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Waiting For An Outcome That’s Worth It

Sometimes the outcome is worth the wait … and sometimes it’s not.

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That’s what I found last night when we went to the buskers festival downtown.

I’ve been to them before and seen all kinds of acts. It truly is remarkable what some people can do with their bodies and a few props.

On this trip to watch the street performers, Lily and I mostly witnessed juggling in various forms.

There was the guy who could juggle and eat an apple. There were the guys who juggled between each other, one on a unicycle and the other on a ladder, completely unsupported.

We also saw a guy who juggled two fire sticks and a sledge hammer – that was pretty remarkable.

Being a juggler myself, I found that fascinating. I can only juggle three objects and Lily still won’t let me attempt to juggle eggs from the fridge. … I guess I’m not quite ready to join the cast of performers making a living off the street.

As we moved from one busker to another, we noticed that many of them used similar jokes and lines. I personally found there was way too much similarity between the acts. It would have been nice to see more variety.

All the acts work on the same premise. They have one big trick, feat or demonstration that they are going to show the crowd.

That one thing probably only takes about two or three minutes to perform. They make their living off people donating to their act so, to get people to pay up, they need to build some rapport, and give people something more than a two minute reason to spend $5 or more.

What the buskers do is develop a whole act that takes about thirty minutes, leading up to this one main trick everyone is waiting to see. By then you’ve expended a significant amount of time with them and and they have been able to charm you into being generous with your money.

What I found, however, is that most acts really left you thinking, “Please, get on with it”. I didn’t say it because I’m Canadian, but I had thought of shouting out, “Okay, let’s get to the big trick!”

With most of the acts, I thought they were putting in time. But there was one act Lily and I both agreed kept everyone entertained. I never felt like I wished they’d get to the finale.

I found it to be a lot like preaching. You have a point that you want to make, and then you inform the congregation, illustrate the point to emphasize it, draw some conclusions to it, and hopefully are able to do it in a way that keeps the congregation engaged throughout, and not just hoping you’d get to the end.

Maybe I do have some street performer in me.

Here’s the thing: Following Jesus shouldn’t be like most of those busker acts where you are all focussed on the final feat (heaven). It should be more like that one act we saw, where you are engaged with Jesus and interacting with Him all through life. Christ doesn’t call us to an ending; He calls us to come along with Him in relationship.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What kind of relationship with Jesus do you have? Leave your comments below.

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Is Taking A Vacation Worth It?

My life is so overextended right now that I have to work extra hard just to get myself ready for vacation.

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Back when I was a child, and even a teen, when vacation time came around I could literally drop what I was doing and go.

Of course, in those days I had servants (also called parents) that did all the prep work for vacation. I was just along for the ride.

Family vacation was a bonus for me then anyway; I was already on vacation.

But now it’s a different story. In order to leave on vacation, I have to cover my bases, make sure people are in place, and that responsibilities are assigned.

Then there’s the issue of unfinished work.

The experts say that if you really want a rest, if you want to relax, you need to clear up the things you’ve been putting off. In other words, you need to catch up on your work so you can take a break.

The problem is we’re often behind on our work because we’re too tired and need a break.

It seems like a lose-lose situation. I need a break from work, but in order to do that I have to burn myself out before I go so that I have nothing left when I actually take my vacation.

My vacation then becomes a rest AND recuperation.

I have lots of projects that I should tackle before vacation and but there are particularly two things that will stare me in the face all throughout vacation if I don’t do them before I go.

One of those projects involves the desktop on my computer. It is strewn with files and folders, representing work that I need to file or finish.

The filing is not that difficult to accomplish; the time it will take is minimal. It’s the work I need to finish that has me reeling.

The work staring at me from my computer screen has two stages to it. It’s work I need to post to a website.

The first stage is the preparation. I need to get the work in a format that is ready to be posted … I’ve already been working on that.

The second stage involves posting it to the website. This part will take a long time. It’s a tedious, multi-step process for each file.

I remember one year going on vacation, and within an hour of leaving the house, I started feeling sick.

By the time we got to where we were staying the first night, I was sicker than I’d ever been in my life.

