Marriage

The Touch

by Andy Wood on March 27, 2009

in Leadership, Life Currency, Love, LV Alter-egos

two-handsFive days of creation.  Five days to speak a universe and earth into being.  But for the first five days, as God created the stars and planets, the sea and land, and its teeming life, there was no one to speak back.

True, the angels brought Him praise, and creation tacitly spoke of his glory.  But a voice was missing.  A voice of intimacy, of image reflected.  A voice of will – of determined love.  A voice of faith and surrendered strength.

Day six.  The climax of it all came when God breathed into the man the breath of life, and he became a living soul.

Imagine the Father’s delight as He introduced Adam to a universe of discovery.  To show him the bumblebee or the giraffe, the caterpillar or the butterfly, the lion and the lamb.  To see the childlike wonder in the grown man’s eyes as he witnessed this living Artist’s canvas for the first time. [click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

My Favorite Funny Posts in 2008

by Andy Wood on December 23, 2008

in Enlarging Your Capacity, Insight, Life Currency, Spoofs

Life is too serious not to be laughed at.  And 2008 has given us plenty of seriously funny expressions that soften our defenses, then make a point.  Often a sharp one!

So without further ado, here, in reverse order are my 10 personal favorite funny blog posts from 2008.  Many have links elsewhere, or combine videos with photos, etc.  But you’re seeing them where I found them (or put them).

10.  Speculators
David Hayward describes himself as “an artist trapped inside a pastor’s body.”  His cartoons have appeared several times here.  They often combine a funny thought with a sharp, convicting point.  In “Speculators,” he pokes at the way people can and do profit from the message of the cross.  Want more? Here’s one that mocks corporate mentality in the church. [click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

DeCristo

by Andy Wood on July 29, 2008

in LV Stories

DeChristo“I am created for His kingdom and purpose.  I want to fulfill what I was created for.”  That was Connie Holloway’s firm belief and determination.  Little did she know where that would take her.

Four years ago, Connie was in a marriage that ended in a head-on collision.  A believer in Christ, she carries no anger toward her former husband.  He’s a brother in Christ, she says, and she means it. She has seen her share of hurts, but Connie is the second-happiest person I have ever known.  I’ve about decided that Molly Brown would have nothing on her.  Connie’s unsinkable.  She has that crazy idea that abundant life is available here and now – not just when we die.  What a concept.

One of Connie’s major breakthroughs happened a couple of years ago.  “We were in worship, singing ‘Enough,’ and God asked me, ‘Am I more than enough for you?’”

“Yes!” she said with joy.

On that day, Connie was set free from believing that a relationship with a man could heal her.  She learned – not just in her head, but in her heart – that our completeness is in Him, not in a marriage or the things she thought she needed in a spouse.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago.  Connie was enjoying a movie with Kaylee, her daughter.  The credits were rolling, and Connie saw someone’s name and thought how beautiful it was.  There she was seized with a thought:  It’s time for a new name.  For four years she’d carried a stranger’s name, and it was time for a change.

She mentioned it to Kaylee, who just seemed to get it.  Kaylee always seems to get her mother.  So there they stood – credits still running – and they started having fun, practicing new names based on the running list.

But how do you pick your own new name?  What would you do if you had that kind of freedom?

[click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

The Time Capsule

by Andy Wood on June 25, 2008

in Life Currency, Love

Okay, one last swipe at sentimental stuff, and I’m moving on…

The year is 1983.  President Ronald Reagan has proposed to develop technology to intercept enemy missiles called Strategic Defense Initiative — nicknamed “Star Wars.”  McDonald’s has introduced a new product called the Chicken McNugget.  “M*A*S*H” has ended after 10 years on CBS TV, the first longest running TV series ever. Over 125 million Americans tune in to watch the final episode.

Microsoft has developed a word processing software product called “Word.”  Sally Ride is flying (actually floating) high – the first woman in space, aboard the Challenger.  Star Wars: Return of the Jedi is opening in box offices across the country.  Nintendo is introducing a new video game called Super Mario Brothers.  India – that’s right, India –will shock the cricket world on this very day by winning the Prudential Cup.  I know, I know!  Can you believe it?

“I.O.U.” by Freeez is the #1 dance tune in the country.  “Flashdance:  What a Feeling” by Irene Cara is the number one pop hit.  Mickey Gilley’s “Fool for Your Love” is atop the country charts.

The New York Times Bestseller List features Return of the Jedi as the #1 fiction best-seller.  In Search of Excellence is the #1 non-fiction book.

We pay $3.15 to see Return of the Jedi.  We fill up with gas that cost an outrageous $1.16 a gallon.  We also mail a few letters for 20 cents apiece.

