Christian

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Why You Should Keep Things Simple

The other night, my wife, daughter and I went downtown to the Buskers Festival. Years ago buskers were individuals on a street corner who had some kind of talent and were trying to make a few bucks in the summer.

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Now it’s an industry, with people traveling all over the world to cities bringing them in for festivals. They block off streets and allow large crowds of people to gather round.

At one time, they used to just open their guitar case or throw down a hat and hope people would put money in as they passed by. It’s a little different now.

I hadn’t been down to see the buskers in our city for several years, but I sure noticed something different this year. These performers were into entertainment more that performing their stunts.

I saw three acts and there was no question about their talent and abilities, but I got bored with their acts. They were too long. I wanted to see the pole guy climb the pole more, and do more tricks up there.

Perhaps the guys he picked from the audience to support the pole weren’t as strong as they looked. Maybe he needed to give them a rest in between trips up to the top of his free standing pole. I kind of wanted to see him carry the female volunteer from the crowd up with him.

The lady who could stick her head through her legs was a little creepy, but she could really do the hula hoop … several of them … at one time … all on different appendages.

But she went on and on about how long she had been practicing her craft, and how dangerous it was to do the hula hoop from 7 feet in the air. That’s not even the height of a normal ceiling in a home.

At least the pole guy didn’t talk. I’m not sure if he couldn’t talk or if it was part of the act. But he didn’t go on and on about preferring bills over change like the hula girl did.

I kept looking over and wishing we had gone to the fire guy about a half a block over. I’m not sure what he was doing, but he had fire, and anything with fire is more exciting than a hula hoop or a pole.

I liked seeing these street performers, but the crowds were so big that they all really needed bleachers, which sort of takes away from the “street” part of the performance. My suggestion would be to have more acts, so that the crowds would be smaller around each act and the performers wouldn’t feel they had to talk so much.

I just want to see more amazing tricks, stunts, and talent.

Here’s the thing: There are times when I add things to my devotions that really aren’t part of it. Sometimes I have the inkling to check something like my email before my time with God. All those extra things do is get me distracted from just being with God, listening, learning and talking to Him. I need to remember to keep my time with Him simple and to the point.

Question: What distracts you most when you want to spend time with God? Leave your comment 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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We’re Selling Rabbit Fur Coats, Cheap!

For the last 18 years, my wife has organized a street BBQ with our neighbours. I’d like to say that it’s Lily and I who put this on, but I don’t do much more than clean off a few chairs and roll our BBQ out to the street. She does all the organizing.

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What happens is at 5 pm, I roll our BBQ out to the middle of the street (we live on a keyhole cul-de-sac) and, magically, the neighbours start to show up with their chairs, food and drinks.

It’s not a big event; there’s just ten houses on our street. But we do invite past neighbours (alumni) to attend.

We’ve had the police drive by a few times, but they’ve always just joked with us. Maybe it’s because we have a retired corrections officer on the street, and maybe they have a secret signal (like the Masons) that tips other officers to their occupation. Maybe not.

This year a conversation started about the rabbits. You know, those cute little fury things some people keep as pets. Not on our street! Everyone hates them – even the women, especially the women!

It seemed to be unanimous that everyone was looking for ways to keep the bunnies from eating the flowers in our gardens. Some have tried human hair, moth balls, soap, and cayenne pepper. One owner said she put Frank’s Hot Sauce in the garden, but I don’t think that’s right, wasting good hot sauce on those varmints.

One neighbour has put chicken wire around all his little gardens. Sure he has his flowers, but it’s harder to see them through the chicken wire. One guy sits on his deck with a garden hose in hand and spays the little hoppers when he sees them.

As we were talking, we looked over at our house and there was a bunny hopping up our front walk to our door, like he was going to call on our turtle, Winston, to come out for a race or something.

These rabbits are not afraid of us, either. They just look at us with those innocent eyes, and remain very still like they are thinking, “I can see them, but if I remain still they won’t even know I’m hear nibbling on their lilies.”

At the BBQ, there was talk of pellet guns, and setting up a camouflage blind in one of our backyards to hunt them down, but we never got too far with that. We talked of rabbit stew and selling rabbit coats but these ideas didn’t get off the ground either.

In the end, it was still every household for themselves against the rabbit population on our street which is rapidly growing among an aging human demographic.

