Any day with mowing must be a good day. At least that is my perspective on life. Yes, it is miserable sometimes mowing in the heat but I don't mind. That is just part of my eccentric personality. My life is still very much driven by this recent tragedy. Today it was a large number of phone calls that needed to be made. No, it really is not terribly difficult to do all of this but there are moments that can be draining. The point of the paragraph is that after all calls were made that my grass got a much needed cutting. Now all that is left for me is to work through the post mowing allergies.

How can a person who looks to God in their life not attempt to learn lessons from that life as they move along? Dick Schapp was a reporter for many years both in print and in television. His primary field was in sports journalism. He made the comment in his autobiography that the thing he collected was stories. He meant that his subjects for writing were not just names in a story but people who he collected. His book is a wonderful blending of the people he came to call friends in the course of his work. This is how I take a look at life when moving among people with differing stories. There is almost always something in an individual's life that can enrich mine. On some occasions, there is more than a few elements to a person that can add to what God wants out of me.

Far too often people just ram their way through their journey like the proverbial bull in a china closet. We don't stop to think or take in the characters that make up our world. Long ago there was a realization for me that one way to cope with the crises of others is to learn from those who face them. It is my eternal conviction that God brings people across our paths so we can discover truth about our selves or God. This is also very true when reading the real life accounts of men and women in the Bible. Those people existed to extend the Kingdom of God. Today they exist to extend that same reality in our current condition. We can and should learn from the many sources used by God to connect to our heart. We miss a huge resource of learning and guidance when we neglect to notice.

This last week afforded me the opportunity to think about my life as a father. It reminds me of how crucial the father figure is in the life of a child. There is also the harsh truth that none of us really knows the length of our days on this planet. Sometimes when I think about my age it is a little depressing to think of all the wonderful events that may be missed when my life ends. To "seize the day" is not one of my better habits. My confession is that sometimes I allow the day to seize me. However, none of us know how long we are given in this life. We can choose to grab life for all it is worth while we are still here. Our Lord told us that He came to gift us with a life that overflows as He participates with us. It seems to me that He isn't thrilled should we let that life become a series of recycled ruts.

Let's decide to absorb all of God's goodness while we are here. Let's choose to make a difference in the lives of others even if one at a time. Let's either begin to learn or continue to listen to God through the reality of other people. We are given others in our life for a divine purpose. My hope is you become more of what God desires because of those relationships.