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Giving

Your Journey of Desire

by Andy Wood on February 16, 2011

in Following Your Passion,Life Currency,LV Cycle

Okay, so try this.  Let’s take a little mental inventory.  Go back to the twilight of your thinking last night – that mental place where you drift between the time you close your eyes and the time you actually go to sleep.  (I can tell you mine, but I’m saving it for a future blog post… watch for something called the “three A’s.”)

Or… how about the first line of thinking out of the mental gate this morning – that place where your mind went before you got out of bed?

Was it something to do?

Something you were worried about?

Some pressure, or pain?  Or some pleasure or something/someone you were grateful for?

Was it a longing, or an idea?  Or a feeling of dread?

Recapture that thought or line of thinking for a minute… then go behind it… and look for the desire. Based on your thinking, mentally complete this sentence:  “I want to _____________.”

It could be something you want to feel.

Could be something you want to accomplish.

Could be something you want to experience.

Could be somebody you want to connect with, serve, or resolve an issue with.

Got it yet?  Okay, let’s dig a little deeper. [click to continue…]

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4-T

by Andy Wood on November 29, 2010

in Five LV Laws,Following Your Passion,Life Currency,LV Cycle,LV Stories,Money,Principle of Abundance,Time

(The Twelve Ways of Christmas, Part 8 – The Way of Sharing)

(Note:   Last year I started a series of stories titled The Twelve Ways of Christmas.  Hopefully this year I will complete it.  If you’d like to go back to where it all began, click here.)

K-Mart.  It was the one place in Oak Ridge that David Carpenter knew would still be open Christmas Eve as he observed his years-of-time-honored tradition of last-minute shopping.  Having made his way down every single aisle (also an annual ritual) and tossing in unique stocking stuffers, David now stood waiting his turn in the checkout line.

Behind him, Maria Martinez laughed with her brother Aaron as the two of them had gathered some last-minute items themselves.  Aaron had a handful of stocking stuffers for his two boys; Maria was delighted that her niece, Sophie, would be joining the large family celebration.  She was also excited that her new job as a lab technician had finally enabled her to be as generous with her gifts as she’d always been with her 22-year-old heart.  Both were oblivious to the nicely-dressed man who waited and watched in front of them.

David watched as the random assortment of items passed across the scanner.  The monotone beep of the cash register intruded on the sound of Brenda Lee singing “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” on the in-store sound system.  Lightly touching the end of his items, a pretty red plaid little girl’s dress with a white turtleneck shirt glided across the conveyer belt.  With one part of his mind, David could see where this was headed.  With another, he was lost in thought as he gazed that the tag that read in bold letters, 4-T. [click to continue…]

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What Will You Render?

by Andy Wood on July 7, 2010

in Esteem,Life Currency

Render.  It’s one of my favorite words in the English Bible.

I have to admit, it’s partly because it just sounds so awesome.  I can just hear that boxing ring announcer now:

“Lllllets get ready to RrrreeenNNNderrrr.”

You can do a lot with that.

More important, of course, is what the word means.  [click to continue…]

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It Takes a Lot More Than a List of Wishes

by Andy Wood on July 24, 2009

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

wishful thinking“I’ve become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn’t just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it!” -1 Corinthians 9:22-23, The Message

I’ve devoted a lot of time to a life powered by wishful thinking.  With that came a lot of declaring about what I was going to do, and by when.  Those lists I referred to in the last post even contain a pretty crazy collection of audacious plans.  Just one problem.  Some of them are lifetime pursuits, and I still haven’t started the chase.

Setting goals or writing down wish lists is a bit like writing a check.  [click to continue…]

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So You Know You Can’t Dance

by Andy Wood on May 21, 2009

in Ability,Enlarging Your Capacity,Life Currency,LV Cycle,Tense Truths

i-cant-danceI want to let you in on a poorly-kept secret.  I can’t dance.

There.  Now somebody besides, well, everybody who knows me is aware.

It’s a disappointment to my ballroom-longing wife.  It was a “you-can-get-over-it” point of conversation to my daughter when she planned her wedding reception.  I knew I couldn’t, but tried.  She insisted I would, and was grateful for the moment.  My tuxedo pants nearly fell off, and given the way the dance was going, that would have been a relief.

That said, good dancers fascinate me.  The skill.  The agility.  The confidence.  The creativity.  But dancing is one of those skills I have relegated to the pile items left off my blueprints.

There are others.  [click to continue…]

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Ten Ideas for “Giving Up” Your Holidays

by Andy Wood on November 18, 2008

in Life Currency

We’re giving up Christmas this year.  Thanksgiving, too.  And if I have my way, New Year’s day will follow suit.

It all started with a meeting by our Creative Team at the church.  The conversation was about what to do this holiday season.  What’s on people’s minds?  What are they thinking/planning for the holidays, especially Christmas?

As the conversation flowed, it followed themes such as people who were giving in to discouragement, fear, and despair because of the e-word.  Also, one couple talked about giving out to charity instead of buying family a bunch of stuff they didn’t particularly want or need.

We talked about how Christmas has become jacked up because of the demands and expectations we place on it – how it’s supposed to magically solve all our problems or bring some sort of enchantment to our otherwise unhappy lives.

We talked about the pressure to make Christmas tricked up – raising the materialistic bar year in and year out.  We’ve been keeping up with the Joneses, only to discover that we are the Joneses.

We talked about how, biblically, God one-upped Zecharias, the father of John the Baptist.  God always seems to be able to out-give, out-serve, out-surprise the greatest acts of our service or obedience.

And we talked about the ultimate Gift – offered up by God to a world too busy to care.

