Thomasville, Alabama. A long time ago. I was driving from Jackson to Tuscaloosa and had stopped for gas at one of those places where they still pumped it for you. Young man walks out and gets the pump going while I’m pretty much minding my own business. I’m wearing jeans and tennis shoes, with some casual shirt.
He eyes me and asks, “You a minister?”
(I hated then and hate now looking like a preacher.)
“Yes,” I replied, surprised. “How did you know?”
“You have this glow about ‘cha,” he said with a smile.
I was surprised again, and blessed. This wasn’t a particularly glowing trip. I was driving north to unload a car on the back end of a dumb purchase that had left us pretty beaten down financially. It was a desperate move to get out of a stupid debt.
Glow? I’d have to take that one by faith. It felt more like I was panting.
As the deer pants for the water brooks,
So my soul pants for You, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God;
When shall I come and appear before God? (Psalm 42:1-2)
Ever feel like you were panting? Like you couldn’t quite catch your breath as you went from one thing to another? From one stressor to another? From one disappointment to another? [click to continue…]
Call him Benjamin.
Nice Hebrew name for this fictional, but oh-so-real young man who lived outside of Jerusalem in the first century. Benjamin is 20 years old, and his family raised him in a typical Jewish home.
Until that day. [click to continue…]
How do you respond when you are told every day what a nobody you are? When the people who are supposed to be your friends and co-learners in school instead ruthlessly call you demeaning names, and you feel you have no one to talk to?
Brenda Poage gets that. And Brenda is a somebody that you need to know. Wife and mother, author and visionary, Brenda – like most of us – is who she is because of how she has responded to some painful experiences in her life.
Brenda is a LifeVestor.
Kids can be cruel, but you don’t have to explain that to Brenda. From the time she started school in her small Texas town, she was mercilessly bullied by other kids in school. Having to play academic catch-up required that Brenda attend remedial classes. And she became the brunt of some pretty mean name calling and bullying.
So when educators and parents today start quoting statistics that as many as half of all school children are bullied in some way, Brenda does more than raise her hand as “Exhibit A.” She did something about it. And that’s how Ima Nobody Becomes a Somebody was born. [click to continue…]
An important part of creating a compelling future has to do with remembering. That’s why lately I’ve been visiting some museums on a fairly regular basis.
I’m not referring to anything with the words, “Smithsonian,” “Historical,” or “National” in it. The museums I’m talking about are in my head, some really old computer files, and my journals.
Lately I’ve been visiting the Dream Museum. I suggest you do the same.
The idea for this little excursion was planted in my heart last August at a men’s retreat, where my friend Mickey asked a compelling question:
What dreams have you had either stolen or detained, to the point you have given up on them? Maybe the Lord is telling you to pick that dream back up again.
That really registered with me. “Electrified” may be a better term.
(Pause. Are you entering your dream museum yet? Visiting what’s in mine may help me, but it won’t do much for you. So let me ask you what Mickey asked all of us: What dreams have YOU had that were either stolen or detained, to the point you have given up on them?)
I didn’t have an immediate answer to the question, other than some unfulfilled physical dreams that I believe were prophetic. But I couldn’t get over the gut feeling that some long-ago dream had been shelved to the point that I had forgotten about it, but the Lord hadn’t. [click to continue…]
by Andy Wood on March 10, 2010
in Ability, Consumers, Five LV Laws, Following Your Passion, Leadership, Life Currency, LV Alter-egos, LV Cycle, Principle of Abundance, Waiting
(What to Do When Your Brook Dries Up, Part 2)
In the last post I shared some ideas based on the experience of a prophet in the Bible named Elijah about what to do when we try to draw from familiar sources of support, provision (income), encouragement, or direction – only to find that they simply aren’t there anymore. In the two days since then, I have talked to
- a man who needed counsel and didn’t have a pastor,
- a missionary who has seen a significant decrease in support,
- a former lay leader in churches who is struggling to find a church home,
- a pastor whose congregation is struggling both financially and in attendance,
- a student whose marriage engagement has broken off,
- a church member in another city whose pastor was terminated, then abruptly died.
What they all have in common – in the language of Elijah’s experience, their “brooks have dried up.”
I fully expect that nearly half the conversations I have tomorrow will be in the same vein.
