"Do you like rewards?"

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You’ve heard me talk before how much I love being outdoors and growing things whether its yellow Labs or flowers. Well, my wife loves these same things so we were talking recently about a rather mundane area of our yard. It just doesn’t welcome you warmly unless you consider plain boxwoods welcoming.

So we started talking about what we could do differently. We decided to pull up the boxwoods and plant flowers. This area is one side of our home and wraps around a porch with a pathway. So I left enough room to plant a couple of rose bushes next spring and converted the rest of the area into beds for annuals. Right now, there are beautiful pansies blooming in the beds. And we topped it off with a small statue of St. Francis of Assisi.

Now when you drive up, you are welcomed warmly and lots of people enjoy it. Is it more work than boxwoods? Definitely! The planting and weeding and feeding required are a lot more work. But then the good stuff of life usually requires more work, but rewards you more, too, don’t you think?

Do the work of listening to life today and enjoy the rewards!

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"How do you greet your guests?"

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Our family raises yellow Labs, something we really enjoy doing together. One of our yellow Labs, Princess, named by my daughter, lives in our home with us. She has a really interesting way of greeting guests. She invites them to play with her.

She starts by walking up and standing beside them as they come in the door, her tail wagging, really her whole body shaking, welcoming them in. Next she stays close by the guest as he comes in and has a seat. Then once the guest is seated, Princess goes to her toy basket, picks up a pull toy, brings it to her new best friend, plops it in the guest’s lap, and sits patiently; waiting for the guest to either throw it or play tug-of-war. She especially enjoys greeting our daughters’ boyfriends this way because they usually play tug-of-war which she loves. (I’m trying to teach her to bite the boyfriends, not play with them.)

Do you greet guests like Princess? Do the people that come over to see you or meet you for dinner know how happy you are to see them? God’s love becomes real when you give it away as you listen to life.

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"What needs cleaning?"

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I walk in and out of our backdoor numerous times every day. More times than I can remember. So I see this door a lot, but I learned the other day that I don’t really look at it.

For some reason-maybe my angle was different, perhaps I slowed down as I walked up to it-I noticed how dirty the glass was in this door. It’s a full-length, glass storm door so it’s not like there are panes to look around or anything. But it was like I saw it for the first time, or the first time in a long time. And it had fingerprints, palm prints, smudges, and, of course, yellow Lab nose prints, on it.

So I got some window cleaner from the pantry, sprayed and wiped the window, stood back and admired it and wondered, “Why hadn’t I noticed that before?”

Maybe you’re that way about some part of life-your negative attitude, quick temper, or grouchy disposition. You walk by it everyday but don’t really look at it.

Ask God to show you what needs cleaning as you listen to life today.

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"Are you facing mountains or bumps in the road?"

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I was talking with a friend recently who’s working on a major project in his area. He was running into some roadblocks to getting it done, some glitches had come up in working with the local municipality.

His vision for this project started some years ago. He’s been talking with me about it for a while. And every time he started discussing it, his eyes lit up, his face brightened with a smile, and he became very excited. It was obvious to me that he’s very passionate about this project and that his vision for it was bigger than him, that is the project’s significance and meaning are spiritual.

As he talked about the glitches and described them, he looked a little downcast. So I reminded him of how long he’d had this vision and then I said, "These are just bumps in the road, a test of your character. God has a plan."

You see when you’re living into God’s plan and passion for your life, challenges that appear to be mountains become just bumps on the road to you making your contribution to the world as you listen to life and make a life today.

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"Do you act on your dream?"

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Today in America we honor the life of an important leader in our nation’s history. A man who not only dreamed, but acted as well—Martin Luther King, Jr.

Of course, Dr. King is best known for his "I have a dream" speech in Washington. It’s a persuasive speech, a visionary peek into the man’s very soul. He shared with us the pathway to a preferred future of racial equality. He inspired us that it could be true. But most importantly, he showed us how it could be done.

You see, there are lots of people with dreams. You are with them everyday. In fact, you may be one of them. These dreams are shared in office break rooms over coffee and at lunch with a sandwich and driving to an appointment. These dreams are big dreams about all of God’s children playing together one day, a cosmic-sized dream, and about personal dreams like staying married forever.

All of these dreams require action to be more than just a dream. Ask God as you listen to life how to act on your dream and make it come true in your life.

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