Learning to Breathe

My family and I are camping in a beautiful park in Ontario, Canada called Bon Echo Provincial Park. It has amazing scenery, great swimming and a demand for calm that is hard to fathom even when experiencing it. 

Today, we were out in my brother-in-law's boat, swimming in the middle of the lake. It was here that I learned to snorkel for the first time. To say that I was the source of my families laughter would be an understatement. I snorted more water than an elephant taking a bath. 

Just before leaving on vacation from work, things have been extremely busy. We have had tight deadlines, large demands and limited staff. Just when you feel like you have one thing accomplished, another large task gets dropped in your lap. It has meant many long days and labour intensive tasks. 

In chapter 3 of Ephesians, Paul finishes with a prayer that truly puts things into perspective:

14 When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father,15 the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. 16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. 18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

20 Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.21 Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.

Sometimes in my Christian walk, I wonder: "Will I ever get it right?" and then I read a passage like Paul has written above and remember to take a breath and look to God to help me as my only source of strength and not my own ability. 

At work, I have had to take a step back, breathe and trust the team I work with to get it done and to think outside the box when situations seem impossible. I'm very fortunate to work with the people that I do. 

As for snorkelling, I need to remember to breathe (through my mouth) and just slow down and enjoy the beauty that lies beneath the waters. (That's a whole other post in and of itself). It all takes practice but eventually I will figure it out. Fortunately, I have a very patient and forgiving family that understands what it means to learn to snorkel. (I think they are still laughing though.)

Are you facing a struggle today? Do you have a bad habit that you think you cannot break? Do you have a situation that seems insurmountable? Read through Paul's letter and remember to take a breath. Sometimes, we forget that we serve a limitless God with our limited imagination. 

Take the limits off, breathe and watch what God can do. You will be blown away. 

He Knows

Right now, a very close friend of ours needs a touch from God for a blood clot between his lung and his heart. The next 12 to 24 hours are crucial critical as mentioned by the medical staff. 

At work, we have a very large project with a very tight deadline. The task seems insurmountable but the project needs to be completely quickly as it is critical to our business' success. 

In my devotions, I was reading the story of Jonah and how God had a tight deadline for Jonah and it involved Jonah for the redemption of the great city of Nineveh. God needed Jonah to go whether he wanted to or not. 

In the above three instances, there is a crucial need and a necessity for action. Often in life, we find ourselves in tight spots wondering what's next but ultimately it is not about what we know or don't, but rather Who knows. Our response is simply to trust that God is sovereign and that He will bring us through whatever tough situation we face. 

So for my friend, I ask that God intervene guide this situation. With work, I ask God that He would give wisdom in making the right decisions and the strength to make it through the next month. Most of all, I thank God that He uses people like Jonah (you and me) that don't necessarily listen the first time to accomplish His Will because after all, He knows!

Here We Go Again ...

When I started this blog a few years back, I had my life all figured out. I was pastoring in a church, getting back on my feet after a marriage that failed and loving life. 

2016 has started off with a bang and a million things has changed since this whole journey began but God is really laying on my heart to write again. It started in Bon Echo at the Pump House beach when a friend questioned why I hadn't blogged in a while. She missed reading it. To be honest, I didn't really think people cared about what I had to say and also that my time could be used on better things like dropping my wallet into the middle of that lake. 

Have you ever gone through a time where you felt that God really wasn't speaking to you or that your existence really wasn't important to the grand scheme of things? Maybe it's a valley, slump or rough spot but to you, you just don't feel that you're really important. You're not necessarily spent with life to the point you're looking for a way out (and if you're reading this and that's what you're feeling, please know you are important and to talk to someone) but you just don't feel your life really is going to alter the coarse of the world. There are days like that. 

In 2 Samuel 9, King David was looking to bless someone from Saul's family because of his friendship with Saul's son, Jonathan. He asked Ziba (one of Saul's servants) if there was anyone alive from Saul's family. Ziba told him that there was one of Jonathan's sons still alive but he was crippled in both feet. In these times, people who were crippled were usually beggars who sat outside of temples and at city gates begging for money. Dave summoned for Mephibosheth to come to the palace. That day, a man of insignificance became a man of importance. His life changed. 

God has your life in His hands and when you least expect it he will choose you as His son or daughter to rise up and be a person of influence; sometimes without you even knowing it. 

