Sometimes “pretty good” isn’t “good enough”. I use the phrase “pretty good” a lot. Often I use it to describe something I think is really good. 

Maybe I’ve filled out too many surveys and evaluations to put everything in the excellent category. My default has become “pretty good” because it’s possible that something could be better but I don’t know it. I leave room for some improvement.

So when asked how dinner was, my “pretty good” means I really enjoyed it. 

When a hockey player scores an amazing goal, they get my “pretty good” approval.

To me pretty good isn’t sub-standard; it’s not mediocre; it’s not even good enough. Pretty good means it’s very good.

Recently a friend of mine moved his cottage. They built a foundation and basement on a piece of land. Then they jacked their cottage up and rolled it about six properties down the road to the new foundation.  

When I saw the pictures of all they had done and how it looked when they lowered the cottage on the new footings, I thought it was fantastic. I told him, “Man, that’s pretty good what you did there.”

I say all this about this phrase because I don’t give out a “pretty good” for just anything.

About a week and a half ago I was playing hockey. Halfway through our game I sat on the bench for ten minutes while they flooded the ice again. I think I got a little chilled because, when we got back on the ice, I noticed my back was a bit stiff – not bad, just tender. 

As I kept playing, I could feel my lower back tighten up. I even got to the point where I decided to call it quits before our ice time was up.

I don’t usually do that, but it was bugging me.

The next day I decided to give my back a rest. The morning after that, I again decided not to play because my back still didn’t feel quite right. It wasn’t bad, but I felt I had tweaked it slightly.

That was Christmas week and I didn’t have hockey until the end of it. 

Our annual Silcock Christmas gathering includes renting ice and playing with the kids and nephews. By then my back was feeling, well, you know – “pretty good”. I wouldn’t say it was perfect but it was feeling really good again – something like 85% good.

I thought playing hockey with the family would be just fine. And it was for most of it. 

But about three quarters of the way through, I stretched to receive a pass and felt my back tighten up. It wasn’t bad, but I did feel like I tweaked it again.

Now I’m going to have to miss hockey for at least another week. 

Sometimes “pretty good” isn’t “good enough”.

Here’s the thing: Many of us feel like we are “pretty good” and that should be good enough to get us in God’s good books. But being “pretty good” is not good enough when God is perfect. Pretty good will never match perfection. God knew this too, so He sent Jesus to be our sacrifice to make up the difference from being “pretty good” to being good enough for God. Take Jesus as your Lord and Saviour and trust Him to make you good enough for God.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What does “pretty good” mean to you? Leave your questions and comments below.

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There are times when you have doubts about something. Then a bit of confirmation seals your confidence.

Many years ago I encouraged a staff member of mine to seek a different position in another church. We had some tough conversations and I knew it was not what he really wanted. But I also knew it was the best thing for his growth and for our church.

Still, when he left, I felt bad and wondered if I had made the right decision.

Two years later I met up with this former staffer who was now in a new position. I was a little apprehensive when I saw him but he came rushing over to me and said the move he made to his new ministry was best for him. He thanked me for helping him make that move.

It had been two years and, though I didn’t think about him all the time, there were moments in those years when I really wondered if I had been too hard or had that difficult conversation with him too soon.

But all that doubt, feeling unsure if I’d done the right thing, disappeared in an instant. When he greeted me with a big thank you, I knew without a doubt and was confident that I’d done the right thing.

Well, back in October when I retired, there were definite signs that I was retired and in many ways I felt like I was retired. But I had some expectations of what retirement would be like. There were a couple of things that just didn’t fit the vision of retirement that I had.

One of the things I thought I would do is play more sports. I envisioned increased mountain biking and playing more hockey. The weather was quite unpredictable and I found that I didn’t go biking as much as I thought I would. Golf was winding down and I only ended up playing a few games late in the fall.

But when hockey started up, that is when I wondered what this retirement gig was going to be like.

Over the years I’ve played hockey two or three times a week during the winter months. But this fall, with all the extra time on my hands, I was only playing once a week.

