"How does your day start?"

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What’s it like for you waking up in the mornings?

Are you relaxed with plenty of time, getting yourself ready to have a great day?

Or, do you rush around because you woke up late because you just had to have 15 more minutes of sleep and now you don’t have time to fix your hair the way you wanted or iron your pants or hardly anything else but rush out the door?

In the first scenario, you made the decision that you could finish the movie the next night or read on-line about how the game ended and go to bed on-time so you would get enough rest.

In the second situation, you stayed up and finished the movie or chose to see how the game ended which means you went to bed late which further means you didn’t get enough rest and that made you sleep late.

God created your body to cycle between activity and rest with balance between the two. You can’t cheat one without affecting everything. So today make a life, not just a living by resting the way God created you to.

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"Do you stop and remember?"

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A friend told me recently about talking with another friend who was traveling. It seems that the other friend was in an airport, waiting to board a plane, and returning phone calls.

Well, as these two friends talk, all of a sudden, really loud music starts blaring over the intercom system.
"Hold on," the guy in the airport screams, "we’ll have to wait."

So my friend holds on. He can’t help but hear the music and soon recognizes it as the U.S. national anthem.

When the song finishes playing, the friend in the airport resumes the conversation, and says, "Sorry about that. Every day at 12noon they play that so we’ll stop and remember how blessed we are by freedom."

When was the last time you stopped and remembered how blessed you are? If you live in a free country, by freedom? Or, if you have good health, by that? Or, if you have love in your home, by family? And the list of blessings from God continues. So make a life today and stop and remember your blessings.

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"How fast does time fly for you?"

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My Grandfather used to tell me, "Son, I don’t understand it, but the older you get, the faster time flies."

Frankly I thought he was just an old man musing about life. I was younger, bullet-proof, sure that I could do whatever I wanted. When I was a kid, I thought it took forever for my birthday to arrive. Then finally I was a teenager. Then finally I could drive. Then finally I was 21.

But now that I’m a little older and hopefully a little wiser, I’m beginning to understand what he meant. Life has a way of accelerating as you get older. The days seem shorter and I wonder, "Where did the week go?" and "Is it time for my daughter to go back to college already? And how did she get to be a senior?" Then one morning you wake up and recall all of those times you said, "I’m going to…" and "I plan on…" and you’ll do it all "When things settle down a bit."

I’m not really sure that day ever arrives. So today, do something you’ve been talking about for way too long. Just do it. Go for it with God’s help. You see, that’s one of the ways you listen to life and make a life, not just a living.

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"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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