"Is your life noisy?"

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I’m used to a lot of peace and quiet since I live on a farm. The only noises I really hear are our yellow Labs barking or the turkeys gobbling or the horses neighing.

Recently I traveled overnight. The hotel I stayed in is adjacent to an interstate. So there was the roar of trucks on the highway, but I adjusted to them pretty quickly and was able to go to sleep easily. But I woke up when someone stood outside of my door, yelling at someone else in the parking lot, for what seemed like an eternity. Pretty soon they quieted down and I went back to sleep. Then, several hours later, I was awakened by four gun shots which kept me awake for a while as you can imagine. I don’t think I’ll stay there again.

Life is noisy sometimes, too, isn’t it? Especially at this time of year with office parties and family gatherings and school plays and the list goes on. Take some time out to find yourself a place of peace and quiet, some space where you can listen to life today for what God has to say and make a life, not just a living. It’s in the peace and quiet that you can really listen to life.

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"Do you divide life?"

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A parent told me a story recently about their daughter and dinner. It seems that one of their table rules is that if you want to have dessert, you first have to eat all of the food on your plate. Sounds reasonable, right?
Well, their daughter who’s about five, had not eaten all of the food on her plate. She put down her fork anyway, stuck out her stomach, patted it, and said, "Oh me, I’m full."

Her mother then said, "Oh, well if you’re full, and you haven’t cleaned your plate, I guess you don’t want any dessert." She was trying to avoid going to war over dessert again.

The little girl just kept patting her stomach, and said, "Yes, I do want dessert."

And the mother said, "Oh, but you’re full, remember?"

"Well," the daughter, "the dinner side of my stomach is full, but the dessert side is empty."

Do you divide life like this little girl does? Into the sweet situations you think you can handle and the rest for God? Let God have all of you as you listen to life and make a life, not just a living.

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"What do you do when it snows?"

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Have you ever seen a Lab puppy playing in the first snowfall he’s ever seen? It’s absolutely hilarious watching him. He tries to catch the snow as it hits the ground. Then, when he can’t do that, he jumps in the air trying to catch the flakes and when he does catch one, of course, it dissolves in his mouth and he doesn’t understand where it went. And when the ground is covered, he and his Lab brothers and sisters chase each other in it, sliding around, playing in the snow; having the time of their lives.

Now contrast the Labs playing in the snow with the people who get grouchy because they can’t get out of their driveway. Or, who whine because their kids are missing another day of school which might cut into their summer vacation. Or, who stand in long grocery store lines and for what—milk and bread?

Maybe Labs listen to life and make a life better than we do sometimes, you think? The next time you get interrupted by the weather, just smile, thank God for the interruption, and make a life like a Lab!

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"What are you building?"

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I’m like most men—I enjoy finding some project to do around our farm so I can go to the hardware store and look at the power tools and other important things I need. So recently I’m building a wooden fence with a couple of gates. Of course that means a trip to the store to look at hinges and latches.

Now I’m by no means an expert on hinges which means I was forced to do what most of us men dread doing—ask for help. The associate made it easy on me though. He offered. I figured it was less disgraceful that way.
So I tell him what I’m doing, give him the dimensions of the gate, and pick up a hefty size set of hinges and say, "I guess I need something this big."

"Oh no sir, Dr. Joey," he says. "You can use something much smaller than that. Small hinges swing big doors."
I thought about that on the way home. That’s true about life, too. You probably think you have to do something huge today to listen to your life. Just change a small habit during the holidays and your life swings better.

Ask God to show you a small habit to change as you listen to life today.

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"Did you get together with family last week?"

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Did you get together with family members around Thanksgiving to share a meal and some time together? Of course, it’s been a year since you saw these family members and maybe that’s by choice. I mean, you can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your family. You’re just kinda lumped together by birth. Which means being family can be a real challenge sometimes.

Knowing that being family can be a challenge, a teacher discussed the Ten Commandments with her class of five and six year olds. She explained the commandment to "honor your Father and your Mother." Then she asked the class, "Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?"

Without missing a beat one little boy, the oldest child in his family, said, "Thou shall not kill."

Sometimes just surviving a family gathering is an accomplishment. So, remember your Ten Commandments when your family gets together and listen to life and make a life, not just a living.

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