Legacy

The Memory of the Heart

by Andy Wood on October 11, 2011

in Allocating Your Resources, Five LV Laws, LV Cycle, Principle of Legacy

How do you want to be remembered?

By what you did?  What you said?  Who and how you loved?  What you accomplished or overcame?

That may or may not happen.

I was chatting with someone yesterday about the idea of legacy – one of those Five Laws of LifeVesting.  He asked me to clarify what I meant and how people leave legacies after their time on earth is done.  I said that legacy has two parts – the intentional and the unplanned.

There are some things I want to be remembered for, and I take action to make those memories while I still have a chance by investing my life in things that will live on after me.  This is why people give money, write things, do art or music, or make memories with people, just to name a few.

But your legacy has a life of its own, and you’re making memories all the time, whether you realize it or not.  Some of those are pretty routine.  Some are painful.  Some are glorious, and you don’t even know it.

Two days ago I got an email from Gotta-Love-Google-Land.  It came from somebody I knew in my very first church staff position, 33 years ago.  The message, framed with “thank you,” contained some profound memories.  What was interesting, though, was what all those memories had in common. [click to continue…]

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The Last Baptism

by Andy Wood on September 30, 2011

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

“I have something I’d like to discuss with you.”

Given my history with that kind of meeting request, I’m embarrassed to admit that my first instinct was to brace for bad news.  And given the fact that it came from my father-in-law, of all people, made me think I must really be in trouble.

What in the world could he possibly want?  What was so serious?  I started collecting a mental inventory of possibilities.  And in my head, started apologizing before I ever knew what the “something” was.

Turns out, apologies weren’t on the agenda.

Harlan Willis is one of the most tenderhearted, godliest men I know.  He has followed Christ since the age of 10, and committed himself to the Lord to become a medical missionary at the age of 15.  Both were profound experiences, and as a result, he invested a huge portion of his life to serving Christ and advancing the gospel in Thailand – and now for years in West Texas, where, at age 82 he is still practicing medicine and sharing Jesus.

But for years something has nagged him.  Bothered him since his teenage years.  That something has been the impression that he should be baptized.  Again.

And that’s what he wanted to talk to me about.  And he wanted me to do it.

Didn’t make sense.

For years he wondered if it was just the devil.

That didn’t make sense, either

But he couldn’t do it in Thailand!  What would the people there think?  What would the other missionaries think?

He couldn’t do it back in Texas.  What would the people in the church think?

This wasn’t a case of getting his baptism out of order, as often happens when people are baptized who really don’t understand what it is they are responding to in the gospel.

He knew.  Age 10.  And baptism came later.

But yet… here was this feeling.  This call. [click to continue…]

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Dear Jackson

by Andy Wood on July 14, 2011

in Life Currency, Love, Photos

Dear Jackson,

You entered our world today, July 14, 2011, the firstborn of a very excited and grateful Mom and Dad (weary, too, but who cares?). Every Daddy and Mommy are excited about the birth of a baby.  But I have never met a man more ready, more yearning, more longing to see his son than your father.  Just last night he told us on the phone, “I’m not worried – just anxious.”  Believe me, you were worth the wait.  To him.  To your Mommy.  To all of us.

Already, in the short time we have held you, watched your first bath and all the other things that go with saying hello to a newborn, you have filled our hearts.  I wonder if you’ll always like having your hair washed like you did that first time.  I wonder if, when you’re my age, you’ll have hair to wash, but we can talk about that later.

That was your Grammy who was doing all the galloping (yes, galloping) and hooting over you. [click to continue…]

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Five Forks in the Road

by Andy Wood on June 10, 2011

in Consumers, Five LV Laws, Hoarders, LV Alter-egos, Pleasers, Principle of Abundance, Principle of Eternity, Principle of Freedom, Principle of Increase, Principle of Legacy

This may be a leap, but let’s assume for a minute that you know what it is you want, and you’re pursuing it.  I don’t mean what you’re conquering in your search for lunch.  I’m talking destiny, journey-of-desire stuff.  Maybe it’s to influence or gain the approval of someone.  Maybe it’s wisdom to make good choices or the ability to do something that’s hard or impossible for you right now.

