"Are you focused?"

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I’m sitting outside on our patio, near where a hummingbird feeder is hung, writing stories and basking in the marvelous world God created for me to enjoy.

Soon I hear the familiar "buzz" of a hummingbird coming to the feeder. That buzz is followed quickly by another buzz. There’s another hummingbird coming to the feeder.

I look over and discover one hummingbird sitting on the feeder’s perch. A second hummingbird buzzes the first, trying to get him to move off of the feeder. But the first hummingbird just sits on the perch, drinking. He raises his bill each time his aggressor flies by, just to protect himself. Then he resumes drinking.
The aggressor flies by often, reminding me of a pendulum swinging on a clock. The swings of his fly-by’s get shorter and shorter, but still the first bird keeps drinking, totally focused.

Today, you’ll get buzzed by someone or something, trying to disturb your focus on the nourishing presence of God with you. Just hang on and stay focused, as you listen to life and make a life, not just a living today.

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"Do you know a protein?"

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A grandmother told me a story recently about one of her grandchildren. One of her granddaughters, we’ll call her Julie, went to a birthday party for her cousin. Now Julie is several years younger than her cousin.

The grandmother asked Julie how she enjoyed her cousin’s birthday party. Julie said she had a great time and talked about what she and the "big girls" did. Turns out it was a make-over party so all of them did lots of girly stuff like get their make-up done by a professional; that kind of thing.

So Julie tells her grandmother about all of these "big girl" activities and then says, "Well Grandmother, you know my cousin is a protein now."

"A protein?" says the Grandmother. "What do you mean she’s a protein?"

"Oh Grandmother," Julie says. "You don’t know anything. She’s a protein. You know, she’s almost a teenager so she’s a protein."

I’ve said something similar, haven’t you? My basic philosophy is to go ahead and admit my ignorance about something because I’ll display it later anyway. Laugh at your mistakes as you listen to life and make a life today.

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"Coincidence or Providence?"

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A friend who listens to life through our syndicated radio show (www.syndicatedsolutions.com) wrote recently following the story I shared about a young man going for a physical exam and discovering that he and the nurse were born on the same day in the same hospital.

My friend said that he went to a birthday party for another friend. He knew that the two of them have the same birthday. Curious, he began asking her more, like where she was born and what time. And it turns out that they were not only born on the same day, but in the same hospital. And because it was a smaller hospital, their mothers must have had the same doctor so they labored together.

You know, with 6.5 billion or so people here on planet earth, what are the odds that these two would ever see each other and discover their shared birth?

The longer I live, the less I believe in coincidence—some kind of random happening—and the more I believe in providence—God actively involved in our lives. Discover what you believe as you listen to life and make a life today.

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"Are you ever alone?"

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Do you ever get some time alone? I mean time just for yourself with nobody else around. Or, if there are people around, you don’t know any of them and don’t really have to interact with any of them. Ideally, such time is yours to be truly alone with no one else around.

This kind of time alone means you leave your laptop, phone, or Blackberry at your office. It means as much as you might love your family and friends, you’re away from them. It means no radio or TV. It means that you unplug and disengage. Do you ever get this kind of time alone?

The huge advantage I find in spending this kind of time alone is I am free to be me with God. No one else sets the agenda. No one else’s demands get in the way. I’m just me with God. I’m always more relaxed, focused, and productive after such times.

Time alone doesn’t just happen. You make it happen. Because you choose to be the best you possible. And that happens when you spend time alone with God and listen to life and make a life.

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"Got angels?"

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Angels are a real mystery to me. I read about them and have known a few, but still there’s more I don’t know about them than I do.

So I was very glad to learn more about angels recently from some children.

Regan, age 10, says, "When an angel gets mad, he takes a deep breath and counts to ten. And when he lets out his breath, somewhere there’s a tornado."

Sara, who’s 6, thinks that "Angels have a lot to do and they keep very busy. If you lose a tooth, an angel comes in through your window and leaves money under your pillow. Then when it gets cold, angels go north for the winter."

Eight-year-old Henry says, "My guardian angel helps me with math, but he’s not much good at science."

Katelyn who’s 9 believes, "My angel is my Nana who died years ago. She got a big head start on helping me while she was still down here on earth. Now I must show her how great I can become."

Listen to life for the rustle of angels’ wings as you make a life today.

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