Death, Life, Legacy

It’s around 4:00 AM at my house. It seems like everything in my world is on pause.

This is certainly the only quiet time I’ll see today, as my family continues walk through the steps and processes of celebrating the life of a loved one who has departed this earth.

Over the weekend, my wife’s grandmother, Guadalupe Menchaca, left this earth to be with Jesus. We knew her time with us was short, but the impact of her departure on me isn’t so much about our loss, but about the legacy.

Spending time chatting with family members and friends, hearing their stories and most vivid memories, I’m amazed at how this woman and her late husband, Nicanor, impacted so many people.

They moved their family to Fort Worth about 70 years ago with nothing more than a mattress and a few belongings, believing they had heard from God to come here to bring the good news of Jesus Christ and his power to transform lives in the Spanish language.

As a result of the singular act of faith, many Fort Worth area churches, primarily Spanish-speaking, were established and strengthened. Today, most of their children and grandchildren are either in full-time ministry work, or are diligently advancing the message of Jesus.

How many hundreds or even thousands of people in this area have met Jesus, raised God-fearing families and impacted their neighborhoods and cities because of the faith of this woman and her husband? That is legacy.

Why live only for yourself? Why live merely to exist? Why not listen to God, act on your faith, and leave a legacy?

Today at her memorial service, as I share these words from Psalm 103, I can truly say I’m honored to be grafted into this family through marriage. I’m privileged to carry on the family legacy by continuing to proclaim the good news of Jesus in Fort Worth.

The life of mortals is like grass,
they flourish like a flower of the field;
the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.
But from everlasting to everlasting
the Lord’s love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children’s children—
with those who keep his covenant
and remember to obey his precepts.

Chained to Apps? Break Free!

Yesterday, I was looking for a particular app on my iPhone that I urgently needed to complete an important transaction.

I frantically searched, became frustrated, couldn’t remember what it was named, etc. All I recalled was a vague image of the icon, filed somewhere in the back of my brain.

Well, I eventually located the app, but later, I chose to count the apps on my phone (of which I’m sharing a couple of screenshots).

Now, let me preface this by saying I’ve used iPhones for almost five years, but what I uncovered was not pretty. I had 346 apps and shortcuts on my phone!

What should I do?

I momentarily felt like a participant in A&E’s Hoarders. I was shocked, ashamed and annoyed as I began to digest this unhealthy reality in my life.

Do I need an intervention?

Well, before anyone strong-arms me into simplifying and de-cluttering my phone, I made the choice to reduce my apps by 1/3 by week’s end. Now, that might seem like a small percentage, but I’d be deleting around 120 apps and shortcuts!

I refuse to be in bondage and slavery to the apps I once thought I needed.

Why do I have EIGHT maps apps?

Why do I have THREE flashlight apps?

Weather apps? I actually have FIVE!

SIXTEEN health-related apps? Come on! I’m into being healthy, but that’s SICK!

It’s time to make a lot of those apps go away. It’s time to break free.

Just pause and think about your own phone for a second. Take it out and begin counting.

Refuse to be chained to those data-sucking, memory encumbering, space consuming apps.

The Bible says in 2 Peter 2:19, “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.” I will not be a slave to my phone or those apps.

Join with me and BREAK FREE from those extra apps. It’ll help clear your brain, refresh your perspective, and de-clutter your life. Plus, it’ll give you a chance to laugh and poke fun at yourself. Ha!

Less is certainly more.

#LifeTip

2013 – My Goals Strategy

In 2012, I attempted a new approach at goal setting. As a result, now that 2012 is almost complete, I am so pleased to say that about 75% of the goals I set for the year are complete.

Here’s the strategy I used, and I’m committed to using it again:

1. Establish 10 – 20 Measurable Goals: Write them out, making them specific and measurable. Be sure the goals cover all areas of your life. Examples might be:

• Lose 15 pounds
• Exercise 5 hours per week
• Lower my blood pressure by 10 points
• Purchase a car for less than $20,000
• Increase my retirement account contributions by 10%
• Give 10% of income to my church
• Save 10% of my income
• Take a dream vacation to Hawaii
• Earn at least $10,000 through a new business venture
• Pay off 50% of my debt – $5000
• Remodel the kitchen
• Save $1000 for next Christmas

2. Break Down Each Goal Into Quarterly Increments: After the goals are written, create four clear steps to reach each goal. Each of these steps become quarterly goals. Let’s take the “Pay off 50% of my debt” goal and break it down:

1st Quarter: Take Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University Course and reduce debt by  $1000.

