"How much “drama” is there in your life?"

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When our daughter was in middle school, we learned that it’s far more traumatic than you might imagine—for her that is. There is so much “drama” in middle school. The “he said/she said” creates “issues” for these kids.

Frankly I don’t remember all of this “drama.” But I was more into baseball, fishing, and hunting than relationships back then. It was a different era. We all wanted to wear Levis, I do remember that. And I do recall getting a lecture or two about peer pressure. Maybe that was what sufficed for our drama. Perhaps with my generation it was about peer pressure.

I read an interview with a 104-year-old woman recently. The reporter asked, “And what do you think is the best thing about being 104?”

The woman simply replied, “No peer pressure.”

Until you’re 104 or so, I guess you’ll have some “drama” or “pressure” to conform to certain social standards. But look, don’t take keeping up with the Joneses too seriously. Just keep up with God and listen to life and make a life, not just a living, okay?

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"What's growing in you?"

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I got on my tractor one of these beautiful days and mowed a portion of pasture. Now you may be wondering if I’ve lost my mind. Obviously nothing grows in a pasture over the winter, right?

Well, not exactly. Broom straw grows over the winter. Occasionally the soil nutrients are a little off of what’s best for growing grass and broom straw jumps up over the winter. It competes with the spring grass for nutrients, water, and sunlight. Our horses don’t eat broom straw. They eat grass. So that’s why I mowed it down.

Negative thinking is like broom straw. It competes for nutrients in your mind. Have you ever noticed that one negative thought breeds another? And another? And pretty soon, there’s an entire field of negative thoughts growing in your mind? And your mind is like the soil—it grows what’s planted.

Today, mow down your negative thoughts. In their place, plant positive thoughts of God’s love and peace so you can make a life, not just a living today.

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"How quickly do you forget?"

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You can imagine how when the temperature went from 18 degrees with ten inches of snow to 82 degrees in less than a week, it was really easy for me to forget that it had actually snowed. Snow is a distant memory when you’re walking behind a lawn mower, cleaning up leaves so the spring grass will grow.

So I’m walking behind the mower and stop to empty the bagger and pause to look out across one of the horse pastures. I can see water moving down the mountain on my neighbor’s farm and emptying into a culvert to pass on down stream. When I see the water flowing, I remember the ten inches of snow and realize that it’s still melting and moving down from the mountain.

Sometimes it’s easy for you and me to forget something we do, hoping that no one noticed or that since it’s over with, it’s gone. But it’s not. The consequences of our actions follow you sometimes for years, even generations. Those consequences are hard to endure, aren’t they?

God’s grace is with you, saving you from the full brunt of those consequences and helping you make a life, not just a living each and every day.

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"Life changes fast, doesn’t it?"

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When this big snowfall happened, and the power went out, and the trees fell, I’m cleaning them up with some God-sent help, my wife measured how much fell and I discovered varying amounts nearby, listening to my life about how much diversity God creates daily.

Well, less than a week after this ten inch snowfall that prompts me to listen to my life in so many wonderful ways, the temperature climbs to 82 degrees. That’s right, in less than a week, we went from ten inches of snow and a low of 18 to the snow is all melted, the jonquils are blooming, the birds are singing and I’m sweating while gardening outside.

Life changes about that fast, too, doesn’t it? One day everything is fine in your life. In less than a week, sometimes less than a day, someone you love gets a cancer diagnosis or is involved in a car accident or some other tragedy occurs. And you wonder, “How can life be so good and then become so bad?”

Even when your life changes that fast, God is there; celebrating the beautiful days and carrying you through the ugly ones as you make a life.

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"Are you protected?"

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I am so blessed to have lots of windows in my office. One set of windows looks out on a mountain range. The other set looks up the mountain where we live. So I get a real panoramic view.

Recently as it snowed, I looked out the southeast windows, up the mountain on which we live. I noticed something as it gently and quietly snowed. Though there were no leaves on the trees yet, the bare branches protected the ground from the snowfall. As the snow first fell, none of it touched the ground under the bare-branch canopy of the trees.

Now who would have imagined that a bare branch could do that? With no leaves on it, who would have thought that branch would prevent the snowfall from blanketing the ground underneath it?

Sometimes in life, you may not think that God can protect you from the world’s cold falling on you. That God is like a bare branch. When you feel like you’re alone in the cold, remember that God’s warmth insulates you from the world’s cold, blanketing you with unconditional love.

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