It was fitting that, as my neighbour and I were returning some things to our backyard, a little bunny, no more than a week or two old, appeared in front of us and then scurried under our deck. I really do think they have plans to overrun us.

Here’s the thing: It’s amazing how we can come together over something as silly as a bunny problem. God wants us to come together around Him, which should be easy. Sadly, in the end, we often end up everyone for themselves. It just should not be.

That’s life!

Paul

Question: How would you deal with a bunny problem? Leave your comment below.

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My Replacement Blog

It’s not easy writing these blogs, you know. Sure, it’s only 500 to 600 words; some people can speak that many words in a minute or two. But it’s not the actual writing that’s difficult.

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I remember when I was a kid. To write 500 words was a death sentence! It’s only a page of words, but when I was young I didn’t have that much to say. Plus, I’m a male and we can say lots with just a look on our face or a few non-intelligible sounds.

The tough thing about writing is the critiquing of what I write. Today I wrote a killer blog.  I thought it was one of my best, so I was anxious for someone to read it. I kept asking my wife, “Have you read it yet?”

I think my asking got her more intrigued with it, so she finally got on her computer and took a look. Everything was going well for the first 3 paragraphs. And then she stopped.

“You can’t write about that.” she said. I replied, “Keep reading”, thinking that maybe when she digested the whole blog she would have a change of mind. But after every paragraph she would stop and say the same thing.

Now, I don’t mind when she says, “Your grammar was really bad on that one” or “the punctuation needs some work.”  I don’t even mind when she says, “You should rephrase that.”  She has great ideas some times. After all, she does all the editing for my blog site.

The thing that I do mind, the thing that is tough to hear, is the content can’t be published. I spent some quality time writing my blog today and when I was finished I was proud of my work.

But now no one is going to read it. I wish I could publish it, and share it with others, but because it’s about a close family member, I’ve been instructed to keep it in the vault.

I ran into this problem several years ago when my kids became teenagers. I used to use illustrations in my sermons that were about things my kids did, or experienced. When they were young they loved hearing me tell stories about them.

But for some reason, by the time they hit about 12 or 13, I was finding that I needed to ask for permission if I was going to speak about them in church. Eventually, I thought it best to just leave them out of it. So for many years they have been missing from my sermon content.

Maybe they’re happy about it. Maybe they don’t do or say things that are as “preachable” as they did when they were kids. But one thing is for sure, censorship doesn’t just revolve around the CRTC (Canadian Radio & Television Commission).

Most of you would have liked my blog. You would have laughed, and been concerned. Some of you, who know my family well, would have had some follow up questions that you really needed answers to.

But unfortunately, you won’t get a change to read it. So just forget I mentioned my killer blog that I can’t publish. This will have to do as a replacement.

Here’s the thing: Sometimes we want to do things that God doesn’t want us to do. He doesn’t force us, but if we continue, we might cause harm to ourselves or others. We can be stubborn and do it anyway, but the benefits of listening to God’s wisdom may save us a lot of heartache.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How have you benefitted by not doing something you really wanted to do?  Leave your comment below.

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Our New Living Room Furniture Looks Odd

The other day we got a new living room couch and chair. My wife has been wanting these for some time. She has taken me to the store, showed me the design she likes, and the colour that fits the image in her head of what she wants our living room to look like.

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Since the time she first wanted to replace the furniture in our front room, there have been many other things that have taken precedence. So, even though it’s been in the works for a long time, it just hasn’t materialized.

We have had to replace vehicles, put a new roof on our house, bought a trailer … you know, all good things that, for one reason or other, we needed ahead of new living room furniture.

Our present couch is as old as our marriage – that would be 28 years this summer. I refuse to lie on it because, for many years, I would come home from work or Sunday service and fall asleep on that couch. When I woke up, I never felt rested. It was like the couch sucked the life out of me.

In the last few years, we have taken a few measures to firm up the coach … because a couch can only hold up so many rear ends before it starts to sag itself!

The other day, the store called and told Lily it had arrived. I was pretty excited to see it and told her that I would go in to make the final payment on it so we could get it home as soon as possible.

As soon as I had cleared up my work for the day, I drove as quickly as possible down to the store. I told the salesperson that I was anxious to see my new living room couch and chair. She looked at me like she didn’t have a clue what I was talking about. So I explained.

When Lily called me to tell me the living room furniture was in, she was referring to the new bike I had ordered that, once again, was taking precedence over the real furniture she has been patiently dreaming about for so long.