Regardless, have you ever noticed that sometimes getting there feels like an eight-lane highway?  And other times, the minute you start moving in that direction it feels like you just turned onto a muddy jungle trail?

Have you ever noticed that sometimes the journey launches like gangbusters, but then stalls or stagnates?

Chances are, you came to a fork in the road and made a wrong turn.

Robert Frost was right in his famous poem about the two roads and choosing the one less traveled by.  What he failed to mention was that life or any worthwhile pursuit is a series of forks in the road, not just one.  One road leads to a path that makes it easier to pursue your dreams; the other leads to mediocrity, failure, and defeat.

Appearances are Deceptive

Paths that lead to mediocrity and failure are well-worn and popular.  They require the least mental effort or “soul work.”  But what starts off as the path of least resistance quickly turns to the path of resistance-beats-my-brains-out.

Other paths may appear to require a lot of work or may leave you feeling isolated and alone.  But somewhere in that spiritual, emotional, and mental work you activate forces that begin to carry your load, increase your speed, and move you in the direction of your truest desires.

The other tricky part about these forks in the road: [click to continue…]

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Once a Teacher, Always a Teacher

by Andy Wood on June 3, 2010

in Five LV Laws, Insight, Life Currency, Principle of Legacy, Turning Points

One of the dogwood trees my grandmother and I planted about 35 years ago.

The Leader of the Band is tired, and his eyes are growing old,

But his blood runs through my instrument, and his song is in my soul

My life has been a poor attempt to imitate the man

I’m just a living legacy to the Leader of the Band.

-Dan Fogelberg

Alison had that look in her eye.  Half smile, half dead-serious, she walked up and to me and said, “Some of us have been talking.  And we’d like to ask you a favor.”

“What’s that?” I asked cautiously – bracing myself for, well, anything.

“We don’t know either of these people, and we don’t think they knew Grandmother all that well. We were wondering if you would say something – you know, more personal – in the service.”

Alison is my cousin, and she’d just asked the unthinkable – to stand up in front of a couple hundred family and friends and eulogize a family legend.

I’d done plenty of funerals before, but this one was different.  This was family. And not just any family member.  It was Grandmother, for cryin’ out loud. [click to continue…]

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Dear Cohen

by Andy Wood on February 23, 2010

in Five LV Laws, Life Currency, Love, Principle of Legacy

You came into the world a bit sooner than you were due, but no sooner than you were planned by your Heavenly Father.  And I can’t imagine a more beautiful baby has ever been born, or to more loving parents.  While you are our second grandchild, you are our first grandson, and will always be the firstborn of your mama and daddy.  For them, this has been a day of labor and risk, of waiting and prayer.  And today, February 23, 2010, you have made it worth it all.

You entered a family who has seen its share of joys and sorrows, laughter and tears.  But through it all, your family walks with a faith in the heart and love of the living God.  Your name means “priest,” and it was well-chosen.  You will live as an ambassador between God and humanity.  As you trust your life to the Lord Jesus, you will be part of a kingdom of priests – and you will be one of its standard bearers.

Your middle name, David, reflects both a noble family heritage and the Sweet Psalmist and Shepherd of Israel – the man after God’s own heart.  I pray that you will spend a lifetime discovering what that means.

You were born into a world filled with change and challenges, and no shortage of opinions.  In many ways the world you inherited is not kind.  [click to continue…]

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Who Keeps Score on Your Success?

by Andy Wood on April 8, 2009

in Esteem, Five LV Laws, Following Your Passion, Life Currency, LV Alter-egos, LV Cycle, LV Stories, Pleasers, Principle of Legacy

generations-3“Something’s wrong with your work.” The conversation eventually landed there.

A member of the denomination’s hierarchy delivered the critical review to a faithful old pastor during a prescribed periodic evaluation.

“Only one convert has been added to your church this year, and he is only a boy,” the boss said.

