weather

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I Got Caught Dancing In the Rain

Have you ever just wanted to go outside in the rain, just to feel it and enjoy it?

When I was a kid, there were the odd times during the hot summer months that we wanted to go outside in the rain. I even remember begging my mom to let us go out.

… That seems like a long time ago, and a silly, childish desire now.

I don’t know too many people, especially my age, who purposely try to get caught in the rain.

We protect ourselves from getting wet. We will take a water repellent jacket with us if we think it might rain, or carry an umbrella just in case.

We don’t want to get soaked.

I kind of tossed all that advice and thinking out the window the other day when I went for a mountain bike ride.

I’ve gone before when it looked cloudy and have just made it back in time. But the other day was a different matter.

I got caught – big time!

I’d been looking at the weather app on my phone and it was supposed to rain at 3 pm.

That should have given me enough time to eat lunch and get my ride in before the wet stuff came.

Those weather apps are pretty good at telling you when it’s going to rain. I even have one that shows where the rain clouds are currently positioned, and the direction they’re travelling so you can estimate how long it will be before they get to you.

All this seems great but it didn’t do me one speck of good the other day.

What those apps are not that awesome at is informing you of the volume of rain that will be hitting the earth.

I thought I had a good window of time for my ride, but less than three minutes after I hopped on my bike I felt the first few drops of the liquid sunshine.

I decided to keep going, thinking once I hit the trees it wouldn’t be too bad. Before I made it to the woods, however, the rain came down in buckets.

I got completely soaked, but I thought it would be better under the cover of the trees. … Well, not that much.

The thing about trees is they only have leaves. They do a great job of blocking out sunlight, but rain just blows right by them.

The amount of water hitting me in the woods was a little less intense, but I was not getting wind blown dry by any means.

When I got off my bike, everything was a mess. I hosed all the dirt and forest debris off my bike.

But me? – I had enough tiny twigs and woodsy, leafy material stuck on me to provide the kindling for our next fire.

All in all, it wasn’t a bad ride for getting caught in the rain.

Here’s the thing: How many times have you been caught in something you didn’t want to be caught in? You never planned for it, and you didn’t think you were at risk, but there you are – caught. Do you turn back, give up, complain about it, or see it through with all that it brings? God may be showing you something new; He may be preparing you for something special. It’s best to see it through and grow. It just might turn out to be something good.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What have you been caught in and how did you respond? Leave your comments below.

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Varying Temperature

We know that temperature varies from place to place, but 20° Celsius isn’t even the same across the country.

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When you hear what the temperature is somewhere else, you immediately interpret it as what it would feel like where you are presently.

Of course, this leads to either jealousy or boasting. We either wish we had the temperature in that other city or we proudly admire the great temperature we have.

I was recently in Calgary for a conference and when I flew out of Toronto it was quite warm. When I got to Calgary, it was a little overcast and cooler.

The next day, however, was going to be around 20 C so I dressed appropriately for what 20 C would be back home in Ontario.

What I found, though, was I could have worn a light spring coat and been perfectly comfortable. It’s not that I was cold, but it wasn’t warm either.

The next day I wore shorts. It was supposed to be warmer and, though I was not chilly wearing shorts, I could have been slightly more comfortable in long pants. Choosing my attire based solely on the temperature, I should have been very comfortable.

Just before I was leaving Calgary, I stopped to grab lunch at a fast food restaurant. I placed my order, and while waiting, saw a young guy come in rather exhausted.

He said to me, “Man, is it ever hot out there!” I could tell he wasn’t kidding. The temperature had risen to about 24 C, but he seemed like he wasn’t going to make it through the day if he didn’t get some kind of relief.

He ordered water.

That’s it! It was like if he didn’t get water right then, he couldn’t go on. Fortunately, the place had lots of water and it seemed he had enough change in his pocket to pay for it.

I was ready if he had been short a few coins; I would have chipped in for the guy. He seemed a little desperate.

After I finished my meal in the comfort of the air conditioned restaurant, I prepared to head out into the blistering heat.

I thought maybe I should order a bottle of water to go in case I collapsed before I reached my rental car. … I simply took my chances.

