by Andy Wood on February 22, 2016
in Allocating Your Resources, Five LV Laws, Hoarders, Leadership, Life Currency, Love, LV Alter-egos, LV Cycle, Principle of Increase, Turning Points
The day was cold.
Cold and foggy.
Cold and foggy and damp and dreary and what in God’s name was I doing out in it?
Walking, that’s what.
Walking and praying.
Praying and walking.
And I didn’t care about how cold or foggy it was because on this day I was desperate and yearning for an audience with – and a word from – God.
Anyway, I had a jacket.
It was one of the last times that I walked the 20-acre boundary of the church I had planted. And on this day the cold heaviness of the West Texas air was only exceeded by the cold heaviness in my spirit.
I got about halfway down the fence row, asking the Lord to speak to my heart. I so desperately wanted to hear His voice.
What I heard instead was the honking of the geese overhead.
Listening for God, I could only hear the dissonant, grating sound of geese. Can you relate?
Looking up, there was no way to see them, the fog was so heavy and low-hanging. But I could sure hear them.
I laughed to myself because of a recent conversation I’d had with my wife. She hates the sound of geese.
Eventually I did see them in the mist – surprisingly lower than I had imagined. And they were dealing with the same fog I was dealing with. Nevertheless, they flew in perfect formation, in a straight line.
And that’s how the Lord spoke. [click to continue…]
The late Luciano Pavarotti holds the Guiness World Record for the most curtain calls by a singer or actor – a staggering 165. Together with Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras, he sang in the biggest-selling classical record of all time.
When Pavarotti sang, no one sang along. They would sit breathlessly, passively, allowing themselves to be carried away by the extraordinary power of the tenor’s voice.
“Excellent” hardly conveys the talent the world lost on September 6, 2007.
Garth Brooks is the greatest-selling albums artist in the U.S. since 1991 and the second-best-selling solo artist of all time in the U.S. His concerts literally sell out in 15 minutes. And when he takes the stage he takes his audience with him.
When Garth Brooks sings, if you don’t sing along you look a little strange. Take it from experience, if you don’t know all the words you’ll act like you do.
Excellent? Oh my yes, in a completely different way. [click to continue…]
You lose the right to privacy when you fail to be ordinary.
If you stand out, you’d better be ready to stand up.
Spectacular successes and epic face-plants invite public scrutiny…
Divided opinions…
Loose-lipped speculation…
And endless reminders that people like you…
Or don’t.
The alternative? [click to continue…]
It’s a Martian word, so you probably don’t hear it a lot down here, unless you move in some hipster or techie circles. It’s a darkly guttural word that sounds something like a bullfrog in a fight with a cat, so it lacks a certain sense of poetry.
But it’s an important word to describe a unique and powerful ability that can separate:
- leaders from posers,
- successful marketers from annoying advertisers,
- elected officials from also-rans,
- spiritual shepherds from obnoxious preachers,
- faithful, lifelong friends or marriage partners from relational flame-outs,
- Oprah from, well, anybody (okay, just kidding… a little).
I’m referring, of course, to grokking. [click to continue…]
Change.
Dear God, something needs to change.
Your measurables need to change – those places where you keep score with numbers or portions.
Your immeasurables need to change – those areas where nobody’s chaperoning you and you don’t get tickets or fired for blowing it – you just slowly die or spiritually starve by neglecting them.
Your relationships need to change – the ones you have taken for granted or the ones with open wounds.
Your focus needs to change – the bulls-eye of your pursuits, that somehow are chasing trivia and ignoring your most important dreams or vital values.
Something needs to change. [click to continue…]
(Presidential Campaign Edition)
Unless you’ve been under a rock for a year, you are well aware of the fact that here in the U.S. we’re in another election cycle, which means, of course, that for over a year people will be competing for poll numbers and dollars (the gifts that keep on giving) before somebody in one state (and only one state) will decide the destiny of 80% of the candidates.
No, really. I totally love American democracy.
Anyway, with a second Republican debate scheduled for tonight, I thought in preparation the candidates could use some last minute wisdom, since I’m sure they all subscribe to the blog.
I got nothin’.
But before Mr. Trump labels me a loser and tells me I’m fired, I know somebody who does. As I have mentioned before, I keep a file of my favorite student quotations, usually from written assignments. These are those rare occasions when a student writes something so compelling it sort of stops me in my tracks, either because the statement is profound, very well written, or downright funny.
