Encouragement

It’s Time to Dream Again

by Andy Wood on October 5, 2009

in Exploring the Possibilities, Five LV Laws, Life Currency, LV Cycle, Principle of Abundance, Time

DreamsIt’s time to dream again. 

And in doing so, I will not content myself with yesterday’s progress.
I have seen my share of victories; I’ve won some battles, and maybe even a war or two. 
But there are new victories to be won, and yesterday’s dreams will never achieve them.
When my greatest challenges are boredom and fatigue, I will rest in the womb of a new vision, and call forth even greater measures of faith and courage.

It’s time to dream again. 

And in doing so, I will see beyond the road blocks and crashes. [click to continue…]

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Soul Mate

by Andy Wood on October 1, 2009

in 100 Words, Five LV Laws, Life Currency, Love, Principle of Increase

And Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him, for he loved him as he loved his own soul (1 Samuel 20:17).

To give yourself willingly to meet another’s needs…

To protect God’s gifts and work in his life…

To risk being misunderstood, even by family, for her benefit…

To see in him, and invest in, the greatness of his destiny…

To show kindness, even to her children and beyond…

To see the hand and life of God as your ultimate bond…

THESE are the ways of a lifetime friend.

THIS is the heart of the soul mate.

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The Reach

by Andy Wood on August 31, 2009

in 100 Words, Esteem, Life Currency

Reaching babyEvery baby enters this world reaching out or up. 

Instinctively, we crave knowing that if we reach, somebody will come to pick us up.

Babies grow up, but this desire never leaves.

We learn to mask it, but the question remains.

Many of us learn to be the ones who pick up and hold.  But inevitably, even for pastors and nurses, parents and life-nannies, life takes us back to that First Question:  If I hold up my arms, will somebody – ANYBODY – pick me up?

Be the “yes” to somebody’s First Question.  Tomorrow, it may be you who’s doing the reaching.

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Sand Castles and Dandelions

by Andy Wood on August 18, 2009

in Esteem, Life Currency, Love, Words

A famous writer once described a beach scene where two children, a boy and a girl, were building an elaborate sand castle near the water’s edge.  It had gates and towers and moats and internal passages.  Just when they nearly finished the project, a huge wave tumbled in and knocked the whole thing down.  Instead of bursting into tears because of losing their hard work, the girl and boy ran up the shore from the water, laughing and holding hands, and started work on another castle.

It seems so instinctive to children.  Take the most wonder-filled moments the day has to offer – a castle made of sand, or a dandelion just waiting to be carried by the wind – and look for someone to share it with in love.  But time and age have a way of turning our hearts if we let them.  Castle-building becomes the higher priority, and dandelions become annoying weeds.

Here is the author’s takeaway:

All the things in our lives, all the complicated structures we spend so much time and energy creating, are built on sand… Sooner or later, the wave will come along and knock down what we have worked so hard to build up.  When that happens, only the person who has somebody’s hand to hold will be able to laugh.

sand castlesLike anybody else who’s been around a while, I have my share of regrets.  One of them has been the tendency to walk away from relationships when it was time to “move up the beach and build the next castle.”  Fortunately, I’ve been blessed to have some people in my life who wouldn’t take “Good-bye” as the last word, and that’s a good thing.  Had it been left up to me, that relationship would have faded away.  I’m working on changing that.

In the previous post, I mentioned that even in an isolated prison, the Apostle Paul found a way to stay close to the people he loved.  In particular, he was a master at using words.  All throughout his life and ministry, this man knew just what to say or write to draw people to him, and to Christ.

Maybe we can learn some things from Paul’s example.  Once you know who’s in your heart (or who you’d like to have there), here are some ways to keep them close: [click to continue…]

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Who’s In Your Heart?

by Andy Wood on August 14, 2009

in Enlarging Your Capacity, Esteem, Life Currency, Love, LV Cycle

Write Letter“I have you in my heart.”

Sounds charming, doesn’t it?  The stuff of Hallmark cards and chick flicks, BFFs and boyfriends.

What if I were to tell you that the person who said this wrote it from a prison cell?  That he (yes, he) was a time-hardened traveler who never could take “no” for an answer?  That he once was a religious terrorist and murderer?  A 63-or-so-year-old man who had argued his way in and out of trouble so many times, many of his closest associates had hit the road?

And yet from prison he wrote to a group of VIPs – friends who had been sources of great joy to him.  And this is what he said: [click to continue…]

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How to Think Like an Encourager

by Andy Wood on July 20, 2009

in Esteem, Life Currency

encourgement-3It’s one of every parents’ not-so-silent dread points.  A moment of teenage carelessness, and a 16-year-old wrecks her Mamma’s car.

She was uninjured, so she called home to brace for the next impact – dad’s angry reaction.  Instead, her father just asked about her physical and emotional condition.

When he showed up at the accident scene, his first attention was to his daughter.  He wanted to see with his eyes that what she said on the phone was true.  Then and only then did he turn his attention to the mangled auto being towed away.

When it was time to go home, dad had another surprise.  He handed her the keys to his car and got in on the passenger side.

No angry tirade.

No reminders of previous warnings.

Just a lot of love and an overwhelming vote of confidence.

