Do you just not get it some days?

A woman leaves a New York City convenience store when, all of a sudden, a man grabs her purse and runs. The clerk calls 911 immediately. The woman gives the police a detailed description of the thief. The description is so good, in fact, that police catch him in about half an hour. They put him in the police car and drive him back to the store.

When they get back to the store, the officer takes the purse snatcher out of the car, makes sure his handcuffs are snug, and says, “Okay, just stand here against the car for a positive identification.”

And the thief says, “Yes, officer, that’s her. That’s the lady I stole the purse from.”

Yes, I know, you’d never do anything like that, now would you? Yet, aren’t there some days when you just don’t get it? And you stick your foot in your mouth or say something that you wish you could take back? Sure you do. What do you do when that happens? About all you can do is pray to God for mercy, isn’t it? Listen to life for mercy as you make a life, not just a living today.

"Do you think someone else has it made?

A mechanic was busy removing a cylinder head from the motor of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle when a well-known heart surgeon entered his shop. The surgeon was waiting for the service manager to take a look at his bike when the mechanic shouted across the garage, "Hey, Doc, can I ask you a question?"

The surgeon, a bit surprised, walked over. The mechanic straightened up, wiped his hands on a rag and asked, "Doc, look at this engine. I open its heart, take valves out, fix 'em, put 'em back in, and when I finish, it works just like new. So why do I get such a small salary and you get the really big bucks, when you and I are doing basically the same work?"

The surgeon smiled, leaned over and whispered to the mechanic, "Try doing it with the engine running."

It’s easy to think someone else has it made, isn’t it? That we do what they do, maybe even better, and don’t get the recognition or rewards we’re due. It takes all of us, doing what God created us to do, to make the world go round. Celebrate with others as you make a life and not just a living.

You haven't given up, have you?

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 no matter how old you are.

Hang in there as listen to life and make a life, not just a living today.