"Do you keep knocking until you get a blessing?"

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I told you about my having "one of those days" a couple of weeks ago, and I asked God to send me a sign. God sent the most beautiful red-headed woodpecker you’ve ever seen and not just on that day, but every day since then.

One day, I heard him hammering on the metal bird feeder. I thought, "Well, he’ll figure out he can’t get in on the side and stop."

But he didn’t. He kept beating on it, sounding like a jack hammer. Finally, I was so distracted from writing that I got up and went outside to shoo him away. I checked on the side he was pecking on to see what kind of damage he’d done. I discovered none, then looked inside the feeder and found it was empty. He hammered on the feeder to let me know it was empty. So I filled it.

Like this woodpecker, sometimes you have to keep trying and trying to let God know what you want. Be persistent until you get what you’re after. The longer you keep knocking on heaven’s door, the more you realize how dependent you are on God to feed you and care for you everyday, and that’s when God can bless you as you make a life, not just a living.

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"Do you believe in coincidence or providence?"

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An Internet marketing friend of mine who listens to life was on a trip, driving, and had a friend along with him. They talked about life, how thankful they are for so many wonderful things, and the blessings they receive daily. My friend looked up as they passed a couple of street signs. The first street sign read, "Thankful Street." The second street sign read, "Blessed Road."

He told me later, "There we were, driving along, talking about how thankful we are for life, and how blessed we are by life, and there are those two street signs. That’s gotta be more than a coincidence!"

I believe it was. In this my third decade of coaching people to listen to life and make a life, not just a living, I’ve seen personally and heard of so many experiences like this one, that I no longer believe in coincidence.

I believe in providence. God is with you everywhere, all the time—good and bad—and in ways you have yet to imagine.

See what you’re looking for—reasons to be thankful—and hear what you’re listening for—blessings—as you make a life, not just a living today.

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"Who do you have coffee with?"

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A friend of mine is the Executive Director of Friends of Barnabas, a foundation that coordinates medical mission trips to Honduras. (Visit their website at www.fobf.org.) Doctors and nurses from across the U.S. perform medical procedures in a poverty-stricken mountain region.

Well, my friend developed a relationship with a coffee grower in the area. He helped the grower purchase equipment to better produce shade-tree grown coffee at elevations over 5,000 feet. My friend pays the grower for his coffee and sells it as a fund-raiser for the medical mission trips.

I love the coffee and drink a couple of cups every morning. This morning I was thinking, "What if I had to travel to Honduras, grow the coffee myself, pick the beans, roast them, grind them, and ride with them on a plane or boat back to the US? What if I had to do all of that just to enjoy a cup of coffee?"

So as I had coffee this morning, I thanked God for my friend, the coffee grower, the medical mission teams who brought it back, and the opportunity to support their trips by buying coffee.

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"Do you see in the dark?"

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My wife was out of town and I was feeding some of our horses one extremely dark night. It was cloudy and there was no starlight.

This group of horses is fed outside, not in the barn, in pails on the ground. Sometimes they play with their pails and roll them around the pasture. So here I am, looking for black pails on the ground on an extremely dark night.

I thought to myself, "Instead of stumbling around the pasture with horses chasing you for feed, let the horses show you where the pails are."

So I stepped into the pasture, called the horses, and watched as they went and stood in various places around the pasture. I walked up to each one and discovered a black pail on the ground in front of them, poured in the feed, and moved on to the next one. The horses could see the pails. I let them guide me.

Do you ever find yourself stumbling around in the darkness of your life for something? There’s Someone who sees even in your darkness and will lead you to where you want to be. Listen to life and ask God to show you the way today!

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"Having one of those days?"

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Do you ever have just one of those days? Where for no apparent reason, nothing goes right, or at least the way you want? And all your plans, your hopes, your dreams seem a million miles away?

I was having one of those days last month. It seemed like everything I tried was going nowhere fast. I know it wasn’t really that bad, but it sure seemed that way.

I had an appointment outside of my office, so I got in our vehicle, backed out of the garage, and headed down the driveway. I turned up the radio and guess who was on it? That’s right! Our syndicated radio show was on.
So I listened to the story and when I do that, usually I critique it, listening for how I can improve the show. But something different happened that day. I really listened to the story, not to evaluate but to elevate my day. The story ended by talking about how God has a plan already and we simply follow it.

A real sense of peace came over me and I thanked God for having my life’s plan even on an off-day. See what happens when you listen to life?

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