Author: Paul Silcock

by

Dinner Out Is Getting More And More Complicated

Going out for dinner is more complicated these days, but it’s always complicated for my wife and I.

dinner out is getting more and more complicated

With COVID, some restaurants have decided to keep their doors shut. Some only have take out or patio service available … which was okay until now when the temperatures have started to drop in the evenings. Having dinner on a patio might be rather chilly. 

Some restaurants have a limited menu so you might go there with a hankering and end up being disappointed because the chef wasn’t feel’n your favourite dish.

I even read somewhere that those who eat in restaurants have a higher risk of contracting COVID. I have no idea if that is true or not, but I heard it. 

So these days there’s lots to consider when going out for dinner. You have to weigh all the options … or lack thereof. 

You might think it would be nice to eat out, and even get kind of psyched to go out. But by the time you have looked at where you can go and what is available, you are almost ready to break out the peanut butter and jelly and call Yogi over.

I haven’t even mentioned that at most restaurants seating is a little more limited. Even if you could make a decision, you might not be able to get in or the wait time might be prohibitive.

If right about now you are thinking, “You’re right, Paul; it is a lot of effort to go out for dinner,” well, let me tell you, that is nothing. 

On top of all these barriers to going out for dinner during this current season, my wife and I have a whole other series of complications we need to hurdle over to get that meal out at a restaurant.

You see, Lily is allergic to seafood and fish. And I’m not just talking about getting a runny nose and sneezing from eating it. All that would do is alarm people, thinking she had COVID. 

No, Lily’s allergic reaction is anaphylactic … I know, you got hypnotized trying to sound that word out, didn’t you?

The bottom line with her allergy is that her throat closes up and she can’t breathe. She does always carry an epipen with epinephrine with her to counteract an allergic reaction, but it is an injection so it’s not something you are going to take just in case. … If she ever had to use it, we could add an extra hundred dollars to the food bill, so the food would have to be worth it. 

With this fish allergy, she has to be careful of cross contamination. She can’t have the fries if they cook fish in the same oil. It also seems that more and more restaurants serve a fair bit of fish, and they cook it using the same grills, pans or fryers.

So going out for dinner, for most of you at this time, is a breeze compared to what we have to contend with. 

Oh wait … I think we found a restaurant we can go to tonight.

Here’s the thing: You will make all kinds of considerations for someone you love to find a way to do something you really want to do. Because of what Christ did for you on the cross, you should know how much God loves you. So when God shows us something He wants us to do or stop doing, we should do all we can to make it happen. We should be willing to make the adjustments because we love Him.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What recent adjustment did you make for someone? Leave your comments and questions below.

Subscribe to the blog and receive posts like this one delivered to your email inbox twice weekly.

by

It’s In The Books And It Was Different

Well, my first hockey game of the season is now officially in the books. 

It's In the books and it was different

…I probably wouldn’t have commented on it – there was nothing stellar about the game – but what led up to the on-ice time and afterwards is worth making some observations on.

For most of my life, hockey has been part of the changing of seasons in the fall. 

I start by putting away the golf clubs, while biking begins to peter out. There are just more bad weather days than good ones for these outside sports. 

Hockey starts to become my main sporting activity and usually near the end of September I get my first taste of the new season.

This year not only did I get my first taste, it came in a new flavour.

With COVID comes new rules and restrictions. Some are not so good; some are a little uncomfortable. 

Besides the predictable rules of having to sign in and wear masks until we put our helmets on, we could only show up fifteen minutes before our game, could only use the dressing rooms to lace up our skates, and were not allowed to leave anything in the dressing rooms. 

… When I describe it like that, it sounds easy – except it means we now have to come into the rink dressed for the game … like we did when we were seven years old! 

I had visions of being wedged in my car between the seat and the steering wheel and not making it to my game in time! 

The reality though is that we are now dressing in the parking lot. 

I showed up with my hockey undergarments on and a pair of sweats. With the back hatch of my car opened like a locker, I stood in the parking lot and put on my shin pads, pants, elbow pads and sweater. 

The important note here is you want to make sure your jock shorts are in good shape and that you are not wearing ones that you’ve had for ten years and have become a little holely, if you know what I mean.

That would not be a pretty show. 

Walking into the arena carrying my stick, with skates, gloves and helmet all in a bag was painless. … I had contemplated the skates and helmet skewered on my stick like a shish kebab look but decided to put them all in a gym bag instead. It was definitely the way to go. 

