by Andy Wood on March 17, 2009
in Enlarging Your Capacity, Exploring the Possibilities, Five LV Laws, Insight, Leadership, Life Currency, Love, LV Alter-egos, LV Cycle, LV Stories, Principle of Freedom, Principle of Legacy
Maewyn Succat. Bet you never thought to hang that name on your son. But Maewyn wasn’t from around these parts, and his name apparently suited him as he grew up in his native Wales.
Maewyn had a pretty respectable upbringing. His granddaddy was a preacher, and his dad was a deacon – though rumor had it that Dad’s religious affiliations had more to do with tax deductions than spiritual passion.
In most ways, I suppose, Maewyn was your typical teenager. Times were tough, but youth is a time to dream of something better. No doubt this teenager had dreams, hopes, and plans to get there.
But all of that came crashing down when Maewyn’s family estate was attacked and he was abducted, placed in chains, and hauled off into slavery, far away from his home and his family.
What do you do when all you’ve ever known is ripped away from you? How do you respond when your dreams, your hopes, your family, and your heritage become distant memories or painful reminders of a life that once was?
Some children encounter such things at very early ages, and never remember their heritage or parents. Not Maewyn. He’d seen too much. Known too much. Missed too much. [click to continue…]
by Andy Wood on November 19, 2008
in 100 Words
Here is a place where stress is absent.
Where the phone never rings, and babies never cry.
Here is a place where neatness, order, and predictability reign.
A safe place, where seldom is heard a discouraging word.
Here is a place where the “ground is level.”
Where there is no prejudice or pride.
Here is a place that remains unimpacted by the news or political scene.
Where nobody cares if you’re liberal, conservative, or anarchist.
Here is a place where there is no life.
Anywhere else, it can get pretty messy.
But God – and life – are often in the mess.
(How to Restore Your Losses, Part 2)
Ground Zero Construction Site, New York
In the previous post I talked about the fact that at the end of Job’s saga, the Lord restored his losses. For most of this righteous man’s painful episode, the end of the story was yet to be told about him… an important thing to remember when we encounter seasons of great loss.
One thing I left hanging was that Job was required to participate the process. Make no mistake about it: this was a man who was intimate enough with God to be honest with Him about his feelings and pain. But something changed between the ranting and the receiving. I have a feeling the same may be true of you and me, too, if we want to see our losses restored.
1. Recognize God as a God of purpose.
“I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted,” Job said (Job 42:2, ESV). Job acknowledged not just that God had a plan, but that His intentions and purposes are good. He also submitted to that purpose – even when he didn’t have answers. [click to continue…]
(Note: I make no claims to be a prophet, so I write this with a bit of fear and trembling. But I believe a day of restoration and change is coming to a significant number people worldwide. Pardon the timing, but it has little-to-nothing to do with the upcoming elections. I haven’t had a stirring in my spirit on this level in more than 10 years. For reasons I’ll explain next week, all I know to call it is the day of the Second House. Make no mistake about it – these are heady, often stressful times. Things that can be shaken will be, so that the things that can’t be shaken will remain. But those who hear God’s call, trust God’s heart, and courageously obey God’s direction will enter into a season, like Israel, when their latter glory will be greater than the former. This post and the next one will serve as an introduction to that.)
+++++++++++++++++++++++
It was January 3, 1993 – more than 15 years ago – and it remains the greatest comeback in NFL history. At halftime the Buffalo Bills, their starting quarterback injured, trailed the Houston Oilers with mighty quarterback Warren Moon by a score of 35-3 in an American Conference playoff game. Backup Frank Reich led the team to a stunning upset. The score: 41-38.
Most of us aren’t football players, professional or otherwise. But we all experience adversity when, like the Bills, our backs are pressed against the wall. Sometimes we’re beyond distress; we’re beaten. These times of adversity almost always involve losses of some kind:
- money (how ‘bout them markets?)
- friendships
- joy
- health
- dreams
- family
LifeVesting? Designing your future? Ha! To quote the pained psalmist in slavery, “How can we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?” (Psalm 137:4). [click to continue…]
(Click photo to enlarge)
This is what hurricanes do.
On September 13, this street in Gilchrist, Texas was lined with homes and probably some businesses.
One Ike later, one house still stands.
This, to me, is a symbol of what life can do.
The winds begin to blow, the floods and storm surge begin to rise, and once-beautiful lives turn to random sticks and bricks.
I want to be the last house standing.
I want to be the one who can prevail, even if all others fall to the ferocious winds.
I just don’t want to have to face any storms to prove it.
(Image by David J. Phillip/Getty Images. For more Hurricane Ike images, click here)
Neville Davidson
Somewhere, sometime, somebody left a simple, small, cedar cross as an anonymous gift for someone they’d never meet.
Sometime later, on a spiritual retreat, a broken, blind, and deeply depressed man received that cross, and his life was changed. Now mine has been, too, because of how that man chose to rise from the depths of his pain. I’d like to share his story; Neville Davidson is a LifeVestor.
If you see the glass as half-empty, Neville has gotten a raw deal. Born in Warrenton, a small town between Liverpool and Manchester in the UK, his childhood memories are dotted with the sound of German bombs, forced relocation of himself and his siblings for their safety, and unceasing danger during World War II. Later, at age 26, Neville was told his wife had terminal bronchial pneumonia, and would have to move to a warm, dry climate. He considered an offer to move to Australia. But his sister had married an American GI, and moved to Lubbock, Texas. Neville chose family, and literally had to uproot his own household and start his life over in a place where he knew virtually no one. A few years later, his marriage dissolved.
Neville married Jenny, his wife today, in 1971. Just five years later, he developed a disease in one of his eyes, and lost his sight in that eye. In 1984, he completely lost the sight in his other eye. Neville’s world literally and figuratively became completely dark. [click to continue…]