I blog because I want to encourage someone to keep going and live a purposeful life. I don't know who reads this (or if anyone does), but if God wants to help one person to go from feeling insignificant to important, alone to loved or empty to empowered, then I will continue to take the time to share my thoughts through this medium. 

I'm not in a church as a pastor any more. I have a beautiful wife and the cutest son in the world. I enjoy my job (has its moments) and love the people I work with. I have a good life but I still don't have it all figured out. Life is messy sometimes and not always fair. Know this, God loves you and cares for you today and at the end of it all, that's all that really matters. 

So with that, here we go again ...

Learning from Lefty

I had the unique privilege of attending a funeral today for a man I never really knew. It was my wife's dad's uncle who had lived a good full life and had moved on to a much better place. I'll come back to this in a minute. 

Life has been extremely busy as I late hence the reason I haven't really been writing a lot. There have been a lot of changes at work and with a 7 month old, I'm learning something new every day. My time seems to be pulled between home and work. I'm doing the best I can and that's all I can do. 

It's amazing how quickly our life can get filled up with things to do. We get so busy doing that sometimes we forget to be. When my wife and I started dating, she had a note stuck to her fridge that I will always remember because it struck me so profoundly. It went like this:

Be still and know that I am God. 

Be still and know that I am. 

Be still and know. 

Be still. 

Be. 

Let me take you back to the funeral. This man was affectionately known as Lefty. I won't get into the story behind the name, but Lefty was man that I learned today loved his family an would do anything for them. Most of all, Lefty loved his wife. Ironically, he passed away on Valentine's Day to be with his bride in a already in heaven. But what really stood out to me today was that during the eulogy, his grandson said this: "Gramps would always give to everyone else before himself, especially grandma." What a beautiful thing to say about someone. But it was from knowing how to "be", that he was able to give. He knew who he was, which meant he knew what he didn't need which allowed him to give. 

I hope in the busyness of my life I always remember to put others before myself. I hope that in "being", that I learn who i am that I know what I don't need which will allow me to give. May people say about me that "he gave of himself for others, especially his wife." What a great legacy to have. That's the legacy I desire to leave. 

Thank you Lefty for being a great example to so many people. 

A Glass of Water

Today marks my 365th day of drinking nothing but water.  That's right!  For the past year, I have had nothing but water to drink.  I never had pop, juice, milk (except on cereal because water on cereal would be gross), coffee or tea.  That's a lot of water.

When people asked me why I was doing it, there were a number of reasons for my choice.  One was I get a lot of acid reflux and my doctor had told me years ago that laying off of acid filled drinks would help.  Another reason was it was healthier for me.  Given the copious amounts of sugar I ingest through candy intake, this was a wise decision otherwise I would have probably been a few pounds heavier.

Have you ever decided to do something but found it difficult to do?  What were the rewards or benefits?  Did you give up?  Did you think to yourself, "I will never ever accomplish this?"  How many times in life do we give up on what we are trying to do because we just think we cannot do it?  Maybe you're trying to quit smoking.  Maybe you're trying to read more. (I should probably do that.)  Maybe you're trying to lose weight. (Given the candy intake, I should probably do this too.)  Maybe you're just trying to be a better person in general. (We should all do this!)

But do you give up?

There are a lot of things that I would love to change about myself but have often thought that I just cannot do it.  That right there is the biggest struggle that I face.  My thoughts tell me that I cannot do it, so I give up and accept failure.  I've been defeated before I've even started.  I had to change my thinking before I could even hope to achieve what I was hoping for.  However, the road to completion wasn't easy.  There were times when I wanted a cup of coffee more than I thought I would.  There were times when I just wanted to stop into a Starbucks and pick myself up a Cinnamon Dolce Latte.  But it was my goal to not do it and I am glad to say that I didn't.

The author of Hebrews talks about these kinds of struggles.  In a single verse he talks about the struggle, but also the benefit of overcoming that struggle:

"No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way" (Hebrews 12:11, NLT).

It isn't easy saying no to yourself.  It isn't easy to deprive yourself of something that you really think that you want, but the benefit is that, not only do you achieve your goal, you also have trained yourself to know that you can do it again and again and again.  You are preparing yourself for what you might think is the impossible.

So why did I choose to give up all forms of drinks except water for an entire year?  The answer is really that I wanted to train myself to be disciplined.  I wanted to prove to myself that if I set my mind to something, that I could attain what I was striving for.  It may have seemed silly to some.  It may have seemed ridiculous to others.  However to me, it was a battle of the will to win.  I have a family, a job and most importantly, a living God that needs me to be self-disciplined.

