"Searching for answers?"

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A woman and man are seated next to each other on a flight. The man wants to play a fun game and the woman just wants to take a nap, but the man persists and says, "I ask you a question, and if you don't know the answer, you pay me $5, and vise versa." Again, she declines and tries to get some sleep.

The man then says, "Okay, if you don't know the answer you pay me $5, and if I don't know the answer, I pay you $500." The woman agrees and the man asks, "What's the distance from the earth to the moon?"

The woman reaches into her purse, pulls out a $5 bill and hands it to him. And she asks the man, "What goes up a hill with three legs and comes down with four legs?"

The man takes out his laptop and searches all his references, no answer. After an hour, he wakes the woman, and hands her $500.

She says, "Thank you," and turns back to get some more sleep and the man says, "Well, what's the answer?"

Without a word, the woman reaches into her purse, hands the man $5, and goes back to sleep.
Searching for answers? Try God.

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"Does life make sense?"

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A friend of mine who listens to life told me about going to a home to inspect it for a client. He pulls up in his truck and immediately notices how unkempt the front yard is—the waist-high grass needs mowing, the bushes cover the windows; the place is just generally a mess.

Next, he peeks around to the backyard and it’s immaculate. No bushes growing up the side of the house. The grass is manicured closely, even around the chain link that runs around the backyard.
And so he stands there, wondering to himself, “Why in the world would anyone take such good care of their backyard, which no one really can see, and let the front yard go in such a miserable way?” Just then, my friend sees coming around the corner of the house, in the backyard, a goat.

Life doesn’t make sense sometimes, does it? Our normal expectations for what goes on in life fit less and less in this rapidly changing world, and there are more and more goats showing up. Today, suspend your normal expectations and just look for God coming around the corner as you make a life.

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"Do you say what you mean and mean what you say?"

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Do you give someone the cold shoulder? This phrase comes to us from the Middle Ages when if you overstayed your host’s welcome, you were served a big shoulder of cold beef rather than a nice hot roast. You were supposed to get the message and leave.

Do you bring home the bacon? In the 12th century, a church in Britain awarded cured bacon strips to newly married couples if they could swear, after their first year of marriage, that they had never once regretted their decision to marry each other. If they could, they brought home the bacon.

Do you stew in your own juices? I hope not, at least not in the original 13th century use of the phrase. Back then, it was a euphemism for being burned at the stake, where you literally, stewed in your own juices.

Sometimes we use a phrase and don’t really know what it originally meant. Sometimes we say something and don’t really know what it means.

Say what you mean and mean what you say as you talk with God today. But more importantly, listen to life first.

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"Is life any different today?"

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I remember when our older daughter turned sixteen. I asked her shortly after her birthday if she felt any different now that she’s sixteen. She sounded rather perplexed as she said, “No, not really any different.”

Isn’t that the way life goes? You get all geared up and excited about some upcoming big event, a milestone, like turning sixteen or being married fifty years or going to college or retiring from work and when you get there, you wake up the next morning and go, “Huh? What’s the big deal?”

It’s easy to live life that way, isn’t it? To live in anticipation of some big event really shortchanges today, doesn’t it? I mean, if nothing’s different the day after your big event, and you hang your happiness on life being better afterwards, you’re just setting yourself up for disappointment, aren’t you?

Let’s see every day as special, not just the big events. I mean, who knows what happiness can be yours today? God knows…and God is whispering that happiness to you right now. So listen to life and make a life, not just a living, on this special day.

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"Things aren't always as they seem, are they?"

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A priest and pastor team up to perform some ministry together. They stand by the side of a road, and hold up a sign that reads, “The End is Near! Turn yourself around now before it’s too late!” They plan to hold the sign up to each passing car and truck.

Well, the first vehicle comes speeding down the road, slows down a little, and the driver reads the sign. He rolls down the window, shouts, “Leave us alone you religious nuts!” and speeds away, throwing gravel and dirt all over the priest and the pastor.

The priest and the pastor brush themselves off, looking like they can’t believe what just happened to them. From beyond the curve in the road where they’re standing, the two hear the first vehicle squealing its brakes, and then this huge splash.

And the pastor turns to the priest and says, “Do you think we should just put up a sign that says ‘Bridge out?’”

Things aren’t always as they seem, are they? As you’re listening to life and making a life, not just a living today, think about what else God wants you to understand.

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