Christian

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When Your Vacation Becomes Work

I’m used to a vacation where I spend a lot of time relaxing at the beach under an umbrella or dodging the waves in the water. That’s why this vacation seems to be more like work.

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Hey, who am I kidding? – it is work! We’ve been working on our deck at the cottage for about four days now. We haven’t put a foot on the beach yet, though we looked at it from the window of a restaurant we had dinner in one night.

We haven’t gone for walks down to the beach or walks along the beach. We haven’t even broken out the beach umbrella yet.

It’s been work, work work, scrubbing, scraping, washing, building. For some people who like projects that might sound like fun. But when you fall into bed each night exhausted, with muscles aching, back breaking, it takes just a little of the fun out of it. It’s work!

… We’re done now and the beach is calling.

We’ve had good weather so far – that is, we’ve had good working weather – a good deal of sun but a gentle, cool breeze to keep you moving and not overwhelmed by heat.

Now we need some hot – REAL hot – humid weather to draw me down to the lake like a magnet to a fridge … unless you have one of those stainless steel fridges … but you get what I mean.

Don’t get me wrong, the deck looks great, but I came here for a vacation, not work.

I want to go a day without a drill in my hand or a compound miter saw next to my wife. She does all the cutting, by the way …

Many years ago, I had a couple of incidents of cutting my finger: once with a really toothy saw for about seven stitches, and once with an utility knife for about four stitches. After that the family started taking sharp instruments away from me. I had to prove I would be safe using standard cutlery for a while after that.

I just told that story to my neighbour who wondered why Lily was doing all the sawing. I explained that it’s her mitre saw; I bought it for her.

But hey, let’s get back to the beach! I’m thinking that a nice patch of silky sand will do. I’ll throw up the umbrella by the shore, maybe even sip a little Dr. Pepper. I’ve got a book I’ve been wanting to read and that’s a perfect spot to crack it open on my iPad.

Here’s the thing: Your relationship with God should not seem like work. It’s a relationship not a job. So if you find it work to keep up with God, in terms of time spent with Him or service you do for Him, you need to change things up. You need to focus on making your relationship with God more relational. It might be as simple as how you talk to Him, and what you talk about. That’s where I would start.

That’s Life!

Paul

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How Your Words Carry A Lot Of Weight

I think I may be helping my wife lose her mind. We have more power in what we say than we realize, so we really need to make sure what we say is true and right.

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Recently, Lily and I were getting ready to go on a vacation. There was just one glitch. I had to do some scrambling to get a post-dated pay cheque. But I finally got it and we took off.

Things were going well for the first bit of vacation when I realized it was past pay day. So I said to Lily, “We have to get my cheque in the bank”, and promptly got the reply of “where is it?”

I couldn’t believe she was asking that question because I was positive I had given it to her when I came home. So I told her, “You have it!”

She looked at me with a stunned look and I could almost see the wheels in her brain spinning back and forth trying desperately to remember where she had put the cheque.

Both of our minds were now working overtime trying to figure out where this cheque was. We both started looking in places where we might have put it and even places where there’s no way it would be.

All the time I kept telling Lily, “I gave it to you”. And, to be honest, I only thought I gave it to her but I couldn’t actually remember handing her the cheque.

This mini crisis went on for a while. Lily called our son to see if he had seen it at home. She checked to see if we could get by without it. There was even talks of contingency plans of having it couriered to us.

All the while, I was drumming it into Lily’s mind that I had given her the cheque.

For about twenty minutes this kept up, and I was trying to retrace my steps in my head because I thought maybe I hadn’t given my cheque to Lily … not that I was going to publicly admit that out loud!

As I went through my steps, I picked up a folded piece of paper on the coffee table in our cottage. Although I had looked at this paper before, I had only glanced at it because, of course, I had given my pay to Lily.

This time I unfolded the paper and looked at what was there. Guess what? My pay cheque was inside. It all came back to me how I got the cheque and what I did with it.