I think I had worked so hard getting myself ready for vacation that my body said, “That’s enough!” and it kind of shut down on me.

I was a couple of days into vacation before my body started to come around and I began feeling like myself again.

That seems counteractive to the whole idea of vacation.

Oh, for the days when I had servants to do all the work for me!

Here’s the thing: We tend to overextend ourselves, pushing hard for things, even when we don’t have the power to make them happen. We strive in our own power, and become exhausted, only in the end turning to God for the help He can provide. Why not go to Him first, and seek His wisdom, power and support? Don’t burn out in your own power.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What work or issue could you take to God, instead of wearing out in your own strength? Leave your comments below.

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My Hockey Season is Finally Over

We just celebrated Canada’s birthday, and this morning I finally hung up my skates for the season.

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That’s Canada … hockey till July! No wonder some folks down south believe we live in igloos. Those same people probably think we are still skating outside in July.

This is actually the latest I’ve played hockey in several years. There are other things that get in the way, things like golf and mountain biking.

I only have time for so much; something had to give.

I will tell you though, it’s kind of nice showing up to the arena wearing sandals, shorts and a T-shirt … and I’d much rather come out of the arena to temperatures of +25 C with the sun high in a blue sky than -25 C with the wind howling and the snow flying.

It was time to stop; the numbers were getting low. I guess people have other things to do on a Saturday morning.

We only had three aside and two goalies yesterday. It was like playing overtime in the NHL, except we did it for an hour and 10 minutes!

We even made a trade part way through the game, and my team acquired my son in a one-for-one trade.

We made a killing on the trade, and improved our team and chances by a considerable amount.

For the last game of the season, it was nice to be on the same side as my son and set him up for a few goals.

Normally, we are on opposite teams because he refuses to put a white jersey in his hockey bag. … The teams are usually chosen by light and dark sweaters, so he’s on the other side most of the time.

Before I even had kids, I remember dreaming about being able to play hockey with my children when they became adults.

Since I was in my 30’s before we started, I wondered if I would still be able to skate by the time they reached an age where we could play on the same level.

Well, it’s kind of nice now. I just turned 60, my son is 25, and we were able to dangle some moves together that hypnotized the goalie.

Lily has mixed emotions about the end of the season.

On the one hand, I leave to play at 6:30 in the morning so it’s no hassle for her because she’s still sleeping. But on the other hand, now that the last game has been played, I just added all my hockey sweaters, socks and underwear to the pile of laundry … laundry just increased by a few loads this week.

Without hockey on Saturday, I’ll be able to get at things earlier on Saturday mornings – Lily should be happy. She’ll have more of my time to coerce me into projects and tasks around the house.

Then there is some vacation time up ahead and there’s not much room for hockey when the beach is taking up most days.

It’s a good time for a break, to focus on some other things, and do some dreaming of next season.

Here’s the thing: Different seasons or times of year bring different schedules and commitments. In the changes, your time with God can get put on the shelf. As one thing stops and something else starts, be sure that you keep your time with God – that season never ends.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What seasonal activity has impacted your devotional time? Leave your comments below.

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Some Disasters Turn Into Adventures

Sometimes a disaster is a disaster and we remember it for what it was. But sometimes a disaster turns into an adventure over time.

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I was reflecting the other day on a camp adventure – I mean disaster – I was party to many years ago …

I was directing a week of junior high camp north of Edmonton at Camp Nakamun.

For one of the activities that week I planned to take the whole camp of about 60 campers, plus councillors and support crew, on a lazy river float.

I got the owner of a tire company to give me 100 inner tubes. It was going to be awesome!

The plan was to plop ourselves in the water at a designated spot, float for one and a half hours, then pull up to shore and get picked up by the bus.

It was a great plan … but I wasn’t there when they did the trial run. Everyone assured me that it would go like clockwork so I had no fears.

The day came and we all got in the water and started floating down the Pembina River. About a half a kilometre downstream, I floated by one the staffers who had gone on the trial run. He was looking back at the bridge from which we were dropped into the river.

He said to me very calmly, “I’m not sure that’s the spot we started from when we did our trial.”

