by Andy Wood on February 13, 2010
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Watching TV for the last 70 years has given us a steady stream of midwestern news reporters, California actors, a Motown pop culture, and other invasions of Yankee influence. Of course, we Southerners have made a few inroads of our own; I don’t think we can fool many northerners into thinking that grits grows on trees any more.
Bottom line is, our nation is slowly losing its regionalism. By and large, that’s O.K. Oh, you can still tell generally where a person hails from by hearing them talk. But sadly, some of our most picturesque phrases and words have all but disappeared. Not long ago I actually heard a young mother at the hospital asking her daughter if she could “tote” her food tray. [click to continue…]
by Andy Wood on November 2, 2009
Aunt Ruth was neither my aunt, nor was she named “Ruth.” Through a set of circumstances I don’t have time to relate, “Aunt Ruth” was what I wound up calling her.
Aunt Ruth had eyes that danced long after her feet were unable to. She defied aging – said she didn’t have time or sense enough to grow old. She detested religiosity and people who took themselves too seriously. “Fuddy Duddy Christians,” she called them. Aunt Ruth was wise. Through her sometimes-sharp exterior, she loved me. And she taught me one of the most important lessons I ever learned.
“Life’s full of mysteries,” Aunt Ruth said. In fact, she said it a lot. Aunt Ruth loved mysteries. Not the murder-type, but those principles in life that defy logic. It always amused her to get me in an argumentative mode and throw out one of her “mysteries.”
Like the time I was angry because someone had been spreading lies about me. “I’m gonna find out who started it, and set them straight!” I informed her.
“Forget it,” Aunt Ruth said. “Get to the bottom of it, and all you get is some stirred up mud and a mad catfish.” [click to continue…]
by Andy Wood on October 17, 2009
“Hi-ya Ang.”
I hate it when people call me that. Feels like Mayberry somehow, and only two people have ever gotten away with it. Lacey Parker was one of ‘em.
Lacey was a nut job at times. The whole (short) time I knew her, it was obvious she saw through a different set of lenses. Or maybe lived on a completely different planet. [click to continue…]
by Andy Wood on October 1, 2009
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.
by Andy Wood on September 28, 2009
Carved into the side of one of my favorite places in the world – Deer Bluff, near the family farm in Alabama…
That brings up a thought:
Ever seen something like this carved in a rock or a tree (or written on a bathroom wall or somebody’s notebook)?
J.S. + E.J. = Tru Luv 4 Ever.
Without bothering to even ask whether you ever wrote something like that, I wonder where J.S. and E.J. are now? I wonder how “tru” their “luv” is today? I wonder if “4 Ever” really meant 4 days, or 4 weeks?
Then again, who knows? J.S. and E.J. may be J.S. and E.S. today, with four kids, three pets, two cars, and a nice mortgage. Maybe there was more than just “4” in their “4 Ever.”
Forever. Yet another of those charming words we overuse and undervalue. Often said in the extremes of emotion, for many of us “forever” only means until we calm down or come up for air. And yet we do live in a world of certainties, where words like “forever” and “always” really mean something. Trouble is, because of the ways we so often water it down, sometimes we lose the force of forever when it’s the real thing. [click to continue…]
by Andy Wood on August 23, 2009
“I’m not a smart man – but I know what love is.”
-Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump
Attending a Christian worship service is a very different kind of experience for many different kinds of people. For me on most weekends, it’s Game Day. All hands on deck. Because of the responsibilities I have, it’s something of a 90-minute rehearsal taking place in my brain – rehearsing sermon points, announcements, and service order points that will unfold in a matter of seconds – all under the theme, “What comes next?”
This weekend was no different in that regard. We had three services with lots of moving parts, and I was tracking with all of them. And yet for reasons I have yet to understand, I was surprised to find my heart stirred by special faces in distant places. I found myself so aware – so drawn – so surprised by love – at one point during one of the offertories, all I could do is sit there and weep.
In short, I was beautifully startled by the people who attended the services in my West Texas church this weekend. [click to continue…]
by Andy Wood on August 14, 2009
“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…]
by Andy Wood on August 10, 2009
In a previous administration, a lady in our church came back from a trip and brought me a page-per-day calendar. On each page was a funny cartoon about life in Church World. I loved it! Whoever the cartoonist is, he knows church people.
Whenever I found a cartoon that was particularly funny to me, I tried to share with somebody else I thought could appreciate it as much as I did. One day I found just such a cartoon. I laughed out loud, and it reminded me of someone. But it took me a minute to realize who the cartoon made me think of. Then like a lightning bolt it hit me: the name and face of an old friend. The things the cartoon made fun of were things that he and I used to laugh a lot about. It made me think of him so much, I almost sent it to him . . . in a blank envelope.
Within seconds my laughter had turned to a peaceful sadness. The cartoon was still funny, but the situation it reminded me of wasn’t. The last time I had contact with my old friend, I had disappointed him very badly. I didn’t mean to hurt him, and he knew that. He wasn’t bitter at me. I still called him my friend, although I hadn’t been much of a friend to him. But circumstances beyond our control had prevented us from healing and rebuilding what once was a wonderful, close friendship. It was very sad, and at times very painful.
That night I dreamed of him – I’m sure because of the cartoon. [click to continue…]
by Andy Wood on August 19, 2008
(A Turning Point Story)
“Hi, I’m Butch, and I’m an alcoholic.”
He didn’t say it exactly like that the first time I talked to him. But two minutes into my first conversation with Butch Lowrey, I knew he had been visiting my church, he was a recovering alcoholic, and that he liked what I was preaching. Butch introduced me to a spiritual program that had changed his life and stopped his drinking forever. I attended his second A.A. birthday party, and eventually became his sponsor. No doubt about it, though. I learned more from him than he ever learned from me.
“Nothing in God’s world happens by mistake.”
Butch believed that, and said it often. As part of his recovery, there were many other spiritual truths he stood on, and repeated. Truths such as: “If all your problems could solved by money, you don’t have a problem,” and, “You’ve just got to let go and let God.”
He also learned a rare and refreshing kind of honesty. On one occasion he said, “People in [this] county are committed to making everyone else just as miserable as they are.” Later he told me, “Andy, you preach long because you like to hear yourself talk. You’re just on an ego trip.” He was smiling, of course. [click to continue…]
by Andy Wood on February 25, 2008
Yesterday our theme in the “Love Stories” series at our church was friendship. We focused on the three best friends Jesus had – and it wasn’t Peter, James, and John. It was that amazing family from Bethany – Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. Each had a wonderful friendship with Jesus, and each expressed it in his/her own way. Lazarus was a friend who hangs. Martha was a friend who serves. Mary was a friend who understands. What to hear the whole thing? Click here, then on the “listen” button next to “Friends: A Refuge for the Soul”. (Thanks to Shanda Hasse of White Sparrow Design for the beautiful design here. It’s actually a postcard, and if you’d like some, contact me at andy@lifevesting.com for information.)
We also put a new spin on an old, warmly familiar song that you don’t usually hear in church. But the message is strong, and this video is a reminder that whether our friends are faithful or failures, we have an unfailing Friend, who sticks closer than a brother.
[click to continue…]
