"Are you just there sometimes?"

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A friend of mine shared a story with me about traveling to Bay St. Louis on the coast of Mississippi to repair homes ravaged some two years ago by hurricanes. It was raining on their first work day so they couldn’t do any of their assigned work like preparing and painting the exterior of a home. So they did what we all do when we go to the beach and it’s raining—they went to Wal-Mart.

They passed by the greeter as they left the store and she stopped the entire group. She started crying as she said, "Thank you so very much for what you’re doing in our community." My friend and the rest of the group were wearing T-shirts given to them by the sponsors of the trip.

My friend sheepishly explained that they hadn’t really done anything yet due to the rain. The greeter insisted on thanking them anyway, just for being there, not for what they had accomplished, but simply for their presence and what they were going to do the rest of the week. They were there, and that brought this woman hope.

It’s not always what you do. Sometimes it’s just about being there.

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"Does what goes around really come around?"

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A few years ago I cleaned out my library. I had a pretty good collection of books I’d accumulated through the years. I had learned what I was going to from them so I decided to give most of them away, except for a few special ones given me by friends and others I couldn’t part with. So some went to a prison library and the rest went to Goodwill.

Fast forward a few years to a conversation I had recently with a young friend. She and her mom are learning sign language. The instructor tells the class, "And you’ll want to find a good book to guide you in learning sign language." Then holding one up she says, "This is the best one I’ve ever found, but I’m not sure it’s in print anymore."

So my young friend and her mom went up after class to look at the book and get its title, opened it up, and guess who’s name was on the inside? Yep, that’s right. It was one of the books I had given Goodwill.

What goes around truly does come around. That book found its way back to a friend. Give today as you make a life, and know that it will come back.

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"What's in your wallet?"

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Have you been through your wallet lately? I recently went through mine after someone asked to see a current picture of our beautiful daughters and I didn’t have one. They’re teenagers now and all I had was one of them in elementary school—just a few years behind, aren’t I?

So I went through the rest of my wallet to see what was in there. The obligatory stuff—driver’s license, health insurance card, credit cards. Then there was the coffee shop card—got to get that free cup, you know—and then some interesting things. Like the room key card from the Maui Marriott where my wife and I stayed. And a picture of her in high school. And a picture of a woman I barely knew that sent me $5 a month when I was working my way through college. A pair of concert ticket stubs from seeing the Eagles—a dear friend gave them to us.

If God had a wallet, what do you think would be in it? I think God would carry your picture to look at daily, even when you were a child, and some other memorabilia of good times in life with you. Remember: God loves you!

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"Is today special to you?"

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Today in the U.S. the news media will focus attention on this being the 6th anniversary of the horrific destruction that occurred in New York City, Washington, D.C., and in the Pennsylvania countryside. The loss of life was staggering and really, the whole world was shaken.

I’ve talked with couples who changed their wedding date from 9-11, saying, "Who wants to get married on that day?" Well, lots of people got married on September 11 before 2001.

In fact, while I’ll always remember what happened in the U.S. on 9-11, more important to me is the fact that my grandparents were married on this day. My anniversary was one week ago today and I can still hear my grandfather’s voice in my imagination as we discussed what to do for our wives on our anniversaries. I have pictures of them taken on this day they were married.

I choose to celebrate my grandparents’ wedding anniversary today, not death and destruction. Ask God to help you focus on the positive as you make a life today.

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"Are you stuck?"

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I read recently about a new, hi-tech water fountain. Now, most water fountains you walk up to, find the handle, turn the water on, bend over, and drink, right? This water fountain you simply walk up to, bend over, and drink. It has an infrared sensor or something like that which picks up your presence when you bend over and switches on the water.

What’s amazing is how many people look for the handle or button, search all over the fountain for it, and not finding it walk away, still thirsty; thinking, "Somebody needs to fix that water fountain." All they had to do was bend over and get all the water they wanted. They were so stuck in their usual way of getting water, they couldn’t get their thirst quenched.

What "usual way" of doing something are you stuck in? Are you open to trying something different, maybe even more convenient?

The fact is many of us choose to stay stuck. So today, do something differently like drive home a different route. And see if God is on that path, too, as you listen to life and make a life, not just a living.

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