I said, “What?! … How are they going to know where to pick us up then?” It’s not like the road followed the river; it actually only intersected the river in a few spots.

At the time I thought, “Oh well. It will work out.”

We had great fun for a while, linking inner tubes together to form a flotilla, splashing each other and, of course, overturning the odd inner tube, dumping the owner into the river.

What we didn’t have was medical personnel, life jackets, or food. They never met up with us.

The day was a little cooler and too overcast to call it ideal weather, so about an hour and a half into the float people were getting hungry, cold and ready to get out of the water.

We kept floating, hoping to find the arranged meeting spot. It was nowhere in sight.

It started to sprinkle rain and the natives started asking more questions. Still we kept floating on.

About two hours into the float, we beached the tubes on the shore and climbed the steep banks of the river.

We found a home close by and the kind owners built a bonfire on their lawn for the kids to keep warm.

It was another hour later before the bus finally found us.

That night I had quite a few hostile junior highers in my camp. They let me know they were not happy with me.

My hour and a half outing turned into a little bit of a Gilligan’s Island tour!

I thought it would go down as the great camping disaster, but the next year some of the kids who’d been on that float talked about it as if it was the greatest adventure.

Years later I look back and laugh at that outing; we all came back alive to tell the tale.

Here’s the thing: When we go through difficult things in life don’t miss the adventure of having God with you. Recall how God managed to get you through the disaster so that you can look back on it as an adventure through which you grew.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: Anyone remember a lazy river ride like that? Leave your comments below.

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That Project Left Me Feeling Incompetent

The project I worked on yesterday left me feeling fairly incompetent, until I watched a program that changed my mind altogether.

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I was replacing some wall sconces at our cottage … we had four, all the same, but Lily decided she wanted some more modern-looking ones.

She found the perfect fixtures and, a few weeks ago, I had the task of changing them.

The amazing thing was I didn’t get electrocuted!

Unfortunately, the new fixtures didn’t fit very well. I tried to modify the attachment plates but they still didn’t fit snugly to the wall. They didn’t look quite right but I ran out of time and left them.

Yesterday I took another stab at it, trying to find a better solution. I was just about to drill a couple of new holes to make it work, when I got another idea.

This idea involved a hacksaw and cutting through a metal plate.

Now, in the past I’ve had some issues with saws of various kinds. There was the time I was trimming off the bottom of a door and I made a nice starter cut at the base of my first finger on my left hand.

That manoeuvre sent me directly to the hospital. The doctors were amazed I didn’t cut a nerve. That finger still feels a little funny to the touch, however.

It wasn’t more than about six months later that I was trimming a panel for a sliding door in our basement. I was using a utility knife to slice the fine board, only I got slightly off course and sliced into myself.

And you can guess, it was my first finger on my left hand. This time it was at the top of the finger.

Well, that was all in the past because this time I didn’t cut anything … well, except the metal plates.

My problem this time was I kept doing things out of order and then would need to take everything all apart to put in a couple of forgotten screws or to trim some insulation.

I had four sconces and it wasn’t until the fourth one that I was able to do things in the right order without having to attach and unattach it from the wall two or three times.

Oh yah, I was able to complete the job unscathed but I still felt like never doing a home project again. I made so many mistakes, the time it took wasn’t worth it.

Feeling like I was done with home repairs from now on, I settled down to relax. Lily was watching some reality TV home show where contestants had to compete against each other, doing things on a construction site like manoeuvring a wheel barrel, hammering nails, painting panels.

After watching how pathetic those people were at doing their tasks, I was feeling like a professional!

I looked over at the wall to see my handiwork and thought the job looked great. I immediately forgot about my frustration and thought I could take on another project some time.

… Well, we’ll see.

Here’s the thing: When you find that sin has tripped you up, maybe for the umpteenth time, and you’re feeling pretty bad about it, with self talk like, “What’s the matter with me?”, remind yourself how God sees you. He does not see you as a failure who falls to sin; He sees you as a son or daughter whom He loves and picks back up after you fall down.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How do you rebound from being down on yourself? Leave your comments below.

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It’s A Disaster When I’m Not Focused

Some people are naturally more focused than others, but focus is important for everyone.

