Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Fun in the Sun, or Rain

We love to get out of the city on weekends.  We like to be outdoors.  We like to hike and walk and just be with friends.  But what happens when it rains?  In the winter we go skiing and often it is snowing heavily or blowing?  Do you just go home?  If you are in a city you can always go to a mall, but what do you do when your are so far away from the city that there are no malls?  You can read, you can talk with friends, and if the rain isn't absolutely pouring down you can go for a walk in a forest where the trees will give shelter from light rain (if you've not hiked so high you're above the forest!).  We always want things to be convenient, just right for me, but not everything in life is convenient. Sandra and I go out on weekends no matter what the weather.  You would not believe the looks you get when you tell people about the weekend when you barbequed outdoors in a hurricane.  Or about going for a hike with the snow falling as you walked through the white draped forest.  We've learned to enjoy almost anything that we encounter outdoors. 

Life isn't always the way we want it to be but we can live in joy no matter what we encounter.  When things get tough, when they don’t go as I want them to go or as I have planned, that’s when I am so glad that it is Jesus who brings joy to my life.  Always.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Summer Time

Summer in Canada is a time of vacations and getting away from the city.  Sandra and I love to get away every weekend, and whenever possible, we like to get away for a nice long summer vacation.  The places we go are generally remote, no telephone, no cell reception, no internet.  Nothing.  Totally unplugged.  We love it.

Some of our friends can’t understand how we can go away for a couple of days or a couple of weeks and be out of contact with people.  “How can you get by with out Facebook for two weeks?”  “How can you be out of range of texting or cell phones?”  It’s easy, we just are out of touch.  I love it.  No one can bother me, no one can find me.  I can totally relax, just the way it used to be just twenty years ago.  Yes, just twenty years ago!  That’s how quickly electronic technology has changed our lives.  No, changed isn’t a good enough word.  Technology has transformed our lives.  We expect to be able to instantly connect with anyone at any time.  We want, what we want, when we want it.  People seem to want everything “Right Now!” Well, there are lots of days, every week, when no one can connect with me.  And I love it.  I am happy to drop out of the instant access society for a while.

There is only one instantaneous, always there, always available connection I need.  Jesus is always only a prayer away.  If I have Jesus I am completely satisfied.  He doesn’t have to text or phone or skype of tweet me.  He is just there, always ready to talk, to laugh, to smile, to help.  I’ll use technology when it suits me, I’ll let Jesus use me when it suits Him.