For the price of my new bike, she could have had her couch and chair. The salesperson chuckled and said, “Well technically, you can sit on it.” That’s true, but it only fits one person at a time. And frankly, Lily doesn’t really care if she ever gets a chance to sit on my bike.

Though outfitting our home with a new couch and chair would have been really nice, I had just broken the frame on my bike and, therefore, needed a new one just to keep up my exercising, let alone my enjoyment.

So when I got home with my new bike, all smiley-like, she looked at it, and grinned because she new I was happy. But behind that grin, I knew she was thinking that that could have been her couch and chair.

Maybe next year we can finally fulfill that dream of hers.

Here’s the thing: What we really want can get re-prioritized by others things and by other people. God wants first place in our hearts, but so often we push Him to the side because something else has taken precedence. The only way God will be first in your heart is if you purposely, and ruthlessly put Him there. Then protect His place from everything and everyone else.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What have you wanted that other things have taken precedence over? Leave your comment below.

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No, I Do Not Have A Notification Problem!

My sports apps are beginning to interfere with my work and my life. For some people, it is their addictions that interfere with their daily obligations; for me, it’s just my iPhone and iPad.

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On second thought, some people might think that I have an addiction to my sports apps if they are interfering with what I do for a living. But really, it’s not that I’m addicted, it’s just that I’m connected (denial is the first sign of addiction).

Whatever it is, I really need to get a handle on it. In church this Sunday, my iPad notified me of an NHL trade that was just signed. That’s not big deal, is it? Just one little notification that sounded like a bird’s whistle? There is no problem there.

So it happened in church … I wasn’t hurting anyone. However, I was preaching at the time, using my iPad. The sound might have carried over the mic a bit. But still, hardly anyone noticed, I think.

Later that same afternoon I was officiating a wedding, and just after I said, “Who gives Alex to be married to Josh?”, I got another notification. It was to inform me of the score of the Blue Jays / Red Sox baseball game.

But it was an outdoor wedding, and I wasn’t mic’d, and probably no one heard it. And even if they did, they probably thought it was a robin or a Blue Jay. No harm there; it went completely under everyone’s radar.

Later at the reception, I started receiving several notifications, one after another. It was the NHL Draft alerting me of who got the number one draft pick and who the Leafs picked up. But it didn’t cause a scene. The room was noisy and everyone was having a good time.

I really don’t think I have a problem. If my wife doesn’t think it’s appropriate, maybe it’s her that has the problem, not me.

It all started so innocently with me wanting to know how my teams were doing. My sports apps informed me that they could help. All I had to do was select the teams I wanted to follow and they would gladly push the notifications over to my phone.

I guess I never thought how many notifications I would get. I ended up getting way more than I thought. Maybe I am out of control, but maybe I just picked too many teams and all I need to do is cut back a little. I think I could do that.

Maybe if I choose some times that were off limits to being notified, that might make everyone happy. If say, Sunday mornings between ten and noon I refrained from notifications, even my wife would relax.

On the other hand, maybe I do need to revisit my sports apps’ notification and turn it off – period … to curb my notification habit.

Here’s the thing: There are many things in life we don’t consider a problem – things we enjoy, even things we think we benefit from. But if they get in the way of our relationship with Christ, or if they compete for our time with Christ, we need to stop the excuses and do something about it … and stop pretending there isn’t a problem when there clearly is.

That’s Life!

Paul

 

Question: What perfectly good thing can become a problem for you? Leave your comments below.

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Customer Service . . . I’d Like Some!

Customer service is a very important part of a business or any organization. In these days with social media, customer service is even more important. If someone is treated poorly and has lots of followers on Twitter and Facebook, a bad review of your product or organization could go viral quickly.

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So you would think companies would be mindful of listening to their customers, trying to understand them, instead of frustrating them to the point of outrage.

I found out that all depends on who you are dealing with. If you are talking to a customer service rep, they are on your side, trying to make it easy for you to get the result you are looking for.

However, if you are dealing with someone in, let’s say, the accounting department, they are more likely concerned that numbers match up in their books. They don’t care about your experience or how you feel. They feel good when they experience a ledger that looks neat and all balanced-like.

You might be able to see where this is going. That’s right, I had a customer service issue with our photocopier company at work and I was dealing with someone who really only cared about applying a credit to our account … a credit they should have sent to our old photocopier company to buy it out! I just finished writing a long letter to the company – maybe that should have been my blog today!

