travel

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I’ve Been Waiting For A Long Time

Waiting is something we do all the time, but not that well. I guess I shouldn’t speak for everyone; there must be someone out there who’s good at waiting.

waiting for train

But I would say, on average, not many of us enjoy it. We are programmed to get things fast.

I was recently at a farmers’ market and there were all kinds of people at this one booth, trying to purchase vegetables.

The seller was helping one person at a time, but I noticed a woman getting things herself. Then instead of waiting until the seller had finished with someone else, she handed a five dollar bill over everyone’s heads, showed what she had and left. She didn’t wait at all.

Most of us would do that if we could (if we didn’t think it was impolite to butt in line) because we hate waiting.

I just read the other day that there are three hour wait times at the border to get into Canada from the USA. Our dollar is down, and gas is fairly cheap. Why not take a trip to Canada for vacation?

Well, a three hour wait at the border apparently has everyone up in arms. Travellers are pulling their hair out.

Can you imagine a car with a few kids in the back seat, continuously asking, “When are we going to get there?” … and the car hasn’t moved more that five feet in the last twenty minutes?!

Vacation? Those kids will be lucky if they survive the trip through the Canadian border.

Merchants are all up in arms as well. They say that every minute of delay at the border is more money not spent in Canadian stores. They want the government to either schedule or hire more customs officers, like right now!

Forget all this waiting! It’s tough; it’s not easy; we hate it.

But what about waiting on God?

Recently, I needed to fill a preaching assignment for just after my vacation. Usually I have that all set up before I go away, but this year I had already been turned down once and had to wait into my vacation for an answer from a second person.

One week into my vacation I got an answer that he wasn’t going to be available, so I needed a plan B.

Just as I thought of a plan and was about to act on it, I received an email from someone in my congregation who felt compelled to share with everyone what God has been doing in his life.

By the end of the second week of my vacation I had my speaker. I had to wait two weeks for God to provide, but when it was all said and done, I didn’t have to do anything to arrange it. God took care of it.

All I had to do was wait – not easy to do, but sometimes that’s what it takes.

Here’s the thing: We do have to wait for a lot of things in life. We have to wait in lines, at bank machines, restaurants, border crossings, movie theatres, and pretty much anything else you can think of. We also have to wait on God for things. Waiting is not the enemy; waiting is part of life. When it comes to God, waiting on Him will bring the best to whatever we are waiting for. Don’t tear your hair out, or fixate on the waiting. Relax, keep going and see what God will bring about.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you need to wait on God for that’s been frustrating you up until now? Leave your comments below.

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When Thankfulness Goes From Oblivious To Reality

In raising children, it’s easy to get the idea that your kids are oblivious to what you do for them. This week I learned that, despite the exterior finish of being absorbed in one’s self, underneath there is a high gloss coat of reality.

money:toilet

I think what gets parents believing that our kids are not in touch with reality is because they start with a warped, small view of the world around them.

At first their world consists of just Mom and Dad. It’s years before they go off to school and begin to expand their understanding of how the world works.

Time is all about them … and they can’t even tell time. They do slowly learn the notion of hours and minutes and get it eventually – especially if you give them a digital watch and don’t try to confuse them with the big hand, little hand concept … let’s not even mention that sweeping hand!

Distance doesn’t compute with them either. They don’t get that something is far away.

… I remember when we moved from Edmonton to Kingston. It took us four days of driving to get there. You would think that being cooped up in a car for more than eight hours a day for that long would be etched upon the little minds of children. No!

A week after we arrived in our new city, our five year old wanted to have his best friend over for his birthday party. That best friend now lived 3700 kilometres away, but our son thought we should just pick him up and drive him over. When we said it would take too long, he said to fly him over.

Which brings up another concept young children don’t appreciate outside of their world of want – money. Kids have no clue of the value of money. To them the value difference between a quarter and a loonie (dollar coin) has to do with the size and sparkle of the coin and not its purchasing power.

When we commented to our son, who was three at the time, that we couldn’t afford to get him a certain toy, he promptly said, “Just put it on layaway”.

We had never done that before, so we questioned him on where he got that idea. He heard about it on TV and had no idea what layaway was except it seemed to him that he could get what he wanted, if we did that.

After years and years of living with your children’s concept that the world revolves around them, it’s difficult to perceive them understanding the bigger picture. You wonder if they will ever get to the place of appreciating the world outside of themselves.

Well, I got a Father’s Day card yesterday that proves they really do have a grasp on reality.

The front of the card read, “I finally found a Father’s Day card that really captures the experience of raising a son like me . . .”  On the inside, as you opened the card, there was a toilet with a $20 dollar bill sliding into it. The caption read:

“Amazing, isn’t it? Don’t think about it, and have a great day.”

Thanks, Son.

Here’s the thing: God gives us so much, and we so often forget to think of how much comes from Him – things like family, provision, health, possessions, work, rest, relaxation, abilities, skills, spiritual gifts, etc. Take some time to think about all God does for you and thank Him. It really is amazing.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What are you most thankful for today? Leave your comment below.

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What’s With The Tire Conspiracy?

