Initiative

The List

by Andy Wood on August 6, 2013

in Ability, Consumers, Executing Your Plan, Five LV Laws, Life Currency, LV Alter-egos, LV Cycle, Principle of Increase

list 3Recently I was on the campus of a school where I teach as an adjunct professor. I was walking through the student center and saw this – a massive list of that university’s graduates for this year.

It was really gratifying to see the names of people I recognized.  To a random stranger these were just 470 some-odd names on a really big page. To me they were much more.

The List wasn’t able to capture the sleepless hours, the frustrations and insecurities, and the enormous energy invested.  And that’s just the professors! (Just kidding.)

It couldn’t detail the hours of work, the sacrifices and support of families, or the poignant life stories behind each of those names. Behind every name is a story worth telling and a future worth finding. (That, friends, is why they call it “commencement” when people graduate.)

My joy was in knowing I had planted some things in some of those students and they had nourished it to a point of fruitfulness.  And what was I doing when they were celebrating this big accomplishment?

Planting some more in a future crop of leaders. And grateful for the privilege.

There are lessons in The List. For you. For me… [click to continue…]

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Red Shoes and More

by Andy Wood on May 26, 2008

in Life Currency, Love, LV Stories, Words

Red ShoesLouise has had a rare kind of kidney cancer for the last 10-11 months.  She believes in prayer, and has a lot of people praying for her.  Add your own prayers to the list on her behalf.  She believes that with God’s help, she can beat it.

She receives chemotherapy treatments, and recently had an idea for a way to brighten her day while she was taking them:  Red shoes.

“I just thought the would make me feel better to look down at my red shoes,” she explained.

So she called Zappos to place her order.  She was greeted with their “usual greeting that is so comforting.”  She skipped the company’s joke of the day, and soon was greeted with a customer service rep.  “Gracious” was the word she used to describe this individual who helped her with her order.  “We talked a little, and I explained why I wanted these shoes.  She, as all of your employees, [went] out of her way to please customers.  That was that.”

The next day, to her surprise, Louise received a beautiful arrangement of red tulips, in a bright red vase and a beautiful red ribbon.  She couldn’t imagine who sent them.  She opened the card and began to cry.  The card read,

[click to continue…]

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