Years later, that girl, now a parent herself, commented, “Words can’t describe what my father’s God-like act did for my self-esteem that day.”  She said it left a spiritual impact on her because she saw in her father the character of the God he loved.

Encouragement.  Nearly all of us recognize the need for it.  I would guess that most of us would like to give it.  But how often, when faced with the opportunity to actually be an encourager, do we actually come through?

I believe the key to being an encourager is in learning to think like one. [click to continue…]

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Are You Smarter than a Fifth-Grade Leader?

by Andy Wood on July 1, 2009

in Allocating Your Resources, Leadership, Life Currency, LV Cycle

kickball“What are you teaching them about?” my daughter asked – referring to our upcoming pastors and leaders training in Thailand.

“Leadership,” I said.

“Well, can I ask you something?  Is there a way – I’m not sure how to say this – is there a way to ‘dumb down’ leadership training?”

My pause meant, “Keep going.”

“I have to train these fifth-and-sixth-grade leaders every day at FROG camp for about 30 minutes on being a leader, and I was wondering how I could explain biblical leadership on their level.”

I did a random brainstorm with her.  Talked about David and Joshua and Paul and Jesus.  Hurled out Bible passages like Joshua 1:1-9, 2 Timothy, 1 Peter 5:2-4, 1 Corinthians 2:1-5.  She said “thanks,” but I hung up with the feeling that I hadn’t “dumbed down” anything.

That got me to thinking later.  I have a Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership.  I’ve spent years studying theories and models, biblical principles and best practices.  But none of them – none – involved fifth- or sixth-graders.

Maybe we have it backwards.  Rather than presuming to teach 11-year-olds all about leading, maybe we should try to learn some things from them.  [click to continue…]

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Whose “Building” Will Your Name Be On?

by Andy Wood on April 13, 2009

in Enlarging Your Capacity, Five LV Laws, Life Currency, Love, LV Stories, Principle of Legacy, Words

dan-law-fieldIt was, without a doubt, one of the lowest periods in my life.  I was broke and jobless, living in the wake of my own failures.  My whole world had turned upside down.  I was torn between two directions – to stay in that part of the world that I had always considered home, or to venture out to a place I had only seen on trips to my in-laws’ house.

My wife wanted to be near her parents during that season.  I wanted to live in Anywhere Else, USA.  “If the world was flat,” I said, “Lubbock would be on the edge of it!”

But my world was flat. [click to continue…]

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Teaching Nodians to Trust Again

by Andy Wood on February 11, 2009

in Enlarging Your Capacity, Life Currency, Love, LV Alter-egos, LV Cycle, Pleasers

Bringing Hope to the Land of Nod (Part 3)

1.  Reconnect the spiritual with the interpersonal.
2. Expose anger for what it is, and provide a model for forgiveness.
3.  Respond to Victimhood by Redefining Responsibility

4.  Reopen doors of trust and acceptance.

group-prayerEvery vibrant relationship is a dance with trust.  As the relationship deepens, so does the trust.  As the trust grows, the relationship deepens even more.

That said, it’s easy to see why the citizens of Nod have an itty bitty trust issue.  “Fool me once,” and all that.

Do people trust you?  The challenge we face in being instruments of healing is that trust, once broken, is incredibly difficult to restore.  Yet without it, hearts remain crippled and closed off.

Our goal for the citizens of Nod is to lead them to do more than survive.  We believe God wants them to thrive. [click to continue…]

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Ten Ideas for “Giving Up” Your Holidays

by Andy Wood on November 18, 2008

in Life Currency

We’re giving up Christmas this year.  Thanksgiving, too.  And if I have my way, New Year’s day will follow suit.

It all started with a meeting by our Creative Team at the church.  The conversation was about what to do this holiday season.  What’s on people’s minds?  What are they thinking/planning for the holidays, especially Christmas?

As the conversation flowed, it followed themes such as people who were giving in to discouragement, fear, and despair because of the e-word.  Also, one couple talked about giving out to charity instead of buying family a bunch of stuff they didn’t particularly want or need.

We talked about how Christmas has become jacked up because of the demands and expectations we place on it – how it’s supposed to magically solve all our problems or bring some sort of enchantment to our otherwise unhappy lives.

We talked about the pressure to make Christmas tricked up – raising the materialistic bar year in and year out.  We’ve been keeping up with the Joneses, only to discover that we are the Joneses.

We talked about how, biblically, God one-upped Zecharias, the father of John the Baptist.  God always seems to be able to out-give, out-serve, out-surprise the greatest acts of our service or obedience.

And we talked about the ultimate Gift – offered up by God to a world too busy to care.

So, our theme for Christmas is, Give It Up!  Before you give in or give out, give up!  That’s exactly what God did with His Son.  Now He awaits your response.

But why wait for Christmas Day?  Why not start now, in the Thanksgiving season, to offer up our lives, first to God, then to others?  For many of us, this will be an opportunity, albeit unwelcome, to really discover that it’s not about the toys and trinkets as much as it is about the love, the joy, the life, and the service we offer up.  So in that spirit, I thought I’d share ten ways you can give to others in life-affirming ways for little or no money.  I would encourage you to do some or all of these things, regardless of your financial status. [click to continue…]

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