At this point, however, Lily blurted out, “No wonder I think I’m losing my mind! It’s you planting thoughts in my head that aren’t true that get me worrying that I’m not able to remember things!”

Now she thinks it’s my secret plan to drive her crazy!

Here’s the thing: It’s not a good thing to lead someone to believe something that’s not true. It’s criminal to lead someone to believe something about God and His Word that’s not true. We need to be very careful when speaking for God that our words are not just hearsay. The answer is to know God’s Word and then be careful using words like “God told me” or “God says”. Make sure it’s really true before you lead someone to believe it.

That’s Life

Paul

Question: Have you led someone to believe something that you later found out was not true? I’d like to here your thoughts; you can leave your comment below.

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How To Manage The Ups And Downs In Life

My golf game the other day resembled life to a large degree. And, like my game, life is filled with ups and downs.

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When I was in my early twenties I played golf every Saturday morning.  It was like clockwork, unless I had a late night the night before and then I sometimes got a few pebbles thrown at my window to nudge me out of bed.

Well, this past Saturday was a blast from the past for me. I had an early 7:05 am tee off time with a couple of buddies.

It’s been years, but I still remembered the quietness of that time of day, and the stillness of the air. The dew was thick on the grass and the sun breaking through the trees created breathtaking patterns of light and shade on the fairways.

That’s a nice picture, isn’t it? Well it stops right about there because, for some reason, I couldn’t hit the golf ball on Saturday.

I started with a 6, and if you don’t know anything about golf, let me tell you, it doesn’t matter if it’s a long hole or short hole, a 6 is never a good score!

I posted another 6 on the next hole, and when I got my third straight 6, I glanced over at the score card my partner was keeping and I could see the pattern. My card read 666 and you know what that’s the sign of!

That’s maybe why I was kind of relieved when I scored – yup, you guessed it – another 6 on the next hole. With four sixes on the first four holes, it was very obvious I was having a terrible round. But at least now no one was going to confuse me for being the devil.

The rest of the front nine holes were up and down – a couple of good holes but also a couple of bad ones.

Then things changed around on the back nine. I don’t really know why; no one gave me a pep talk or anything. I just started to hit the ball better. I parred the next 5 holes in a row.

And if you don’t know anything about golf, that means I got the ball in the hole in the correct number of shots.

I had one little hiccup on the 15th hole but then I parred the next two. That’s seven pars on the back nine. That’s a great score for me, and I would say for most people.

Then came the last hole. I don’t know what happened to me, but I choked. I didn’t get a 6 though – I got a 7! I had such a good back nine but then one hole sunk it.

But you know what? As I stare at my score card now, I can’t wait to try again.

Here’s the thing: Life is sometimes bad – sometimes really bad – but it’s also sometimes very good. Often we can’t explain why it is so, we can only take what we get. We have a tendency to blame God for the bad, and just bask in our own glory during the good.

The Bible says everything comes from the hand of God, so we should be looking to God in the good and the bad. We should be seeking to know Him more in all of life. So whether life is good or bad, we should want to get up each morning and try again.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How have you handled the good and bad in life? I’d really like to hear from you; you can leave your comment below.

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How To Get Things Done

I really dislike times when my mind is bombarded with thoughts of things I need to do or act on. It unearths a stress in me like a volcano stoking up to explode.

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It happens often when I’m getting close to some kind of event or deadline – a time like, let’s say, vacation time, which is coming up very soon for me.

I have a ton of things that are flying through my mind, things I need to get moving on. Some things I wouldn’t have to do if I wasn’t going away. But because I am, and there is a deadline, they get piled onto the list.

It’s only 7:30 in the morning as I am writing this piece, but my mind is whirling with about 10 things I need to be putting some time into today. Now that’s on top of the things I have already scheduled to do today!