Another downside was with the regulations to prepare for the next group, we had to get off the ice as soon as our hour was up; there was no extra time.

On the upside, with not being able to change in the dressing room or use the showers, I found I was out of the rink in record time. 

When it was all said and done, this is going to take a little getting used to. … And I can hardly wait until my new outdoor locker room is sub-zero temperatures!

Here’s the thing: In some cases, we are making big changes because of COVID. We want to do certain things, so we are willing to make the necessary changes. What big changes are you willing to make for God? When you are confronted with something in your life that does not please God, are you willing to make changes because you care about pleasing Him with your life? Let’s be as willing to change for God as we are to make changes for other things we view as important. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What change do you need to consider making right now? Leave your comments and questions below.

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

by

Go Is The Action That We Might Never Get To

We know the phrase, “Ready, set, go”, but recently I came up with a variation of that phrase: “Ready, set, stop”.

go is the action that we might never get to

When you read that, it doesn’t seem to make any sense. It’s like waving at someone to come over to you but telling them to stay where they are. 

Why would anyone give mixed signals like that? It’s crazy.

But my actions recently proved that this statement and this kind of action is not only possible, it happens.

I remember when our kids were babies and we had plans to go out. We would decide where to go and get ready. And just when we were about to leave the house, it would be feeding time for one of them. That would momentarily put the brakes on our plans, and sometimes it was enough to cancel the trip altogether. 

There is a construction site I pass by every day on my way to work. Years ago there was a motel on that site, but it was bulldozed. A company purchased the land and put up a sign that a fancy boutique hotel was going to be built on the site.

I kind of got excited to see what this boutique motel would look like. I was all ready for them to build it … then nothing happened. 

One year went by and the only thing on the site was the sign. The next year the sign disappeared. 

A few years later, someone built two stores on the lot. Then footings for what might be a motel appeared … but then nothing. 

Now about three or four years later a building is starting to go up. 

I’m just waiting for them to stop again. 

Recently, we were looking at putting some insulation around our windows to cut down on drafts in the winter. I looked at some YouTube videos and kind of got excited about the project. 

If it has anything to do with home maintenance or improvement, Lily is all for it. So I said I would really need to buy a nailing gun to do the job quickly and neatly. 

She was sold on it. And I got even more into the project with the idea of getting a new tool. 

Off I went to purchase all the items we would need to get the work done. 

It was “Ready, set” … and then I looked at the trim around the windows and I wasn’t sure how easily that trim would come off. 

We don’t want to have to repaint the walls. 

As I looked at the first window, I was ready, and all set, but instead of going, I stopped. I didn’t want to make a mistake taking that trim off and so, instead of exploding out of the blocks, I just stopped. 

Well, maybe today will be the day. I’m going to start in a room that needs a new paint job, so if I make a mess of the paint around the windows, it won’t matter. 

Today it’s “Ready, set, go!”

Here’s the thing: We can be ready to do something God is calling us to do, or we can even come to the place where we want to put our faith in Him. But it’s all for nothing unless we do the next step and go. We can be “ready, set” but if we stop, it’s no different than if we never did anything. Go for it and go for God.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you need to follow through on and do right now? Leave you comments and questions below.

Subscribe to this blog and receive posts like this directly to your email inbox.

by

Your World May Be Shrinking And You Don’t Know It

Right about now we all need to do what we can to prevent our world from shrinking.

your world may be shrining and you don't know it

Do you remember when your mother would shrink you new blue jeans?

I remember going to the Levi store and putting down the outrageous amount of $13 for a pair of Levi 501’s – that was a lot of money for jeans! 

Some people could fit into their new jeans right off the rack, but I could never find a length that was right for me. I would have to take an inch or two off the length every time. 

It was tricky though because they didn’t come pre-shrunk. So if you hemmed them before you washed them, you ended up with floods … also known these days as the stylish length for young adults living in Toronto.

My mom was notorious for making my jeans into the 2020’s length back in the 1970’s.

So I wouldn’t hem my pants right away. I would wash them several times … and when I say “I” what I mean is I would allow my mother to wash my jeans a few times before they were hemmed.

Then I would do the hemming myself because I couldn’t trust my mother to keep my pants from showing my ankles to the world.

Just like we don’t want our clothing to shrink, we also need to make sure our world doesn’t shrink.

