"How do you decide who goes first?"

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You quickly learned as a child that there are two situations in life—"me-first!" and "you-go-ahead." And you discovered that there’s a huge difference between the two.

You learned to yell "Me first" when you heard the ice cream truck coming down the street or choosing sides for basketball or Grandma was serving chocolate cake. You screamed "me first!" because you wanted the best selection, the best player, or the biggest piece.

But as a child you also learned that there were some situations where you definitely don't want to be first. These were the "you-go-ahead" situations. You said, "You go ahead" to avoid the last serving of brussel sprouts or to let someone else jump first in the creek in early spring or to take a bath. You enjoyed knowing that you put it off as long as you could.

Some days are "me first" days and other days are "you-go-ahead" ones. God has already gone ahead of you into this day and prepared the way for you. So relax, let God go first, and make a life, not just a living today.

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"Who do you want to hurt?"

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A friend of mine has a daughter who’s four almost five years old. He calls me recently to tell me about discovering that a squirrel had gotten into his attic. Of course the furry-tailed little guy only came into the attic because of the cold weather and only at night. He played immediately overhead of my friend’s bedroom, keeping him up for much of the night. This nocturnal nuisance continued for well over a week…

…until my friend declared war on the squirrel. He got a trap and put it in the attic and finally caught the squirrel. So here’s my friend, operating on little sleep over the last week, he goes into the attic, retrieves the trap with the live critter in it, comes down the stairs, and his daughter says, "Don’t hurt him, Daddy. God made him."

Sometime soon, you’ll want to hurt some nuisance in your life. You’ll be pushed to the limit by her or want to eliminate him. Just remember—God made him. So don’t hurt her. Odds are that person is a lot like you—just trying to come in out of the cold world. So listen to life and give him a break, okay?

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"Are you right all the time?"

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When I worked for just one radio station, I worked for a man who knew his way was always the right way. Now this way of doing life worked just fine for him, until something went wrong.

For instance, I was instructed in how to operate the transmitter. So one morning, it was my turn to work the morning shift and I went in and turned the transmitter on just like I’d been taught. Only this time it didn’t work. So I called the engineer who came and replaced a part, and we were back on the air.

But for some reason, this guy decided somebody had to bear the blame for the transmitter malfunction, and I was that somebody. I tried to explain I just turned it on, but he wouldn’t listen. Finally, he screamed at me, "There are two ways of doing things around here—my way and the highway." It was then that I realized his rage wasn’t about me, but about something he couldn’t control in his life—parts breaking.

You know, most of life is beyond control. Rather than having to be right all the time and blaming each other, let’s listen to life today for what God has to say.

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'Sometimes life just doesn’t make any sense, does it?"

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Life is like some classified ads I read about the other day. Listen to these ads which were actually taken from newspapers but don’t make any sense:

*Snow blower for sale…only used on snowy days.

*Free: One can of pork and beans with the purchase of a 3 BR 2 Bath home.

*Shakespeare’s Pizza – Free chopsticks.

*Open House with Free Coffee and Donuts – Body Shapers Toning Salon.

Life really doesn’t make any sense sometimes, does it? The things you expect to happen don’t. And the things you don’t expect to happen do.

For all the times when your life doesn’t make any sense—something happens or doesn’t happen and you can’t understand why—remember that God is the only one who can make sense out of the nonsense. So ask God for help. Then listen to life and make a life, not just a living…with God’s sense.

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"Do you talk to your family like a dog?"

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No, of course, you don’t. And that’s because you probably talk to your dog nicer than you talk to your family.

Just think about it for a moment. Your dog runs up to you, wagging his tail, looking sooo cute, and you say, "Hi there Poochie. Did you miss me? Where do you want me to scratch you?" all the while you’re rubbing and patting your dog. Never mind the dog’s drooling all over your hands and getting fur all over your best black slacks.

But now let your child run up to you, smiling, looking sooo cute and what do you say? "How many times have I told you not to run in this house? You never listen to me. And what have I told you about running with a lollipop in your mouth? Don’t touch me! You’re gonna get me sticky."

Or, let your spouse walk up to you, wagging his tail, trying to look sooo cute and you say, "Leave me alone. I’m not in the mood."

Talk to your family today like you do your dog. Just listen to life today and God will tell you what to say.

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