Outside the restaurant the temperature was nice. I wasn’t sweating and I certainly didn’t feel the heat of the sun beating down on me.

I thought about the young guy inside and wondered how he would do in the same temperature in Toronto. He may have needed two bottles of water – one to carry in case it was a long distance between watering holes.

When I got into Toronto at 9:30 pm that night, it was about 19 C. It felt about the same temperature as it had in Calgary at midday with the sun shining down on us.

Someone pointed out to me that in the winter -10 C in Toronto feels a lot more severe than -10 C in Calgary. I guess it’s all relative.

Here’s the thing: In life we deal with the same circumstances in different ways. We have different thresholds for what we experience. Aren’t you glad that God is personal and deals with you, helps you, listens to you, responds to you, not according to the degree of the issue, but based on how it feels to you?

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What issues cause “severe temperatures” for you? Leave your comments below.

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I Would Like To Blame Someone For The Weather

We like to blame people when the weather is not as we would like it to be. When it’s rainy, and someone has just flown in from somewhere, we say he has brought the bad weather with him.

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We don’t blame cloud formations or weather streams from the north. We blame people … like the weather man. We wouldn’t be satisfied if the weather man was 100 percent accurate while we were experiencing frosty weather.

We would look for someone else to blame.

So here’s my problem … I just got home from a week in Mexico, where the temperature was about 30 Celsius day and night … and I’ve come home to single digit degrees! People here can’t blame me for the cool weather, but I’m sure looking for someone to get all snarly with.

Every morning it’s been minus one when I’ve gotten up and it takes most of the morning to rise above 5 Celsius.

I had a real frozen awakening my first day back in the office. I’m sure it was colder in my office than it was outside! Unfortunately, since I had turned the furnace off before I left on vacation, I really don’t have anyone to blame for my office temperature other than myself.

I haven’t checked the extended forecast because down south it was the same temperature all day every day, and I got used to walking around in a bathing suit.

It was nice … my wife, Lily, never once asked me what the weather was like outside. At home, when she is getting ready for the day, she always asks what the temperature is. Right now the answer is the same every day: cold.

When we got back, I had a sun tan. Actually, I singed myself a little playing beach volleyball a couple of days. But a day or two back in the land of “We the North” and I’m as pale as I was before I left.

I thought I might have a head start on a summer tan, but now I’m afraid I will have to start all over again.

I just can’t figure out who I can blame for this cold weather. Blaming “global warming” doesn’t really do it for me; it’s not personal. I want someone to feel bad, or at least feel like they are on the hook for the weather I’m experiencing.

I would blame our western provinces since our weather usually comes from there. But they’ve been experiencing some nice temperatures; they’re out.

I’m really at a loss of who I’m going to blame. I might have to resort to the guy who does the weather on Channel 11. I don’t like his attitude in giving us the forecast. I don’t watch him much, but why would I? … He’s responsible for the rotten weather we’re experiencing.

Here’s the thing: We like to put the blame for our sin somewhere else. We might think someone else enticed us, or that the devil is to blame, or that our circumstances are at fault. When we do that, however, we fail to take the proper responsibility for our own sin. Don’t blame others; take a firm look at your own contribution to sin. Then you will be ready to fully confess it before God.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you tend to blame for the sin in your life? Leave your comment below.

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Don’t Be A Whiner!

Let’s not be whiners. I know there is a great temptation to be one because of the weather, but let’s suck it up. Let’s be brave and face the cold – let’s be Canadian!

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I think global warming is having some serious negative effects all over the world. One of those negatives is convincing Canadians our positional latitude is quite a few degrees lower than it really is.

We don’t live in North Carolina, people! When we get a blast of winter’s harshest, we shouldn’t get all whiny and complaining and stay indoors until spring. We live in the North – period.

Yesterday was an Alberta-like winter day in Kingston, Ontario. By that I mean that the sky was blue, the sun was shining, the snow was glistening and it was -25 Celsius outside.

I heard people complaining about the cold. But listen, we’ve only had 3 days of it! By tomorrow the temperature will be in the single digits and by next week we will be basking in temperatures up above zero.