I have shared this before here and here. We’ve looked at leadership, funny stuff, and spiritual passion in previous episodes. If you haven’t seen them, check them out – they’re all fast reads.
Today’s collection has a leadership focus, but sounds a clarion call to those who would be president and those who must choose them. Read these carefully and pray for your president – and those who have the task of selecting him or her. [click to continue…]
I grew up in the true home of Mardi Gras. And being in the high school band back in the day, we marched in our share of Mardi Gras parades. It was a nice way to raise money for the band, contribute to local community life, and to create some space between the floats so they didn’t run into each other. Plus, we helped contribute to festive atmosphere of Carnival season.
I had a pretty interesting role in all this, because I was the Drum Major – the guy in the fuzzy hat that directs the band on the street as they march.
Which means I spent a lot of my time marching backwards through the streets of Mobile.
There are two things you learn by marching backwards on a five-mile parade route. First, it’s always better to be at the front of the parade than the back. Why?
Horses. Lots and lots of cancer-free-and-proud-of-it horses, who exist on a high-fiber diet.
Need I say more? [click to continue…]
This is James Harrison.
He was the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2008.
He does pushups with a 300-pound man on his back. Lots of them.
I want him on my team.
Which team?
Whichever one needs linebackers who can do pushups with a 300-pound man lying on his back.
James has a few tattoos. One says, “PEACE” and has a cross next to it. Others are very sentimental – one for his grandmother, his sons, his mom and dad. He also has one that says “Colossians 1:16.” Here is what Colossians 1:16 says, in case you’re wondering.
“For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.”
I am NOT a tattoo dude. Not my thing. But I want James Harrison on my team.
Which team? [click to continue…]
World changers… Meh.
We’ve turned that into a badly-worn cliché. It seems as though anybody with a Selfie Stick and a cause can be labeled a world changer.
And if your goal is to be famous – to get your 15 minutes of viral – let me just remind you that these days that cuts both ways. Thanks to the wonders of always-on video, social media and instant rushes to judgment, you can go from completely unknown to globally hated within hours. Just ask Walt Palmer or Justine Sacco.
But what if I were to tell you that it’s possible to have global impact – the long-term kind, way past your local address and far past your own lifetime – without being a celebrity or even well-known? What if it were possible to shake the earth with potential without ever holding a microphone or appearing in the media? What if I told you that even when you felt swatted away like a gnat by the elites, you could still make history?
This is for those who are looking for a hero without a stage, press conference, or package to sell. This is for those who may have resigned themselves to obscurity at best, or chronic rejection at worst. This is for the ordinary guy with average intelligence or the woman who has a cause (or calling), but no one to recognize their genius or talent.
I want to introduce you to the first “power couple” in the New Testament. But let me hasten to say that these two never conducted a massive missionary campaign, started a church, wrote a book of the Bible, or even said anything that was written down for future generations. They appear to be walking wallflowers. And yet the most famous Christian of his day said something about them that he never said of anyone else. [click to continue…]
(My dad with Great-Grandchild #9, Archer Wiley)
I’ve been simmering on this for a while, and I figured since I’m away from home this Father’s Day, this would be a good day and a good way to honor my dad. My daughter Carrie did this for me last year and reposted it again here. I also wrote this about what I learned from my Mama last year.
Regardless of the many influences and teachers I’ve been blessed by over the years, none of them has taught or influenced me more than my dad. I have mentioned often that I was blessed to have a father who actually wanted to be a dad and influenced me to want to be one. With 8 grandkids of my own now, I would say that desire has definitely passed through to another generation.
There are many practical things my dad taught me over the years, including how to drive a nail, play dominos, put on a jacket without bunching up your sleeve, ride a bicycle, and bathe the 36 different body parts that need cleaning up every day.
But what interests me most are the ideas that still speak to me today as principles. These are transferrable to almost any endeavor. I could just as well title this, “Ten Things My Dad Would Teach to Pastors,” or “Ten Things My Dad Could Teach to School Teachers.”
So here, in no certain order, are ten lessons that still speak to me most every day. I’m sure there are many more than this, but these are for starters. See if they don’t speak to you on some level, while my daddy says, “Your welcome!” [click to continue…]