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When you’re focused, you get more done in less time; you rid yourself of distractions. When you’re focused, the main things seem to be clearer in your mind.

But it’s not always easy to be focused. There are times – especially when we are tired – that we just can’t focus on any one thing.

I had that experience a week ago when I was working with a committee to write a report. We had worked for many hours on the contents and finally we were consolidating and tuning all our expressions into a concise, articulate document.

After a couple of hours, I couldn’t concentrate on the point we were dealing with. All I could think of was closing my eyes, that there was time the next day to finish our task.

A few days ago, I also had a moment when I had to talk myself into getting focused. I was trying to throw a crumpled piece of paper into a garbage basket from about eleven feet away (okay, I measured the distance later).

I missed three times: to the left, to the right, and then short. Each time I thought I would make the shot, but it wasn’t until I really trained my sights on the back of the basket that I drained it.

I had to tell my eyes what to lock onto, instead of looking in the general direction. When I locked my focus on the back of the garbage basket, I put it in … and to prove it wasn’t a fluke, I did it five more times in a row after that.

When I think of focus, I think of a magnifying glass and the sun. When you get the sun to shine through the magnifier until the light draws together to form a ray that is so intense and powerful that you can start a fire, that’s focus.

When I focus on a golf ball, I will hit it squarely centred on the club face. When my focus is not trained on the ball, I will miss the centre ever so slightly and the ball will not travel as far.

In my office, first thing in the morning, if I get out my study tools and start reading, I focus on my task undistracted.

If, however, I open up my email, my focus is lost to find out who wants my attention. My mind is flooded with added thoughts, concerns, and demands that were not there before I looked at my email.

My intent, my focus is no longer laser-like; it’s not going to burn a hole through any paper.

The trick is eliminating things that distract, that widen our view and keep us from locking onto our target with pinpoint accuracy.

Here’s the thing: When it comes to focusing on God, the best time to focus is before you have any other commitment or distraction on your mind. That’s why I like the early morning, before I look at or do anything else. That’s when it’s easiest to focus on my mind on God. And if I happen to wake up with something else on my mind, I simply determine a later time when I will deal with it, so I can lay it aside for the time being.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you do to focus your attention? Leave your comments below.

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Varying Temperature

We know that temperature varies from place to place, but 20° Celsius isn’t even the same across the country.

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When you hear what the temperature is somewhere else, you immediately interpret it as what it would feel like where you are presently.

Of course, this leads to either jealousy or boasting. We either wish we had the temperature in that other city or we proudly admire the great temperature we have.

I was recently in Calgary for a conference and when I flew out of Toronto it was quite warm. When I got to Calgary, it was a little overcast and cooler.

The next day, however, was going to be around 20 C so I dressed appropriately for what 20 C would be back home in Ontario.

What I found, though, was I could have worn a light spring coat and been perfectly comfortable. It’s not that I was cold, but it wasn’t warm either.

The next day I wore shorts. It was supposed to be warmer and, though I was not chilly wearing shorts, I could have been slightly more comfortable in long pants. Choosing my attire based solely on the temperature, I should have been very comfortable.

Just before I was leaving Calgary, I stopped to grab lunch at a fast food restaurant. I placed my order, and while waiting, saw a young guy come in rather exhausted.

He said to me, “Man, is it ever hot out there!” I could tell he wasn’t kidding. The temperature had risen to about 24 C, but he seemed like he wasn’t going to make it through the day if he didn’t get some kind of relief.

He ordered water.

That’s it! It was like if he didn’t get water right then, he couldn’t go on. Fortunately, the place had lots of water and it seemed he had enough change in his pocket to pay for it.

I was ready if he had been short a few coins; I would have chipped in for the guy. He seemed a little desperate.

After I finished my meal in the comfort of the air conditioned restaurant, I prepared to head out into the blistering heat.

I thought maybe I should order a bottle of water to go in case I collapsed before I reached my rental car. … I simply took my chances.

Outside the restaurant the temperature was nice. I wasn’t sweating and I certainly didn’t feel the heat of the sun beating down on me.