If I was to attempt to do all the things on my list, I’m looking at about a 26 hour day. Unfortunately, the guy who invented the clock never made one with more than 24 hours.

And the God who created the world set the earth on a rotation that gives us that same 24 pattern for day and night.

Unless the earth gets slammed hard by meteor or something, I think I’m stuck with the same number of hours in a day that we’ve always had. And that thought isn’t helping my stress; nor is it reducing the number of things I have to spend time on.

Something that helps me when I get like this is an exercise I do to deal individually with each project, to-do item or action, and then break it down.

You have to think of each item individually because, when you stay focussed on all the things you have to do, it is just too overwhelming. The pile of work looks massive; you can’t see your way to the end.

So I list each one. I first single them out. Then I break each one down into bite-sized morsels because each to-do or job can be massive. I break them down into small parts that I can do at one time.

I try not to look at the whole project after that, just the next little bite I need to take to get me closer to eating the whole thing.

Here’s the thing:  We sometimes get asked to pray for many things. But what happens is, when we go to pray, we get overwhelmed with all the requests before us, let alone the things we regularly pray for and our own personal needs. It looks like too massive a list and it’s hard to remember them all.

First, don’t try to remember them all; write them down so you can see each request. Then determine how long the request will remain on your list and pray one detail regarding each request for each day it’s on your list.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How do you pray through the mountain of requests that come to you? I really like to hear from you, so leave a comment below.

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Why It’s Difficult To Make A Group Decision

We make decisions every day; we’re really good at it. We humans are as comfortable making decisions as a big ol’ dog is laying on his favourite rug.

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But when you put a couple of people together – or, say 20, or maybe several hundred – making decisions is a whole new kind of beast. Decisions aren’t easily made in that kind of environment.

This week I attended our denomination’s General Assembly in Ottawa. It’s one of those conferences where one of the prime reasons we come together is to make decisions.

What you notice in these types of meetings is a lot of people have lots to say. Their eyes reveal their eagerness to get it out. And with lots to say, we often take too long to say it. And because those words are burning in our souls, we will say them even if they’ve already been stated.

Of course by stating them again we will say them with greater clarity.

That burning deep inside us is the same fire a preacher has when he’s churned all week on a passage, and has crafted what he believes is the word God has given him for his congregation that week. He just can’t wait to get that message out.

But as much as we want to say our peace, we aren’t as good at listening to others get their words out. What I find is that most of us already have our minds made up. We like our words, and we don’t really get swayed often by the wisdom that comes from the mouths of others.

But it’s more than just liking our thoughts; we’re comfortable with our thoughts.

It’s like when you settle in to watch a movie: you grab a big glass of Dr. Pepper (well, I do) and a few snacks; you get in your favourite spot on the couch; you gaze at the TV as the opening scene begins, and then the phone rings!

You don’t want to get up and move; you are settled in for the night.

When we hear someone with a different perspective, it doesn’t matter how convincing the ring of their words is, we don’t want to move from our position. Our minds are made up. We filter their words rather than give full value to them.

So the discussion drones on and on, with many words spoken but not much movement of position. We sit comfortably, leaning back and viewing the entertainment, unwilling to move and be disturbed by others’ words. Man . . . it’s tough to make decisions.

Here’s the thing: What is true with people is true with God. He speaks to us through scripture, through others, in our quiet thoughts, in our dreams. We need to be careful we are not so comfortable with our thoughts and ideas that we won’t get up and answer that ringing of God’s voice to us. We need to be ready to move from our position to follow God’s leading.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What makes hearing the words of others so difficult for you? I’d love to hear from you; you can leave your comment below.

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Why You Should Share Your Embarrassing Moments

We all have them. Embarrassing moments when we do dumb, stupid things that we wish we could take back.

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It might be something we said or did, but the result is the same: red-faced, head down, too shamed to look up or around to see if anyone noticed.

Embarrassing moments on You Tube go viral. It’s all good … except for the person who’s embarrassed.

