"Do you play well?"

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Why is it that when I play golf, and step up to the tee box, all of a sudden, I think I’m Tiger Woods and can drive the ball into the next county? Rather than hit a decent drive straight, and lay up before the creek, I think I can drive over the creek. I lose my mind and delude myself into thinking that I can be on the green in two when the course designer laid it out for three. So, there I go, not listening to the designer, thinking I know more about golf than he did, not managing the course but instead doing golf my way and there goes my little white ball into the creek. So then I’m lying two with a penalty shot at the creek, lucky to make three from there, probably winding up with a four on the green. All because I thought I knew more than the course designer!

Does my golf experience remind you of any of your life experiences? Do you sometimes think you know more than the Life Designer about how to do life? And instead of following the preferred design for your life, strike out on your own as if you could do things you’re totally incapable of?

Let’s listen to life today and play life well as you make a life.

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How often do you say, 'Thanks'?”

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My mother really enjoyed cooking for us. My father, brother and I sat down most nights to a table overloaded with food, every bit of it delicious. I can only remember one time when we expressed anything but sheer delight at my mother’s meals and that was the one and only time she served us beef liver.

And even though I’m middle-aged now, and when I pull up to my mother’s table I’ve got a wife and two daughters with me, my mother’s table is still wonderful. There are at least two meat entrees, a multitude of vegetables, and she’s made a pie or cake. I believe my mother really enjoys cooking.

And growing up and even now, I enjoy eating her cooking. But I thought about it the other day and realized that I probably haven’t said "Thank you" enough for all the time and energy she put into all those years of cooking for me. Those times I did say it, I know she appreciated it. So Mama, thanks for all the great meals through the years.

Also, I thought about how just like my mother worked on my behalf and likes to hear thanks, God works to feed us, too. So thank God today as you make a life, and not just a living.

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"Do you ever keep talking?"

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A woman is reading the local newspaper while her husband reads a magazine. All of a sudden, she bursts out laughing.

"Listen to this," she says. "Here’s a classified ad where a guy is offering to swap his wife for a season ticket to the stadium."

"Uh-hum," her husband says, not looking up from his magazine.

She decides to tease him a little and says, "Honey, would you swap me for a season ticket?"

"Absolutely not!" he says.

"How sweet," she says, "I knew you wouldn’t."

"Of course not," he says never looking up. "Besides, the season’s more than half over."

Do you ever keep talking like this guy when you should have stopped? I know it’s hard to know when to say when sometimes. Here’s a good rule of thumb though, particularly for husbands like this one: less is more. The less you say, the more you get it right.

Still not sure? Then don’t say anything until you listen to life today.

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"Who loves you?"

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I remember one night slipping upstairs while our daughters were sleeping. I just stood there and watched them. They were teenagers at the time so if I went into their rooms, I usually had to sneak in.

But as I stood in their respective bedrooms watching them sleep, I thought about how I used to do this all the time when they were preschoolers. I’d just stand there, watching their rhythmic breathing, listening to their soft breaths, even stroking their silken hair, and occasionally dropping a tear of joy on their pillows at the wondrous gifts God gave me. You see, I really love my girls…

…and I love them even when they’re not doing anything special to please me, like when they’re just sleeping. In fact, they don’t have to do anything for me to love them. They belong to me. And nothing in the world—nothing they can do—will ever change that fact.

God feels the same way about you as I do about my daughters. God loves you and nothing in the world—nothing you can do—will ever change that fact. So while you’re sleeping tonight, know that God is watching…and loving you.

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"Do you have the hiccups?"

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A woman went to the doctor's office where she was seen by one of the new doctors. After a few minutes in the exam room, she burst out, screaming as she ran down the hall. An older doctor stopped her and asked what the problem was, and she told him her story. After listening, he had her sit down and relax in another room.

The older doctor marched down the hallway to the back where the first doctor was and demanded, "What's the matter with you? Mrs. Terry is 63 years old, she has four grown children and seven grandchildren, and you told her she’s pregnant?"

The new doctor continued to write on his clipboard and without looking up said, "Does she still have the hiccups?"

Does it seem sometimes that God goes to drastic measures to cure your life’s discomforts? And sometimes you don’t understand why God does what God does? God always has what’s best for you in mind. So the next time something happens to make you scream, stop and relax a moment, and look around for God.

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