I thought about the young guy inside and wondered how he would do in the same temperature in Toronto. He may have needed two bottles of water – one to carry in case it was a long distance between watering holes.

When I got into Toronto at 9:30 pm that night, it was about 19 C. It felt about the same temperature as it had in Calgary at midday with the sun shining down on us.

Someone pointed out to me that in the winter -10 C in Toronto feels a lot more severe than -10 C in Calgary. I guess it’s all relative.

Here’s the thing: In life we deal with the same circumstances in different ways. We have different thresholds for what we experience. Aren’t you glad that God is personal and deals with you, helps you, listens to you, responds to you, not according to the degree of the issue, but based on how it feels to you?

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What issues cause “severe temperatures” for you? Leave your comments below.

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Do You Save The Gorilla or the Boy?

This week I heard about the boy who got into a gorilla enclosure at a zoo. People were pretty upset that the gorilla was killed to save the boy. One radio announcer said it was a sad day.

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I thought, “Wait a minute. It was a great day. That boy was saved!”

People were looking to blame someone for this. They were blaming the zoo, and/or the parents of the boy.

But what about blaming the gorilla? If the gorilla had have had any sense at all he would have just protected the boy and not dragged him through the water – that’s what got the officials to act in such a decisive and final manner.

What was the gorilla thinking anyway? He must have known that his actions would look threatening to all who looked on, including the zoo officials who had a gun trained on him.

I’m not what you would call an animal lover, but I did have an iguana as a pet for seven years. And we had a turtle for about the same length of time. We finally gave him up to friends who had a young family.

I don’t know how Winston is doing now, but I still think of him with fond memories sometimes … poor little guy.

I guess what I’m saying is, I like animals; they’re nice. But I’m still a meat eater so I really wouldn’t consider myself to be a defender of animals.

There are those who love animals and would protect them at all costs. For those people, I guess it’s a toss up of who you would protect in the situation of the gorilla and the boy.

After all, it was the boy who was in the gorilla’s house, and he was in there uninvited. Though if a 3 year old could get in, I think the gorilla should have had a better locking system for his enclosure.

I understand the parents could have been charged, so maybe they facilitated the break-and-enter for the little boy.

If that’s the case, what have we been teaching our children for years, reading them stories about “Goldilocks And The Three Bears”? Clearly someone was guilty entering the bears’ enclosure while they were not home. Really, what kind of parents did Goldilocks have anyway?

If the boy was in the enclosure to steal something from the gorilla, I’m not sure what it might have been. There wasn’t much in the gorilla’s enclosure worth stealing – no valuables like electronics or jewelry … maybe some food, but I’m sure they could have easily got more appetizing food from the concession stands.

In our time it seems there’s a trend to put animals on the same level as humans. It’s like we need to speak up for them because they have a disability or disadvantage in communicating what they want.

After all, there are many people who think gorillas (animals) are people too.

Here’s the thing: God gave each human a mind, spirit and soul, because He wants to have a relationship with us. Animals are a wonder of God’s creative power, but humans were made in the image of God, to connect with God. The day that boy was saved in the gorilla enclosure was a great day because one who was made in the image of God was spared so he could reflect the image of God to others.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How do you plan to reflect the image of God to someone today? Leave your comments below.

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Be Open To Something New

Yesterday my daughter got me to try something new, and that’s pretty amazing. What’s even more amazing is that it was food.

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When your kids are young, you are constantly coaxing, encouraging, coercing them to try new and different things. As they grow up, you do it so much that you never think there will be a time when the shoe is on the other foot.

I have to admit, I’ve had to take a few fashion tips from my son, and he’s gotten me to watch the odd movie he recommended.

But the other night was something else. It involved eating and I’m pretty set in my ways when it comes to that.

I think it goes back to the days when my mother tried to feed me squash for dinner. It seemed to be a staple in our house, like once a week at the very least.

I alway refused, but there was alway a tiny pile of it on my plate, with the understanding that there would not be dessert without the downing of the squash.

I tried to hide the flavour by mixing it into other foods like potato, but the taste always made me shiver as it went down.

As hard as my Mom tried, and as often as she persisted, to this day I don’t eat squash.