So, our theme for Christmas is, Give It Up!  Before you give in or give out, give up!  That’s exactly what God did with His Son.  Now He awaits your response.

But why wait for Christmas Day?  Why not start now, in the Thanksgiving season, to offer up our lives, first to God, then to others?  For many of us, this will be an opportunity, albeit unwelcome, to really discover that it’s not about the toys and trinkets as much as it is about the love, the joy, the life, and the service we offer up.  So in that spirit, I thought I’d share ten ways you can give to others in life-affirming ways for little or no money.  I would encourage you to do some or all of these things, regardless of your financial status. [click to continue…]

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Building Wealth in the Land of the Clowns

by Andy Wood on November 6, 2008

in Five LV Laws,Life Currency,Money,Principle of Abundance

Isn’t it rich?
Are we a pair?
Me here at last on the ground,
You in mid-air.
Send in the clowns.

Isn’t it bliss?
Don’t you approve?
One who keeps tearing around,
One who can’t move.
Where are the clowns?
Send in the clowns.
-from “Send in the Clowns”

No, that’s not the theme song to the next installment of the U.S. Congress.  Then again…

Yesterday I introduced you to a group of Christ followers who were living in a world of mirrors.  The good people of Laodicea were living with the bling, but God had a different estimate of their true wealth.  And in His correction, He revealed some things about a completely different economy that is in operation all around us.  For review, here are the principles we looked at yesterday:

Principle #1:  The root nature of sin is a declaration of independence from God.

Principle #2:  God has a system of economy unlike the world’s system.

Principle #3:  “Economy” is the exchange of all the commodities of life.

Principle #4:  Money has a unique place in the commodities of life.

Principle #5:  It is possible to be rich in the world’s economy and bankrupt in God’s.

So here the scenery changes, and God has some encouraging things to say to His loveable losers: [click to continue…]

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The Estate Sale

by Andy Wood on July 11, 2008

in Consumers,Life Currency,LV Alter-egos,Money

Estate SaleI have eye-opening experiences in odd places.  I want to tell you about one that took place a few years ago at a house on 80th Street in Lubbock, a few houses away from where we used to live.  Our former neighbors were having an estate sale, and I have to confess, I’m a sucker.  So I strolled down to take it all in.  The sale was professionally managed, well organized, and quite thorough.  They were selling what appeared to be everything that wasn’t bolted to the walls or floor.

Like most estate sales, this was a trip back in time.  And somewhere amid the 8-track tapes, 70s-era stereo, and the costume jewelry, it happened.  Somewhere in my own mind, I was standing in the middle of my own estate sale.  Watching crowds of strangers pick over my treasures that, over the years, I had spent tens of thousands of dollars on.  Seeing them bargain with somebody over curtains or books or something – for dimes on the dollar, of course.  “Dear God,” I half-exclaimed and half-prayed, “tell me there’s more to my life than old stuff to be bartered over!”

As I continued to wander through the house, I could identify with the fun and excitement of this family as they had purchased that new appliance, received that special Christmas gift, or took advantage of those today-only prices and sales.  In so many ways, this was a typical American family.  Nice house.  Nice stuff, albeit touched by time.  And now all of it was being left behind.

It’s bad etiquette, I suppose, to actually ask about the people whose possessions we’re pilfering through.  Are they still living?  Do they have family?  Could I be standing next to their daughter or niece?  But I couldn’t help but wonder.  As I stood in what once was their home, I felt sure I was looking at a poor reflection of who these people really were.

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From Pleaser to LifeVestor

by Andy Wood on June 24, 2008

in LV Alter-egos,Pleasers

People PleaserI have a confession to make.  It won’t come as a big surprise to those who know me best or work with me closest.

Deep breath – here goes…

I have a hard time saying, “No.”

There, I said it.  I like making people happy, and for as long as I can remember, I couldn’t stand to disappoint people or hurt their feelings.

In balance, that can be a good thing.  Helps with the whole relationships and people skills thing and all.  Out of balance, it can lead to some bad choices at work and some really unhealthy life choices as well.

In its ultimate expression, people-pleasers become codependents.  Originating from our understanding of the behavior of the spouses of addicts, we have since learned that you don’t have to be involved with an addict to manifest that type of behavior.

Like the other three LifeVesting alter-egos – consumers, hoarders, and gamblers – pleasers twist a virtue into a vice.  In the area of their life resources, they use their resources to buy love or approval.  Often cloaked in an illusion of responsibility, these people give out of an unhealthy desire to “fix” someone they love, or rescue them (often repeatedly) from a crisis.

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From Consumer to LifeVestor

by Andy Wood on April 3, 2008

in Consumers,Life Currency,LV Alter-egos,Money,Time

Scarlett“I can shoot straight, if I don’t have to shoot too far.” 

“I can’t think about that right now. If I do, I’ll go crazy. I’ll think about that tomorrow.”

-Scarlett O’Hara, “Gone With the Wind”

Everybody is fascinated with Scarlett.  But nobody wants to admit how much like her we can be.

One way to understand LifeVesting is to define it in terms of what it isn’t.  LifeVestors have four alter-egos:  consumers, hoarders, gamblers, and codependents.  Today I’d like to introduce you to the first.

While in the purest economic sense everyone is a spender, the Consumers I’m talking about are takers.  They spend their money, their time, their relationships on today’s wants and needs.  Their primary focus is on themselves – though not always in an intentionally selfish way.  They come to church for what they can get out of it.  They spend their time and money in ways that, when spent, are gone forever.  For them, there is no other moment but now.  Tomorrow will take care of itself. 

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