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Thursday, October 19, 2006

"How do you relax?"


It takes me a little while to unwind and really enjoy myself when I go to the beach for even a brief vacation. Well, God sent me a friend recently to help me detox from working. My friend’s name is Austin.

Austin is 4 years old and loves playing. He worked his way over to behind my beach chair and started digging a hole. He kept grunting like he needed some help. So I turned around and asked him what he was doing. “I’m trying to dig a hole. You want to help? My name is Austin and I’m four years old and you sure are tall.”

What could I say but “Yes, thanks for asking?” Before I knew it, we were not only digging holes, but covering his feet with water as he stood in the hole. Next we built bridges up and down the beach. Then we had horse races that he consistently won…unless he fell off in which case I became a paramedic in an ambulance coming to repair his broken leg or arm or head. My imagination got quite a work-out as Austin helped me play and relax.

Ask God to send you an Austin today so you can make a life, not just a living.

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

"What do you see?"


When dandelions dot my lawn, I reach for the weed and feed to kill them. But then I remember my daughters picking the little yellow flowers to give to their mother and blowing the downy seeds to make a wish.

When I’m walking around our farm and the wind starts whipping down the mountain, I steel myself against it, sometimes reach up for what’s left of my hair, and grouse if I’m walking up hill about how I wish the wind was blowing in a different direction. But then I remember my daughters leaning into the wind, arms outstretched like wings, pretending to fly.

When I see someone sitting in a wheelchair, I see a handicapped person and feel pity for them and wonder if I’ll wind up like that. But then I remember my daughters seeing someone they can look in the eye or get up and play in her lap or push him around just like our older daughter did her great-grandmother.

When you start listening to life like a child, making a life, not just a living, gets so much easier. You trust God more and see God everywhere more often.

Try to listen to life like a child today.

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

"Do you get it right every time?"


Do you sometimes expect yourself to get it right every time?

Does your expectation keep you from taking a risk sometimes? From trying something new that you’ve never done before because you’re afraid you won’t get it right?

I suppose we’re all like that at least a little bit. Well, the next time you find yourself paralyzed and can’t try something new, I want you to think about this: No one gets it right every time.

Need proof? Okay, do you remember Kevin Costner’s movie, Waterworld? Probably not. Or if you do, you remember it as a flop. What about Tom Hanks in Joe and the Volcano? Even Wilson is glad to have missed that trip. And as beautiful as Jennifer Aniston is and as wonderful as she was in Bruce Almighty, did you see her in The Office Space? If not, please don’t.

Even highly successful people swing and miss. But they keep on swinging. Ask God to help you get it right today and when you don’t, to just keep swinging at making a life.

Monday, October 16, 2006

"Where are you?"


I shared a story with you last month that a person who listens to life at www.listentolife.org told me. He had a friend who was a farmer who was fond of saying that the tallest corn grew not on the mountain, but in the valley. We talked about how that’s because the rainfall cascaded down the mountain into the valley and so the valley corn had more to grow with.

Well, another friend who listens to life with me shared with me how the rainfall doesn’t travel alone when it’s washing down the mountainside. It brings with it the topsoil off of the mountain, depositing it in the valley. Also, it carries with it rich minerals and nutrients that come off the rocks on the mountain.

The valley receives not just the benefit of the rainfall, but also soil and nutrients that make it rich and fertile. So I guess life in the valley isn’t so bad after all.

Most of my spiritual growth happens not while I’m on top of the world, but a little further down, like in a valley. It’s there that I depend on God to nourish my spirit. You can do the same in your valley as you make a life today.

Sunday, October 15, 2006

"Are you resilient?"


Do you remember from your childhood falling trying to ride your bike? What did you do? You got up and rode again, right?

What about playing Little League baseball and someone hit a fly ball to you and you dropped it? You played in the next game, right?

Do you remember hitting a golf shot into the lake? You played another round, right?

And how about having an accident while driving, or getting a speeding ticket? You have driven a lot since then, right?

What has someone told you, “You can’t do that?” and you actually did it, proving them wrong?

As you listen to life and make a life, not just a living, keep these memories plugged into the pictures flashing through your mind all the time. The time is coming, and very soon, when you will be tempted to feel like a failure just because something didn’t go exactly right. When it does, recall these memories of times when God was with you, helping you to be resilient. And get up and go after it one more time.