I don’t eat guacamole either. Well, maybe I shouldn’t be so hasty …

Lily and I were on our way to Toronto for me to catch a plane the next day. We were staying the night at our daughter Karlie’s home.

Normally when we get there, we go out to eat or order in. Karlie does cook but there never seems to be any food in the house when we arrive. I’m not positive, but maybe it’s just a ploy to get a free meal.

This trip, however, we left late so I thought we would just get fast food on the way. Not this time. Karlie apparently had food for us.

Still, we weren’t going to get there until nearly 8 pm, and since I was hungry when we left home, I thought about just passing on her offer this time.

But there was something about the offer that gave me the impression she would be disappointed if we didn’t eat there. So I said we’d be there for dinner, and hit the gas pedal.

Well, Karlie is into this clean eating thing. I don’t really know what that means … I’m pretty sure Lily washes the food we eat too.

When we got there, to my surprise, the bbq was on and the chicken was smelling pretty good. I’d been waiting so long to eat, I almost had to catch myself from salivating down my chin.

We were having chicken tacos which is not a stretch for me at all. I like hitting up Taco Bell for some grub sometimes. But this was a little different.

The tacos were basically chicken, red cabbage and that’s it. I thought maybe I needed some hot sauce or something, but there was none. The only thing to put on for flavour was guacamole.

But I don’t eat guac! However, since there was nothing else, and with a little coaxing from Lily, I tried it.

Crazy thing! – it was pretty good. … Look at that, me trying something new my daughter suggested.

Here’s the thing: Don’t get so stuck in your ways spiritually, that if God were to move you to try something new, you won’t do it. Always be open to the leading of the Holy Spirit in your life.

That’s life!

Paul

Question: What’s something new you’ve recently tried? Leave your comment below.

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Parking Downtown Can Be An Adventure

If you drive a car at one time or other you are going to face some parking issues. The bottom line is that there are more cars in the world than parking spaces.

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I remember when they were building the hockey arena downtown in my city; the cry from the people was that there was no parking. Where will people park?

At my church, during the week, we allow two businesses to use our parking lot. On Sundays we use their parking lots because we don’t have enough room for all the cars.

On Friday I had a lunch meeting downtown. As I drove I thought, “It won’t be easy to find a spot.” I decided that I wouldn’t try to be greedy and look for a spot right outside the restaurant I was going to.

The first spot I found, however, fooled me. There were lines suggesting it was permissible to park there. I got out of my car, looked, and decided I needed to back up a little more to really be between the lines.

Since I was out of the car, I thought I’d pay the meter first, so I went over and threw in all the change I had, figuring that would be sufficient to cover my meeting.

When I came back to the car to put the parking pass in the window, I noticed a street sign right at the tail end of my car.

I thought maybe I should check out what that sign said. I was suddenly a little disappointed with the city! On the road they had markings for a parking spot but on the sign above they took the spot away with a no parking sign from that point on.

Now I had a parking pass but no spot to park in. I got in my car and looked around trying to figure out what I was going to do.

I looked back behind me and on the other side of the road there was a parking space. I checked the traffic and, when it looked clear, I swung out of my spot and did a three point turn (perfectly, I might add) in the middle of a busy downtown street and raced for the vacant parking spot.

I pulled in and, since I already had my parking pass, I was pretty pleased with myself.

I got to my meeting and it was not only delayed, it went longer than I had anticipated. When I got out I hurried to my car, fully expecting to see a parking ticket on my windshield.

There was no ticket – I beat the system! In fact, I was two for two that week … which I think is a much better percentage than my son has.

… I get his parking tickets addressed to me on a regular basis because the car is in my name … I’m not sure his Star Trek cloaking device is working all that well.

Here’s the thing: I’ll take a chance on finding a parking spot and, at times, even take the chance I’ll get back to my car before the ticket officer arrives. But I’m not going to take a chance at getting into heaven. I want to be sure I have the right ticket. That ticket is my faith firmly placed in Jesus Christ as my saviour and my Lord. Oh, and there’s no trouble finding a parking space there.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What kind of chance are you taking with God right now? Leave your comments below.