So, as I take an extra beta blocker this morning (just kidding) to keep my blood pressure in the earth’s atmosphere, I need to get a few things off my chest.

When dealing with a customer, listen to them. Hear not only their words but the emotion that’s behind the words. If you sense there is a frustration, don’t repeat what you have already done (and which failed) over and over again. It does NOT calm someone down!

When you have promised to take care of something for the customer and have not done so, don’t ask the customer to research and come up with a solution. Find a solution for them.

When a customer comes back to you with a solution, don’t tell the customer again what you have already done (and which failed). It doesn’t give the customer the sense that you are listening to them.

When you realize that the issue is something beyond you, don’t make the customer craft a letter to present their case to the people above your pay grade. YOU go to bat for them.

Finally when you realize that maybe, just maybe, your company dropped the ball (even a tiny bit), acknowledge it and tell the customer you are sorry, or they will feel you don’t care about your customers, and that might start something on Twitter or Facebook.

Here’s the thing: We often get upset with God’s customer service when He doesn’t answer us, or provide what we are looking for from Him, or even when we think “how could God let that happen”. But consider this … He is perfect and we aren’t. We’re the ones who have messed up and are in the wrong, yet He is still gracious, and patient and loving to us. Wow! That is great customer service.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What is your most frustrating customer service story? Leave your comment below.

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How To Avoid Multiple Bosses

I find that having an idea or plan of what you want to get done in your day is important, but scheduling that plan is crucial if it has a chance of happening.

Most days I have a plan and put it in my calendar with specific times to it. I do it so that someone else – even someone who walks in off the street – doesn’t become my boss for the day. And believe me, that can happen to me so easily!

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Saturdays are different. I do have a vague plan, but I rarely write it down. It’s really just a collection of things I would like to do in the day and in no particular order.

That lack of planning creates a bad scenario and that’s exactly what happened last Saturday. I got up, spent some time with God and wrote a blog. Those two things are pretty much a lock on Saturday mornings. I don’t have them written down somewhere, but as soon as I sit up in bed little neurons in my brain touch together which produce that end result.

When I was done, I looked outside, the sky was overcast, and I thought to myself, “It looks like it could rain at any time. I should go for a bike ride soon so that I don’t miss my opportunity.” I should have gone right then, but I wasn’t scheduled.

In no time, I kind of got sidetracked with other things I hadn’t planned on. By the time I finished those, my wife, Lily, announced she wanted to check out a new store downtown that friends had just opened. I could tell I needed to postpone my bike ride. Going to this store was something she really wanted to do, so I said, “Let’s go.”

We had a good time together checking out a new olive oil shop in town. I had no idea there were so many varieties of olive oil and vinegar. It was endless, but the raspberry vinegar was pretty amazing!

With visiting our friends’ store ticked off the list for the day, we just needed to swing by the bike shop, pick up a tube and then I could get home and get biking (my big plan for the day).

We had been in the bike shop for about 10 minutes when I looked outside and saw it was raining. The one thing I wanted to do that day wasn’t going to happen.

I had done other things: I wrote a blog, went to a store with Lily, fixed a flat tire on my bike, watched the hockey game, had wings for dinner, and worked on a computer issue for my mother-in-law. I did stuff, but for some reason because I didn’t go for a bike ride, I felt like I didn’t accomplish anything. My day was a disappointment.

Setting a time for that bike ride would have made the difference. It would have forced me to put times and time frames to the other things, and it probably would have gotten me on the trails and left me feeling like my day was a success.

Here’s the thing: When it comes to spending time with God or serving Him in some capacity, if we only plan on it but don’t schedule it, it probably won’t happen. And even if it does, it will be very hit and miss at best … you will have other bosses who’ll make sure of it.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: When is it a difficult task for you to schedule things? Leave your comment below.

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He Shoots, He Scores!

“Hello Canada, and hockey fans in the United States” … that’s the way Foster Hewitt would start the radio broadcasts of Hockey Night in Canada when I was a kid. We used to beetle out after church Sunday nights, grab the car keys from my dad and sit in our freezing car listening to the hockey game on the radio.

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That’s what you had to do to keep up with your team. But that was then. Now, staying on top of what your team is doing is a whole new ball game.

I just got something that takes all the effort out of tracking your team’s goals and it came just in time for the end of the playoffs. My wife and kids bought me a Budweiser red light for my birthday. For those who don’t know what that is, let me tell you about it.