I once took a picture of a vehicle stuck on top of a snow pile. The owner was so embarrassed she begged me not to post it on You Tube. I didn’t post it, but I did bog about it (read it here.)

Well, what goes around comes around. The other day I was coming back from a bike ride with my bike on my car roof carrier.

As I drove by the back of my house, I hit the garage door remote button and, by the time I pulled onto my street and into my driveway, the door was fully open.

So, like I do every day, I drove right in . . . that is until I got some resistance and heard this crunching sound!

Immediately, I realized what I’d done. I backed up and then my bike came bounding off the top of the car. Just to add to the embarrassment, it clipped my side mirror which is now wobbly.

I sat there, in my car for a moment, thinking I’d wrecked my bike, my bike rack and my garage. And most of all, I’d embarrassed myself.

When I got out and assessed the damage, my bike seemed to be fine, and the top moulding of my garage only had a little mark on it.

The mirror, well, it was wobbly and will probably need to be replaced. The bike rack … broken pieces and bent parts. Me … bruised ego.

I was embarrassed. I wondered who saw it, which neighbour would bring it up at our street BBQ. I wanted to hide.

But you know, as embarrassed as I was, the next day I told a friend what I did.

Mind you, I couldn’t even look him in the eye. I looked down or away from him most of the time,  until he commented after my story. He said “Ya, I’ve done that twice”.

All of a sudden I had company in my embarrassment, and it wasn’t so embarrassing any more. It was more like I joined the club of guys who’ve smashed their bikes into their garages.

I got so bold that two days later I told a couple other friends and they started telling their stories of crashing things attached to their vehicles.

It turns out I’m not the one and only idiot to forget I had a bike on my roof. There are lots of us and I found healing for my embarrassment when I shared it.

Here’s the thing: When we sin, there is, often times, shame that goes with the sin. That keeps us from wanting to confess it to God or others. We feel alone in it, like we’re the only one who has ever sinned that way. But the truth is, that’s Satan’s way of keeping you in your sin.

Confession frees you from shame – first because it’s no longer hidden, or a secret; second, because you find that you’re not alone; and third, because confession is the first step to turning from your sin. Don’t remain in shame; confess your sin.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What embarrassing moment have you shared and then found comfort in? I’d really like to hear from you; leave your comment below.

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The Secret Sauce In Serving

There is something about serving that pays back greater value than just being part of something.

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This past week our church had two events that required groups of people to come together to serve others. On Wednesday we had a funeral at our church which included putting on a lunch reception after the service. Four days later we had our church picnic, which required a group of people coming together to serve all those attending.

Both of these events involved food, and lots of it!

They say there is a connection that is made when we eat together. And you can sure see it. When people have a sandwich, or hamburger, being mangled between their teeth, though it’s difficult to understand what they’re saying, there seems to be an easy flow of words.

Give people food and they will gather and they will talk. Food loosens us up; it makes us more social. Food gives us something to do with our hands.

Maybe it’s a distraction from standing face to face with nothing but a few inches of air between us. With food you have this other thing you’re doing on the side while you chew the fat with the person across from you.

… But when the food is gone and the conversation ends, you get up and walk away.

Serving goes deeper than that. Maybe that’s why it’s more difficult to get people to serve – more is required but more is gained as well.

When you serve at these kinds of functions you are doing more than eating and talking. You are part of making it all happen. You are the ones that make it possible for someone to feel comfortable stuffing a grape in the corner of their cheek while explaining what their family is up to these days.

You get to eat and talk too, but you’re an insider. You were there to set up, or cook, or clean up.

There is some kind of satisfaction you have when it’s done. You don’t just get up and walk away. There is a feeling of “we did it; it all came together … we helped” that those who just attended don’t have.

And that’s the secret sauce. It does take more effort, but the payoff is much greater. You don’t just walk away and forget about the event. You’re glad you made someone’s day, or that you helped make it happen. There’s a sense of connection with those you served with.