2nd Quarter: Reduce debt by $1250

3rd Quarter: Reduce debt by $1750

4th Quarter: Reduce debt by $2000

3. Write Out a Clear, Concise Strategy to Reach Each Quarterly Goal. This now transforms the quarterly goal into simple actions that need to be taken. When you focus on each individual action, you are much more likely to actually reach your goal.

The biggest challenge I’ve had in the past with fulfilling my goals is that I set the goal. Feel inspired and energized to reach it. But never actually have a plan to reach it, and the mountain seems unscalable by mid-year. So, I drop the goal.

4. Post the Quarterly Goals and Strategies Where You Will See Them. Keep the goals AND the action steps in front of you all the time. For me, since I’m rather mobile, I have a method of “annoying” myself every day. I copy and paste my goals into Google Tasks and Google Calendar. These apps are synchronized to all the computers I use, including my iPhone. Using the Google Calendar app, I actually have a reminder pop up daily for various quarterly goals. This simply makes it impossible for me to forget my goals. Then, after the goal is complete, I simply delete it from my calendar and check it off my Google Tasks list.

5. Celebrate the Accomplishment of Quarterly Goals. Tell somebody. Throw a party. Reward yourself. But do it for your QUARTERLY Goals. This keeps the celebration of achievement going all year long.

I’m not going to list my goals here, but I’ll share a couple of my family goals for 2013:

1) Celebrate 25 years of marriage with Rebecca. We’ve spent years discussing and planning a special vacation for just the two of us. It’s coming together! Marriage is something to celebrate, and we’re committed to celebrating well in the Summer of 2013.

2) Take my three sons back to the Grand Canyon North Rim to hike the canyon. It’s a grueling hike up and down the North Rim, and only about 5% of the Canyon hikers actually use this route. It will be an experience we will all carry with us the rest of our lives.

We will revisit the site where I took each of my boys on their initial “man trip” after their twelfth birthdays. It is here where I called each of my sons into Godly manhood and spoke blessing over them. I expect this to be a powerful spiritual (and physical) event.

Set some goals.

Establish your strategy.

Keep them in front of you.

Do them.

Celebrate!

#LifeTip

My Return to TimWoody.com

If you track backward on my blog posts, you’ll notice that I have an obvious gap from late Summer until now.

The gap was intentional.

I know in the world of “blogging”, it’s considered a wrong move to make. But, I enjoy breaking the rules sometimes.

After I completed my sabbatical this summer, I made some choices to stay healthy. Part of that was to reduce my pace significantly, therefore, some of the things I really enjoy doing were placed on a back-burner for a few months. Among those was posting regularly to this blog.

Since then, I’ve peeled off fifteen pounds and my blood pressure has dropped significantly. I’m more rested. I’m happier, and I’m enjoying my family more.

As I ramp up into the new year, my posts will resume with regular consistency.

It’s good to be back!

Charles Shultz Nailed It

“There were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ”Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

One of the best Christmas Movie Classics of all time is A Charlie Brown Christmas. In the movie, poor old Charlie Brown was having so much difficulty understanding what the holiday was all about. Then, as only Charles Shultz could do it, scriptures were read to American Children just like me.

THIS made me proud to be a Charlie Brown / Peanuts fan.

Have a Merry Christmas and remember WHO it’s all about.

#LifeTip

A Christmas Childhood Contest

It was Christmas 1977, and I was twelve years old. I lived in Hastings, Nebraska, and the children’s ministry issued a challenge: “Whoever can memorize the most verses of the Christmas Story from Luke 2 would win a Nativity Set for your house.”

Naturally, being the competitive person I am, decided to win the contest from beginning. I sized up the passage and determined that I would have to memorize twenty verses, so I set a minimum requirement of one per day.

Due to the buzz amongst the children, I found out that my primary competitor was Tami Tyson, a really smart girl. I was in trouble. Knowing that she would memorize all twenty verses with ease, I needed to somehow have an edge.

I figured it out! I could memorize just ONE ADDITIONAL verse of scripture, Luke 2:21, which mentioned His presentation and ritual circumcision at the Temple. I had heard it mentioned in Christmas sermons, so why not?

On the day of the contest, she said, “I have the whole story memorized, and I’m going to win.” I acted disappointed, and sure enough, Tami eloquently quoted the entire 20 verses with intellectual precision.

My heart lept when she stopped at verse 20 and sat down. I took the stage and quoted all 20 verses, paused, swallowed, took a deep breath, smiled, and quoted Luke 2:21 as the conclusion. Applause erupted and I won the Nativity Set. I was also allowed to quote the story for the entire congregation at the Christmas Service.

Last week, my mother told me that she still has the Nativity Set and would give it to me!!! Why does that still mean so much to me?

