Gratitude

The Veteran

by Andy Wood on November 12, 2010

in LV Stories

I showed up at the gym yesterday, ready to tangle again with Jacobs Ladder, its newest chamber of horrors, among other things.  Just as I hit the sidewalk, I passed an older couple getting out of their car.  “Older” as in mid-to-late sixties, I suppose.

There was something different about him.  Maybe it was that he moved with a straighter, more invigorated gait than other men his age.  Maybe it was the intentionally-tight silver buzz haircut.  Maybe it was the black Army t-shirt he wore – something similar to the one pictured here.

“Stop,” said that little voice inside my head.  (You have one too… you may want to pay more attention.)

A bit out of character for me in places like this, I paused to ask:  “Are you a veteran?”

His already-alert face lit up as he helped his wife to the curb.  “Yes, I am,” he smiled. [click to continue…]

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Playing to the Standard

by Andy Wood on September 27, 2010

in Five LV Laws, Gamblers, Life Currency, Love, LV Alter-egos, LV Cycle, Principle of Eternity, Protecting Your Investment, Time

Halftime, Durham, North Carolina.  The Duke Blue Devils have just scored the first touchdown that top-ranked Alabama has surrendered in two-and-a-half games. 

Not exactly a moment to panic, however.  Alabama leads at the half, 45-13.

Cue the halftime interview with Coach Nick Saban.  “Coach,” Sideline Babe says, “Were you upset about giving up your first touchdown of the season?”

“I don’t care about the touchdown,” Saban replies.  “I’ve just been talking to our guys about playing to a standard.”

Fast-forward one week.  Halftime again.  This time, nobody wearing white and crimson was strutting to the locker room.  The defending national champions are trailing a very strong Arkansas Razorbacks team in Fayetteville 17-7, and it’s no fluke.  These Hogs are good, and Bama’s looking rough.

Somebody… not namin’ names here… but somebody woke somebody up.  Final Score:  Alabama 24, Arkansas 20.

After the game, Coach Nick had this to say:

“I want them to remember what it’s like not playing the way you’re capable of playing, not playing with the intensity and focus you need to have. We have a standard we want to play to, we want to play to it all the time. We certainly didn’t get that done in the first half.”

Another Clock is Counting Down

Football is not the only place where the clock is ticking toward zero.  [click to continue…]

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From Shame to Grace

by Andy Wood on April 16, 2010

in Esteem, Five LV Laws, Life Currency, LV Alter-egos, Pleasers, Principle of Freedom

And you will be called priests of the Lord, you will be named ministers of our God.

You will feed on the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast.

Instead of their shame my people will receive a double portion,

and instead of disgrace they will rejoice in their inheritance;

and so they will inherit a double portion in their land,

and everlasting joy will be theirs (Isaiah 61:6-7, NIV).

It’s a scary journey, the move from shame to grace.  But it’s a journey every growing believer in Christ, every recovering addict, every healing soul must take.  The paths are often unfamiliar.  Lessons must be un-learned and relearned.  You will be forced to face down familiar, but largely unchallenged beliefs.

People who live in the realm of shame live in a world the Brennan Manning describes as “huffing and puffing to impress God.”

It’s a realm of performance.  Brownie points or self-condemnation.  Self-fixing mixed with wallowing in guilt.  Comparing ourselves to others in order to feel superior… or to prove what an absolute joke we are.  “You’re nothing,” shame whispers.  “And if people really knew you, they would agree.”

As much of a liar as shame is, sometimes it’s more comfortable to return to old patterns of thinking and feeling.  It’s embarrassing and uncomfortable to confront the truths of the scandalous grace of God.

“I am a creation of infinite worth?” Ridiculous.

“I am totally forgiven?” What do you mean, “totally?”

“I am completely loved, fully pleasing?” In what universe?  What absurd fantasy?

Challenge that!  Confess the truth, whether it lines up with your feelings or the twisted logic of shame or not.  And most of all, learn to accept the grace of God as it is expressed through the graciousness of others.

The secret is gratitude.  When a friend encourages you, when someone offers a gift, when another praises you, receive it with the same graciousness in which it was offered.

Try this for practice: [click to continue…]

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Dog Tags

by Andy Wood on November 11, 2009

in 100 Words

For every mother who saw her son off to something benignly called, “deployment,”

For every pharmacist, plumber, or school teacher who learned the true meaning of “citizen soldier,”

For every sailor who remembers Pearl Harbor, or Marine who stormed Normandy,

For every soldier who remembers Fort Hood, Saigon, or Baghdad,

For every mechanic who ever rebuilt a helicopter engine, or pilot who left a vapor trail in the name of freedom,

For every broken heart, haunted in a cemetery by the last fading notes of “Taps,”

For every tri-cornered flag, decorated grave, or salute rendered on this day…

Thank you.

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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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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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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…]

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The Secret Sadness

by Andy Wood on December 3, 2008

in Insight, Life Currency, Love, LV Cycle, Protecting Your Investment

This just in… modern newlyweds are increasingly dealing with “the bridal blues.”  Doctors report that the expectations of newlyweds are so high, and married life such a letdown after all the planning and excitement of the big day, that an increasing number of brides are suffering post-nuptial depression.  The feelgood factor fades so fast that up to 10 per cent of couples suffer enough remorse, sadness or frustration to seek counseling.

Wow.  You mean it wasn’t whispy clouds and fairy dust as you lived happily ever after?  And Franck Eggelhoffer isn’t there to plan the details of your marriage like he did your wedding?  And Daddy’s not there to pay your bills?  And sex doesn’t cure everything, or come with an orchestra in your bedroom?  And to add insult to injury, you find yourself married to a sometimes-sweaty, stinky boy, who leaves socks and underwear on the floor?  Or to a woman, who – get this – ain’t yo’ mamma, your maid, or your madame?  She’s no Cinderella, and you’re not exactly Prince Charming.

Those expectations take you for a ride sometimes, don’t they?

Dr. Terry Eagan has a name for post-wedding depression. He calls it the secret sadness.  Why? Because the women who suffer from it are often too embarrassed to tell anybody. And men simply bottle up their feelings.

The Secret Sadness is real.  And it isn’t limited to newlyweds. [click to continue…]

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Thinking and Thanking

by Andy Wood on November 26, 2008

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

Oh, my Father, I enter into Your presence in the name of Jesus to express my eternal gratitude to you.

Thank You for ACCESS – the unfathomable privilege of entering directly into Your presence.

Thank You for BLESSINGS IN DISGUISE – those wonderful growth experiences that look at first like obstacles or curses.

Thank You for CHILDREN – for the ways they remind us that You are big, life is good, and pleasing You isn’t all that complicated.

Thank You for DREAMERS – those who saw the possibilities when no one else did, and who risked failure to make their dreams come true.

Thank You for EXAMPLES – for people who are just as willing to practice as they are to preach. [click to continue…]

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