transition

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It’s Time To Get My Golf Clubs In My Car

The other day I put my golf clubs in my vehicle for the season … but I still haven’t used them.

We are now into June and I haven’t swung a golf club yet. … I know there are many people who will only play a couple of games this season, but that’s not me.

In fact, I can’t remember a year when I have not had my clubs out by now.

It usually happens like the hand off in a relay race. There is this zone where the two team mates are running and the one hands the baton off to the other.

For me that’s the time when the hockey sticks get taken out of the car and the golf clubs get put in the trunk.

But this year we’re getting past the transition zone and I’m about to be disqualified.

Well, not really disqualified, but I have a golf tournament I will be in this week and I need to get reacquainted with my driver before that date.

One of the biggest roadblocks is finding a little time between the rain drops that keep falling every other day!

All winter long you look forward to doing things outside and then a spring like this comes along and you’re still stuck inside because of the rain.

Golf and rain have never really gone well together, especially if there is thunder rumbling in the distance.

It’s never a good idea to be close to lightning with 13 lightning rods strapped to your back!

… I remember golfing many years ago with a friend and we were down in a valley when the thunder got loud and close.

We took cover for a while, but then decided we should make our way to the club house. As we were walking up the path out of the valley, I turned to say something to my friend.

At that moment the sky lit up behind him, making him a silhouette, followed immediately by a huge crack of thunder.

At that point we started running for the club house; we just wanted to get out of the target zone before we got hit.

But it’s not just the rain and potential lightning that has kept me off the course this year, it’s also the cool temperatures.

I’ve had that feeling of playing golf when it’s cool outside. If you hit the ball a little thin, you get this vibration that starts in your hands and moves up your arms.

You feel like the cartoon character, Wiley Coyote, who just missed the roadrunner with an iron pan and hit a rock instead, leaving his whole body vibrating in mid air.

Well, that’s what it feels like, and I hate that feeling.

But this week I will be playing, whether I’m ready or not. So I better brave the cold and rain and start hitting a few golf balls before that date.

Here’s the thing: There are things that will happen in life whether you are ready for them or not. So why wouldn’t you get ready for them if you can, even if getting ready is going to mean making some changes? Christ is coming back some day. The thing is we don’t know when. We need to be ready for His return, so why not prepare yourself now? Place your trust in Christ alone for your salvation. Yes, it will cost you, but you will be ready for His return and it will make the perfect transition to the next life.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What transition do you need to make right now? Leave your comments below.

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How To Transition To A New Season

We’re into October and it’s time for me to transition into the new season. Some of you are thinking, “Great. He’s finally recognizing the leaves are changing and that it’s fall.”

hockeybiking

That might be the transition some people make. They put the fall decorations around the house, get the rake out to bag the leaves, and start thinking of pumpkins and of the colours brown, yellow and orange.

But that’s not the transition to the new season I’m referring to. For me, the transition is going from biking and golf season to hockey season. And with that, I guess you could say, there comes some decorations.

One thing that I have to do is ditch the bike rack, and the clubs from the trunk, put the hockey sticks in my car and make room for my equipment bag.

But not so fast. I’m having a hard time making the transition to the new season. I still want to bike, and there may be a few more rounds of golf left in my clubs.

I have to admit I have some urges to make the transition. Every time I drive past the arena I think, “Boy, it’s time I get those blades out and hit the ice.” But I still am hesitant.

I just don’t want to put my bike away yet. I realize that there are fewer and fewer opportunities to mountain bike. It rains more at this time of year. It gets darker sooner. It’s getting cooler.

Also, making the transition will mean I have to lug my equipment out to the car and back into the house. I’ll have to put up with the annoyance of hearing “That equipment stinks!” from one unnamed person in the house (it doesn’t really smell).

I think what might put me over the edge to make the changeover is going a week without being able to bike, or finding there is not enough light to see the trails.

I know it’s just a matter of time, but I want to ease into it. Maybe I will play hockey once a week just to get my feet wet (or frozen, in this case). I’ll keep biking but I’ll play a little hockey as well.

I’m going to slowly make the transition … like when you go swimming in a lake, and slowly walk out into the deeper water, allowing your body time to adjust to the cooler temperatures. Lake Huron, where we swim, is like that – you can go a long way out before you have to go all the way under.

Once I’m in, it’s all good; I can stay in. I will have made the transition; I won’t be pining away for my bike or golf clubs. And I’ll enjoy the new season … until it’s time to transition again.

Here’s the thing: When God wants to change something in us, we often resist that change. We’re comfortable and don’t want to change. If we focus on the good or the blessings that change will bring – instead of the loss of what we have – we will slowly let God work that new change into our lives and let go of that thing we’re hanging on to.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What have you found to be a difficult transition to make? Leave your comment below.

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Living in Transition

I was thinking the other day that I’m not really living my life; I’m waiting in transition.  It’s not that I don’t feel settled in my home, work, or my relationships.  No, they’re all good.  But I still feel like I’m in transition.  And then it dawned on me, it’s my kids’ fault!

I’ve always been great at blaming my kids for things that have gone missing or stopped working, like when I couldn’t find the remote control, or when the car broke down just after they drove it.  However, blaming my kids for me feeling like I’m in transition takes me to a new level.

It all started in my devotions.  I was praying for my kids when I started to think about what I was praying for.  Basically, it was that they would get through this time in their lives and get settled in careers and all that goes with that.

Both my kids are in their twenties and I’m discovering that waiting for your kids to emerge out of this preparation stage of life takes way too long.  I never felt this way when Karlie and Mike were little, or in elementary school; I didn’t even feel this way when they were in high school.  But now, let’s get on with life already!  They have me feeling like I’m in transition, waiting for them to move into something more permanent, more settled.

I know that one day I’ll look back on this time and think it wasn’t very long …  although if my son stays in school as long as I did, it will be like forever!

Somehow I have to get through this and, as I was thinking about it, it dawned on me that they don’t necessarily feel like they’re in transition. They are just living life as it comes day by day.  So what I need to do is enjoy this stage of their lives and not try to impatiently endure it.

I’ve always enjoyed the other stages of their lives – except maybe teaching them to drive a manual transmission (that poor Honda Civic).  I need to embrace this stage as well, even though to me it seems like a transition stage and life will start when they are done it.  I prayed that God would help me live life with them and not get ahead of them.

Here’s the thing:  the verse in my devotions was Psalm 32:8, “I will instruct you and teach in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.”(NIV)

How God does all that (instruct, teach, counsel) is secondary to what He is saying about me in this verse.  He desires to patiently care for me; He’s concerned for me; He has high hopes for me.  God is not feeling like I’m in transition and wishing me quickly on to the next stage.  God is with me where I’m at, patiently caring, concerned, and with high hopes for me … at this stage right now.

That’s a good attitude to have with my kids as well.

Until Next Time!

Pastor Paul

Question:  How can you model God’s outlook and actions with those you’re in relationship with?