Alertness

The Cat’s in the Cradle

by Andy Wood on September 7, 2009

in Executing Your Plan, Five LV Laws, Life Currency, LV Cycle, Principle of Legacy, Time

I’ve long since retired, my son’s moved away
I called him up just the other day
I said, “I’d like to see you if you don’t mind”
He said, “I’d love to, Dad, if I can find the time
You see my new job’s a hassle and kids have the flu
But it’s sure nice talking to you, Dad
It’s been sure nice talking to you”

And as I hung up the phone it occurred to me
He’d grown up just like me
My boy was just like me

-Harry Chapin, “Cat’s in the Cradle”

reading letterHe’s an old man now.  His physical vision is virtually gone; his heartbeat will soon follow.  His spiritual vision?  That’s another story.  It’s still bright and filled with fire and hope.  But it’s a vision that now sees through the eyes of other men.  He has no children of his own, but does have a relationship with a man who may as well be.  He’s one of those blessed individuals who knows his time is up, and who faces eternity with no regrets.  And now he writes the man he calls his son in the faith.  His future looks bright; he can only pray the same for Tim. 

Stand steady, and don’t be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Bring others to Christ. Leave nothing undone that you ought to do. I say this because I won’t be around to help you very much longer. My time has almost run out. Very soon now I will be on my way to heaven. I have fought long and hard for my Lord, and through it all I have kept true to him. And now the time has come for me to stop fighting and rest (2 Timothy 4:5-7, LB).

 A decade before I became a father myself, Harry Chapin sucker-slapped dads everywhere.  [click to continue…]

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Go Pull Some Weeds or Something

by Andy Wood on September 4, 2008

in LV Cycle, Protecting Your Investment

The LifeVesting Cycle

Stage 1:  Allocate your resources.
Stage 2:  Explore the possibilities
Stage 3:  Follow your passion
Stage 4:  Execute your plan

Stage 5:  Protect Your Investment

Years ago, a Detroit homeowner went to check on his five-bedroom house.

It was gone.

As in, completely removed down to a vacant lot, gone.

Completely baffled, he asked the Detroit Free Press to help him find out what was going on.  A reporter learned that not only was the house gone, but the deed to the empty lot was in someone else’s name.  What had happened?

For starters, several years had passed since the homeowner had left the city without providing a forwarding address.  Moreover, he had failed to make arrangements for someone to keep the property in repair.  So the house was torn down because a city ordinance called for the removal of neighborhood eyesores.

Gives a whole new meaning to “Snooze, you lose,” doesn’t it?

Want to see a farmer laugh?  Tell him you’re going to plant corn or tomatoes or something, take a three-month vacation, and come back to pick your harvest.  Sorry, Mr. Douglas.  It doesn’t work that way, in Hooterville or anywhere else.  Investments of any type require care and cultivation.  Jesus’ story of the sower and the four types of ground show just how rare a harvest really is. The seed that fell on the hard path became birdseed.  The seed that fell on stony ground sprang up rootless.  And the seed that fell among the thorns choked.

Investments – seeds of all types and the environment they’re planted in – require nourishing.  That means breaking up the hard, resistant places, deepening the shallow places, and pulling the weeds.  Did I mention that this was work?  Where every day hurls new surprises and challenges?  But if the harvest is worth it (and you will wonder at times), then the cultivating is worthwhile.

In order to experience the return you want, your investments require your attention, diligence, and adjustments.  Mind if I switch metaphors?  Hebrews 12 talks about the same idea, only it uses the imagery of a marathon race, and you’re the runner.  Based on the imagery in this chapter, here are four ways to protect your investment: [click to continue…]

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