Later that same day, the pastor languished alone in his study, praying with a heavy heart, when someone walked up behind him. [click to continue…]

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Two Ways You DON’T Want to be Remembered

by Andy Wood on August 20, 2008

in Consumers, Five LV Laws, LV Alter-egos, Principle of Legacy

LifeVesting is about creating a compelling future and leaving a legacy long after your life here is done.

How do you want to be remembered?  Here are a couple of ways I don’t recommend.  One is pretty funny – the other, painfully sad.

The Man Who Got Shot and Arrested for Robbing a Drug Store with a Caulking Gun

The Midland (Texas) Reporter-Telegram reported on August 15 that a 24-year-old man, John Wilkinson, of Big Spring, walked into a West Texas pharmacy carrying what looked like a gun wrapped in a dark cloth, and demanding Xanax and hydrocodine.

After getting the drugs from the drug store, Wilkinson tried to make his escape, but realized he had locked his keys in his running car in front of the store.  So he took off running on foot.

He was shot by police.

He’s not dead, though.

Just under arrest for suspicion of armed robbery after being treated for the gun shot.

Oh, and John’s weapon of choice?  A caulking gun.

Not sure what he would have done had the druggist challenged him.  I guess he would have waterproof-sealed him to death.

The World’s Most Honest Obit

The following obituary was posted a couple of weeks ago in the Napa/Sonoma Times Herald.  It was confirmed to be real here.  Brace yourself…. [click to continue…]

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Like Abel – The LifeVesting Principle of Legacy

by Andy Wood on July 15, 2008

in Five LV Laws, Principle of Legacy

MemorialOur family keeps an oral tradition of famous lines spoken by somebody.  Today’s edition comes from Joel, when he was about seven or eight:

“Daddy, when you die, can I have all your tapes?”

++++++++++++++++++++++

I want to be like Abel.

Not so much the rock-upside-the-head part.  I’m talking about legacy.

Hebrews 11:4 contains a fascinating description of Abel’s life:  “By faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.”

Here’s a guy who could be famous for the things he never did:

He never preached a sermon.

He never started a church.

He never wrote a book.

He never engaged in an argument to defend the faith.

He never had his name plastered on the side of a building.

He never had a wife or children, much less succeeding generations.

He never was elected to any office.

He never fought for a cause or a nation.

He never was on TV, or interviewed by the press.

He never had God give him a song (all rights reserved, of course).

He never made a YouTube video.

He never made a financial fortune, that we know of.

He never rescued anybody in distress, except maybe for a sheep or two.

 

Yet long-dead, Abel still speaks.  And so can you and I.  It’s what the LifeVesting Principle of Legacy is all about:

[click to continue…]

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Worth Dying For

by Andy Wood on June 5, 2008

in Five LV Laws, Life Currency, Love, LV Stories, Principle of Legacy

Bill HydeI never knew Bill Hyde.

I will one day.

Bill was a church planter.  I know a little about that; I planted a church five years ago.  Bill planted six hundred, and just before he died, he hosted a then-record 3,700 participants in a Pioneer Evangelism conference.  His vision:  to plant 3,000 churches.  He took what people were adding in the Philippines, and began multiplying their efforts ten-fold.

I never heard Bill’s deep bass voice, singing or otherwise.

I will one day.

Bill gave up a career in music or teaching because, as one person put it, he wasn’t content leading a quiet, happy life teaching music.  Instead, he and Lyn, his wife, chose the frontlines of the battle.  They were appointed as missionaries in 1978.

I never hung out, played golf, argued, or even shook hands with Bill.  I sure hope I can one day.

Jim Cox, his former co-worker, said that Bill was a big guy:

Big in stature, big smile, big laugh, big hands, big heart. Bill was a musician, a teacher, a planner, an organizer and a doer. He had strong opinions, enjoyed a good argument and a game of dominoes. Bill and I played golf together weekly. He was my perfect golfing companion because he was as bad a golfer as I—not that we kept score anyway.

Bill and I have met in one way.  [click to continue…]

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