Life Currency

The Round Robin Letter – a Story of Love and Friendship

by Andy Wood on February 9, 2008

in Life Currency, Love

This guest column is from my friend Todd Thompson, who is a gifted writer and communicator.  In response to my request for love stories, Todd send me this amazing account.

Todd’s GrandmaMy Grandma Thompson was born on an Iowa farm in 1900. In the early 1920’s she was a teacher and high school principal. While a teacher she formed some strong friendships with three of her fellow teachers. Glynda, Mack, Bess, and my Grandma Bernice became great friends.

During that time my Grandfather began to pursue a relationship with my Grandmother. He knew a good thing when he saw it. But Grandma didn’t make it easy for him. He had to court her with a great deal of persistence before she finally said “yes”. In a letter she wrote to my cousin describing the events leading up to their marriage, Grandma said, “I once told your Grandfather that it would be a cold day before I married him. And it was. 30 below zero on Christmas Eve 1924.”

[click to continue…]

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I Want to Know What Love Is: I Want You to Tell Me

by Andy Wood on February 5, 2008

in Life Currency, Love

 

It’s a song that was released in November 1984. I heard it first on an episode of Miami Vice.

Then I heard it again in the most surreal of settings. I had placed my wife and twin babies on a plane in New Orleans at the crack of dawn on a Saturday morning. I decided, before the long trip back to Alabama, to wander through the French Quarter. And there, at 7:30 on a Saturday morning on Bourbon Street, with only a garbage truck and a handful of bikers in view, I heard this desperate refrain come blowing out of an empty bar:

[click to continue…]

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Do You Have a Spirit of Fear?

by Andy Wood on January 17, 2008

in Life Currency, Love

FearHe was one of the most powerful men in the world. But he lived in total fear. He stayed deep in the inner recesses of a huge castle. He barricaded himself in a small, bombproof room, with walls made of concrete three feet thick. He allowed himself only one tiny window protected by thick, yellow glass. With only a few amenities each night, and a military cot for his bed, his self-imposed prison was his fortress within a fortress. He would sleep fitfully, then leap to his feet to check at the yellow glass, to make certain that the dark moving objects on the other side of the glass, his personal guards, were on duty protecting him. His name? Josef Stalin.

Needless to say, Uncle Joe, whose adopted name (Stalin) means – get this – “man of steel,” developed a spirit of fear. Needless also to say, he didn’t get it from God. Though he once was a seminary student. Anyway…

This isn’t about Stalin, but stealin’ – and how the enemy can steal your joy and confidence. [click to continue…]

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Pastors and Donkeys – Gotta Love ‘Em

by Andy Wood on January 14, 2008

in Leadership

AssI love pastors. I love being one most of the time. Michael Spencer, aka the Internet Monk, has helped remind me why. (Read here if you dare, and remember why it’s important to pray for and encourage YOUR pastor, whoever it may be.)

A. W. Tozer used to tell this imaginary story. It’s the first Palm Sunday, and here comes Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. The crowds are shouting “Hosanna! Hosanna!” Some in the crowd throw their coats in the road; others spread out palm branches. “Well!” says the donkey, swishing a fly off a mange patch. “I had no idea they appreciated me like this! Listen to those praises, would you. I must really be something!”

Funny, isn’t it? The only thing the donkey did was bring Jesus to the people. And that’s all an effective pastor does, too. For a donkey to receive the praise offered to Jesus is silly. For a pastor to do so is suicide. The effectiveness of any and all ministry is measured by how well we bring Jesus to the people.

E. V. Hill once said that “preachers are like fertilizer. Pile them up and all you get is a big stink. Spread ‘em out and they can do some good.” [click to continue…]

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The Meanest Mom on the Planet

by Andy Wood on January 10, 2008

in Leadership, LV Cycle, Protecting Your Investment

Mean MomHere’s what Jane’s Hambleton’s classified ad read:

“OLDS 1999 Intrigue. Totally uncool parents who obviously don’t love teenage son, selling his car. Only driven for three weeks before snoopy mom who needs to get a life found booze under front seat. $3,700/offer. Call meanest mom on the planet.”

Her phone lit up, as you might imagine.  Nobody wanted to buy the car, but everybody wanted to talk to Jane. 

Know why?  [click to continue…]

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The Encourager’s Creed

by Andy Wood on December 16, 2007

in Esteem, Love

Encouragement 3
Today and every day I will offer the most elegant gift another human can receive: the gift of encouragement. I will recognize that my gift is theirs to receive or to refuse, and that it comes with no expectations or demands.

Today and every day:

I will give the lonely a reason to believe in companionship again. And in so doing, I will banish loneliness from my own heart forever.

I will give the open-hearted a reason to grow – to expand their knowledge or their experience, their character or their self-confidence. And in so doing, I will discover paths of my own growth I never knew existed.

I will give the dreamer a reason to achieve – to accomplish a major step toward a goal or project. And in so doing, I will find myself closer to my own dreams than ever.

I will give the sojourner a reason to feel connected – to God, to self, to me. And in so doing, I will embark on my own wondrous journey of intimacy.

I will give my coworkers a reason to say, “Thank You,” but I will not demand that it be said. And in so doing, I will experience the exhilaration of true teamwork.

I will give the ordinary a reason to feel respected. And in so doing, I will possess greater respect from myself and from others.

I will give the solemn a reason to laugh or smile. And in so doing, I will be reminded again not to take myself too seriously.

I will give the decision-maker a reason to say, “Yes” with enthusiasm, or, “No” with courage. And in so doing I will be delivered from my own inaction.

I will give the weary a reason to go on, refusing to quit. And in so doing I will sow the seeds of my own prevailing strength.

I will give the apathetic a reason to be passionate about the things that really matter. And in so doing, I will face the trivial and meaningful in my own life.

I will give the cautious a reason to get out of that dull routine and live a little. And in so doing I will protect my own spirit from stagnation.

I will give the cynic a reason to believe the world is a beautiful place. And in so doing, I will rediscover for myself the splendor of the grand and the grace of the simple.

Most of all, I will recognize that this day is a gift to me. Today and every day I will take the time to encourage the encourager. I will recognize that my greatest gifts become available to others only when I offer them first to myself and to my God.

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How Nice People Come Across as Insensitive Jerks

by Andy Wood on December 5, 2007

in Allocating Your Resources, LV Cycle, Time

insensitiveTake a look in the mirror. There you’ll see somebody you hope comes across as decent, caring, and human at least. Godly at best.  Imagine, however, that you could look through the veil at the thoughts of people around you. Chances are, sometime over the last several weeks, you walked right past them. Absorbed in your own world, you dissed ‘em. And though you were clueless, they caught it.

You jerk. [click to continue…]

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Focus, Focus, Focus!

by Andy Wood on November 1, 2007

in Following Your Passion, Love, LV Cycle

I need to get my head examined.  (All right…  Who said “amen!”?)  More on that in a minute.  First, a few random stories, all converging at the same point.

Last week I was in Dallas and had a strange and expensive experience.  [click to continue…]

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