In hockey arenas, at each end behind the nets and the boards, is a red light that turns on when a goal is scored. Along with the light, in most arenas, a horn also goes off to announce a goal.

Well that’s what my family got me. And if you’re thinking it’s just a nice souvenir, let me tell you, this puppy is a working, fully functioning red light. It’s connected to the internet and when my team scores a goal, the light and the horn (sounding like a fog horn) go off.

Lily was testing it out and turned down the volume of the horn. I just looked at her, and shook my head. That was all she needed to realize the volume on MY light only has one setting and that will be on max. And it was right about then she realized, she may have made a mistake in getting it for me.

The beauty about this red light is you can choose which team or teams you want it to work for. And yes, that’s right, you can choose all 30 teams if you want.

I can just picture myself settling into bed on a Saturday night, and having the horn and light go off because the Vancouver Canucks scored a goal on the west coast. That would be awesome (but I’m not choosing them).

I was pretty excited to try it out and, since it was near the end of the playoffs, I didn’t have many games left. So I selected both teams in the running – Boston and Chicago – just to make sure it would go off during the game. In the three previous games of the series, the two teams had scored a combined total of 12 goals.

I was hoping for a couple of goals to see it work. But what happened made my day. It was beyond my wildest dreams! Chicago and Boston combined for 11 goals in game 4; my red light was working like a Trojan! … And I loved it every time it went off.

Here’s the thing: The amazing thing about God is that He wants to hear from us. In fact, I would say He is excited when we speak to Him. We call it prayer, and it happens all the time, all over the world. And like when my light lights up and it brings a smile to my face, when we start to talk to God, He can’t help but be pleased. Keep talking to Him; it brings Him praise.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What brings a smile to your face every time? Leave your comment below.

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I Need an Electricity Plant in my Backyard

I wondered the other day if I’m getting a little too high-tech for my own good. Nothing wrong with high-tech but it requires a lot of electricity, and I’ve been noticing my dependence on it.

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Every day I have a laptop, an iPad and an iPhone with me, so you could say I’m fairly tech-oriented. All these gadgets need to be recharged, and the other day I had all three charging at the same time. If the power goes out at work, I’m good for as long as the batteries on my electronic devices hold up.

I have a system for charging that keeps my stuff working well. You can ask my kids, I have drilled it into their brains: you don’t charge your device until it is just about out of power; you don’t stop charging it until it’s fully charged; and when it’s done, you unplug.

My charging philosophy has done me well, and my daughter can attest to it. She has a 6 year old laptop and only now is the battery needing to be replaced.

If my use of high-tech tools stopped there, I would be nothing more than your average tech-savvy professional. But wait … I rely on a few more battery-powered devices to get me through my day.

I mentioned in a recent blog that I got a new weed trimmer. It’s cordless, runs on a battery, and the cool thing is I can use that battery with about 50 other products by the same company. I’m slowly working on getting them all (don’t tell Lily), but for now I have a cordless drill which can swap batteries with my whipper-snipper.

Isn’t that awesome? However, they need to be charged. They don’t run forever without being plugged in.

There’s even more. I have a cordless electric razor that needs to be reinvigorated with electricity and I have a blade razor/trimmer that requires a battery. To finish off my morning ritual of getting ready for the day, I use an electric toothbrush.

Yesterday was a big day for me tech-wise – maybe even a record. I had to charge my razor, all three of my computer devices, plus replace the battery in my pro-glide razor … and I think my toothbrush needs to be recharged.

Did you feel the power drain? Did the lights dim or flicker when you were getting ready for work? Don’t sweat it; it wasn’t a potential brown out across the eastern seaboard. It was just me plugging my high-tech stuff into an outlet.

There’s no end to my need for electricity and power. I have a bike computer that wirelessly calculates my distance, speed, and time all through the power of a little battery. And one more thing I almost forgot … There is a guy who has developed a hockey skate blade with a little heater in it that slightly warms the blade, giving you a little advantage on the ice. And ya, it needs a battery. And ya, I need a pair!

All I need now are solar panels on my roof and I’m set.

Here’s the thing: There are many things we can become dependent on, and if we lost the use of them, our life would be significantly altered. The key is to depend on something that we can’t be cut off from. How dependent are you on God?

Question: What have you become so dependent on that you couldn’t imagine doing without? Leave your comment below.