral stadium.

This is a unique phenomenon … perhaps because the Leafs haven’t won the Stanley Cup in 51 years. 

Some people say that other Canadian teams share the same kind of fan support, so maybe this is a Canadian phenomenon. 

But it can’t be that. 

… Sure, the Blue Jays are supported by fans right across the country and, when Toronto was in the American League championship a few years ago, the teams they faced could feel the whole country was behind them. It was like a whole country was playing a single city’s team. 

But the Jays are the only MBL team in Canada, so it makes sense that there would be fans across the country. 

The Raptors basketball team are the same. Many people are going to cheer for a team from their country first. 

The fan support for the Toronto Maple Leafs is different. 

In each city the Leafs play in, there is a team that the locals are passionate about. Yet, blue and white jerseys pop out of the woodwork and rival the locals’ passions and love for their team.

Fans may be sneaky, but with Leaf fans you can bet they are going to show up.

Here’s the thing: There are people all over the world who have put their faith in Jesus Christ. They are sneaky because you can’t tell who they are. They don’t wear jerseys with emblems on them in a certain colour. But you know that almost everywhere you go, there are those who raise their hands to Jesus. They come from countries where other gods are honoured, but they remain strong in their faith and in support of the one true God. There’s an army of Christian believers who are all cheering and praising our God in Heaven … Are you one of them?

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How faithfully do you stand up for your Saviour? Leave your comments below.

by

It’s The Little Things That Make It Special

Often it is the little things that make something really special and stand out. 

Yesterday I attended an event at the Hockey Hall Of Fame in Toronto. We took in all the sights and looked at the history making events and people. 

There were even a few former NHLers who attended the event. One was Ron Ellis who not only was a Hall of Fame member but also has his name on the Stanley Cup.

A visit to the Hockey Hall of Fame isn’t complete without visiting the room where the Stanley Cup resides. 

The room itself is amazing. It’s set in an old bank with a high, domed, stained glass ceiling. The room is adorned with the many trophies that are handed out to NHL players for various achievements, as well as glass plates with images of those who have been inducted into the Hall. 

But the key piece, the item that stands out over everything else, is the Stanley Cup. 

I got my picture taken with the cup but I told Lily that I couldn’t touch it so I wouldn’t jinx myself from ever winning it … haha.

But that’s one of the things that make the Stanley Cup the most special of all trophies in sports. 

It’s a magnificent looking trophy, so large you need two hands to hold it. It’s also old, having been first awarded in 1893. 

Those little things are what make it the greatest trophy in sports. 

I joke about not touching the cup, but a Junior hockey player or a current NHLer won’t touch it until they win it. 

The cup has gone around the world, spending a day in the home town of each player who has won the cup that year. 

People have drank from the cup; they have sat babies in the bowl of the cup. The Stanley Cup has been left on the side of the road; it’s been tossed in a river. There was once an attempt to steal the cup. 

It has been touched and held by more people than any other professional trophy. 

And there is no other celebration of victory that centres around a trophy quite like the Stanley Cup.

Some trophies are handed out to the winning team in a press room or locker room. Some are presented on a high stage with all the focus on the owner who created such a great team.

But the Stanley Cup is the focal point of the hockey championship. It is presented to the captain, who skates around the rink and then passes it to his teammates who each get to skate and lift up the trophy. 

The win is all about getting your hands on that cup. Oh ya, and the honour of having your name permanently engraved on it. 

… Now that’s special.  

It’s all those little things that make the Stanley Cup the greatest trophy in sports. 

Here’s the thing: It’s the little things in Christianity that make it special. The big thing is that Jesus died on the cross to pay for all mankind’s sin – that’s a big deal! Other religions leave it up to you to have to work your way to their god. But the God of heaven did all the work for you. That’s big; there is no religion like it. But our God is also very personal. He meets with us, speaks to us through the Bible, helps and directs us on a daily basis, and lives in each of us by the Holy Spirit. Those are the little things that make being part of God’s family so special. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What is one little thing you are thankful to God for? Leave your comments below.

by

That Was A Real Close Call

I dodged a couple of bullets today – a few close calls on the ice.

I was playing hockey with my regular Saturday morning crowd and there was an incident or two that could have cost me.

The first was a blindside hit. It was supposed to be a stick check but he got a little body as well. I went down but I wasn’t hurt.

I was a little surprised because I didn’t see it coming; he came from behind my left shoulder.

I went down rather quickly and I was probably more shocked than hurt that he got more than my stick. We don’t play contact hockey, though in this sport you can’t avoid some contact … it’s just not supposed to be on purpose.

I’ve seen a few players in the NHL go down with hits like mine and suffer from concussions. I was really glad that I was okay.

