The Only Dream that Matters

by Andy Wood on January 10, 2011

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

It was one of those eye-opening days, I guess.  Back to school time for me.  I was living north of Dallas, and still involved in youth ministry.  I taught a Monday night Bible Study that served as the centerpiece of the ministry, and on this particular night I passed out blank paper with a special request:  List, in order, the five things it would take to make you perfectly happy.

How would you answer that?

I really thought I knew what the answers would be – a lot of selfish stuff like cars, a driver’s license, money, or popularity.  But what I heard taught me a lesson I’ll never forget.  Here are some of their actual answers: [click to continue…]

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How to Build Your Own Dream Team

by Andy Wood on January 7, 2011

in Ability, Allocating Your Resources, Five LV Laws, Life Currency, LV Cycle, Principle of Increase

New Year’s Eve.  We’d had a great dinner with friends, and were doing the potty wait in the restaurant foyer, when out walked a small group from another dining room.  I recognized her immediately, though we hadn’t spoken in more than three years. 

She was (and is) a part of my team.   My Dream Team.

If this was baseball, she’d be the heavy hitter off the bench.  If it was football, she’d be the Hail Mary quarterback who came in the game in the fourth quarter.  If it was business, she’d be the turnaround specialist.

As it is, she’s my frontline intercessor.

As I explained to my friend, she is one of the godliest women I know, and a powerful intercessor. And she has occupied a very unique place in my life.  “When my back is to the wall and I’m desperate,” I told him, “and I need somebody who knows how to pray with heavy artillery, she’s the one I call.”

I’m thinking of a few times since we last spoke when it may have been a good idea to make that call.  Anyway… [click to continue…]

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Do You Have Your Own Dream Team?

by Andy Wood on January 6, 2011

in Ability, Allocating Your Resources, Five LV Laws, Life Currency, LV Cycle, Principle of Increase

Dateline Barcelona, 1992.  The Summer Olympics are hosting the first-ever competition of the truly-best in their respective nations, as professionals and amateurs are all invited to the party.  The United States has assembled a collection of NBA-plus-one stars that may be the best roster to ever take a tip-off.  And their nickname:  “The Dream Team.” 

This isn’t about basketball.  It’s about teams, and how you need a “dream team” of your own.  Not the kind the wins medals, but the kind that empowers lives.  While our culture idolizes the individual, the truth is, you were designed by creation and redesigned by gifts and talents to need the contributions of others in order to maximize your potential.  I’d like to show you how to go about doing it. [click to continue…]

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Teachers Don’t Punch Time Clocks

by Andy Wood on January 3, 2011

in Books and Music, Following Your Passion, Leadership, Life Currency, LV Cycle, LV Stories

(From the forthcoming book, Coach Lightning)

Mention Morris Brown’s name around Jones County, Mississippi to anybody who knew him, and they’ll probably reply, “Oh, you mean Coach?”  Not much chance of somebody piping up and saying, “He was my Social Studies teacher!”

But don’t let the labels fool you.  Coach was always a teacher at heart.  And while a football field or basketball court may have been his favorite classrooms, they certainly weren’t his only ones.  There were precious few, if any, specialists in rural education in the 1950s.  But that was fine with Coach Brown.  He willingly embraced teachable moments wherever the situation called for it.

Just ask Dale Holifield, who grew up on a small farm in Jones County.  At age 11, Dale was so shy he could have been considered antisocial.  Outside of farming, he participated in very few activities.  Even when he went hunting and fishing, he usually did it alone.  All of that changed one summer day at the W. C. Houston grocery store, across from Shady Grove School.  Dale was getting a cold RC cola to drink and chatting with Bubba Houston, the store owner’s son.  The time came for Bubba to go to baseball practice, and he invited Dale to come along.  Dale reluctantly accepted, and joined Bubba at the small practice field behind Bubba’s house.  Hoping not to be noticed, Dale took a seat on the ground under a shade tree to watch the practice.

He didn’t sit very long. [click to continue…]

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Four Things You Can Never Lose

by Andy Wood on December 31, 2010

in Allocating Your Resources, Five LV Laws, LV Cycle, Principle of Eternity, Principle of Freedom, Turning Points

This is awkward.  But I want to tell you about an experience I had a long time ago, when I was young and stupid (as opposed to middle-aged and ill-advised). 

I was in a season in my life when I had lost nearly everything.  I don’t mean that poetically.  I mean, everything.

Job… fired.

Career… lost.

Health… busted.

Friends… nearly all vacated.

Marriage… destroyed.

Kids… gone.

Integrity and credibility… a bad joke.

Finances… bankrupt.

Sanity… toast.