And in a little farm and oil town in West Texas called Brownfield, I stand with my fiancé and repeat these words:

I Andy, take you Robin, to be my wedded wife.  I promise to be honest and true to you always.  I will make whatever adjustments are necessary so that I may genuinely share my life with you.  And as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

With the exception of grandparents, the family is still all here, on both sides. That’s cool.  The friends in the wedding party have scattered across the country – to California, Arizona, Canada, Alabama, Texas, Mississippi, and who-knows-where.  Three kids, twelve houses, eight churches, eight dogs, five cats, two hamsters, innumerable fish, one grandkid, and more friends than we can count later, we are greatly blessed.

So where was God when I made those vows?  Giving gifts.  Hearing every word.  Making Himself available when times got tough.  That’s why He says,

“Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving
And pay your vows to the Most High;
Call upon Me in the day of trouble;
I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me” (Psalms 50:14-15).

May I tell you from 25 years of experience that God’s promise and offer are true?

And so on this most unique of anniversaries so far, I offer to God thanksgiving for the gift of my wife.  I remember (again!) those vows I made, which are as relevant today as ever.  And I am reminded today that whatever trouble we may encounter is an opportunity to experience God in ways that are as new as the sunrise and fresh as the morning dew.

Happy Anniversary, Robin!  I love you more than ever.

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

To Prepare a Place

by Andy Wood on March 17, 2008

in Five LV Laws, Life Currency, Love, LV Cycle, Principle of Eternity, Waiting

“You wanna see what the room looks like?” Geoffrey asked.  “The room” was the hotel room where my son was staying.  Geoffrey was his best man and is his best friend.

I was a bit out of the loop.  I thought I was going to be looking at a brochure of the Houston Marriott or something.  What Geoffrey brought instead was a camera.

Off and on during this wedding day I had wondered what the heck Joel was up to.  Why was he running behind?  Why wasn’t he at the church when I thought he was supposed to be?  Why were people calling, looking for him?  What was so important?

I had showed up at the church about 4:45 – 15 minutes late myself.  He was nowhere to be found.  Getting the car washed, Geoffrey said. 

Car washed!  Photographer was waiting, people were wondering, and he?  He was washing.

Now, some five hours later, that clean car has just left the building with the newlyweds on board.  And Geoffrey is scrolling through the pictures on his camera.  These weren’t publicity pics.  They were the results of a groom’s labor to prepare a place – a special place – for his bride.  I’ll spare you the details, but there were candles, rose petals, a picnic basket, and much more, I’m sure.

[click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

The Ring

by Andy Wood on March 14, 2008

in Following Your Passion, LV Cycle

NinjaI had never seen a rank test before.  What I did see impressed me.  And taught me.  I know it’s dangerous to talk in layman’s terms about something you don’t fully understand, but I want to tell you what I saw.  (No, this picture wasn’t it.  I just thought the little fella looked cute.)

For those of you, like me, who have never taken a martial arts class, a rank test is a challenge a student must face in order to receive a higher-ranked belt.  White belts challenge for yellow, yellow belts challenge for blue, and so forth.  I walked in on a Monday night several years ago to what I assumed was a routine karate class, and found out my kid (age 8 at the time) was being tested.  What made it interesting was that he didn’t know it at the time.

Best I can tell, the rank test involved two different parts.  First, students had to demonstrate a thorough knowledge of what they had been taught.  The different moves and techniques were reviewed over and over under the watchful eye of the master.

Then came The Ring.  At least, that’s my name for it.  [click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Never Too Late – a Love Story

by Andy Wood on March 7, 2008

in Life Currency, Love

Grandad Mary“I’ll say good-bye to love,” Karen Carpenter once crooned.  Ha!  She never knew Hugh and Mary.

Dede Long shared the wonderful story below of her grandfather who proved that you’re never to old for love or romance.  Enjoy!

In 1920, my paternal grandparents, Hugh and Peggy Stuntz, went to Santiago, Chile as Methodist missionaries.  While they were there, they met a single woman named Mary Sweaney.  Her husband had been killed by lightning when they had only been married eleven months.  Mary was in South America running a Methodist girls’ school.  The three of them became lifelong friends.  My dad, his brother and sister were all born while they lived in South America.

[click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

The Curious Power of Showing Up

by Andy Wood on November 8, 2007

in Hoarders, LV Cycle, Protecting Your Investment

arriving “I was saved at age 6, and Spirit-filled at age 9,” she said plaintively.  “Now I don’t even know there is a God.  How do I get my faith back?”

I blurted out an answer that distressed more than blessed.  But I still think it’s true.

“You start by showing up.”

Human nature – at least my human nature – has a tendency to self-destruct in the areas where peace or healing or restoration or growth is concerned.  How?  By isolating.  Withdrawing.  Withholding or running away from the situation.  The myth is that: [click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }