"Do you have refrigerator rights?"

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Through the years, our home has been a gathering place. My wife and I decided when our daughters were born that we wanted our home to be “the place” where all of their friends wanted to come and play and hang out. We have lots of friends, too, so rather than just go out to eat all the time with them, we like to have them over to relax and kind of “get away” at our farm.

Repeat guests discover something on about the second or third time they’re over: my wife has a refrigerator policy that goes something like this—“The first time you’re here, you’re our guests and we wait on you. From the second time on, you know where the refrigerator is.” In other words, you have what Dr. Will Miller and Glenn Sparks refer to in their book as “Refrigerator Rights,” a relationship that’s comfortable, informal, and intimate.

Who has refrigerator rights at your home? Invite some friends over for dinner this weekend and give them refrigerator rights so you can be comfortable, informal, and intimate as you listen to life and make a life together!

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"Are you stuck?"

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I read recently about a new, hi-tech water fountain. Now, most water fountains you walk up to, find the handle, turn the water on, bend over, and drink, right? This water fountain you simply walk up to, bend over, and drink. It has an infrared sensor or something like that which picks up your presence when you bend over and switches on the water.

What’s amazing is how many people look for the handle or button, search all over the fountain for it, and not finding it walk away, still thirsty; thinking, “Somebody needs to fix that water fountain.” All they had to do was bend over and get all the water they wanted. They were so stuck in their usual way of getting water, they couldn’t get their thirst quenched.

What “usual way” of doing something are you stuck in? Are you open to trying something different, maybe even more convenient?

The fact is many of us choose to stay stuck. So today, do something differently like drive home a different route. And see if God is on that path, too, as you listen to life and make a life, not just a living.

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"What's in your wallet?"

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Have you been through your wallet lately? I recently went through mine after someone asked to see a current picture of our beautiful daughters and I didn’t have one. All I had was from elementary school—just a few years behind considering one’s in grad school and the other’s a high school senior, aren’t I?

So I went through the rest of my wallet to see what was in there. The obligatory stuff—driver’s license, health insurance card, credit cards. Then there was the coffee shop card—got to get that free cup, you know—and then some interesting things. Like the room key card from the Maui Marriott where my wife and I stayed. And a picture of her in high school. And a picture of a woman I barely knew that sent me $5 a month when I was working my way through college. A pair of concert ticket stubs from seeing The Eagles—a dear friend gave them to us.

If God had a wallet, what do you think would be in it? I think God would carry your picture to look at daily, even when you were a child, and some other memorabilia of good times in life with you. Why? Because God loves you!

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"How old are you?"

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I speak to a lot of groups—business groups, trade associations, school systems—as a life motivational speaker. Many of these people listen to life with me through our website at www.ListentoLife.org, or in the newspaper or on the radio. Since I’m not on television yet, none of these people have actually seen me.

A common reaction I get when seeing people for the first time is, “You’re a lot younger than I thought.” Sometimes I ask, “What did you expect?” And most of the responses are something like, “I thought you’d be an old man with a long white beard who’d sat on a mountain for a long time.” Other times, I just tell them, “Thank you! Actually I’m a big kid!”

And I really am. Or, I try to be. You see, children simply trust. They trust for their needs to be met like food, a home, and safety. They trust that someone’s looking out for their best interests. They trust with a faith that doesn’t worry. And that’s why I want to be a big kid. I want to trust God for everything. So I really do listen to life as I make a life, not just a living…like a child.

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"Is there a specific day that you just dread?"

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A recent survey says that 33% of us dread the day we go to the dentist office. 18% of us just dread Mondays in general (like you really needed to hear that today). Tax Day, April 15, is dreaded by 15% of us while 13% of us dread the last day of summer. And if you can believe this one—8% of Americans surveyed said they dread their birthdays. So I guess the most dreaded day of all is when your birthday is Monday, April 15 and you have a dentist appointment and it’s cool like the last day of summer.

I wonder why a survey’s not been done on the specific day that’s our favorite? Maybe somebody will get around to it one day and discover that the lists are the same. I mean if you go to the dentist or pay taxes, it means you have some money in your pocket. And without Mondays there’d be no Fridays, right? And if summer didn’t end, the leaves wouldn’t change colors. And if we didn’t have birthdays, well, we couldn’t listen to life today for what God has to say.

So as you listen to life and make a life, not just a living, make today your favorite day!

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