I was a shell of a man, crushed under the weight of stupid choices, addictive behavior, and shame.  I would sit and, without realizing it, rock back and forth. (Braves fans, remember how Leo Mazzone, the former pitching coach would rock on the bench?  Yeah, that was me and worse.) 

On this particular day, I was sitting in a hospital day room when somebody stuck his head in the door.  “Anybody here named Andy Wood?” he asked. [click to continue…]

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31 Things It’s Good to Know (But May Wish You Didn’t Have to Discover)

by Andy Wood on December 29, 2010

in Half-baked Ideas, Insight, Life Currency

(Something of a “life lessons year in review,” in no certain order.  I’d love to hear yours.  Feel free to add your own in the comments section.)

1.  How awesome your cancer surgeon is. 

2.  How nice people can be, even when you wish they would just hate you. 

3.  How God provides, even sometimes for fools. 

4.  The sun really does come out tomorrow. 

5.  How to spell “aneurysm.” 

6.  Life goes on, with you or without you. 

7.  Contrary to the words to the MASH theme, suicide is NOT painless. 

8.  Failure doesn’t stop people from loving you. 

9.  Rejection does not come with a cocoon to wrap you away for a while. 

10.  Nobody is more committed to your success than you are. [click to continue…]

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Time to Deal With the Elephant in Your Head

by Andy Wood on December 27, 2010

in Enlarging Your Capacity, Five LV Laws, Insight, Life Currency, LV Cycle, Photos, Principle of Abundance

Can we talk about The Elephant in the Room? 

Most of the time we use the phrase to describe the unspoken but obvious thing between two or more people that no one is talking about.  There’s a different elephant, however, that I want to explore. 

It’s the one in your head.

I don’t know what yours is doing, but the elephant my head likes to dance.  Badly.

The Elephant in Your Head is the one or two things that appear in every mental photo.  The two or three things that interrupt – albeit silently – any patterns of forward thinking.

What do you do when you’re the elephant in the room? [click to continue…]

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My Christmas Prayer for You

by Andy Wood on December 25, 2010

in Five LV Laws, LV Cycle, Principle of Abundance, Waiting

Wherever you may find yourself this Christmas – in prosperity or poverty, health or sickness, laughter or tears, togetherness or solitude – I pray that you will experience the same sense of wonder, gratitude, and grace (and more) that I have found. 

I pray that in the midst of all you call blessings, you experience the beauty of knowing the miracle of being loved in this life – deeply, fully, completely…

That the evening shadows and stars remind you of the one star that mattered most and the Spirit behind it, guiding those who sought Jesus to discover His presence, and to miss Herod’s schemes…

That as heaven and nature sing of the glory of God, the mountains you face only serve as reminders that they are no match for the love He has shown you in His coming and His care…

That Jesus, our Emmanuel, would manifest His faithful awareness and presence and the miracle that takes place when God and sinners are reconciled in love and grace…

That whether you hear His voice in a prayer or a song, a promise or a still small voice, that you would truly hear it – and that as He sings over you, you would taste and see that the Lord is good,  His mercy everlasting, and His truth endures forever to you and yours…

That joyfully and triumphantly, you would live in anticipation and adoration of the Word of the Father who appeared in flesh, and that you would not for one moment miss the opportunity to invest your life in what He is still doing today…

That in the silence of the night or the newness and glory of the morning, you would experience again and again the coming of the King – with the promise that the One who lit the sky once will split the sky when He comes again to claim you…

That the nearness and tender care of the Lord Jesus would carry you through the seasons of loss and the memories of those you miss this Christmas season…

And that the Carpenter’s son who built a bridge of goodness and light will find you waiting, however long it takes, for the day He returns.

Merry Christmas!

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Merry Christmas From the iBand

by Andy Wood on December 18, 2010

in Uncategorized

Just because…

The North Point Folks have done it again, using just iPads and iPhones. Enjoy and share!

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I’ll Be Home for Christmas

by Andy Wood on December 17, 2010

in Five LV Laws, LV Cycle, Principle of Eternity, Waiting

On October 4, 1943, Bing Crosby recorded a song that captured the imagination of millions of Americans.  Within three weeks it was on the top music charts, and remained there for 11 weeks.  A year later, it returned to the charts again.  Since then, it has been recorded by nearly 250 artists.  It was the first song broadcast into space, and remains to this day one of the most cherished songs of all time. 

Remember, the entire world was galvanized in a world war, and hundreds of thousands of American soldiers were in Europe, Africa, and the Pacific fighting for our future.  Nearly the entire country was unified behind our fighting men. 

The name of the song – “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.” 

Something about Christmas makes us want to go home, or at least to be somewhere with people we care about.  [click to continue…]

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