"Has your life changed?"

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I’ve been telling you for several years now about some birds that come back to the same nest to hatch their young. I’ve not torn the nest down until last summer. We had some painting done and of course the nest had to come down.

Well, those same birds didn’t come back to the same spot this year. They moved around to the front porch. The molding around our front door has a ledge on top. A piece of screen wiring was up there and had discouraged the birds from building there…until the painting was done. The screening was removed to paint. The birds discovered it, and built their nest there.

I decided to leave the nest alone and see if they raised a second family there. Guess what? A mother bird was sitting on the nest about 10 days following the flying away of the first family. And by the time you hear and read this story, I suspect they’ll be about ready to fly away, also.

Sometimes life changes on you, doesn’t it? Your routine gets disturbed and the familiar is gone. Be like these birds. Discover another way of doing life and enjoy it as you listen to life and make a life, not just a living.

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"What are you learning?"

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You can learn something new every day. Want to know what I’ve been learning lately?

I’m learning that everyone I meet deserves to be greeted with a smile.

I’m learning that God didn’t do it all in one day so what makes me think that I can?

I’m learning that underneath another person’s hard shell is someone who wants to be loved and appreciated.

I’m learning to be glad that God doesn’t give me everything I ask for.

I’m learning that opportunities are never lost. Someone will take the ones I miss so I should leave a few lying around.

I’m learning that a lot of people want to live on the mountaintop, but most of my personal growth happens while I’m climbing the mountain.

I’m learning to keep my words soft and tender because I may have to eat them later.

And finally, I’m learning to listen to life and make a life, not just a living.

You can learn something new every day. What are you learning?

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"What's easy for you?"

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Recently I pulled a new, unopened pack of turkey out of the refrigerator. It was a brand I wasn’t familiar with, but I mean how hard could it be to open a container of turkey, right? Well, I searched around a bit, found the place to open the lid and got it off. Next, the turkey was vacuum-sealed inside. So I picked up the package, and noticed on one corner a label that read, "Easy Open Here."

"Piece of cake," I thought, and began pulling on the "Easy Open Here" corner. And I pulled…and pulled, folded and tried to separate the seal, and nothing worked. Finally I just gave up, found the scissors, and cut it open.
You know, what’s "Easy Open Here" for one person, isn’t so easy for another. You are unique among over 6 billion people here so what works easily for you might not be easy for someone else.

Avoid assuming just because something is easy for you that it’ll be easy for someone else. Instead work to make life easy for others, asking them what that looks like, as you listen to life and make a life, not just a living today.

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"How well do you listen before you try to fix something?"

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A store manager overheard a clerk say to a customer, "No, ma'am, we haven't had any for some weeks now, and it doesn't look as if we'll be getting any soon."

Alarmed by what the clerk said, the manager rushed over to the customer who was walking out the door and said, "That isn't true, ma'am. Of course, we'll have some soon. In fact, we placed an order for it a couple of weeks ago."

Then the manager drew the clerk aside and angrily said, "Never, never, never, never say we don't have something. If we don't have it, say we ordered it and it's on its way. Do you understand?"

"Why, yes sir," the clerk said.

And the manager said, "Now, what was it she wanted?"

The clerk smiled and said, "Rain."

Sometimes we just don’t listen, do we? We rush in to fix something or someone before we really know what’s going on. Before you rush in and take over, listen to life today for what God has to say.

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"How do you touch life?"

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Okay, so call me old-fashioned, retro, or a stick-in-the-mud, but I really like listening to music played on vinyl records. I know, I know—the quality’s not as good as a CD what with all of those pops and cracks and skips. I know—I can’t take a turntable to the gym and listen to tunes while I work out.

Just so you’ll know, our family has multiple CD players. I burn CDs of my show and ship to some of our LIFE Network radio stations. Other radio stations download my mp3 files from our website and some of you are listening to me right now via my podcast on your iPod. So I don’t have my head in the techno-sand, but…
…there’s just something about touching the music that I like. I watch the needle tracking across the vinyl. I get up out of my chair and turn the album over to the other side. You can’t do that with a download.

Listening to life is kind of like playing a vinyl record. You can’t just sit there and expect life to just play without you touching something, and getting involved. So reach out and touch God’s music as you make a life today.

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