"Is today one of those days?"

In case no one told you, today is Friday the 13th.

Did you gasp or yawn?

I don’t know if this happened on a Friday the 13th or not, but in Arkansas, a guy decides to break-in to a convenience store. He finds a cinderblock to throw through the window, then plans to grab what he wants from the store, and run.

Great plan, right? Well, he lifts the cinderblock over his head, and heaves it at the store window. The cinderblock bounces off the window and hits the guy in the head, knocking him unconscious. The window is Plexiglass. Store security caught it all on video.

I guess we all have days like that, days when your best laid plans just don’t lay out so great. Days when life bounces back at you and knocks you out. Days when some little bit of information you lacked came back to hurt you.

For days like that, whether it’s Friday the 13th or not, there’s your God of love, just waiting to pick you up, bandage you, and send you back into life with a better plan. It’s yours if you listen to life and make a life, not just a living.

"What's your scar?"

Some years ago, my left hand started swelling. Soon cellulitis set in and my thumb and index finger started convulsing. That got my attention so I went to the doctor.

Of course, we went through the typical round of questioning about my activities, and where I’d been recently and what I’d done and with whom. Then the doctor examined my hand in great detail with a magnifying glass. He zeroed in on one little area, saying to himself, “Hmmm…Do you remember being bit by a spider?”

“No,” I said.

“Well,” he said, “I believe you have. There are two bite marks on your hand that remind me of a brown recluse bite. They hide out in corners in your home, and you can’t see them unless you’re looking for them. They bite you and most often, you don’t even know it until you swell up like you have.”

Every time I look at the scar from that bite, I think about that experience when something hidden bit me.

Life’s like that you know. What you don’t see might bite you. So ask God to protect you as you listen to life and make a life, not just a living.

"Are you insane?"

You’ve probably heard that definition of insanity that says insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Yea, I’ve heard it, too. But I still act insane sometimes. For instance, I recently plugged my laptop in to do some writing, and it kept turning off on its own. Now I knew the battery was shot, but I turned it back on three times in a row, each time wondering why it kept going off by itself.

So finally, I looked down at my surge protector, and saw I had the laptop plugged into an outlet that was switched off.

Now I know I’m not the only one who’s acted insane. I’ll bet you have, too! So how do you step out of the insanity of doing the same thing over again?

Stop what you’re doing and ask God for help. Listen to your life for what God has to say. Then follow God’s plan and not your own. And that’s how you stay sane and make a life, not just a living.

"Do you think someone else has it made?"

A mechanic was busy removing a cylinder head from the motor of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle when a well-known heart surgeon entered his shop. The surgeon was waiting for the service manager to take a look at his bike when the mechanic shouted across the garage, "Hey, Doc, can I ask you a question?"

The surgeon, a bit surprised, walked over. The mechanic straightened up, wiped his hands on a rag and asked, "Doc, look at this engine. I open its heart, take valves out, fix 'em, put 'em back in, and when I finish, it works just like new. So why do I get such a small salary and you get the really big bucks, when you and I are doing basically the same work?"

The surgeon smiled, leaned over and whispered to the mechanic, "Try doing it with the engine running."

It’s easy to think someone else has it made, isn’t it? That we do what they do, maybe even better, and don’t get the recognition or rewards we’re due. It takes all of us, doing what God created us to do, to make the world go round. Celebrate with others as you make a life and not just a living.

"Do you just not get it some days?"

A woman leaves a New York City convenience store when, all of a sudden, a man grabs her purse and runs. The clerk calls 911 immediately. The woman gives the police a detailed description of the thief. The description is so good, in fact, that police catch him in about half an hour. They put him in the police car and drive him back to the store.

When they get back to the store, the officer takes the purse snatcher out of the car, makes sure his handcuffs are snug, and says, “Okay, just stand here against the car for a positive identification.”

And the thief says, “Yes, officer, that’s her. That’s the lady I stole the purse from.”

Yes, I know, you’d never do anything like that, now would you? Yet, aren’t there some days when you just don’t get it? And you stick your foot in your mouth or say something that you wish you could take back? Sure you do. What do you do when that happens? About all you can do is pray to God for mercy, isn’t it? Listen to life for mercy as you make a life, not just a living today.