I am happy to report that I have won this battle.  I am also happy to report that I will continue to win because I KNOW THAT I CAN!!!  I have proved it over this past year and I will continue to discipline myself in the future.  I want to change to have "a peaceful harvest of right living" in my life.

Here is the great news ... YOU CAN DO IT TOO!!!  If you determine in your mind that you will succeed, you will.  You might have struggles along the way, and at times it might seem next to impossible, but you will be victorious if you set it in your mind that you're going to do this.  Start training yourself.  Maybe start with something small and exercise your discipline until you see the results you're looking for.

I started with a glass of water.  What are you going to start with to train yourself to be self-disciplined?

Happy New Year!

Imperfectly Perfect

Tonight I celebrated Christmas Eve with my family.  It was much like most Christmas Eves in the past.  We eat, we open presents, we go to church, we eat and then we go home.  But what stood out tonight to me caught me off guard.

Part of our yearly tradition is going to church together as a family.  This year was no different and when I got there, I was asked to play the drums for the service.  My nephew was even asked to play the bass.  A little rusty, we both agreed to step into these roles and have a front row view of the service.

It was your typical service.  There was some carols, special music, a message and a reminder about what the season is all about.  But what stood out to me was a young girl who played silent night on her keyboard.  For some reason, in that moment, I was lost in what Christmas was all about.  Her playing wasn't perfect, but it was a reminder that in our imperfections, we still can worship God for who He is and what He has done for us.  I'll get to that in a second.  At the end of the song, she missed a chord but was able to perservere through the minor mishap and finish the song.  She went back and sat beside her mom visibly upset because she hadn't done it quite the way she wanted.

After she had finished, another accomplished piano player also played another Christmas medley.  He was very good but he too, missed a few chords but perservered through and finished a beautiful song. It was as if the whole night was about missing things.  I too, missed the cymbal at one point which brought a chuckle from both my nephew and myself.  

When Mary and Joseph showed up in Bethlehem, there was no room for them in the hotel.  They had missed getting a room for the night.  However, they persevered in a stable.  They saw it through to the finish that their Son was born just the way He was supposed to be.  He came imperfectly perfect.  It is not how most of us would imagine a king being born, but God saw it fit that the King of kings was born in a stable on a cool winter's night.

How many times do we find ourselves trying to do things 'just right' only to be disappointed with the outcome?  We strive for perfection but often make mistakes.  The truth is, that sometimes, it is those mistakes which bring about the best results.  Tonight, a young girl brought me into the presence of a King and reminded me that He never asks us to be perfect, but He just asks us to come and worship Him for who He is ... Jesus Christ ... a Saviour ... Emmanuel.

So, this Christmas, if it isn't perfect, don't sweat it.  As long as you give your best God will take what is imperfect and make it perfect.

To the young lady who played Silent Night ... thank you for allowing me to worship ... perfectly!

Merry Christmas!!!

A Balanced Life

It has been a long time since I've put anything up here. To say that I've been distracted from blogging would be an understatement. With my current job and a new baby, my life has been very occupied with doing. 

My social life has taken a back seat as well. I'm very much a social butterfly and because life has got busy, I haven't really invested the time that I use to in my friends. Meeting for breakfast, grabbing a coffee or even a quick email has been dropped for work and then time at home with my family. Don't get me wrong, I don't regret spending time with my family or doing a good job at work, but maintaining the balance hasn't been well achieved. 

Unfortunately, my personal walk with God has also been neglected because of all my busyness in my life. My devotional time has been hit or miss at best. Spending quiet time with God has been a quick conversation in the car or shower but there hasn't been a lot of one-on-one time with a close friend.  The scales of balance are definitely weighted the wrong way in my life. 

Maybe if you're reading this, your life is out of balance as well. Maybe you have allowed things to distract you or command your attention while other things get neglected. I understand your struggle but maybe this blog today will help you take a look at your schedule and see where you can bring things back into a balanced life. It might not not be easy, but if you commit yourself to being attentive to it, you're going to see a change. 

For me, I'm spending more time with a God that loves me. If He truly is a priority for me, then I need to make time for Him. Work still needs to get done and I enjoy what I do, but if I don't have Him as number one, then the job isn't worth doing because the job is not eternal. Also, when I spend time with God, He leads me in my job. He helps me make the right decisions and shows me how to treat the people that I work with. He also helps me be an example of His love and grace.

So today, I choose balance. What do you choose?