Bottom line: there are two kinds of people in the world [click to continue…]
It was that time again. Time to plan the annual Men’s Rafting Trip in Colorado. I had taken a group of fifty men a year earlier and discovered how some guys get the nickname “Bob” when they go rafting.
That’s all I want to say about that.
Now as I pulled out the file, I came across the list of men who had gone with me. What a difference 12 months had made! I was amazed at the profound changes so many of them had witnessed.
- Three had been fired from their work.
- One had quit his job and was unemployed for four months.
- One man endured an extended season of severe depression.
- Another had faced a dangerous autoimmune disease and was out of work for several weeks.
- One man’s career was at a dead end.
- Three others lost their businesses.
- One left for another state with no job in sight.
Put in Biblical language, “their brooks had dried up.” That is, they looked to a means by which God had provided for them in the past – health, strength, job, career – only to discover that the resource was no longer available.
Little did I know as I scanned that list that I, too, would soon face a drought of my own. Up until that time my ministry was fairly evenly split between an itinerant ministry and a part-time pastoral staff position. Within a matter of weeks, my traveling ministry had dwindled to two continuous months of inactivity. Then the church where I had served for four years terminated me, along with a number of other staff members, because of budgetary restraints.
Downsized! [click to continue…]
Take a look at this, and read it thoughtfully. As you do, count the number of times the words “all” or “every” appear.
The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.
The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.
All you have made will praise you, O Lord; your saints will extol you.
They will tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might, so that all men may know of your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations.
The Lord is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made. [click to continue…]
A famous chicken franchise, run by a deceased military officer in a white suit, has a very specific, sequenced way of taking your order. Go to any store (at least any of the ones I frequent), and it doesn’t matter what you order or how you place it, you will be corralled into the proper procedure.
She: Welcome to KFC!
Me: I’ll have a three piece, original, with mashed potatoes and green beans.
She: Is that for here or to go?
Me: For here.
She: Okay. What would you like?
Me: Uh… Three piece, original, with mashed potatoes and green beans.
She: Okay. Original or extra crispy?
Me: (Bottom lip almost bleeding) Original
She: Aaand, what two sides would you like with that?
Me: Oh, just surprise me.
At times I’ve thought it must just be somebody’s unique personality quirk. [click to continue…]
by Andy Wood on October 28, 2009
in Ability, Consumers, Exploring the Possibilities, Five LV Laws, Hoarders, Life Currency, LV Alter-egos, LV Cycle, Pleasers, Principle of Abundance
Today I give up my small ambitions.
I will give thanks for the pleasures God has designed for me to enjoy,
But no longer will I allow my life to be driven by the pursuit of pleasure.
I will no longer sacrifice joy on the altar of happiness.
I will never again measure my success by my ability to escape pain.
Today I give up my small ambitions.
I will give thanks for the material blessings God entrusts to me,
But no longer will I associate money with happiness.
Never again will I believe the lie that gain is godliness,
Or that my worth is measured by what I own.
From this day forward, I will use things and love people,
Not the other way around.
Today I give up my small ambitions.
I will give thanks to God for the ways
I can be a blessing to others.
I will accept with humility
The words of gratitude and honor I receive from others.
But I will never again live to please other men.
Today I choose to get off the pedestal,
Knowing that I don’t have to live in the gutter to do so.
I will find my honor in being no more than a man,
But no less than a child of God.
Today I give up my small ambitions.
And instead, I reach for the stars.
I will spend my life in pursuit of my God-given destiny.
By His grace I will fulfill the purpose for which
I was created and redeemed by Christ.
By His love I will touch the lives of those He died for.
And by His power
I will span the breech between time and eternity.
From this day forward,
I will seek dreams as big as the heart of my God
And visions as great as the need of this world.
And though through human failure
I may never see all those dreams come true,
When I stand to face my Lord and my God,
I pray He will see a heart determined to do exploits for His glory.
It was one of those unseen transactions, and I had the privilege of being the only seer. Even though this was a very public place, sometimes the public places are, well, too public. People are taking care of bid-ness, and moving about in their transes; I was no exception.
Until she walked by.
She was about 6 years old and it was about 6:00 p.m. [click to continue…]
