What are you planting?

My wife and I spent most of a beautiful Saturday last month pruning the branches back on some pin oak trees. They line our driveway and the branches had grown out so much, that they scratched the side of a vehicle coming up the drive.

So I had my chainsaw and ladder, my wife to hold the ladder and tell me which branches to cut, and a beautiful day. It was great!

Well, we took a little break, and I stood back to look at our progress. I wondered, “Why were these pin oaks planted so close to the driveway?” Then I thought about it—the trees were planted probably fifteen to twenty years ago. At the time, they were tiny saplings that couldn’t even stand. Who would have imagined that they’d grow so big?

Then I thought about the things we plant in our lives. When we plant the saplings of a certain habit or attitude, we rarely consider how big they’ll grow in our lives over the years. So today, think about what you’re planting, and how big it’ll grow, as you listen to life and make a life, not just a living.

Are the best things in life free?

A friend of mine was traveling through South Carolina when she exited at a rest stop near Gaffney. She noticed a table of books with a sign on it that read, “Free Books.” Well, of course, that got her attention so she looked through the books, and picked up a couple. They were about hope. Stamped in the books was “Cherokee County Literacy Association.”

When she got back to her home, she ran into a friend who was feeling very blue, like she didn’t have any hope. My friend remembered the free book, went home and got it, and took it to her despairing friend.

After a few days, the phone rang and it was her hopeless friend, only now, she was much better. She’d read the book, was inspired by it, and had a much better attitude. She called to say “Thank you!”

My friend wrote a letter to the Cherokee County Literacy Association, telling this story, and enclosed a contribution to their mission, sharing how much of a difference the book made in all their lives.

The best things in life really are free, when sent by God!

"What's on your shelf?

On a shelf in my office, there’s a toy truck that I pushed around as a small boy, and a baseball that I played with in neighborhood games. Baseball was important to me, so I’ve got out three caps—one from my Little League days when I played for the White Sox, another from my Civic League experience of playing for the Jaycees, and my high school ball cap.

On another shelf is the AM radio I listened to every morning as I ate my breakfast, Jimmy Francis updating me on the news, weather, and sports for the day. That same shelf holds another radio, the first FM radio I remember. It belonged to my Grandfather and I still remember coming in from playing outside to join him at five o’clock sharp to listen to the evening news.

I keep all of this stuff in my office to remind me of where I’ve been. That I’ve not always been where I am now. That God has blessed me with people and experiences that I chose to help me become the man I am today. And that come what may, with God’s help, I can make it through another day as I listen to life and make a life, not just a living.

Do you love music?

March is “Music in Our Schools Month.” Let’s just talk for a moment about how important music is.

Music expresses what words fail to capture, the spirit of life, the joy and agonies of the human heart. Virtually every depiction of heaven includes music. Learning to play music teaches students that there is a rhythm to life, times of silence and times of sound. Playing in a group teaches students to cooperate, and appreciate that no one person is more important than another, and that all of us playing together sound far more beautiful. The self-discipline of daily practice requires motivation and learning facilitates self-improvement. And the personal accomplishment of playing a piece well with your peers is an extraordinary feeling.

So how can you support “Music in Our Schools Month?” Look in your attic or basement and find an instrument you’ve stored. Donate it to a local school so a student can learn what you did—music makes life worth listening to!

Do you work from the bottom up?

My wife and I were recently cooking an apple pie. We set the oven and the timer and left it to cook. I walked through the kitchen later, smelled the delicious pie cooking, and decided to take a peek. I opened the oven door slowly, breathed deeply, and looked at the pie. It looked to me like it was getting done on top so I looked at the timer and saw that there was still plenty of time left for cooking.

I asked my wife, “Is something wrong here? The top is looking too done too early.” She took one look at it, looked at the oven, and said, “That’s because the oven’s on broil.” We were cooking the pie from the top down. I switched the oven over to “bake,” but the bottom crust wasn’t really down when I took it out. Apple pies are best cooked from the bottom up, not the top down.

The same is true for how you approach people. Work with them, from the bottom up, letting ideas bubble up from the team, not top down with you barking orders. Involve others as your partners.

Isn’t that how God works with you?