"Do you learn from your mistakes?"

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I recently enjoyed a few days at the beach with about 40 or so of my favorite family members. I love the beach. But years ago I learned to respect the sun and it’s ability to crispy-fry my fair skin in a matter of hours. So I’m a big user of sunscreen, like SPF 36 and above. My feet were blistered one year so I’m particularly careful about them…

…except for this year. I thought I had coated my feet in plenty of sunscreen. I splashed around in the ocean, enjoyed my daily 1-hour walk, thinking I was protected. The next morning I discovered my mistake. I covered my feet thoroughly except for one small patch on the top of my right foot, about the size of 3 quarters. I know because it’s sunburned.

There’s nothing I can do except treat my foot this time. I can’t turn back the clock. But I can learn from my mistake and make sure that next time I get every inch of my feet covered with sunblock.

Life’s like that, too. You can’t undo a mistake, but you can learn from it and ask God to help you do better next time as you make a life, not just a living.

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"Do you have backup?"

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Backup is a term that you’re probably most accustomed to thinking about in regards to law enforcement. One officer "backs up" another as they enter potentially dangerous situations.

But let’s think about backup in another way. Do you have backup…as in when you lock your keys in the car? It happens to all of us at some time or another. Do you have a backup car key in your wallet?

Or, what about when you lock yourself out of your home? Do you have backup…as in a house key stashed under a rock or doormat somewhere?

Or, what about when you have an important document that must be mailed that day, it’s lunchtime, and the post office is closed? Do you have backup…as in some extra stamps hidden away for just such a time?

Or, what about when that dreaded day comes that your computer’s hard drive crashes? Do you have backup…of your data?

It seems to me that having backup is important as you listen to life in cutting out a lot of anxiety and worry. Ask God to be your backup today.

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"Are you listening?"

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If I handed you one half of a one-hundred dollar bill, that is, I had torn a one-hundred dollar bill in half and given you one half, what would you say? Would you say…

"…well what good is this?"

Or, "…now why did you tear a perfectly good one-hundred dollar bill in half?"

Or, just say nothing, ball it up and throw it at me?

Odds are you’d respond in one of those ways.

But would it occur to you to say, "Well thank you so much Joey. May I have the other half also?"

Would you think about how with just a little tape, you’re one hundred dollars richer?

Maybe, but probably not.

When you listen to life, you quickly discover that God provides solutions along with the challenges, answers with the questions, wisdom with the opportunities. So focus today on making a life, not just a living and discover how God richly blesses you with more than you could possibly imagine.

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"What do you want to be?"

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A friend who listens to life with us through our web site at www.ListentoLife.org shared a story with me recently. My friend was visiting with his grandson who calls him "Pawpaw." They sat around the table, enjoying the food and talking with each other. The little boy’s mom said, "Tell Pawpaw what you want to be when you grow up."

Pawpaw’s mind raced to all of the things the 3-year-old enjoyed. He thought about the construction equipment he was fascinated with, the trash truck with its really neat lift, the firemen at the fire station; vocations like that.
The little guy sat quietly and then said, "I want to be a Pawpaw when I grow up!" Apparently he thought Pawpaws are always ready to play in the floor, race to the big oak tree and back, read your favorite books, turn over rocks in search of bugs, swim in the pool, go for boat rides, and just generally have fun with their grandsons!

What do you want to be? Whatever it is, have fun doing it as you make a life, not just a living today.

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"Is your light on?"

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Do you remember the first jigsaw puzzle you tried to put together? You probably sat down with a parent or older sibling or maybe even a grandparent and stared at all of those pieces. You wondered to yourself, "How in the world are we going to get all of these tiny pieces to fit together and make that picture?"

I mean, the task seemed impossible, didn’t it?

But then your friend or family member gave you the secret to putting together jigsaw puzzles: Find all of the pieces with straight edges, the outside pieces, and put them in a pile. Put them together first, the four sides to the puzzle, and then you can begin to fill in according to colors.

It was like a light came on! Rather than trying to figure out how to put a million pieces together all at once, you had a manageable task with insider information that gave you key to success.

Today, when you’re overwhelmed by an enormous task, ask God to show you one part that you can do immediately and well. Let God turn the light of life on for you as you listen to life and make a life, not just a living today.

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