This has been an easy winter so far; let’s not complain about a few really cold days. You see, the good thing is that we know what cold is like and we have appropriate clothing in our closets to keep us warm through it all.

We don’t need to stay indoors and huddle under blanks while we bemoan the fact that it’s freezing outside.

Let’s just be Canadians and keep going. Let’s act like nothing is special about this weather.

After all, with the memories of the last two winters still fresh in our minds, we’ve got to be smiling from ear to ear every morning when we get out of bed.

I shovelled more snow in one week last year than I have in total so far this season.

I realize that this can be confusing for some of us. Hey, it even confused the various groundhogs in Canada and the USA. They didn’t agree on whether we will have six more weeks of winter or whether it will wrap up quickly.

The way I look at it, we really haven’t had much of a winter. I’m a little sorry that I put my snow tires on this year because they hardly had any snow to perform on.

Still, there are people who aren’t happy with the first sign of winter … even if that first sign is in the middle of February.

These are the people who stay indoors, and feel that it’s too cold to go outside, knowing full well that they will get into a car and only have to walk a few steps until they’re inside a building again.

No, they would rather stay home and watch the movie, “Frozen” on TV. That way they can get their fill of the cold and ice and never have to leave the warmth of their family room.

Let’s not give in to that mindset. Let’s live and live up to what it means to be Canadian.

We are hardy, adventurous … we’re crazy Canucks!

Here’s the thing: It’s pretty easy to get used to life when it is good. Then when we go through difficult times, we act like we’ve never experienced them before. Life is filled with good and bad,  easy and hard. Trust God in it all. Lean on Him when it is difficult and keep living, not complaining.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How have you found this winter so far? Leave your comment below.

 

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The Weather Conditions In My Home Are Changing

We are starting to enter the in-between season and it’s an appropriate time to deal with temperature change.

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I have been told that this year we may be a month behind in our weather. Because of our slow start in the spring, we got June weather in July and July weather in August.

That means September should be more like August … that’s out of the norm.

Though the temperature outside is changing, that’s not really the temperature change I am writing about.

I have to tell you that the temperature inside our home doesn’t hold to conventional, seasonal measurements either.

Here’s my problem: my wife likes the heat; she likes the heat outside and she is happy if it’s hot inside as well. So I come home from work on a sweltering summer day, and enter our house through the garage which is even 15 degrees warmer than outside. I’ve gone from hot to hotter.

Then I come into the house to the cool, refreshing air conditioned air – no, that’s not what happens. I come into the house that is just a few degrees cooler than my garage was!

I look at the thermostat to see if there is something wrong with our air conditioner, only to find that my dear wife has set the temperature to 25 degrees. When we add in the humidity, it’s probably closer to 30 in the house.

By next year our hardwood floors will probably be curling up.

I turn the thermostat down to 21 degrees because that apparently is the perfect temperature – at least, that’s what I’ve heard. There is a company called 21 Degrees Heating and Cooling and their motto is “Everybody is happy at 21 degrees”.

I want to be happy. I want the temp in our home to be 21 degrees.

After making the adjustment to the thermostat, an hour later it’s back up to 25 … she’s sneaky.

Sleeping is very uncomfortable, and Lil will admit it too, but it doesn’t convince her to lower the thermostat.

Now this is the thing I can’t understand, the thing that doesn’t make sense to me. And if anyone can help me with an answer that I can comprehend, I would be greatly indebted …

In the winter months, she doesn’t keep the thermostat at 25, or even at the perfect temperature of 21 degrees. In the winter, she keeps it at 20 and at night she lowers it to 17 degrees!!

In the winter I’m afraid to get out of bed for fear of frostbite.

What I don’t understand is, if you like it cool at night, why not make it cool at night all year round? I like to sleep in the summer just as much as I do in the winter months.

Here’s the thing: Temperature may not be conventional in my house, but it has the same beginning letters as temptation and temptation isn’t conventional either. As the apostle Paul said so well, “I do what I don’t want to do and I don’t do what I want to do.”

