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Thursday, December 04, 2008

"How do you do business?"


Yesterday I told you about my daughter’s car accident. Turns out the car was a total loss.

I found myself dealing with the other driver’s insurance company. I checked in with the estimator one Monday morning to see what kind of results he had come up with. I asked him, "Is it a Monday in your part of the world?"

"The worst one I’ve had in twenty years," he said.

I asked why and he told me that the museum had burned down in his town. It contained tools his deceased father had collected over the years. The tools were about all that he had left of his Dad’s.

"I understand," I said, then told him about my Grandfather’s plows and how when I missed him, I would stand out in the yard and place my hands on the handles, and it comforted me.

It was the same for him with his Dad’s tools only now they were gone. I expressed my condolences to him. Later we settled on the car.

Sometimes the business of doing business takes a back seat to being human with each other.

Wednesday, December 03, 2008

"Can you be two places at once?"


Yesterday I told you about my daughter’s car accident. She was okay, but the car wasn’t. Turns out another driver rear-ended her.

"Daddy," she said. "I don’t know what to do."

"We can do this," I told her. "I’ll coach you through it."

Remember now—I was several states away with grieving family members. So I prayed, "God, I can’t be there. But you can. Please help her."

Pretty soon, a police officer arrived and checked on her. She told him that she was talking with me to help her through it. I heard the officer say to her, "Tell your Dad I’m going to take good care of you." And he did, giving her all of the information I asked her to get before she even asked him for it. That was Angel #1, sent by God.

Then, the tow truck driver showed up. She told him she was talking with her dad and he said, "Tell your Dad I’m going to take good care of you." And he did, even driving her to a friend’s home to stay the night. That was Angel #2, sent by God.

Time and space are not barriers to God being present with you and your loved ones. So ask to be present, especially when you can’t.

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

"What's more important?"


I was out of state with my wife and her family. A relative died and we packed our bags, jumped on a plane, and flew to be with our family many states away. I noticed while we were there that we had a problem with our phone service. Even our daughter at home did, also. Something was wrong with the system and we could text, but not call.

So I was surprised when my phone rang and it was our older daughter. "Daddy," she said, "I’m sorry to bother you, but this is important. I’ve been in an accident and I don’t know what to do."

"Are you okay?" I asked immediately.

"Yes sir," she told me, "but I don’t know what to do."

"I can tell you what to do," I said, "but look yourself over and tell me if you’re okay. Any blood anywhere?"

"No sir, no blood," she said. "My neck and my chest hurt a little, but I’m okay. But the car is really messed up. You aren’t upset about the car?"

"I can get a new car," I said. "I have only one you."

New things such as cars get so much attention this time of year. But what’s more important—the person or the present? Make a life today, okay?

Monday, December 01, 2008

"Can you see clearly?"


A couple moves into a new home. They’re eating breakfast together in their new kitchen when the husband looks out and sees a neighbor hanging out some laundry.

"Man, that laundry isn’t very clean," he says. "She doesn’t know how to wash clothes right or needs a different kind of detergent." His wife doesn’t say anything.

Every time the neighbor hangs out the laundry while the couple eats breakfast, the husband says the same thing. His wife says nothing.

Pretty soon the couple has spent their first month in their new home and they’re eating breakfast together again. Once again, the neighbor starts hanging out the laundry. But this time, the husband says, "Well how about that? She finally learned how to wash her laundry correctly. See how clean it is?"

And his wife says, "Actually yesterday afternoon I cleaned that window."

As you listen to life and make a life, not just a living today, make sure your own window is clean before you comment on someone else’s dirty laundry.

Sunday, November 30, 2008

"Do you bag life’s beauty?"


I was in a meeting last month and someone turned to me and said, "Well, have you raked up all of your leaves?"
"Not yet," I said.

"Oh, do you wait until they all fall so you only have to get them up once?" he said.

"Well," I said, "they all are fallen when I get them up, but that’s not why I wait. Have you ever left those beautiful red, orange, and yellow works of art on the ground long enough to enjoy the gorgeous carpet they roll out?"

"Not really," he said. "I usually get them up as they hit the ground."

"What do you do with them?" I asked.

"I bag them," he told me.

"You’re bagging and throwing away a lot of beauty," I said.

Do you treat life the way this guy does his leaves? Just because something falls in your way, you dispose of it as quickly as possible?

Life takes you of your usual path at times. Don’t avoid it. See the beauty in it. And discover God there as you listen to life and make a life, not just a living.