Submitted article

It’s not about who you impress. It’s about who you impact!

I read this statement a few weeks ago and it has resonated with me repeatedly since that time. I’ve been reflecting on my impact. What is the impact of my words, my actions, my thoughts, my facial expressions, my whole life?

If you have ever taken a basic First Aid course, you know the importance of CPR. 

CPR is for when someone’s heart has stopped beating.  In fact, the person can even be legally declared dead.  

The heart can’t beat on its own, the person cannot “will it” or work their heart to beat. It can only beat with the help of someone else, the person giving CPR. 

But what happens after someone has performed CPR?

The Bible tells us we are like the person in need of CPR. We are legally dead “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, Ephesians 2:1” 

Can you think of a memory from your childhood that makes you smile as you remember it? I have a few, but one that I clearly remember is walking home from elementary school with my brother. We felt tired, not physically, but emotionally and mentally drained after a day at school. We were blessed to have a mom who was always there when we came home, asking how our day went. This was a safe warm place for us. The best though was when we came home and mom had just finished baking buns.

My wife and I were billet parents to two Humboldt Broncos players who were on the bus that crashed on April 6, 2018. One player survived and one was killed in the crash. We were told that night that both had survived and didn’t learn the truth until 2 days later when the misidentification was discovered. Those 48 hours were the most traumatic time of my life.

I remember my father-in-law, Walter Block, sharing a number of years ago, how as a young boy he would head off across the white field of freshly fallen snow towards the old school house with certain determination to walk as straight a line as he could!  After he had walked a while, he would turn around to look back at the track he had left in the previously unmarked snow and discovered just how crooked his tracks really were!

I used to buy into the whole “new year, new me”. At the end of December, I’d be full of hopes about what the next year would look like and make a list of my resolutions for the year: I’d spend less time on my phone and read more books. I’d drink more water, eat healthier, and be more active. I’d finally get fluent in the new language I was trying to learn. I’d start meal planning and prepping and keep my house more organized. I’d be a better mom and wife. And of course, I would read my Bible every day too.

Let me ask you a question…“Are you ready?”

Well, you might say, “For What?” and that would be a completely reasonable question. Of course, the answer totally depends on the context in which it’s asked.  

If I knock on my kid’s door at 8:30 Monday morning and ask, “Are you Ready?” I mean: Aare you dressed? Do you have your lunch kit? Is your homework done? and Have you put on deodorant? Are you ready to go to school.  

A couple weekends ago my wife and I were travelling home with our 4 boys from a soccer tournament. After a full weekend of games the aroma in the van was more than a little pungent….but every once in a while the smell would get incredibly bad. I couldn’t figure it out until I felt one of my boys feet touch the side of my head. His damp smelly socked foot was inches from my face. It was terrible.  

Most people when they think of feet, think of misshapen toes, bad toenails and a terrible aroma. Feet are simply not beautiful.  

I’m not a big tic toc user but I have been noticing a trend recently on that platform that is being repeated on other social media sites. The POV Format is intended to seem as if the viewer were present or make the viewer feel they are in a specific situation. It’s made me think about a lot of situations differently.

Amid the wars, countless Canadian soldiers and nurses displayed extraordinary bravery and unwavering dedication, putting their lives on the line for our country. Many of these individuals returned home bearing the profound physical and emotional scars of war, having lost limbs in the line of duty.

Their experiences as amputees not only shaped their own lives but, as members of The War Amps of Canada, they left a lasting legacy on generations of amputees to come.