Between the funeral and the picnic this past week at our church, there were many who helped out and served. I’m proud to be part of a church that pitches in, digs down and makes something happen for the benefit of others.

Thanks KAC! You know who you are and what you did. I just want you to know I appreciate it all. And I hope you tasted the secret sauce of serving at these events.

Here’s the thing: When you serve the Lord, no matter how great or small, the secret sauce you taste is knowing that you’ve pleased your heavenly Father, that you have done something that has lasting, eternal value, and that you’re developing a deeper connection with Christ (and starting to look more like Him). Keep serving.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What is one highlight you have from serving the Lord? I’d love to hear from you; leave your comment below.

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How To Keep From Following The Wrong Truth

You can believe something to be true, can work very hard at following that truth through, and you can still be completely wrong or off course.

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A couple of weeks ago, we had a glitch with our church website. We couldn’t post recordings of messages to the site any more. The file size had to be so small that our sermons couldn’t be uploaded.

I remembered that this was an issue a year or so ago.

And, I remembered I had fixed the problem by going into the guts of the website and creating a file I didn’t understand, in an environment beyond my comprehension, using code that superseded my cognition. I thought I was hypnotized.

I figured I had to dive in and do that again. But a year had passed and I was grasping to remember what I had done.

One thing I was sure of was that this was a problem I needed to fix and not something I could ask the nice techie dudes on the support site about.

I tried three different times to correct the problem. Each time took about an hour or more of looking at the inside of our website – it’s the side of the site that nobody sees, with files and folders.

Finally, I exhausted all hope that I could figure out how to correct the problem. I decided to go to the people who live inside computers and beg them to help this poor dense sod solve his problem.

I made my request, left my computer and went to a meeting. When I got back from my meeting, the problem was fixed!

It turned out that I couldn’t have fixed it. This problem was something the support people needed to correct. I was thinking it was something I had to do, but I was wrong.

And that reminded me of a time I thought a plane I was to catch left at 2 pm in the afternoon, and I was cutting it close to make it before take off.

So I went to the front of a long line of people and asked to butt in because my plane was leaving in 15 minutes … only to find out from the ticket agent that my plane had left 45 minutes ago!

I was sure I knew the time, and I had made my plans based on what I was sure of. I never actually checked the ticket. I thought I knew the time, but I was wrong.

Here’s the thing: I thought I needed to figure out my website problem, so I worked hard to come up with a solution. I thought I knew when my plane left so I showed up at the airport at the appropriate time. I actually worked for nothing and showed up too late! We can do the same when it comes to the end of our life. We can work hard to be prepared for the end, but if we work at the wrong things, it’s for nothing. Or we can think we have more time than we really do, and so we are not prepared. Make sure you have a clear understanding of the relationship you need to have with God. You can only get that by knowing what God says in the Bible.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What have you been sure of only to find out you were dead wrong? I’d like to hear from you; leave your comment below.

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What You Need To Know About Perfect Timing

You know when you get that “WOW” moment, when something happens at the exact right time? It might be an important letter that comes just when you need it. Maybe you arrive on the scene at the exact time you’re needed most.

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Whatever it is, we call it “perfect timing”, and it amazes us every time it happens, doesn’t it?

This week we were stripping the paint off our cottage deck. Some was wearing off, some was blistering off … and I’m not sure what was going through the mind of the previous owner when he picked the colour to begin with!

The first day was a beautiful sunny, warm day and we got most of the paint off the deck itself. But we still had the railing posts and the steps to do.

The next day it started out raining. The sky was very dark and it looked like that was what it would be like the rest of the day. We had almost decided to pack up and go home when we got a little break in the rain.

So instead of leaving, we started in on it. We worked for most of the morning and then took a break for lunch. By mid afternoon we had used up all the goop we had bought to get the paint off.