But these days it’s easy to let that happen. We have kept our bubbles small and closed and gradually, slowly we’ve gotten used to a smaller world. 

We’ve gone fewer places and done fewer things. Our circles of friendships are shrinking and we essentially are living in a smaller world. 

If we let this happen to ourselves, we will pay for it. We will become old before our time. 

I’ve watch seniors for years and this is the natural progression in life.

We start out small in life and then we start to grow. Everything about us expands – our bodies, contacts, influence, etc. But at some point, we stop getting larger … or maybe just our body size keeps expanding. 

At that point we’ve turned the corner and our lives begin to shrink. 

As seniors get older, their lives have a pattern of shrinking. Their days becomes filled with fewer activities. They travel less and less; they don’t venture out as far. The older they get, the smaller their world gets.

I’ve seen this as a pattern in most people. But it doesn’t really become all that noticeable until that senior reaches advanced ages. 

With what we are experiencing these days, I wonder if we will trigger a shrinking world pattern at younger and younger ages. 

It’s worth looking at your world right now and, if you’re not over eighty, maybe take some steps to keep your world from shrinking too quickly.

Here’s the thing: Your view of God or your relationship with God could be shrinking as well. Though our world might be shrinking, God is the same yesterday, today and forever. He is not shrinking. So as you consider what you can do to keep your world from closing in, consider expanding your understanding and your relationship with God. That’s one area of your life that never has to shrink. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What in your life have you allowed to shrink and what are you going to do about it? Leave your comments and questions below.

Subscribe to this blog and receive posts like these every week in your email inbox.

by

I Can’t Pick A Winner To Save My Life

It’s safe to say that I can’t pick a winner in the NHL playoffs this year. 

I can't pick a winner to save my life, a coin toss

In fact, if you want to know which team is going to win a particular round, it‘s best to pick the team I don’t want to win. 

Sometimes you just can’t pick a winner and that’s how I am right now. 

If we were drawing straws, I would draw the short one. I feel if I was flipping coins to see how many heads would come up, right now most of the coins would turn up tails. 

Have you ever had a feeling that something was going to happen and then it did? Well, that’s foreign to me at this particular time.

Do you remember when you were a kid at Christmas and you were hoping, hoping, really hoping for a certain toy to be under the tree for you? Then you got to the last present and you were over the moon because you got just what you wanted? 

Well, that is not happening to me right now, and this feeling that whatever I get behind is going to flop, fizzle or fade is getting to be too much for me.

I kind of want to stay neutral; I don’t want to get my hopes up. I just want to coast along and go with whatever happens. 

With that attitude, you don’t bottom out emotionally. You can stay even-keeled and be unfazed at outcomes. Sure, you miss out on some of the highs, but you avoid the deep lows which are far more difficult to handle.

For me this started with the Toronto Maple Leafs exiting the NHL playoff scene really before it began. … They called it the playoffs but really the first round was to determine who would get into the playoffs. The plus side was that the Leafs were one of the teams battling to get in, while other teams didn’t even get that chance.

But that is a distant memory now. Since then, in every series, the teams I have been rooting for, and hoped would advance to the next round, have fallen flat. 

There have been teams I was glad to see ousted from the playoffs, but often in those series I was hoping for both teams to lose (as impossible as that was).

My latest two teams to go down were Colorado and Vancouver. I’ve never been much of a fan of either team, but I had watched some of their games and been impressed. I thought they were winners.

… Heartbreaks on both accounts: Colorado went down in overtime in game 7, after trading goals with Dallas in the third period. Vancouver – well, their goalie stood on his head keeping the puck out until 6 minutes left in the game, when one eventually got by him.

So who do you want to win the next round? Just ask me, and then go with the team I’m not cheering for. 

Here’s the thing: Life is hard to predict. You can make decisions, follow a direction that you think is best, only to find out it’s not leading you to the place you hoped for. That’s why it’s best to have a guide, a counsellor, someone with insight directing your way. God has given us a directional book in the Bible and He promises to give us the Holy Spirit to guide us through life. Don’t take gut-feeling chances with your life and future. Trust in God.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What hope do you have that needs to be given over to God? Leave your comments and questions below.

Subscribe to this blog and receive these posts delivered to your email inbox weekly.

by

What To Do When You Push It Too Hard

From time to time I publish an old post I find relevant. This post was originally publish in September of 2016

I’ve been pushing myself pretty hard lately … too hard, in fact. 

what to do when you push it too hard

I came off of my summer vacation without having done very much – mostly hanging out at the beach and doing things with my family. 

