"None of us were created to stay here forever, were we?"

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It’s been a few years now since my grandfather died. I still miss him and I want to call him and tell him something one of our daughters did, or share some other exciting news, or get some advice, but then remember I can’t. But that’s okay. As he was so fond of telling me, “None of us were created to stay here forever.”

An elderly woman from Brooklyn realized that she wouldn’t be here forever so she prepared her will and made preparations for her funeral service and other last requests. She told her rabbi that she had two final requests. First, she wanted to be cremated, and second, she wanted her ashes scattered over Bloomingdales.

The rabbi was so shocked that he didn’t quite know how to respond to her second request. So he simply said, “And why do you wish for your ashes to be scattered over Bloomingdales?”

And the woman said, “Then I’ll be sure my daughters visit me twice a week.”

This is National Humor Month. Find something to laugh about today in life or death as you listen to life and make a life, not just a living.

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"Made a mess lately?"

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Bobby, who’s eight, got up one Saturday morning before his mom and dad and decided to surprise them by making pancakes. So he pulled out the big bowl and spoon, stood up in a chair and took the pancake mix out of the cupboard. As he poured it into the bowl, he spilled some on the floor and on himself.

Then he added some milk—to the bowl and the floor. He cracked a couple of eggs and put them in and dripped yolk on the counter. As he stood there trying to figure out whether he was supposed to put the mix in the oven or on the stove—and how to turn them on—he heard this licking sound. His cat was eating from the mixing bowl! As he shooed her off, he hit the bowl and spilled it all over the counter, the floor, and himself. And just then, his dad walked in.

Bobby’s eyes filled with big, hot tears. He’d just wanted to do something good, not make a mess. And then Bobby’s dad picked him up in a bear hug and said, “I love you, son!”

The next time you make a mess of life, let God love on you.

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"You haven't given up, have you?"

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Ken Olsen, founder of Digital Equipment, said in 1977, “There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.” A Western Union Telegraph Company internal memo in 1876 read, “This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication.” When Gary Cooper turned down the lead role in Gone with the Wind, he said, “I'm just glad it'll be Clark Gable who's falling on his face and not Gary Cooper.” When in 1962 Decca Recording Co. rejected the Beatles, it was because “We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.”

“Given-up thinking” is everywhere, isn’t it? But don’t you give up. Conventional thinking isn’t always on target. God’s thinking is.

The dreams you have in your heart are God’s gift to you. Follow those dreams. Never give up pursuing them no matter how much the newscasters say this is a tough economy. And as you pay your taxes, be glad you’ve not given up on your job, and have a salary to take taxes out of.Don’t give up as you listen to life and make a life, not just a living today.

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"Is the grass always greener to you?"

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I talked with a mother of two preschool children and asked her how it was going. “Well,” she said, “my two-year-old has a stomach virus and is really pitiful right now.”

“I’m so sorry,” I said, “I remember what a trying time that can be.”

“Keeping his older sister away from him is part of the challenge” she told me. “I don’t want her to catch it,” she said.

“That’s a good idea,” I said. “All four of us had a horrific stomach virus once…and with only three bathrooms.”

“Well,” she said, “she wishes she had the stomach virus.”

“Why?” I asked.

“I tried to tell her she doesn’t want it,” the mother said, “but she says she wants it because then her little brother would have to stay away from her.”

The grass is always greener, isn’t it? Until you get over to the other side of the hill and discover the reality of living there.

Love the life you have and listen to it for God to guide you to where you can best make a life and not just a living.

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"Which kind of chocolate bunny is your favorite?"

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My grandmother gave me a chocolate bunny every spring when I was a kid. I always looked forward to getting it, but there were some chocolate bunnies I liked better than others. You see some years she gave me a hollow chocolate bunny. Now I really liked the chocolate, but when I bit into it, there was nothing but air. Other years she gave me a marshmallow-filled chocolate bunny. It was great because it had something inside. But marshmallow does get a little old after a few bites. My favorite years were those when my grandmother gave me a solid chocolate bunny. They were chocolate all the way through.

What are you filled with? Air? Gooey softness? Or, are you solid all the way through? Walking your talk? Making sure your actions and words match up?God wants to fill your spirit all the way through with all the sweet goodness of life.

Ask God to help you be solid in your spirit as you listen to life and make a life, not just a living.

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