"Where do you put your weight down?"

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

Did you hear about the man who took his first airplane ride? He didn't really want to go, but was finally persuaded to try it. Scared to death, he got in the plane. The pilot took off, circled the field and landed safely. Someone asked him, “Well, now that wasn't so bad, was it?”

And the man said, “I’ll tell you this much. I never did put my full weight down in that thing!”

I can relate with that guy, can’t you? There are lots of times that I’m not really sure about trusting something new. And there are other times when I’m just afraid of stepping out and trying it.

But when I’m afraid, that’s when I listen to life. Listening to life means putting your full weight down on God even when you’re afraid of something and don’t trust it. Listening to life means actually anchoring yourself to God and letting God carry you around the field of life and bring you safely back.

So as you make a life and not just a living today, put your full weight in God’s hands.

Discover more great stories like this one!

"What would you say if you knew?"

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

A few months back, I had the opportunity to stand by an open grave as a family member was buried. His death was sudden and unexpected. And as I stood there, my mind flooded with all the times I wished I had called him just to say “Hi!” Not that I had anything particular or special to say. Just “Hi!”

And then I thought about all of the birthday cards I didn’t send. The “just because” notes I didn’t write. The times I didn’t check in with him to see how life was treating him.

And I decided that maybe I wasn’t crying for him, but for me. For the lost opportunities while he was here. The words left unsaid. The deeds left undone.

So standing there, watching the sandy soil fill his grave and cover his casket, I made a decision—I’m not living like that anymore. I am now saying all of the words, some to people I haven’t spoken with in thirty years. I am now doing for others rather than waiting until later.

God showed me another way to make a life while standing at that grave. And I’m listening now. What about you?

Discover more great stories like this one!

"Do you push or pull?"

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

I do my best to go to a fitness center at least two or three times per week. When I’m traveling, I stay at hotels that have them on-site. When I’m home, I go to my favorite place where I’m a member. I’m not a gym rat, because I go in, do my routine and leave, but I could be.

So recently while I’m doing my routine, I notice all of the different machines there as well as the free weights. All of a sudden it hit me—most every exercise, whether with free weights or on machines, consists of one of two motions: you’re pulling or pushing up or you’re pulling or pushing down. It’s all up or down. Now there are a couple that may be out and in, but not many. Mostly it’s up and down.

And that’s kind of like life, isn’t it? You’re either pulling someone up by helping them out of a predicament or teaching them a new skill or encouraging them or you’re pushing someone down by gossiping or criticizing or being cruel.

So which exercise do you do more of in life? And which one is God asking you to do? Pull someone up today as you make a life, not just a living.

Discover more great stories like this one!

"How's your heart?"

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

I read recently that your heart beats about 100,000 times a day. That’s a lot of beating, isn’t it?

One of the amazing things to me about the way God made your heart is that you don’t even think about it beating. It just beats. If you want to get up and walk across the room to pick up a stapler, you have to think about it. The thought forms in your mind which tells your legs to stand, then signals your feet to move, and away you go—your hand picks up the stapler.

But not so with your heart. It just beats. About 100,000 times per day. Automatically. No thoughts need form in your mind. No signals sent from your thoughts. It just beats away, supplying the necessary oxygen and nutrients to every organ and cell in your body.

Amazing, isn’t it? Now if God took such great care in creating your heart to be so amazing, to beat without you telling it to, it seems to me that you do well to make every one of those beats count for something special.

Listen to life today and make a life, not just a living with every beat of your heart.

Discover more great stories like this one!

Do you have an attitude of compassion?

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

A little boy didn’t respond to his parents when they called him. His speech wasn’t very clear either. It was hard to understand him. His parents couldn’t figure out what his problem was until they took him to an Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor who suggested tubes for his ears. Almost immediately, the little guy’s problems cleared up and his speech began improving.

All of this situation had quite an effect on his Dad. His Dad trained and coached business people all across the country. Typically when someone didn’t understand what he was trying to teach them, he became impatient, wondering, “Why can’t you get this?”

After his son’s situation, the Dad found himself more patient. He imagined that his son’s teachers and friends and family must have grown impatient when he didn’t come the first time when called, or do what he was asked to do, or say what he meant clearly. He wanted people to treat his son with compassion. So that’s what he started doing—treating others with compassion.

Amazing, isn’t it, how God can change your attitude via your perspective?

Discover more great stories like this one!