I don’t have a definitive answer for my house temperature other than standing guard at the thermostat to be sure it’s set at the right degree. And for temptation, we must be as vigilant in standing guard to turn it down when it starts to rise.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: When do you find you have the hardest time with temptation? Leave your comment below.

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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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If A Placebo Can Change The Weather, I Want It!

This week I read an article on the placebo effect. You know, it’s when the doctor gives you a pill, you think it’s a miracle drug, but really it’s made up of nothing more than sugar.

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From what I read, it works for some people in an amazing way. Because they believe something to be true, it actually starts a chemical reaction in them that begins healing in their bodies.

I realize I’m over simplifying it but I really don’t care how it works. I’m just interested in it if it works. And if it works, we need to apply this to way more than just our health!

I wonder if we could apply this mind-over-matter to things that we don’t have control over in nature, like say, the weather.

My daughter believes she brings bad weather with her. She lived in Calgary for six years and they probably recorded the six worst winters on record. One year, she said they had snow or hail in every month of the year.

Now she’s moved back to Ontario, and I hate to tell her this, but Jonah got thrown overboard just for causing rough water for a bunch of sailers. What are we going to do with Karlie if, in fact, she’s responsible for this brutal winter weather that never seems to end?

I wonder if we could all try this placebo effect and start to get our minds to believe that we are having a warm, sunny winter here. You know, gang up on Karlie’s mindset of “I bring bad weather”.

I can’t imagine that Karlie’s the only one that is causing the extreme winter conditions we are experiencing this year. But I figure there has to be a lot of people who would be eager to apply their mind to something like this.

If we could start believing it’s warm outside, maybe we could bring back global warming to this part of the country. I would really appreciate it if the glacier in my front yard would start to recede a little right about now.

To train our minds for this we could scrap the free flu shot clinics … those scientists are so bad at predicting the strain of flu each year, they’re worse than weathermen! What we need instead is free psych clinics. If the government just paid all the sports psychologists and regular psychologists to put on free clinics, I really think we could get our minds moving in the right direction.

If this worked well, we might even be able to create a tropical winter experience right here in Ontario. Then I wouldn’t have to worry about planning a vacation to somewhere warm.

So, how about on the count of three – no, two – we all start thinking about palm trees, white sand, blue water, and sunny skies and see what happens . . .

Hey, I don’t think enough of you are doing it! – there’s still a blizzard outside my window. Or maybe my daughter’s attitude is really powerful. She was pretty strong-willed as a child.

Here’s the thing: God has created us with amazing minds that can do more than we even know. And He has created a world that has elements so powerful we have no control over them. When you think about it, there are so many mysteries around us, it only makes sense to look to God for wisdom, guidance, and help in everything.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How has having a positive attitude changed something for you?  Leave your comments below.

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Just Blame the Weatherperson

This week the temperature has soared, and already people are complaining. We humans are pretty hard to please. At one time, I thought it was just the farmers who complained about the weather. But honestly, we all do it

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It’s either too hot or cold or rainy or snowy or a combination of them all. I think we could just blame the weatherman for all this, or should I say “meteorologist”? They are the ones that tell us it’s hotter than it really is and colder than it really is.

When I was a kid, 80 degrees was hot. It didn’t matter if you were in the shade or in the sun. It was hot and you knew it and everyone else did, too. Today, however, it’s worse than that: 80 degrees is 27 Celsius, but we are told that it really feels like 35 (95 Fahrenheit).

In the winter, they do the same thing. It might be -20C (-4F) but they add their little jab by saying that with the windchill, it feels like its -29.

And we buy right into this fake weather! We complain about how bad we have it when it’s hot and how unfair it is when it’s cold. These weather people are controlling our emotions and, most of the time, they aren’t even correct.

There was a time when the weatherman was a guy training to be the anchorman at the radio or TV station. All he would do is lick his finger, stick it outside and make a guess.

We accepted that. We knew the guy was guessing at the weather. It was forgivable. After all, the guy didn’t want to be doing the weather; he just had to put in his time before he could give us real news.

Now they go to school to learn weather patterns and cloud formations. They sound all fancy and technical when the give the weather and they are just as wrong as they ever were. Can we really blame that on global warming?

