"How's your vision?"

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I sit at my computer for a long time on some days, like when I’m writing these stories or working on my fourth book. And after a while, my eyes start blurring from the strain. I asked an optometrist friend what to do about it. He suggested I look up and away from the monitor periodically.

So I’m trying that and it seems to help. I look out the window first, gazing at the bird feeder, watching the cardinals jockey for the best feeding position. After a moment, I look farther out at the horse pasture and observe the horses grazing or playing or napping. After another moment, I stare up in the sky, hoping to see a hawk circling in search of lunch. Then finally, I cast my eyes as far as I can see, to a small mountain range and check out how clear the air is.

Then I come back to the computer and stare at the blinking cursor, waiting patiently for more words to appear. The next time you feel strained by life, change your range of vision. Look up. Look out. Farther than you normally do. Stare into the heavens and imagine what God is doing. Listen to life with your eyes as you make a life today.

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"Are you green?"

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I shared a story with you recently about how green is my favorite color because as spring arrives, the brown/gray earth turns green. Green for me is the symbolic color for life.

Well, that story prompted another story. I received an email from a member of our Listen to Life community at www.listentolife.org, sharing with me a recent memory of his about the color green.

It seems that when one of his granddaughters was about four years old, she found saying “green” very challenging. She usually said, “greem.” She was pretty embarrassed about it, too.

So, to lessen her embarrassment, her Papa joined her in saying, “greem.” And he says that now she’s eight and he’s 62 and they’re both doing okay saying “green.”

Who do you know that finds something in life challenging and is embarrassed about it? How can you join this person in feeling less embarrassed? Ask God to show you how to “green up” someone else as you listen to life and make a life, not just a living.

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"How much do you trust?"

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I was sitting on our bed, putting my shoes on. One of our yellow Labs, Princess, was on the floor at my feet. That’s where she usually spends the morning as we get ready to go. She just really wants to be with us and enjoys some time stretched out on the floor of our bedroom.

So there she is, lying on the floor, eyes closed. I just couldn’t resist. I took my foot—the one without the shoe—and started rubbing her belly ever so softly and gently. She never opened her eyes. She was still, the corner of her mouth turning up ever so slightly. Then after about a minute, she rolled over a bit for me to rub another part of her belly. She still kept her eyes closed. And pretty soon I was in the floor with her, rubbing her with my hand now, and she still hadn’t opened an eye. She totally trusted me to rub, not hurt her.

Trust is so precious, isn’t it? Do you trust God that much? To just get as close as you can to God’s presence and just lie there, letting God care for you and give you the good stuff of life?

Trust God today. Lie down with God as you listen to life and make a life.

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"How fast does time fly for you?"

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My Grandfather used to tell me, “Son, I don’t understand it, but the older you get, the faster time flies.”

Frankly I thought he was just an old man musing about life. I was younger, bullet-proof, sure that I could do whatever I wanted. When I was a kid, I thought it took forever for my birthday to arrive. Then finally I was a teenager. Then finally I could drive. Then finally I was 21.

But now that I’m a little older and hopefully a little wiser, I’m beginning to understand what he meant. Life has a way of accelerating as you get older. I don’t understand it either, but I just know that the days get shorter and I wonder, “Where did the week go?” and “Is it already the weekend?” Then one morning you wake up and recall all of those times you said, “I’m going to…” and “I plan on…” and you’ll do it all “When things settle down a bit.”

I’m not really sure that day ever arrives. So today, do something you’ve been talking about for way too long. Just do it. Go for it with God’s help. You see, that’s one of the ways you listen to life and make a life, not just a living.

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"Do you try?"

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A couple of really strong thunderstorms blew through where I live. Their winds were so powerful that they blew up a corner of the tin roof on the barn where we store the hay we feed the horses.

I had someone estimate the cost of replacing it, but it would be a while before he could return to actually fix it. In the mean time, the hay and the inside of the barn were getting wet. I thought about trying to get up there myself, but my ladder didn’t seem long enough to reach the roof.

Well, one day I had the ladder out, cleaning out those maple tree seeds that clogged the gutters. And my wife said, “Can you try to fix that corner of the tin roof on the barn?”

And I said, “I don’t think my ladder will reach it, but since I’ve got it out, I’ll try.”

Guess what? It was long enough. And I patched the corner of the roof until someone can come and replace it. You just never know what you can do until you try. Today ask God to show you something to try. You never know what you can do until you try.

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