What if It All Depended on Jesus?

by Andy Wood on January 16, 2009

in Ability, Five LV Laws, Hoarders, Life Currency, LV Alter-egos, Principle of Abundance

Help Wanted:  Branches

Master of the Universe, a firm dedicated to establishing change agencies throughout the world and providing eternal dwelling places for an undisclosed number of people, is seeking branches on which to conduct its fruit-bearing strategy.  Generous benefit package.  Unlimited positions available to trusting and trustworthy candidates.  No previous experience necessary.  Will train the right candidate(s).  (Please note:  No advancement possible.  This is an entry- and exit-level position.  The other two positions – Vine and Gardener – have been permanently filled.)

++++++++++++++++++++++++

Stop doing God’s job.  Not only is it unnecessary, it’s ridiculous.  And believe me, when you try to solve God-sized problems with man-sized vision and wisdom, you will be ridiculed.

So, following up from the last post, how DO we approach situations, opportunities, challenges, and problems that are larger than we are?

You approach them like a branch would.  [click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Where Do You Go With Your Super-sized Challenges?

by Andy Wood on January 14, 2009

in Enlarging Your Capacity, Gamblers, Hoarders, Insight, Life Currency, LV Alter-egos, LV Cycle

Imagine the looks and the laughs.  You’re a servant – socially, a nobody.  You own no property, have little-to-no money.  On a busy city sidewalk, you are nameless and faceless.

And yet here you are, in the local real estate office, looking for investment properties.

Or maybe sitting around the local JerusaBucks, sipping on a latte and asking some of the locals about business opportunities or stock market preferences.

You’re a legend in your own mind.  But if anyone knew you, they’d laugh you out the door.

Version 2.0

Imagine the awkwardness and anguish.  You’re a servant – socially a nobody.  You own no property, have little-to-no money.  On a busy city sidewalk… well, you get it.

And yet here you are, being asked by the most powerful man you know, to look out for part of his money – more money than you’ve ever seen, much less ever held in your hand.

Echoes of your parents’ proverbs still ring in your ear – stuff like, “A fool and his money are soon parted.”

Can’t he find someone else for the job?  This is risky business, and you’re no risk taker.

Isn’t there some hole somewhere…?

Above Your Pay Grade?

How do you handle assignments that are, in the words of the president-elect, “above your pay grade?” [click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Where Were You When the President Was Killed?

by Andy Wood on January 12, 2009

in Consumers, Five LV Laws, LV Alter-egos, LV Cycle, Principle of Legacy, Protecting Your Investment

Last week at a yet-to-be-revealed location, the President of the United States was assassinated.

Don’t rush to your local paper – you won’t find any mention of it in the press.  Many people believe it was a conspiracy, but there will be no arrests.  Nor will you hear of trials, sentences, or executions.  And lest I start an ugly rumor, I’m not talking about President Bush, or President-elect Obama.  This president didn’t actually make it to the White House, or Congress, or even a voting booth before he was cut down.

Fact is, he never made it to the nursery.

The President wasn’t alone.  Also killed last week were six federal judges, thirteen members of Congress, two state governors, thirty-one legislators, and more than a hundred teachers at various levels.  Figure a dozen or so preachers into the mix, but they don’t count.  Add to it almost a thousand nameless welfare recipients, a couple hundred various professionals, and some amazing artists and musicians.

All dead.  The killings were executed(!) flawlessly.

All defenseless.  No one had time to call the police, send for Secret Security agents, or even pull a weapon.  One or two might have raised a fist in self-defense.  Not much help, though. [click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

How to Know When It’s Time to Put Your Dog Down

by Andy Wood on January 8, 2009

in Esteem, Life Currency, Time, Turning Points, Words

(And other lessons learned from The Senior Ladies Exercise Club)

I couldn’t help but overhear.

The way I figure it, the whole block could have overheard.

I didn’t make any New Year’s resolutions this year, but I did make a lifestyle change (hey, I’ve done it three days in a row – that ought to count for something).  Yes, friends, I’m back in the gym.

I’m still trying to figure out the best time of day to work out.  I think people like my associate, who works out at 4:30 every morning, need to work on a different kind of health, if you know what I’m sayin’.  So yesterday, I show up about mid-morning, to find the parking lot completely full.

