Tomorrow is my eldest son's first day of hockey. We enrolled him in the First Shift program, which includes all the hockey gear (skates, helmet, stick and all padding, etc.) and 6 weeks of classes. It's a pretty incredible deal, the equipment alone would cost more than the program did. Thank you Canadian Tire and Bauer!

Today I watched YouTube videos to figure out how to cut his stick down to size, and two girls from down the street came over to show me how to put all the gear on him in the right order. We also boiled and fitted his mouth guard. Over the last few weeks, his godmother has come up to provide skating lessons, along with the aforementioned girls, and even myself (who can't really skate). It's been a team effort before he has even stepped foot on the ice, and everyone has had a lot of fun doing it.

As I sat with them all in the living room tonight, cladding my son in armour, I was reminded of our good Father, who gets us ready. He provides the equipment and the training. He brings community and family around us to prepare us. Everything in our lives will be turned to our usefulness when we orient ourselves toward him and his purposes. My friend Paul Manwaring puts it this way, "He wastes nothing, he gets you ready." Paul the Apostle put it this way: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

Our challenge is to figure out how to have fun while we get ready. Happy trails, my friend!