"Do you make a life, or just a living?"

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I keep on one of my desks a handwritten note from our younger daughter. It reads, "Daddy, don’t work too hard today. I Love You, [her name]."

I keep that note on my desk because it reminds me that being a Daddy comes before working. And it helps me recall a story I heard once about a little boy who asked his dad, "How much money do you make an hour?"
The dad said, "About $100."

The little boy dropped his head, then raised it and asked his dad, "May I borrow $50?"

His dad became more than a little upset with him for asking and sent him to his room. Then the dad thought better of his response and went to see his son and gave him the $50. "Why do you want it?" he said.

The little boy smiling, reached under his pillow, took out a handful of bills, gave them to his dad along with the $50 he’d just received and said, "I have $100 now. Would you come home from work early tomorrow? I’ll buy an hour of your time!"

Make sure you listen to life and make a life, not just a living today, okay?

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"Are you stuck?"

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A friend travels on business a lot and recently entertained some customers on an overnight golf trip. He and his wife usually stay in touch with each other often while he’s gone, and typically on their cell phones. His wife couldn’t reach him for about 12 hours during one trip. Now for someone who’s accustomed to speaking with her husband often while he’s gone, well, you can imagine she was near panic.

So when he called the next morning and said that the area had no cell phone reception, at first she was just relieved to know he was okay, but then she got angry. She asked, "Well do they only have tin cans and string for land lines? You could have used the room phone to call me, you know!"

Finally her husband said after a long pause, "I didn’t think of that."

Do you ever find yourself stuck in a rut of routine like my friend did? Used to doing life one way so often that you don’t consider other ways of getting something done?

Today, step outside the confines of your typical thinking. Ask God to show you some different ways of doing life as you listen to life and make a life, not just a living today.

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"How's your garbage bag?"

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I coach married couples from across the country. (Go to www.StayMarriedForever.org to discover more.) The very first part of the coaching has to do with conflict management, i.e., learning how you typically react when a disagreement happens.

One of the conflict management styles we talk about has to do with avoiding conflict; just not talking about it or dealing with it. Some people, for whatever reason, refuse to deal with a disagreement so they stuff it. I liken it to their carrying a garbage bag around on their back and when something comes up with their spouse, or even a boss or employee or neighbor or family member that is a problem, they stuff it in their garbage bag.

Well, you can imagine that the garbage bag gets pretty heavy after a while…and smelly. When it gets too heavy and smelly, then it’s going to get dumped…and you’re not always real particular about who gets it either.

Today, throw your garbage away…empty it in a safe place…and talk out your problems with God’s help, okay?

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"How’s your attitude?"

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A friend was learning to fly. You are required to wear blinders when you are learning so that you are trained in how to look only at the instruments on your dash, not at the airspace around you.

He was given an order to increase his altitude to so many thousands of feet, which he began doing. All of a sudden, the instructor yanked the blinders off of my friend and said, "You were so concerned about your altitude, but now look at your attitude!"

Your wings relation to the horizon is your attitude in flying jargon. My friend was so concerned with climbing to the right altitude that he was about to go into a spin that could have been fatal. He forgot to pay attention to his relationship to the horizon around him.

It’s so easy for you and me to forget about those around us in our pursuit to climb higher and higher in life each day. Today, remember those people flying around you and your relationship with them. After all, what good is success if you’re the only one enjoying the rare air? Make a life, not just a living today.

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"In the midst of the horrors we call war, do you understand and forgive?"

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I talked with a World War II veteran one day. He served in the European theater, in Germany, during the final days of Hitler’s retreat. He told me about walking down dirt roads and seeing German bodies lying in ditches and fields. He told me how some of his fellow soldiers kicked and spat on those German bodies.

He also told me how his fellow soldiers kicked and spat on German prisoners being escorted to camps. They called the Germans names and beat them.

But this veteran told me that when he looked at the German bodies lying in fields and ditches, and when he walked by the German prisoners going to camps, that he didn’t see "Germans"; he didn’t see "the enemy."
Instead he saw young men his own age who left behind wives and families to follow orders to shoot to kill; young men just like himself. My friend, in the midst of the horrors we call war, understood and forgave.

Listen to life and understand and forgive your enemies today.

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