Not a good sign.

Well, maybe they’re all in a class or something, I hoped to myself, as I headed to the cardio room to resume my Couch-to-5k training schedule.  To my chagrin, the place was packed.  Every treadmill taken.  And it was only when one became available and I nabbed it that I realized – I’d been sucked into the vortex of the Senior Ladies Exercise Club.  They probably have their own name for it; that’s just my name for the Twilight Zone I was in.

The last time I was this surrounded was when I was asked to speak to a room full of women-only about Things Husbands Wished Their Wives Understood.  They were a great group, really sweet and highly motivated.  Didn’t matter – I was scared to death.

Anyway, there were three ladies on treadmills to the left, and what seemed like 93 to the right. [click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Vision – More Than Just Hope

by Andy Wood on January 6, 2009

in 100 Words, Exploring the Possibilities, LV Cycle

There’s more to vision than hopeful daydreaming about a desired future.

Yes, vision sees the goal, but it is aware of much more than that.

Vision sees the path from here to there.

Vision recognizes the need for decisive action.  It has a bias toward making the jump.

Vision also recognizes the risks and potential dangers that lurk on all sides, and prepares accordingly for them.

Vision then sees beyond the goal.  It recognizes the larger community, and the visionary’s place in the larger world.

Yes, vision sees the goal.  But true visionaries recognize that success is more than the perfect landing.

(This extraordinary picture of Oberstdorf, Germany as reflected in the goggles of Japanese ski jumper Noriaki Kasai is one of many that can be found here.  PHOTO:  Reuters/Kai Pfaffenbach)

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Is it Time for You to Fly the Plane Differently?

by Andy Wood on January 5, 2009

in Exploring the Possibilities, Leadership, Life Currency, LV Cycle, Protecting Your Investment, Tense Truths

Tense Truth:  There are no solutions to problems that do not require some kind of change.  And there is no change that doesn’t create problems of its own.  The solution is not to avoid change or eliminate problems.  Rather, it is to anticipate future challenges with a solution-based mindset, even while we attack the problems of today.

John Miller, in his book, QBQ, The Question Behind the Question, tells the following story:

When Stacey was 12 years old, she and her father, a pilot, took off on a Sunday afternoon joyride in their single engine Cessna.  Not long into the flight, and about a mile up over Lake Michigan, the joy of their father-daughter adventure came to an abrupt halt.  Stacey’s father turned to her and in a calm, reassuring tone he said, “Honey, the engine has quit.  I’m going to need to fly the plane differently.”

Like Miller, I love the phrase, “fly the plane differently.”  It speaks of how problem solvers (read “leaders” here) approach changing conditions and frame crisis situations.  He didn’t look for somebody to blame, bail out of the plane, or give up on the laws of aerodynamics.  He also didn’t magnify the fear of the situation.  He didn’t try to fix the engine!  And most importantly, he didn’t stop flying.

He simply changed in response to a new set of information and a new horizon of challenges.

Tony Robbins on Problems

On a recent video blog, Tony Robbins said: [click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Old School – How This Year’s Bowls May Have Shaped Up in the 70s

by Andy Wood on January 2, 2009

in Uncategorized

Sittin’ here watching the bowl games, wondering – is this the fix we’ve been looking for?

Hardly…

I grew up fuming at the whole college bowl game situation.  Too many conference/bowl tie-ups.  Too many great teams (my favorite in particular) unable to play for a national championship, while every single other NCAA sport and division had some sort of playoff system.

The solution?  What we have now as the BCS system, complete with

  • uneven conferences being treated as all equal.
  • four or five conference championship games that are either really meaningful or dangerous to a great team.
  • other conferences (Pac 10, Big 10-actually-11, etc.) with no forced championship game, getting a free pass into the bowls.
  • twice as many games so that everybody gets a chance – after all, we’re ALL winners, aren’t we? (We used to joke when a team had a lousy year that they were going to the Toilet Bowl.  Now, lo and behold, we actually have a half-dozen of ‘em!)
  • EVERY SINGLE bowl game of ANY type has a conference tie-up.  “Big 10 #6 vs. SEC #8.”  Are ya’ KIDDIN’ me?   There is now no such thing as an at-large team.
  • A single championship game decided a week-plus into January between a hybrid of two polls and a stack of computers.  Four other BCS games bearing the same bowl names and locations, but lacking the same luster. (With all due respect to Cincinnati and West Virginia, really?)