The old pick up hockey that I’d played for literally 24 years had dried up. I signed up to play once during the fall and there was only six of us. Let’s just say it was not fun.

Other than that one regular weekly hockey game early Saturday mornings, I had nothing else. And I was supposed to be retired, free to play more hockey than I’d played for years. Instead I was playing just one hour per week.

… Well, that is until this past week. I just finished playing hockey for the fourth time! Now I’m convinced I’m retired.

Here’s the thing: There are times we may have doubts over decisions we have made – maybe even doubts about God’s plan for our lives. But when we see His answer to a prayer or a confirmation of His hand on our life, we get convinced all over again. Never stop praying and interacting with God. He will continue to give you confidence in Him.

That’s Life! Paul
Question: What do you need some convincing of right now? Leave your comments and questions below.

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We have a brand new star in our family. And the light from this star has just started to shine brightly.

Have you ever looked up at the sky at night? 

If you live in the city you might not think to do it because the city lights wash out the stars in the sky. But if you go to the country, far enough away from the glow of the city lights, the sky lights up with stars in an incredible way. 

One time a friend of mine asked me if I wanted to see the sky through his telescope. I jumped at the chance and one night drove out of town to his place. 

I didn’t know what to expect, but what I discovered was not some little telescope set up on a tripod that you could get for cheap at Costco.

When I saw it, I gasped. It was huge. My friend said it belonged to a group and was the largest telescope in the region. In order to look through the eye piece, you had to climb about an eight-foot ladder.

We looked at many different star clusters and constellations. Near the end of our time, he pointed the telescope at the moon. It was particularly full that night. 

The moon was so close, I could see the craters on its surface. It was so bright that it hurt my eyes; I had to keep looking away.

And the moon is not even a star; it just reflects light. Can you imagine how bright stars would be if they were closer? … Our sun is a star and you can’t look directly at it without hurting your eyes.

Well, the star in our family is not that kind of a star, though she is shining quite brightly for a person. 

Our daughter was just featured in a commercial for GoDaddy websites (you can watch it here).  

It’s not because I’m a proud father that I’m calling her a star. That’s what the GoDaddy people called her in their press release to the major networks in Canada that picked up their campaign. 

Karlie isn’t an actor and she didn’t even pursue this commercial. GoDaddy asked her to submit an entry to a competition they were running. 

People on the set were surprised to find out that she wasn’t an actor, but rather a real business owner. 

They say that everyone gets their fifteen minutes of fame. In Karlie’s case, it’s fifteen seconds of a commercial. 

However, if the campaign goes as long as they say, and with her picture on a billboard in downtown Toronto, maybe it will all add up to her fifteen minutes of stardom.

All I know is, as a proud father, I’m basking in the light of the new shining star in our family. 

Here’s the thing: The Bible talks about us as being shining stars. In Philippians, Paul says we shine like stars by reflecting the glory of Christ in our lives to other people. In that sense we are more like the moon. But the fact that Christ lives in each believer makes us more like stars. So if you belong to Christ, shine. Especially at this time, shine bright as stars to the family, friends and acquaintances around you. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: Who could you shine the light of Christ to this week? Leave your comments and questions below.

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I’m becoming a bit of a YouTube junkie and I may have to start weening myself off it. 

Most things are good in moderation, but there is always that pull to overindulge in a good thing.

It hit me last night that I might be at that place with my YouTube watching.

I spent several hours watching similar videos explaining what the best settings are for a new camera I got. Some of the videos contradicted others, some were way too technical for me, some were just plain boring.

It’s really a mixed bag on YouTube, and the videos flow from one to another.  

Now, there was a good reason why I spent so much time yesterday watching those videos: I was tired.

There is nothing easier to do when you are tired than to watch and do nothing. Well, there is sleeping … that is easier than watching. Besides sleeping, watching is easiest because you don’t have to move a muscle. 

After spending all that time watching YouTube videos, my head was saturated with information, but I wasn’t doing anything with that information. I wasn’t applying it. 

In fact, I was finding that there was so much information that I wasn’t able to process it. I wasn’t able to determine what camera setting I thought would be best for me. I needed to start doing something and that was to write down the settings people were suggesting. 