We were pretty much done, so we started cleaning up and putting everything back in order. All the deck furniture, BBQ, etc. needed to be put back on the deck, not to mention the railing inserts that needed to be nailed back into place.

When everything was done, and the shed locked, we went into the cottage, and turned around to look at the work we had done. And WOW, the rain just started coming down like God had recanted on His promise to never send a flood again!

If we had have been out there ten seconds longer we would have been caught. It was quite a storm because twenty minutes away in Owen Sound a tornado touched down, and later that day there was another tornado in another part of the province.

But for us, it was perfect timing! … It reminds me of a time when my then 1 1/2 year old daughter was jumping on the same couch I was sitting on. I was talking to people across from me and out of the corner of my eye I noticed she jumped too high and went right over the armrest of the couch.

Without looking, I stuck my hand out and caught her by the ankle, with her head just inches from hitting the floor. It was a great catch – again perfect timing!

Perfect timing is awesome to experience. But you never know it’s going to happen until it does.

Here’s the thing: We can get really frustrated wanting something from God and then waiting seemingly forever for an answer. Whatever you do, don’t get in the way of what God is doing so that you miss His perfect timing. When God answers, it may surprise you, be different than you thought, or come at the eleventh hour. But one thing is for sure: it will be perfect timing. Then soak in the WOW.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: When have you experienced that perfect timing from God? I’d love to hear from you; you can leave your comment below.

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Why Keeping Secrets Can Hurt You

I need you to keep this blog a secret … at least from my doctor. Today is my birthday and there are probably going to be a few surprises. But there will also be a few things that I am sure of today.

Paul's Birthday cake

While I have no idea what presents I will receive, I do know what cake I will be eating on my birthday. It’s the same every year. And just to confirm my already confident prediction, I saw Lily baking it.

Now the reason we have to keep this from my doctor is because of the sugar and fat content of this cake. All cakes fall into the “not healthy” category of food groups, but my cake probably ranks up there higher than most.

The ingredients are simple: angel food cake, whip cream and raspberries. When the cake has been baked, it is cut in half and both halves are hollowed out just a bit. Then in a bowl you mix the raspberries into the whip cream to make the “icing”.

Once that’s done, you put a ton of the “icing” into the hollowed out parts of the cake and then put the two halves back together.

Finally, you slather the outside of the cake (and I mean slather it on thick) with the whip cream mixture and you’re done.

Now is your mouth watering already? . . .  Mine is, and it’s only 7:30 am when I’m writing this piece.

So, you see, this is not the kind of thing you share with your doctor.

When he asks how you are feeling, you say, “Very well, thank you.”  When he asks, “Have you been getting your exercise?” you say, “I’ve been biking three times a week.” When he queries how you have been eating, you DON’T mention the cake. You just say, “I’ve been trying to eat more vegetables lately.”

Now I only get this cake once a year. It’s strictly a birthday cake, not an “I thought I’d bake your favourite cake Friday”. But this year I got a bonus.

For the first time in six years, Karlie was home for her birthday and Lily, like usual, was all geared up to bake her a cake. But to everyone’s surprise, and my delight, Karlie asked for my birthday cake.

So I’ve had a couple of pieces already this year; just as good as ever, and double reason not to let this leak out to the doctor.

By the way, it’s not all bad. I’ll be working that cake off today by stripping the paint off my deck at the cottage. It will be like I ate only vegetables today.

Here’s the thing: In life we can keep things from others. We might do it to look good or because we would be embarrassed or ashamed if others knew. But just like my birthday cake will contribute to clogging my arteries and adding on a few pounds, keeping things from others only hurts yourself. You can try to keep things from God, and try to ignore the fact that He knows everything. You can even pretend that it’s all a secret. But you are only hurting yourself. Admit your sin to God; don’t try to hide it from Him. He knows anyway … just like my doctor will probably get wind of this blog.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How has keeping something from others hurt you in the long run? I’d really like to hear from you;, you can leave your comment below.