habits

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We All need A Fresh Dose of Inspiration

Sometimes a break from old habits can be a refreshing change that leads to new inspiration.

This morning I am writing my blog from our deck. The sun is shining and there’s a slight breeze causing our Canadian flag to do a little dance in the air. 

I don’t normally write my blog from here. Usually I write in our basement, stretching out on our chaise lounge with minimal lighting overhead.

I think our seasons naturally provide that same sense of new inspiration four times a year.  

It’s the change in temperature, scenery, even smells that create a freshness about each new season. But once the season is well established, we lose inspiration and settle for the comfort of familiarity … like hearing an old tune on the radio that stirs your memories and warms your heart. 

But there is still nothing like a fresh sense of inspiration to change things up.

From fall to summer, the small group I’m in meets on the same night in the same home. We’ve been doing that for several years now.  

The other day we decided to get together one more time before we broke for the summer. The original plan was to have a potluck at the home we normally meet in. It would have been great. 

But a day before we were to meet, one family suggested we meet at their home on the lake,  on Sunday afternoon and evening for a BBQ.

That’s what we did. We enjoyed the peaceful presence of cottage life for a few hours. We went for a boat ride around the lake, and I got to take the sea doo for a spin. It was the first time I used my boating license since I got it two years ago.

After dinner we roasted marshmallows over the fire and sat around talking.

We need those fresh touches of inspiration from time to time. In some instances they come along seemingly by accident or just perfect timing. At other times fresh inspiration must be planned for, arrangements set, decisions made – like my decision to write my blog this morning on the deck. It took some thought because when I had finished my devotions, I had certainly planned on writing from the cave as usual.

But there was something about the sun outside the kitchen patio window that was calling me … something about breaking out of my normal routine. 

The end result is that, once I committed to it, I had new inspiration to write this piece. 

You may not be able to tell that this post is any different from other posts I’ve written, but I know from where this article has emerged – from some new inspiration.

I certainly can’t write my blog outside on the deck in the middle of winter, but I also don’t have to write it all year long on a couch in a climate controlled environment.

Sometimes the best thing to do is to find some new inspiration.

Here’s the thing: Maybe you need some new inspiration with God. Is your relationship getting a little stale? You talk to Him but don’t feel like your are hearing back from Him? You don’t have the same passion or desire to spend time with Him every day? Things have gotten comfortable, even a little stale?… It’s time for some new inspiration. Find a new place to meet with God. Go outside; talk to Him in a new way; ask Him a question and don’t just go on talking; wait for Him to give you an answer. Find some new inspiration and enjoy a renewed, refreshed relationship with Him.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: Where will you find some new inspiration this week? Leave your comments below

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I Don’t Like Wallpaper Much

I remember why I don’t like wallpaper that much – it’s not a fun task to take it off!

I’m sure there are some types of wallpaper that can be easily removed … maybe it’s just the ones my wife picks that aren’t.

We are renovating our kitchen right now. I should really say that Lily is renovating the kitchen. She has done all the planning and work so far.

We have a new range and, in a couple of weeks, we will have a new counter. But before that comes, we needed to take off some wallpaper that Lily had put up as a backsplash above the counter.

The new backsplash will be tile.

I’m not sure if it’s proper protocol, but I would have put the tile right over the wallpaper … if it hadn’t been for Lily’s choice of wallpaper years ago!

This wallpaper has some texture to it. It looks like tile so it’s not really flat against the wall.

But really, how hard could it be to remove paper from a wall?

Well, it turns out that it can be pretty hard.

I came home from work one evening to find Lily working on the wall. She said she had been doing it for a couple of hours and she hadn’t gotten very far.

Of course I tried to help and do a little of the work. But this is what I found: this wallpaper had to come off in three layers!

There was a plastic-like layer that held the colour of the paper; the second layer was sort of foam-like to give it the texture and look of tile. Then under that was the paper with the glue that stuck it to the wall.

Each layer had to come off on its own. Let’s just say there was a lot of scraping that needed to be done.

It reminded me of the last time I took wallpaper off a wall.

At that time we lived in Edmonton and had just bought our first house. The previous owners had some pretty disgusting wallpaper on the living room walls and we wanted it off immediately.

They were also smokers … so picture Lily and I sponging down the walls with brown water dripping down from the ceiling to the floor.

The paper was an old style and pretty much cemented to the wall. It was a brutal job.

This one was cemented much the same. Lily wondered why it was so tough; she had used this same wallpaper in Edmonton. Then she remembered that she never took it off the wall there. She had just put it on a few months before we moved.

Well, the stuff we just destroyed the kitchen walls over has been up for 21 years. Let’s never do that again!

Here’s the thing: Habits stick to us like cement or some kinds of wallpaper. They don’t break or come off easily. That’s good and bad news. The good news is if we have habits that are the kind we should keep, they will stick with us. If we have habits, however, that need to go, be replaced or just displaced, it’s going to be a fight. It will take a lot of work, but you have help. The Lord is with you to help you as you deal with those habits. Lean on His muscle to remove those old habits.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What habits in your life need to be removed? Leave your comments below.

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When You Get Lost in the Change

I get a little lost at this time of year, especially in the evenings. For the past month, there has been hockey on TV pretty much every night.

New old Habit

Often there have been multiple games, extending hockey into the wee hours of the night for us in Ontario. But that has come to an end.

They say it takes 21 days to form a habit, so in the past month, I’ve been in the habit of watching hockey each night.

It didn’t matter if I had a meeting or activity after dinner, when I got home there was always the action, cheers, commentary, and, of course, my red light broadcasting throughout the house that another goal had been scored.

It was comforting; I knew what I would be doing and Lily would know where to find me. I didn’t have to choose between several options or projects when I was home. I was focussed, single-minded. It was a good thing.

… Well, I guess it wasn’t all good. There were some downsides like not being able to follow the conversation Lily was trying to have with me. I found it difficult to look her in the eyes while she was talking when the play-by-play guy was describing how a player just rang one off the post.

All winter I have reserved Saturday night to have a can of Dr. Pepper. It’s pretty much the only time I will drink it. However, with hockey on every night, I had to daily remind myself that it was not Saturday or I’d have been going through a case of pop every week!

But all that has come to an end. I don’t know what to do with myself now, because we are down to only four teams and the games are spread out. I had to watch a repeat of the Canada versus Belarus game the other night and I already knew Canada won 9-0!

I’m finding there is great pressure for me to move away from the TV and find something more productive to do. I keep hearing suggestions and hints of things that could be attended to around the house.

My problem is I don’t have my ready-made excuses to not get at these things. It’s one thing to say, “Sure Lil, I’ll put out the garbage right at the end of the period . . . after Coach’s Corner.”

It doesn’t work any more to say, “Could you repeat that? I didn’t quite hear you” four or five times. Lil knows I’m scamming her.

You see, I just made a habit and now I already have to break it … and that’s why I feel lost right now. My routine is being interrupted; my time must be filled with new things.

I think I just need to be weened off of hockey over a few weeks. And that’s good because the semi’s are on and by the time the Stanley Cup series is done, I think I will be ready to fully embrace golf and mountain biking . . . until hockey starts again in the fall.

Here’s the thing: When a season of life changes or your schedule changes for that matter, it can throw you off from your time spent with God alone. Use these times to refresh your approach to your time with God. Change it up a little. Try to incorporate something that will challenge you and increase your interest and desire to meet with Him.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What disruptions to your routine cause you to feel out-of-sorts? Leave your comment below.