Oh yes, and eating an enormous amount of candy. 

Then coming off of vacation, I threw myself into work. I spent one week in the office and then the next week I spent back at my cottage planning for the year. 

… I think that week took more out of me than my first week after vacation. I worked every morning, afternoon and evening because I was alone, and needed to get everything done by the time I left.

There were some late nights, but I knew I would be glad I spent the time once I completed my planning. 

This week I’ve poured myself back into work at the office, working and not doing much else. 

I’m just coming to realize that I’ve been pushing myself too hard. I need to watch it and be smart about the next few weeks.

The issue is my emotional state. I’ve noticed I have a lack of emotion lately and that is concerning. I have not been attending to my emotions – it’s been all work – and now I’m depleted in the emotional department. 

What brought this to my attention was a sermon I was writing on emotional health. For an illustration, I wanted to use a story I remembered reading about a famous pastor who had had an emotional breakdown.

I’d read an article about him years ago, so I googled his name and found the story. My intent was to get the facts straight and then get back to writing my sermon.  

But as I read his story, it rang true with my life. I read the whole article again and concluded that my “emotional gauge”, as he put it, was on the low side … not critical but going in that direction.

Two things he wrote made sense to me and that’s what I intend to work on. 

First you have to engage in things that bring you joy, things that take you away from the heavy load you are carrying, whether that be work, worry, pressure, or … well, you get the idea. 

For me that might be golfing, biking, playing hockey, or kicking back and listening to music. 

Second, your emotional reservoir takes time to fill up. 

There is no quick fix, so you have to regularly engage in emotionally strengthening activity … which isn’t easy because the crazy thing is you don’t feel like doing it. 

It’s easy to make excuses to get out of doing these activities. You literally have to schedule them, force yourself to do them, and keep doing them.

That’s good advice and it’s what I need to be doing over the next little while to get myself in post-vacation shape again.

Here’s the thing: What I’ve written so far is good, logical advice, but there is another piece to your emotional health, and that is God. Take time with Him and seek His help. Ask Him what is at the root of your emotions and what you need to do. Then pause and wait till He gives you His answer. When you have it, go do it. God’s grace is sufficient for you and His power is made perfect in your weakness. I read that somewhere (2 Corinthians 12:9).

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What is your emotional state right now? Leave your comments below.

Subscribe to this blog and have these posts arrive in your email inbox twice a week.

by

Why You Need To Be A Better Actor

We should all try to be a better actor when we are in public indoor spaces.

Why you need to be a better actor

The thing with wearing masks is it makes it really hard to see the expression on people’s faces. You can’t tell how they are reacting to what is being said.

Take it from me. For the last several months I’ve been preaching to people wearing face masks. That was an upgrade because, for several months before that, I preached to a room without any people in the seats. … Actually, I had three other people present who were working the sound board and camera and streaming software.

The thing about preaching to people wearing masks is that you can’t tell how engaged they are with what you are saying. Even speaking one on one with people, it is not easy to tell what’s going on behind the mask. 

I was in a grocery store on vacation this summer, in line to pay for my items. The woman ahead of me, who was just about finished her purchase, was trying to flag down her husband at the back of the store.

She waved to him but he didn’t see her.

So I yelled out, “Hey, dude!”, and waved to him to look our way. 

He didn’t notice me either, so I just looked back at the woman. She looked back at me. I had no idea what she was thinking.

After a brief pause, she said, “I’m laughing behind this mask.”

… I can’t help but think of teachers going back to school. Sure, they will have smaller classrooms which will make it easier to an extent. But if the kids are wearing masks, good luck on knowing if those kids are making faces or turning up their noses at something the teacher said. 

The other day I saw a woman wearing a clear plastic mask with a mini shield attached. At least you could see her face though, to be honest, the shield looked a little funny.

Masks block our facial expressions and they say that facial expression and body language makes up about 55% of communication. 

That’s why we need to be good actors when we wear our masks. A good actor accentuates their expressions – especially stage actors. They need to make sure the people sitting in the back row can see their expression and their body language. 

The other day I was talking with someone after church and he said something that I thought was amusing. 

I would normally have just smiled and nodded. But not with my mask on. I chuckled out loud, my head bobbed up and down, my shoulders even shimmied a bit. 