It’s similar with church. You can sit and listen to a sermon, leave, and five minutes later not be able to recall what the preacher said. That’s why I always include an outline for people to take notes. It helps you stay focused and process what you are hearing. 

Anyway … back to my YouTube watching. 

Last night when I was done watching videos (I could have kept going but I cut myself off), I kind of kicked myself for not doing something. 

I had some video footage that I could have edited and some settings on my camera that I could have tested out, but I had done nothing … except watch.

That’s when I came to terms with my YouTube addiction. 

I’ve had a few people tell me I’ve been watching too much YouTube – people like my wife, Lily.  

My son has also mentioned to Lily that I’m watching too much … and this coming from a guy who barely goes five minutes without having his phone nine inches away from his face. 

So I’m going to listen and I’m going to limit my YouTube watching. 

I will start doing as much as I’m watching. If there is something I need to see on YouTube, I will then put it into practice immediately afterwards, for at least the same amount of time it took to learn what I was watching. 

It will take a bit of discipline, but it will get me doing and not just watching. 

Here’s the thing: Whatever you are learning about God right now, I encourage you to put it into practice. If you are learning about prayer, take time to pray. If you are learning about fear or anxiety or patience, do something that you will have to trust God for. Are learning about God’s creativity or His majesty, go for a walk in the woods, or stroll by a lake and take it the view. Don’t just learn about God, experience God by doing something. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What is it that you need to do, instead of just learning about? Leave your comments and questions below. 

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There must be something special about our shed. People just can’t leave it alone.

We have a shed at our church where we keep garbage until pickup day. We didn’t buy a nice, fancy shed, we just turned some space under a set of stairs into one. It’s functional and does what we need it to do. 

We’ve used it for years, but lately other people are using it as well.

In August someone started a fire inside the shed. No one was in the church at the time, but fortunately a neighbour must have noticed and phoned the fire department. 

They were on the scene immediately, mostly because the fire hall is just down the street. 

I’m not sure, but maybe they came extra quickly because, for the last few years, we’ve been delivering Christmas baskets full of goodies to that particular station. Who would not want that to continue?

When it was all said and done, there was no damage to the church – just a hint of a summer campfire in the sanctuary for a couple of Sundays.

The shed wasn’t even destroyed; it merely had some scorching on the inside of one wall. The shed was back to doing its job immediately.

Then a couple of weeks ago someone decided that our garbage shed was closer than going to the dump. So they placed two wooden chairs in the shed.

It was super nice of them to give us their chairs so we could figure out how to dispose of them. 

I’d love to know their thought process in intentionally bringing their chairs over to the church. I wouldn’t think of putting some of my garbage by my curb, and then taking what’s left and putting it by my neighbour’s curb.

This garbage shed apparently begs to be used. 

Then just this past week we found a padlock on the shed. At first I thought maybe our caretaker was fed up with other people using our shed and locked it up.

But that wasn’t the case. One of our groups took the lock off and found someone’s personal belongings in the shed … along with a dog food bowl with some dog food in it. 

Then this morning, just before I arrived at the church for a 7 am prayer meeting, three police vehicles showed up at the shed. 

They talked to a young man who had been living in our shed for several days.

When I arrived on the scene the young man was all packed up, and assured me that he had cleaned everything up and left no garbage.

When I checked later, it was clean … but he hadn’t taken the two wooden chairs. 

We will still have to figure out how to dispose of them on our own. 

Unless … unless someone wants to come over to our garbage shed and pick out some fine pieces of discarded furniture.

Here’s the thing: There are many people who go through life without much thought for God. Unless … unless something major happens in their lives. Then they sometimes leave something with God in the form of a prayer, or dump something on Him in the form of blame. God wants us to be part of His family all the time, and as part of His family, He is quite happy to accept what we leave with Him. Join God’s family today by putting your faith in Jesus, His Son. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: Are you actually in a position to be dumping on God, or do you have a right to leave your burdens with Him? Leave your comments and questions below.