"Can you make a difference?"

Click here to listen to Dr. Joey tell his story!

Back in 1965, Columbia Records in New York received a recording of Bob Dylan’s new song, Like a Rolling Stone. The VP for sales and marketing pitched it in the trash can because it was almost six minutes long and Dylan refused to shorten it. This VP just knew radio stations wouldn’t play a song that long.

Shaun Considine, coordinator of new releases, found the record in the trash, pulled it out and took Dylan’s record home to play over the weekend. Shaun was also part-owner of a really hot New York club. He slipped Like a Rolling Stone to the DJ and the place went crazy, including a couple of influential radio people. They called Columbia Records, demanded copies of the song, and the record was a hit.

But not just any hit. Rolling Stone magazine later chose it as the number-one rock-and-roll song of all time. And had it not been for Shaun, they never would have heard it.

The next time you doubt if one person—especially you—can make a difference, remember Shaun and then listen to life and make a life, not just a living.

Discover more great stories like this one!

"Are you in a storm?"

Click here to listen to Dr. Joey tell his story!

You can usually hear the rumble in the distance before you can see any of it. And you can usually smell it in the air. And then you can see it quite some ways away. And only after all of this happens, you can see it coming at you, watching it move like a curtain unfolding across the landscape.

What am I talking about? A summer thunderstorm at the beach.

It rumbles in the distance before you can see it. "Where did that come from?" you ask.

You smell it in the air, the heavy dampness. "Smells like rain," you say.

And when you look out across the sand and surf, you see that large black cloud. "Looks like a big one," you say.
Shortly you see the rain coming and you go inside to wait it out.

Like summer thunderstorms at the beach, you can hear and smell and see some of life’s storms before they assault you. When you do, go inside of God’s protective love and wait it out. And that’s how you listen to life and make a life, not just a living and survive your storms today.

Discover more great stories like this one!

"Do you remember the movie, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade?"

Click here to listen to Dr. Joey tell his story!

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade had a scene near the end of the movie, when Indy was very close to finding the Holy Grail. He stood looking across a deep, almost bottomless valley to a cave entrance, only there appeared to be no way to get across. His map told him that in faith, he had to step out into the nothingness. To his eyes, making the step into nothingness was certain death. Making the step took faith.

When he did, when Indy took that step, an invisible bridge appeared, a bridge that stretched across the valley. He walked safely across to the cave that held the Holy Grail.

Sure, it’s just a movie. But almost every day, you have an opportunity to step out into the unknown with a step of faith as God calls you to discover your destiny. You have the freedom of choice: You may choose to turn around and walk back. Or, you may step forward into the unknown and go with God.

You are free to make a choice. Take your step of faith as you listen to life and make a life, not just a living today.

Discover more great stories like this one!

"Got regrets?"

Click here to listen to Dr. Joey tell his story!

A friend who listens to life with us through our website at www.ListentoLife.org talked with me recently about an upcoming trip to London he planned for his family. We talked about the high ticket prices the airlines charge because of fuel costs. Then we talked about the dreadful currency exchange rates between the dollar and the pound—pretty close to 2-for-1. Next we talked about one daughter graduating from college and another going and what that costs.

Then he said, "Yea, my accountant tells me I’m crazy for taking this trip to London at this time. But you know what I told him? I told him that the majority of my regrets in life are about what I didn’t do, not what I did. So we’re going to London regardless."

What about your regrets in life? Are they more about what you didn’t do? A missed opportunity to do something? A neglected occasion to say "I love you!"? Too many nights spent at work while your children grew up without you?

Live with as few regrets as possible by listening to your life and making a life, not just a living today.

Discover more great stories like this one!

"Do you see it all?"

Click here to listen to Dr. Joey tell his story!

A friend told the story of planting a vegetable garden some years ago. He had always wanted to live in a place where he had room to plant one. Finally he moved to such a place and was thrilled.

The area in which he lived was experiencing a drought. Most of the people he knew told him it wasn’t a great year due to the shortfall in rain. But remember he was so thrilled just to live where he could plant one so he did.

Well, everyone else’s garden that year died from lack of rain…but not my friend’s. His garden grew beautifully. He harvested more vegetables than he could eat and bragged a bit about how he made his garden when others didn’t.

Some weeks later he discovered why his garden grew when no one else’s did. He planted his garden over his septic line which had backed up under his garden, and eventually into his home.

Sometime this week, you’ll do better than expected. And you’ll be tempted to brag a bit about what you did that made it successful. But remember to listen to life in those times for something unseen at work…like God.

Discover more great stories like this one!