He go the idea that I was amused by what he said. 

It takes a lot more work to communicate this way, but this is what we need to do. We need to overreact just so the person who’s communicating with us knows we are reacting at least a little to what’s being said. 

So everyone get out there and be a better actor … for the sake of the person you are talking to.

Here’s the thing: Sometimes we might think that if we are kind, caring and generous to the people around us, they will know that it is because we have experienced Christ’s love and are now living out that love. But the truth is that many people who don’t know Christ will not get that connection. It’s like we are communicating with masks on. At some point we need to actually tell them about Christ’s love.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How have you found communicating while wearing a mask? Leave your comments and question below.

Subscribe to my blog to receive these posts twice weekly, delivered directly to your email inbox.

by

The Ridiculous May Make Sense After All

What seems ridiculous when you first encounter it may make sense when you investigate more deeply.

the ridiculous may make sense after all

Have you ever been half awake in bed, with the sun just starting to create shadows in your room? You look at something across the room through half closed, blurry eyes, but you can’t figure it out. It looks like a box with the lid opened slightly and some papers sticking out of it. 

You know that there was no box in your room when you went to bed. It’s ridiculous to think that there is a box there, but you’re fascinated because it looks so real. 

As you start to rub your eyes and raise your head off the pillow, you begin to see what is really there beside the closet door.

It’s just the shirt that you left on the floor. Yet the way it was arranged, mixed with the shadows and your blurry, skewed vision, it really looked like something completely different. 

Sometimes those scenarios take so much thought and energy that you flop your head back on your pillow and hit the snooze button as you mutter under your breath, “Well, that mystery is solved.”

Today I was looking at a Dr Pepper sign I have in our basement when I noticed something. There was a clock-shaped figure on it with just three numbers. The hands on this clock were pointing to three numbers: 10, 2, 4.  

At first I wondered, “This is ridiculous. Why would they just mark three numbers on the clock and why those three numbers?” 

But then I remembered I also have a Dr Pepper clock in my workout room and there are only three numbers on that clock. I wondered if they were the same three numbers. 

I checked and, sure enough, the clock has only three numbers and they are 10, 2 and 4. And on the clock, just to make it more ridiculous, the four is at the bottom of the clock where the six is supposed to be. 

As ridiculous as this seemed, I thought there has to be a reason, some explanation for all this. 

I investigated further and found out a few things about my favourite beverage: First, it’s the oldest soft drink in America. Second, it was created in Waco, Texas which explains why it is so popular in that state.

But what about my mystery? 

Well, it turns out that research back in the 1920’s and 30’s discovered that sugar gave people energy and that most people have a natural dip in energy at 10:30, 2:30 and 4:30. 

So Dr Pepper came up with a campaign to encourage people to drink Dr. Pepper at 10, 2, and 4.

My mystery was solved. What once seemed to be ridiculous actually had some reasoning and purpose behind it.

This topic has got me thirsty. I think I could go for a Dr. Pepper right now.

Here’s the thing: Over the years, there have been many things in the Bible that experts had deemed ridiculous. But each time the Bible has proved to be true. For example, some cities mentioned in the Bible, that experts said never existed, have been discovered by archeologists. The Bible says that in the end times people will be given a mark, and you won’t be able to buy or sell without it. That seemed far-fetched a couple of thousand years ago. But at this particular time with a global longing for a world wide vaccination, or not allowing people to travel without having that vaccine, the idea of a universal mark doesn’t seem ridiculous any more.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you need to investigate about God more deeply? Leave your comments and questions below.

Subscribe to my blog and receive these posts emailed to your inbox twice weekly.

by

When Old Guys and Winnebagos Describe Your Life

There are images that come to mind when we hear certain words put together, like “old guys” and “Winnebagos”.

When old guys and Winnebagos describe your life

Those three words together cause us to play one of several scenes in our minds.

There was a time that I would always look to see who was driving those big, huge motor homes … 99% of the time it was an old guy. 

Now, some people would call me an old guy, but when I say “old guy” I’m not talking about someone who has adult children. I’m talking about someone who has adult children who have adult children.

In the past, the old guys driving those big, huge buses-turned-into-luxury-hotels-on-wheels were in the age range of about 80. 

It may have been that I was younger then and anyone over about 55 looked like they were 80+ to me, but I always questioned whether they should be the ones driving those big rigs, whether they should, you know, give the job to their grandsons, who were probably about 40 and could easily handle those machines.

