"Things aren't always as they seem, are they?"

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An elderly man in Phoenix calls his son in New York and says, "I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing; forty-five years of misery is enough."

"Pop, what are you talking about?" the son screams.

"We can't stand the sight of each other any longer," the old man says. "And I'm sick of talking about this, so you call your sister in Chicago and tell her" and he hangs up.

Frantic, the son calls his sister, who explodes on the phone, "Oh no they're not getting a divorce," she shouts. "I'll take care of this."

She calls Phoenix, and tells her dad, "You are NOT getting divorced! Don't do a single thing until I get there. I'm calling my brother back and we'll both be there tomorrow. Until then don't do a thing, DO YOU HEAR ME?" And she hangs up.

The old man hangs up his phone, and tells his wife, "Okay, they're coming to see us and they’re paying their own way."

Things aren’t always as they seem, are they? Keep listening carefully to life today as you make a life, and not just a living.

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"How long do your storms last?"

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I was in our yard recently working on something—cutting grass or roses or spreading mulch—something like that when all of a sudden the wind started gusting. Then the gusts grew more severe. I looked up in the sky and noticed that it was black with clouds. A storm was blowing up and quickly.

So I got my tools together and went inside just as huge drops of rain fell. It was one of those heavy downpours that the gutters can’t contain. "Well, there goes my afternoon," I thought.

But in less than an hour, the sun was shining again and the storm was gone. I went back out in the yard and started again.

You know, some times in life when stormy problems come over us in a hurry, we think, "Well there goes my day (or week or month or life)." But if you’ll think back, most of those problems are like my thunderstorm experience—they blow over pretty quickly and then you’re back on track.

So hang in there during the storm and just listen to life today for what God has to say.

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"You never know, do you?"

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A room-service waiter at a hotel learned that the sister of a guest had just died. The waiter, Charles, bought a sympathy card, had hotel staff members sign it, and gave it to the grieving guest with a piece of hot apple pie.

Later the guest wrote to the president of the hotel chain. "Dear Sir," she wrote, "I'll never meet you. And I don't need to meet you. Because I met Charles. I know what you stand for...I want to assure you that as long as I live, I will stay at your hotels. And I will tell my friends to stay at your hotels."

You never know how much even a simple act of kindness will mean to someone, do you?

And you never know who God will send to take care of you in your times of need, do you?

As you listen to life today and make a life, not just a living, look around you for someone who’s hurting. Don’t assume you can’t help; even something as simple as a card and a piece of pie will do.

Or, if you’re the one hurting, look around you. God is sending someone your way right now. So keep listening to life!

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"Can you make a difference?"

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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.

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"Are you in a storm?"

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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.

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