They have all their maps with bright colours and animation showing the clouds. … I still think the guy that would write backwards on a piece of glass had more talent.  At least it was entertaining.

Let’s not give in to their hype and drama. Let’s accept the weather for what it is.

I’m not complaining about the weather. Maybe it’s because I’m on vacation and can dip into the semi-frigid waters of Lake Huron any time I want. Or, maybe it’s because I can walk down to the strip any time of the day and enjoy a cone at DQ or Scoopers, or get a cup of raspberry gelato.

Sure, maybe I’d sing a different tune if I had to go to work everyday. But every time you start to whine about how hot it is, remember it could be a windy-cloudy-snowy-rainy day instead.

I don’t want to hear any more comments on Facebook or twitter that “Satan called and wants his weather back.” I like this 30-degree-feels-like-37-with-a-humidex-of-60, sunny hot weather. . .  I’m going to the beach. See ya!

Here’s the thing: We so quickly complain and criticize God when things are not perfect: when our prayer isn’t answered at the exact moment we’d like, when it’s not what we want, when we don’t get the justice we think we deserve, or when our circumstances seem more difficult that others’. Like the weather, enjoy, and rejoice in what you do have.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What are you quick to complain about when it’s not perfect? Leave your comment below.

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Here’s Your Weather Warning!

Here’s a declaration I’ll admit: sometimes the weather man is correct.  The other day I went golfing with my son.  The weather was calling for rain, but since it hadn’t rained all day, I figured the evening would be rain free as well.

I have come to trust in looking outside to predict the weather rather than checking in with the guy who’s paid to give us 37% (approximate) accuracy on any given day.  But this day I didn’t look outside.  It was an opportunity to golf with my son so I jumped at it.

When we started, the sky was a little overcast but there was no hint of rain in those clouds.  By the time we got to the fourth hole, I was noticing some rather dark clouds coming our way.  But we kept going, as if somehow the clouds would part and go on either side of us, leaving a dry channel for us to golf through.

By the time we stepped up to the sixth hole, we were staring at black clouds that were now not that far in the distance.  There were rumblings of thunder which should have been a clue to us.  But we kept going.

It was no big deal – we were just carrying 13 lighting rods apiece in our golf bags, and when we pulled a club out of the bag, it was like saying, “Come on lightning, try to hit this little club.  I’ll swing it a few times to make it a hard target for you to track.”

We were brave, and stupid, but really brave.  We finished the hole, with the clouds almost over top of us.  Though it was only 5:45 pm, it seemed like it was about 7:30 pm with not much daylight left.

As we waited on the 7th tee for some people to clear the green, we saw some flashes of lightning followed quickly by thunder.  Mike took his shot and then I took mine.  It was a short par 3 so we got to the green in no time.

I walked to my ball on the green; Mike was already by the hole when I thought I heard something in the distance.  I bent down to check my ball, and I heard what sounded like a hundred horses running towards us.

I said, “What is that?”, then looked at Mike and yelled, “The rain’s coming!”  I took off running for the cart.  I don’t normally golf with a cart but I wasn’t complaining at that moment.  I jumped in just as the rain came pouring down.

Mike pinned the petal to the floor, but golf carts only go so fast.  With the wind and the angle of the rain, we got soaked.  We were driving through puddles, with rain and hail coming down all around.  When we made it back, Mike beached the cart by the overhang of the patio, as if that would keep us from getting more drenched.

It was like a flood; some guy was walking through a puddle that was over his ankles. Someone else said it would clear in about 15 minutes.  We went straight in to get a rain check.  Neither Mike nor I had any desire to preserve our rounds.  It would be best to start again another day.  At least we didn’t get hit by lightning.

Here’s the thing:  In life, God gives us warning signs that we are going down the wrong path or making a wrong decision.  Sometimes those signs seem so far off in the distance, rather than reacting to God’s warning, we keep going, feeling like we still have time.  What happens is we get comfortable living with the warning and even braver as they get closer.  We need to act on God’s warning signs early, because the storm comes in quickly and hard.

Until Next Time!

Pastor Paul

Question:  How comfortable have you become continuing on in spite of God’s warning signs?  Leave your comment below.