Now-a-days you see younger people driving the big Winnebago-style vacation homes, but they are not driving grandpa’s; they have their own. 

When someone reaches 80, they have to take a driver’s test every year. This qualifies them, and assures the MTO, that they will still be safe behind the wheel.

But the MTO workers are probably thinking cars, not tour buses.

There should be a whole other set of tests for an old guy driving a fast-moving train down Highway 401 at 102 km.

… Which reminds me of another image that comes to mind when I think of old guys and Winnebagos. They are always towing a car behind the massive boat they are captaining down the interstate. The motor home is big enough, but adding a trailer just makes it that much more of a site. 

Well, I now have a new image of old guys and Winnebagos and this really was a Winnebago. 

I was looking out the windows at the cottage and one of those buses turned at the corner in front of us. 

He cut the corner way too hard, almost ran over our cedar shrub, and took out a garden moonray light. He also ran over some landscape ties that we have edging our driveway. 

His tires went over the end of the ties creating a teeter-totter effect, flipping the landscape ties out of the ground and snapping them in two places.

The best part was he just kept going like nothing happened! 

It turns out, ya, you guessed it, it was an old guy driving the rig – and not just a 55-year-old old guy. This fellow was way over 80.  

We did catch up to him and he seemed oblivious to what he had just done. He said he only takes the rig out about once a year. 

… Maybe once a year too many.

My hope is that he doesn’t leave the park the same way he came in! 

Here’s the thing: When you give your life to Christ, you essentially let Him drive your life. But over time you can find that you are back behind the wheel. Eventually when you cut a turn too sharp, or run something over, you realize you shouldn’t be driving the bus. Well, if that’s you right now, it’s time to give the keys back to God and let Him drive your life. Do it today.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What are indications that you are driving your life instead of Christ? Leave your comments and questions below. 

Subscribe to this blog to receive these posts delivered to your inbox twice weekly.

by

How Memories Are Triggered

It is interesting how an insignificant sight or sound can trigger all kinds of memories. 

How memories are triggered

I don’t know if it happens to you but it happens to me all the time. 

It can happen for me as easily as someone mentioning a word, and that word triggers a song in my head. I may not have heard that song for years, but the memory of it, the tune and all the words come back fully loaded into my brain.

The hard part is then trying to get that song off the playlist in my head.

The other day I was alone at work when it started raining. It was not just raining, it was like the heavens opened up and water was let loose.

You could hear the rain loud on the roof, and it just kept getting louder. 

As I listened, I remembered an event back when I was a youth pastor, directing a junior high camp at which a lot of the kids from my church were attending.

That week the girls had been pulling all kinds of pranks on my guys. The strange thing was my guys had just been taking it all. No retaliation. 

So half way through the week my assistant and I stormed into the cabin where my students were staying. We yelled, “What’s wrong with you guys?” The boys replied, “We’re just trying to be good.” 

We shook our heads and said, “Well, don’t just take it from those girls; stand up for yourselves.” 

They looked at each other, gave me that mischievous look, and we knew our work was done. 

The next day at dinner time, the girls were all lined up, waiting outside the dining hall until the cooks let them in. They were in a line along the side of the building, talking and giggling.  

I was chatting with the girls when I looked up at the top of the roof of the dining hall. There, on the crest of the roof, were five or six of my guys with buckets of water. 

The cooks called me inside and insisted I get the boys off the roof. I told them the boys would be down in a minute. Then I went outside to see the show. 

As my guys poured their buckets out on the roof, I watched the silent flow of water quickly moving down the shingles … until the water got to the edge of the roof which, by the way, had no eavestrough. 

When the silent flow of water hit the edge it broke into a loud waterfall that came crashing down on the unsuspecting girls in line. 

Dinner was delayed that night because of a needed clothing change. 

The girls got it good.

… Isn’t that funny? That whole memory came back with just the sound of rain beating down on a roof. 

Here’s the thing: Little things can trigger a thought about God. It might be a view of the lake or the sound of thunder. When that thought comes to your mind, don’t dismiss it or refocus on what you were doing. Take a moment to let your memory recall when God stood out to you in that context. Replay that tape. It will remind you of the character of God, who He is and help you feel closer to Him.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What things trigger memories for you? Leave your comments and questions below.

Subscribe to my blog and receive these posts delivered to your email inbox twice weekly.