Planning?

Seems like I’m always planning something. Are you the same? Can be as simple as planning dinner, or company coming. Then there is planning for vacation, planning for coming home, and even planning where to stop for coffee and petrol. Our planning for the vacation is quite different here in this corner of Canada. After all we have only two great months to take a well-earned vacation.

But we plan for many other things. Right now, this week many parents and children are getting ready for school to begin. So, the list is made, the stores selected and into the car with card in hand. Now that takes planning. Lots of planning. And how about planning on how to fit in all those football, gymnastic, music and dance lesson?

Beyond our planning of our year and months, we also plan our days. For me the most time spent on moving forward comes on a Saturday evening. All that has to be accomplished on Sunday, yes Bill, one day a week, is put in place the night before. I remember one Saturday. I thought I had everything ready. The next morning I just had to get out of bed, jump into my clothes and dash off. Well, after getting to church and getting all the planned duties done, I realized I left my sermon notes on the desk at the house… Opps. No fear, I knew what it was about.

Planning is part of our lives but is it part of our eternity? This last week I said good-bye to a close friend. He had planned for his eternity with God. To say good-bye is not the whole truth. It is more about saying, “See you again”. Jesus said, “I am going to prepare a place for you”. If He is preparing a place for me and is coming again to take me to where He is, I am confident I am ready to go.

How is your eternal planning going?

Something to think about

Rob

You and I will never know what’s ahead of us.  No, I’m not talking about driving a car or going in a plane.  I’m talking about life.  We have never been given that luxury. Each day is a new adventure and each day holds challenges and triumphs. This is not something I just discovered.  It’s just something that comes to mind every now and then. This past week was one of those times.
My day planner was full and my own “to do” list came in two versions.  I had a plan and I had goals.  Or so I thought.  It all changed on Thursday when I seemed to have come down with a touch of the flu. As much as I tried, it was a struggle to get up off the chair and get something done. After all, this part of life was not in my plan. Being sick with little energy is not something I’m used to. I don’t get sick that often and this was not what I needed. Especially not this week.
Well, the list had to shortened, my expectations diminished and some things would just have to wait. (They are still waiting for the pneumonia to be gone). I know you know what I am talking about.  Not nice when you're off your game.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not one of those men who will revert to childhood when they are sick. In the middle of how I was feeling, I climbed up four sections of scaffolding and shingled a small section of the roof after taking off three layers of old shingle.  But then I’m not unaware of my short comings and I did take a good number of breaks to build my energy up to finish the job.
This is one more reason why I trust in Jesus and give my life each morning to Him. You see, He knows what’s ahead. He is beyond time and space. He reaches beyond our comprehension and knows what is around the bend. Sometimes even preparing us or warning us of the future. My Saviour loves me enough to know what’s ahead as He walks with me each moment of each day. So I trust in Him to walk beside me just holding my hand.

I don't know about tomorrow;
I just live from day to day.
I don't borrow from its sunshine
For its skies may turn to grey.
I don't worry o'er the future,
For I know what Jesus said.
And today I'll walk beside Him,
For He knows what is ahead.
Many things about tomorrow
I don't seem to understand
But I know who holds tomorrow
And I know who holds my hand.

Something to think about.
Rob

Just a Couple More Minutes

It starts so innocently.  You say to yourself. It’s only a minute or two.  For years this thought never crossed my mind.  I would never just lay there in bed and say, “just a couple more minutes”.  But it started.  Don’t really know when, but it did.  No longer was I bouncing out of bed in the morning at 4:45am. Sometimes, I would lay there and just enjoy the moment. I know you each know what I mean.  Not too long though.  Just a minute or two. Then at exactly 4:48 am, I’m up and going. I wonder to myself if those minutes will grow in the future?
Well, this morning things seemed to change again and I found myself adding a couple more minutes.  This morning was different. How different? Well, for me it was a good sleep for a change.  I slept for 5 hours straight and waking to a clock brightly telling me it was 2:24 am. Unusual for me but when I did wake, I lay there for a few minutes just thinking about sleeping so long. There were those first couple of minutes. I might have even caught myself smiling to myself and thinking how good it was.  Well, then it happened. That thought lead to another thought and another until before I knew it I heard the clocks strike 3 am. Again before I knew it I was praying for this person and that, putting a sermon together in my head, and it went on and on and on.
It was after an hour that I presumed I finished doing all my thinking, and then I forced my mind to shut down and I fell back asleep. The next thing I knew, it happened, Blink - I was awake again and I had actually slept in.  It was now 4:49 am. Now I bounced out of bed, down the stairs and off to the gym.
I wonder if you do the same thing? Or maybe the same thing on occasion? Or how about when it comes to Sunday morning?  Saying to yourself, “I’ll just lie here for a few more minute”.  Let's shake this habit now before it takes over our lives. Join me and not lying there on Sunday morning. Realize the scripture is true about every day but more so about Sunday, “This is the day that the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it”. Go Rejoice with others before a loving, caring God, who never sleeps so we can.
See you in church.
Something to think about.
Rob

Time To Run!

It goes by so fast. For years we prepare to watch the Olympics and then in two weeks it’s all over. Before we know it, it’s over for us. Not so for the athletes. Their Olympic journey start each and every day of their lives. They have times when they relax a little over the four years leading up to these games but most of the time, as some people say, “they’re on”. And they are.

But back to us. We don’t practise sitting in front of the television getting ready for the games just as we don’t practise sitting preparing for the Grey Cup, NHL playoffs, or the World Cup. We just don’t. We are observers in the entertainment bleachers of sport. For us it’s a pass time. And maybe it’s past time for us to participate.

Over these last two weeks, I have taken to observing may individual athlete faces. We can all see the focus they have before the gun goes off, the determined look as they strained to win, and then the “thrill of victory”. We have it played before us in replay after replay. How wonderful to see these varied expressions and realize the training that has continually gone on and lasted for years before this one and only moment. For some of the athletes it is over in a heartbeat, while other struggle for hours and even days.

In 2 Timothy 4:7, we read, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith”. This scripture is for all of us. It distinctly tells us we are all in the race. But more than that it tells us we will all finish. We are all racing toward heaven. The prize is heaven. We will all attain it. Just as every runner crosses the finish line, we all will in crossing the line.

But I’m thinking about more than this. I’m thinking we should all get up off the couch, out of our chair, off the comfortable pew and encourage others to join us in training for the race set before us. To read God’s work, to shake off the sin that entangles us and to run with perseverance the race set before us. For too long we have been sitting doing little else then watch the ‘paid’ coach. Time to shake things up. Time to run together and get everyone to join us in this race. No more sitting watching.

Something to think about.

Rob