Just for nostalgia’s sake, I thought I’d take this year’s year-end AP rankings and results, and see what they might produce in a 70s bowl scenario.  Take a look and tell me, do you really think we’ve made things better? [click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

My Favorite Personal Posts in 2008

by Andy Wood on January 1, 2009

in Following Your Passion, Life Currency, LV Cycle, Words

Okay, one last (I promise) favorites list – especially  for those of you who may be new to LifeVesting or haven’t discovered SynerJACK yet.

One of the things blogging has done for me has been to get me to write more often, and more content, than ever – something I’ve always wanted the discipline or inspiration to do.  Some of those pieces were duds.  Others were things I was really proud of, but didn’t seem to resonate with others.  And some, like this and this seemed to capture a lot of attention and imagination from others.

What follows are, in order, the ones that still resonate with me.  Taken collectively, they reflect my passion, values, relationships, and a couple of things I think are hilarious or supremely important.  I hope you like them, too.

1.  The Holy Spirit Salad
I still just laugh and laugh, and Robin still punches me when I do.  But I have to admit, God speaks to people today, and He does so in many different ways.  Still not sure about the Holy Spirit salad, though.

2.  He Had a Hammer
In response to a question about my childhood hero.

3.  Don’t Go Gently
Butch Lowery died more than 15 years ago, but his life still speaks to me today.

4.  Last House Standing
A picture-and-100-words piece about resilience, strength, and determination.

5.  The Language of Letting Go
In a year of transitions, we went from mere in-laws to empty-nester grandparents.  This came as no surprise, but it required a new level of communication and understanding – the language of letting go.

6.  Braves Lose!  Braves Lose!  Braves Lose!
A tribute to Skip Caray, one of the greatest broadcasters and cultural icons of my generation.

7.  To Prepare a Place
It had been a while – and I’d forgotten what groom-love looked like.  What I saw revealed far more than a man in love with his bride.  It was a reflection of Christ’s love for His.

8.  The Myth of the Early Christmas Shopper
Who says that just because you love somebody you have to get their Christmas gifts weeks in advance?  This is a fun look at the joys of shopping on Christmas Eve.

9.  Grace Works for Pastors, Too
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, scripture says.  This describes some of the most life-giving words I have ever heard.

10.  16001 Crosses.
This year I met one of the most remarkable men I’ve ever known.  Neville Davidson refused to accept complete blindness as the end of the story of his life.  He has found a way to give back, and in doing so, has touched countless lives.

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

The Day After Christmas

by Andy Wood on December 26, 2008

in Exploring the Possibilities, Insight, Life Currency, LV Cycle

This is one of the strangest days of the year.  The Christmas tree is still up, but there are no presents beneath it.  The trips have been made, and people are starting to settle back down to “normal.”  All the cooks have declared a holiday, and the Great Gift Exchange has begun.  And in our culture, we’re preparing for another phenomenon:  the end of one year, and the start of another.

Sort of like they did on the first day after the first Christmas.

Take a look, and maybe we can catch an insight into how we can extend the wonder of the season past all the gifts and food.  And I think we can gain some principles that will also help us prosper in the coming year. [click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

My Favorite Funny Posts in 2008

by Andy Wood on December 23, 2008

in Enlarging Your Capacity, Insight, Life Currency, Spoofs

Life is too serious not to be laughed at.  And 2008 has given us plenty of seriously funny expressions that soften our defenses, then make a point.  Often a sharp one!

So without further ado, here, in reverse order are my 10 personal favorite funny blog posts from 2008.  Many have links elsewhere, or combine videos with photos, etc.  But you’re seeing them where I found them (or put them).

10.  Speculators
David Hayward describes himself as “an artist trapped inside a pastor’s body.”  His cartoons have appeared several times here.  They often combine a funny thought with a sharp, convicting point.  In “Speculators,” he pokes at the way people can and do profit from the message of the cross.  Want more? Here’s one that mocks corporate mentality in the church. [click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →