"Can you hear me now?"

A friend recently told the story of how his office called him while he was away. His mobile phone reception wasn’t all that great. He thought he heard his office say, “A man fell on the job.”

So he got in his truck and headed toward the job site, worrying as he drove. “Who was it that fell?” he thought. “How badly is he hurt?” His imagination ran wild just thinking about all of the possibilities.

Well, he discovered later that everyone was fine. Remember how his mobile reception was poor? Well, instead of “A man fell on the job” his office actually said, “A job fell through.” The static created confusion with the message.

Such confusion happens with and without mobile phones. Someone in your office discusses a task with you and later you discover that confusion crept in and something didn’t get done. Or, the same thing happens at home with your spouse or children.

Clear up the static today by listening to life very carefully as you make a life and not just a living.

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"Who do you cluster with; warm and hold and support?"

I expect it to happen every year about this time when the first cold snap hits. They show up. They find all the cracks and crevices in the attic and around the windows and even wait for you to open the door so they can come in where it’s warm. Who are they? Ladybugs.

This year, their favorite place to come in out of the cold was my new office. It had never been warm before so they must have been excited by a new space to invade and escape the cold. The ceilings are really high so that’s where they flew, thousands of them.

At first, they were all scattered throughout the office, a few here and there; mostly just everywhere. But as the nights grew colder when I turn down the thermostat, they found one another. They clustered in corners between the ceiling and wall, warming one another, holding on to one another, supporting one another.

Be a ladybug today when your world gets cold. Cluster with God and others. Warm and hold and support another person. You make a life as you do.

Click here to listen to Dr. Joey

"How do you grow?"

I was working out on our farm one beautiful afternoon, clearing small trees and brush away from our electric fence line.

I worked along a section of fence and noticed something really interesting. There were three saplings growing together. The farthest sapling was under the shade of a more mature tree so it received less light. But here’s the interesting part: that sapling, instead of growing straight up in search of light in the mature tree’s shade, changed its growth pattern. The sapling grew at a 45 degree angle up through its companion saplings. It grew towards the light, changing its normal way of growing. In fact, it not only grew at a 45 degree angle through the other saplings toward the light, it had grown taller and fuller than the others.

Sometime today, you’ll walk up to a life intersection where you’ll have to choose between growing in a normal pattern and moving toward God’s Light. Choose to change. Move toward the Light. Take the road less traveled and grow toward God as you listen to life and make a life, not just a living.

Click here to listen to Dr. Joey

"What's your accent?"

As I travel speaking to groups and coaching business people, I encounter lots of different accents. A friend of mine knows I enjoy trying to identify the origin of accents. So he recently sent me the Ten Commandments re-written for cowboys from Texas, in an accent they can understand. With apologies to my friends in Texas who aren’t cowboys and girls, here they are:

1. Just one God.
2. Honor yer Ma & Pa.
3. No tellin’ tales or gossipin’.
4. Git yourself to Sunday meetin’.
5. Put nothin’ before God.
6. No foolin’ ‘round with another fellow’s gal.
7. No killin’.
8. Watch yer mouth.
9. Don’t take what ain’t yers, and;
10. Don’t be hankerin’ for yer buddy’s stuff.

Now the great thing about talking with God, your accent can be from Texas orTimbuktu and God understands you. So no worries about how you sound. Just talk with God who understands you every time.

Click here to listen to Dr. Joey

"With the change in seasons these days, what are you wearing?"

With the change in seasons, it’s hard to know what to wear sometimes, isn’t it? One day it’s warm outside and the next it’s really cool.

I noticed recently that our horses are starting to get their winter coats. And our dog’s fur is thickening up. Even our cats, who spend the nights in the basement, are growing extra fur.

And like the animals, I’ve put on a jacket a few mornings and evenings. And I decided it’s time to change out the clothes in my closet; move the short sleeve shirts out and bring up the long-sleeved shirts from the basement.

As I did that, I realized that there were some short sleeve shirts that I didn’t wear this year. So I decided to pull out all the shirts I didn’t wear and any slacks, too, and give them to a local clothes closet that gives clothes away. I mean, if I didn’t wear them this year, what makes me think I’ll wear them next year?

See what clothes you can give away as the seasons change. You, and someone you don’t even know, will be glad you’re listening to life and making a life, not just a living, the way God wants you to.

Click here to listen to Dr. Joey