It was a good thing the guy was young with not a lot of weight behind him to really cause a jolt.

Play continued and, even shortly after the incident, I didn’t think anything of it as I tried to wheel the puck up the ice.

Then later on in the game, I took a stick right across my visor. Again it was an accident – a guy following through on a clearing pass.

I know for sure that, if I had not had a visor on my helmet, I would have got a pretty good cut by my forehead nose area.

There is no question in my mind that I would have been going for stitches, because years ago I caught a stick to the head just like it and ended up with 5 stitches just above my eye, as well as two black eyes.

The only difference was the visor. In fact, the reason I wear a visor today is because of that cut I received about 30 years ago.

I was 31 years old then and I realized that hockey was a pass time and not my career. I needed my eyes for my career so I took precautions … thus the half visor that I still wear today.

I remember that injury well. It came the night before my first parents’ meeting of the teens that I worked with. I got ribbed a little about the black eyes. People joked that Lily took a frying pan to me.

This morning before I started playing I was actually more concerned about my knee. It hasn’t felt very strong and stable the last few days … but I wore a brace so my knee was good.

These two potential injuries on the ice today came completely unexpectedly. I guess you could say that I was fortunate or that Lady Luck was on my side. I’m just glad that I didn’t have to visit the emergency room or sit in the dark in the quiet room.

Here’s the thing: Everyday we have things happen around us that could cause us harm. It could be that we were a split second away from serious injury. We can’t plan for it or protect against these things most of the time. Some people think it is just luck. But I believe in a God who watches over us, where nothing escapes his oversight. Those inches, split seconds, and near misses are a result of His protective hand. No matter how many times you’re injured, think of how many more times you escaped unscathed, and thank God.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What close call have you experienced lately? Leave your comments below.

by

Why You Should Pay Attention To Seconds

Seconds count. They’re such a short period of time that we can often over look them, but they count. Seconds happen in the blink of an eye but they matter; you can’t discard seconds.

stopwatch-thumb-thumb-380xauto-6678

In Canada we’ve done away with the penny but it still counts. We don’t make them or use them in cash transactions but they are still our smallest unit of currency.

I’m happy my pocket doesn’t fill up with them, but they still matter. They get rounded up or rounded down when paying cash. Pennies are counted “to the penny”, when using debit or credit cards or cheques.

It saves the country eleven million dollars a year not having the little copper coloured coins kicking around in the coin collector of your car, but they still count.

Often we don’t have much to say for the small things, the seconds or the pennies in life. They go unnoticed, they are too inconsequential to pay attention to.

The thing is those small things like seconds carry weight, they are significant, they’re important. Just ask James Reimer of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

He was 2.3 seconds from getting a shutout last Saturday night, when the red light went on behind him and the puck was found on the ice in the back of his net.

Tell Reimer seconds don’t count and you’d probably get an earful right now. He was working at back-to-back shutouts against the Edmonton Oilers and it was in the bag, just 2.3 seconds away. Nope, not gonna happen.

Two point three seconds is “One thousand, two thousand, Thre-“ and it’s over. It takes you that much time to get up out of your lazy boy chair.

How memorable was that, the last time you did it? It takes 2.3 seconds to retweet something – that’s not too exciting.

But a roller coaster in California launches at 84mph in 2.3 seconds. And the fastest pit stop ever, changing 4 tires, took 2.3 seconds. Now that’s fast! And you’re not going to forget those 2.3 seconds if you experienced them.

We can easily forget about the seconds in life but they count; they add up and they carry weight.

With just 6 seconds to go in the Leaf game, all 5 Leafs were clumped around the puck like a 7 year old Tyke team. That left two Edmonton Oilers by themselves at the points.

It only took a second for the puck to travel across the ice to the point man, and 1 1/2 seconds for him to get his shot off. Then it only took a little over a second for a free Edmonton Oiler to put in the rebound.

Seconds count, and sometimes they are more memorable than other times. Some seconds we’d just as soon forget. But it’s tough when they are the last memory, the last seconds of the game.

Here’s the thing: It takes seconds to turn on your radio in your car. It takes a mere 2.3 seconds to roll out of bed. And when you do, what happens next? … Do your thoughts go to what’s on the radio or what you’ll have for breakfast? It takes mere seconds. It takes a heartbeat to decide to pray instead. Seconds count and what happens in those seconds can change your day, change your direction, change your focus. That decision will have a significant impact on your day. You won’t easily forget that second.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you find difficult to change in a split second? Leave your comment below.

by

A Hockey Game To Remember

I went to a hockey game with my son the other day and realized just how much genetics and upbringing shape and mould us.

father son hockey

I remember growing up thinking that I was pretty unique, like there was no one identical to me. I was pretty naive back then – maybe suffering from an “I am special” complex that I’m sure annoyed some people … especially my parents and siblings.

