"Do you ever forget that you can choose your mood?"

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I remember them from my growing up years, but I didn’t know they were back in style…until I was driving my younger daughter and one of her friends somewhere the other day and I heard them giggling about something. “What are you laughing at?” I said.

“I’m trying to make my ring change colors, Daddy,” she said.

“What kind of ring?” I said.

“A mood ring,” she said. And she went on to tell me that it changed colors according to your mood. On and on she went, as if I’d never heard of it before. I didn’t have the heart to tell her I wore a mood ring when I was her age.

She explained to me that the different colors reflected your mood. And that you can choose to change your mood when you want to and the ring changes color. She was trying to change hers.

Do you ever forget that you can choose your mood? Or, do you need a ring to remind you? Choose your mood—hopefully a good mood—by listening to life today for what God has to say so you can make a life, not just a living.

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"How do you prepare for life?"

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You know, painting a bedroom really doesn’t take all that long. I guess you can paint a bedroom in several hours, can’t you?

What takes so long is the preparation. First, you have to move all of the furniture, either taking it out of the room, or moving it into the center of the room. If it stays in the room, then you have to cover it. Next, if there are pictures on the walls—and who doesn’t have pictures on the walls—you have to remove them. Most of us then spackle over the holes, sand them lightly, and create a smooth wall surface. Now if you have wallpaper up and you want to paint, removing that is a whole other matter that involves more tools and chemicals and more patience than I have some weekends. But all of this preparation, when done properly, is what insures a beautiful paint job.

Sometimes life is a lot like painting a bedroom. It takes a lot longer to get ready to actually do something than it does to just do it. Preparation is important and what insures a job well done. So prepare with God as you listen to life and make a life, not just a living.

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"So how strong are you?"

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A boy and his father were walking along a road when they came across a huge rock. The boy said to his father, “Do you think if I use all my strength, I can move this rock?”

His father said, “If you use all your strength, I am sure you can do it.”

The boy pushed on the rock. Exerting himself as much as he could, he pushed and pushed, but the rock did not move. Discouraged, he said to his father, “You were wrong, I can’t do it.”

The father placed his arm around the boy's shoulder and said, “No, son, you didn't use all your strength.”

“Well, what do you mean? I pushed as hard as I could,” the boy said.

“Yes, son, you did,” said the father. “But you didn't ask me for help.”

Ask for help as you listen to life today and make a life, not just a living...with God’s help.

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"What should you do?"

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I don’t remember exactly who I was listening to, but I think it was either a politician or a preacher. One of them was talking about what we ought to do about a certain situation. “You ought to do this…” he said. “You should do that…” he went on. I kept listening, hoping to hear something other than what I ought to or should do; struggling for any tidbit of encouragement or advice about how I could actually do what I was being told I ought to do. But none ever came. So there I was left hanging between what I ought to do and how to do it.

It’s amazing how often that happens, isn’t it? For instance, at work, do you ever tell someone they ought to do or to have done something differently only to realize later, they didn’t know how to do it? Or does it happen at home with your spouse or child?

Put yourself in that person’s place today as you listen to life. Ask yourself, “What would I like to know besides what I ought to do?” Then answer your question.

And that’s one way to listen to life and make a life, not just a living!

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