It’s pretty quiet in my house right now. It’s all calm and Christmassy. The Christmas lights are all on and the soft glow kind of makes the room all warm and peaceful. I know it’s not going to stay that way.

tires

Tomorrow we will be up at the crack of dawn, on our way to Toronto for the Silcock family Christmas. The weather is supposed to be freezing rain and I’m not looking forward to the drive.

I don’t normally mind driving in the snow but my tires are not giving me much traction these days. I think it’s a conspiracy of the tire companies. I remember the days of studded tires. They made your car sound like they had tap shoes on as they danced through the snow and ice.

Apparently, they were chewing up the roads so they outlawed them. Then, for the next 30 years or so, we just used all season radials. Note the words “all season” that mean, to me anyway, that these tires are good for driving on pavement in the summer and snow in the winter.

They seemed to work fine until a few years ago. Out of the blue, people started talking about winter tires again. Frankly, I didn’t know anyone who had winter tires since they took the little metal studs out of the “moto masters” back in the 70’s.

Now, for some reason (I think it’s the tire companies), there is a real push to get everyone to purchase winter tires. Notice I used the word “purchase” there. That’s four tires at $100 plus each!

Not a bad deal for the tire companies. They even made it a law in Quebec that you have to have winter tires on your vehicle there. The tire companies must have been rubbing their grubby little mitts together over that one.

My theory is they have changed the rubber compound in the all season tires so that they don’t work so well in cold weather. That’s why my car is slipping and sliding all over the place.

I kind of like it, mind you; it keeps driving fun. But if I didn’t drive a standard I would probably have had about five accidents by now. You touch the brakes and you lose control, so I keep my foot off the brake and just gear down.

It keeps you thinking, but it works well. However, there is this three hour trip to Toronto tomorrow. That’s a little bigger deal than just navigating the snowy streets of Kingston. There will be stretches where there’s no help close by.

In those three hours – even though we’re not near Calgary – the weather could change along the way and we could wind up in more trouble than we planned for.

And then there are the other drivers. That might be worse than the weather. I can understand weather, like rain and snow, it falls from the sky. But I rarely can understand some drivers out there. They have a weather pattern of their own.

Here’s the thing: We can get pretty comfortable with our ability to navigate through life. We learn to do things along the way and it all just adds to our confidence … in ourselves, that is. God wants us to depend on Him. He wants us to find our confidence in Him, not ourselves. So don’t take the God factor out of what you do. Put your confidence in Him and He will get you through.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you find uncertain in your life? Leave your comment below.

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Another Eight Long Months!

A week ago, I drove up to Ottawa with my wife, Lily and daughter, Karlie. We were taking Karlie to the airport to catch her flight back to Calgary. She had been visiting us over Christmas.

We made several trips this last month. There were three trips to Ottawa and a trip to Toronto, all to visit family. Each trip had one leg that was difficult because of the road conditions. The hardest trip, though, was this last one, knowing we were saying good-bye to Karlie for another six to eight months.

Kar & Me

It’s not like we are new to this. Karlie has been in Calgary and other places out west for over 5 years now. It’s just that it doesn’t seem to get any easier to see her go.

There is a special element she brings to our home and family when she’s back – something that’s hard to explain.

It’s the looks we share when I tease her mom and we both anticipate the reaction that will be forthcoming. Some of those times are so predicable, but maybe that’s what makes them so funny.  Like when Lily says to me, “You’re looking a little pale. Are you feeling all right?”, my usual response is to sigh, drop my shoulders, and answer her in a weakened voice. Karlie can tell it’s an act, and we share that look. Lily, well, her reaction of concern moves into high gear! We smile every time.

There are the things Karlie does for me too, like the Christmas cookies she bakes. There was one batch she made just for me. They were my mom’s recipe, and she made them as good as Mom ever did. She also watched a few chic flicks with her mom, and even though that wasn’t directly for me, believe me, it was for my benefit!

We shared our father daughter breakfast (our tradition) and even though our restaurant was closed, we were able to find a new breakfast spot that served the same kind of unhealthy food with comparable quality.

There is a comfort to having her at home, like everything is back to normal, but with a twist. The kids, well, they’re adults now.  It used to be like the Flintstones in our house: lots of humour but half of it over the kids’ heads. Now they are right in on it all.

We’re able to relate on a different level now, like having adult conversations about plans and dreams and next steps. I found myself sharing plans with Karlie, too. She even hung out with her parents on New Year’s Eve, in downtown Kingston! I can’t remember a more exciting New Year’s Eve … well, maybe a couple or twenty, but Karlie made it a little more fun.

It’s not that our home doesn’t function when she’s not there.  It’s just that Karlie adds something special to our family, the little things that make everything so much better.  … On a good note, when Karlie came she brought a truck load of snow, and since she’s left, it’s melting rapidly.

Here’s the thing: Just like my daughter brings a special element to our home when she is present, we all bring something to our church community when we show up. What we bring will be missed if we’re not involved. No matter who we are, or what gifts we think we have or don’t have, God has placed us in our community to add to the flavour for everyone.

Until Next Time!

Pastor Paul

Question: What do you bring to your community? Leave your comment below.