Well, partially because “I won”, but also because ever since then, that passage of scripture has echoed in my heart and mind, continually resurfacing. It was so much more meaningful than memorizing the Gettysburg Address or the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence. It is the story of Christ’s entrance into this world, and those words still brings warmth to my soul.

De-Stress! It’s Christmas

I’ve witnessed some rather intense interactions between people in town this week.

Here’s a thought…

Slow down.

Smile.

Look people in the eye.

Be genuine.

Express gratitude.

Be kind.

Impart life!

It’ll de-stress both you and them.THEN say, “Have a Merry Christmas”.

#LifeTip

7 Post-Sabbatical Changes for Me

Earlier this summer, I found myself almost completely depleted of energy and strength:

• I was falling asleep while driving, and small things seemed to be overly stressful to me.
• I felt nothing was organized, and I was constantly driven by the tyranny of the urgent.
• I had gained about ten pounds, and the stress continued to mount.
• I could hardly focus on anything for more than a few minutes.

Fortunately, there are some people who help watch over my life, who did a bit of an intervention. They required I take three sequential weeks off from the church including two Sundays. I scheduled my time off as far out as possible, so I could have adequate time to prepare, choosing the last week of July and the first two weeks of August. This became my “sabbatical”.

Today is my first day back “in the office”, so I’m listing the things I intend to do differently as I move back into the rush and busyness of life. This is a great exercise, because it forces me to write it out and it even brings a certain level of accountability, since I’m making this list public.

1)  Appointments with Me: Instead of operating from a simple “to-do” list, I’ve created blocks of time in my calendar to accomplish the tasks I need to do on a weekly basis. I calculated how much time each task normally takes, added about 10-15% additional time, and dropped them into my calendar as recurring appointments. I can also move and reschedule these “appointments with me” as needed. Due to the fact that I tend to become rather stressed and less effective if I focus on one task for over an hour, I’ve broken up the major tasks into bite-sized chunks. My calendar looks full, but at least I’ll be focused now.

2) No More Pings: During my sabbatical, I deleted all social media apps and turned off my text / email pings. At first, it actually seemed to increase my stress, but after a week or so, I gave in, enjoying the fact that I was no longer getting an adrenaline rush every time my phone pinged. So, I’ve reinstalled my social media apps, but turned off all notifications, emails, pings, etc. I now have daily scheduled time to look at this stuff.

3) Email Consolidation: Can you believe I have eight email addresses? I have one for every facet of my life. (I think my life is too faceted). So, I took an entire afternoon and consolidated all of my email to flow through one Gmail account. I turned off all the email alerts, and will check it once or twice daily, emptying my inbox each time.

 4) Heightened Delegation: There are so many things that fall into the “important” column of my life, but I simply cannot do them all. Therefore, when it comes to my church work, I’m not going to pick the ball back up from the tasks that were delegated to a variety of volunteers while I was away. They can do these things just as good if not better than me, anyway.

5) Repositioning for Flexibility: To maintain a healthy life for myself and my family, I’ve made the choice to adjust my schedule to be more accommodating for my family and recreation time. In addition, my children will begin an alternative school option, allowing their schedules to flex with mine. We will get to be with each other more, and I like that.

6)  Choosing to be Fully Present: With my family, my team, my friends and my casual relationships, I’ve chosen to listen, be responsive, be attentive, and not be distracted by various forms of media. Really, it’s simply arrogant and rude for me to be constantly distracted.

7) Food and Exercise: I go to the gym a lot, but lately, I’ve been eating poorly. Over the past year or so, I have constantly overridden my trained mind that “food is fuel” to embracing more of a “food is fun” mentality. Although I never really stopped thinking about what I was eating, I caved to the wrong foods continually. So, during my sabbatical, I spent a lot of time counting calories and re-adjusting my eating habits. It’s paid off already, for I’ve peeled off several pounds, and I still have a new goal to hit and sustain over the next several weeks.

These 7 Post-Sabbatical Changes may seem like simple, trivial adjustments, but combined, they will make a vast difference in how I lead my own life. For, if I am able lead and manage ME well, then I have a better chance at being a quality leader for others.

I’m feeling wonderful coming off my sabbatical and I desire to keep feeling good. The next few weeks will test these seven decisions, and some may need to be tweaked, but if I want different results, I’m going to have to do something different.

Ask me in 60 days how I’m doing!

#LifeTip #MinistryTip – Courage:

Never apologize for your courage.
NEVER!

Without courage, you will only regress.

My City Life Center Update

One of the best ways to stay in touch with the City Life Center congregation is to write an email. Every several days, I send out an update, and often, I like to add the link to this site, so you can catch up on things that are happening in my life, my family, my city and my church.

Enjoy it!!

Summer 2012, New Dogs, CLC Buzz, Poison Ivy