But early in my twenties, I began to notice that I wasn’t all that “special” in the way I thought, in what I liked and disliked, in some of my habits, and in my choices.

I also noticed that my parents had lots of traits that I have; they were a lot like me. My first thought was, “They must be special too!”

But you know, just coming out of my teen years when I knew everything, I was quite conscious of the fact that they weren’t all that special … which left me with the realization that maybe I wasn’t all that special either.

Over the years I’ve realized that a part of what I am like is a direct result of being the procreation of Don and Helen. And then, added to that, a large part of who I am is also a result of growing up in an environment with them.

My genetics may determine how I process information, but my upbringing has shaped the angle,  view, or perspective from which I start to process that information.

When you think about it, our heritage – biological and environmental – has a huge part to play in us.

I was thinking about that when my son and I were talking together at the hockey game. He’s about the age now that I was at when I started to realize some of these things.

Our conversation uncovered how the pattern that formed who I am, is the same pattern that has been shaping him.

I understand some of the struggles he’s gone through … I could share similar stories from my days being in my twenties. There were times when we knew what each other was thinking.

We were both comfortable being in a hockey arena and also reflecting on the game and reminiscing about games we’ve played.

From the time he was little we’ve been watching sports together, especially hockey. When he was really little, in some fanciful way, he thought I played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, even though we would watch the first period together on TV … in Edmonton.

He’s developed a love for hockey and many sports probably because it has been part of his environment and was encouraged in our home growing up.

He even learned to share my love for the Toronto Maple Leafs … No, sorry, that’s genetic.

Here’s the thing: The goal of a Christian is to become more like Christ. Part of that is genetics, because we are made in His image. But a large part of that has to do with the environment we live in. If you are going to be transformed more into the likeness of Christ, you need to make sure your environment will produce those kinds of results. That means being around those who are ahead of you in the transformation process, and it will mean developing the habits and thinking of Christ which we find in His word. To become more like Christ, arrange your environment so that you come under that maximum influence of the Son of God.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How have you arranged your environment to come under the influence of Christ? Leave your comment below.

by

What It Takes To Get A Good Night’s Sleep

There is a secret to getting a good night’s sleep, and it requires that you are at peace. However, peace is not that easy to come by. There are so many things that interrupt our peace.

cael-sleeping

For me, it looks like I will finally get a good night’s sleep tonight. It’s been some time since I’ve been able to feel well-rested when I get up in the morning.

If you’re wondering if I’ve tried taking sleep medication to help me get a good night of rest, the answer is no … but I have thought of not watching the NHL playoffs so I could get to bed earlier.

Of course, that’s only good in theory.  In reality, no matter how tired I am when I get up, no matter how often during the day I tell myself I should go to bed early, when the game starts I’m up till it’s done.

But that scene is now finished for the season. I can now rest in peace … well, I don’t mean it like it sounds. I don’t intend to rest forever, quite yet. But at least now I can get the proper rest I need.

When the game ended last night (actually, early this morning), I was able to fall asleep in moments after I hit the pillow.

It wouldn’t have been the case if the Toronto Maple Leafs had been there. I would have been on such an anxious, joy-filled, Dr. Pepper high, that I would have needed another hour or so just to get calm enough to get horizontal enough to sleep.

Even still, all game long, every time the fans chanted “Go Kings Go”, it sounded to me like they were shouting “Go Leafs Go” … to which I joined in and chanted quietly along with them.

Maybe it was that Leaf power that propelled the LA Kings to finally end the game in the second period of overtime. With 5:17 left in the second overtime period, that was around 1:00 am at my house, Martinez finally put the playoffs to bed.

Then with the festivities after the game, each player skating with the cup, pictures, and interviews, it went until about 1:45 am.

But the most fitting part was when Ron McLean was wrapping up the NHL season, and the TV feed was lost and the screen went blank. What a shame we didn’t get to hear Ron’s last pun to end the season. Maybe next year they can go to black more often when Ron does his little ditties.

Funny thing, I must have slept like a baby after that because I woke up before my alarm went off at 6:00 am! … though I did hang around in bed for another ten minutes to make sure I was really awake and not dreaming.

Here’s the thing: Life has its moments when it’s tough to find the peace we need to function well and feel rested. Real peace – lasting peace – only comes from having assurance that Christ has forgiven you. Trusting in Christ’s sacrifice for you gives you peace so you don’t have to carry anxiety with you day and night. Rest well.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What keeps you from getting the full rest you need? I’d really like to hear from you, so leave a comment below.