Someone took a survey recently whose primary question was, “What keeps you from knowing God and growing spiritually?” And the most common answer? “I don’t have enough time.”

Question: When will you have enough time? And how will you find it? Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome, visitor!

If you find my posts interesting, I invite you to sign up, at the top of the column to the right, to receive emails whenever I publish a new article.

Be assured I hate spam as much as anyone, I will hold your information in strictest confidence, and, of course, I always include a means for unsubscribing whenever you want.

Thanks for visiting!

Sincerely,

John Holzmann

I wrote, about a week ago, about intangible wealth. Somehow the subject keeps coming up in my mind. Read the rest of this entry »

I love questions. If I find a good one, I often consider it almost more valuable than whatever answer someone may offer. Questions can help to reveal the truth, of course. But well-constructed questions can inspire deep thought, and the rare person who asks them can help to deepen relationships in ways that people who merely talk, or others, who merely listen, never will. Of course, merely asking the question is not enough. You have to also listen to the answers–really listen, and demonstrate that you care what the other person has to say. But that kind of questioning and listening behavior can open doors to other people’s hearts in ways that mere talk never can.

All that by way of introduction to my primary purpose, here: I wanted to share with you a set of 10 “golden questions” for parents to discuss with their children. Read the rest of this entry »

Oh, man! I’m becoming more and more upset about the way we’ve been–and are being–treated by J____.

Yesterday, when he told me he was willing to reconsider whether he was, indeed, committed to terminating our relationship, he asked me not to discuss with any other advisors any of the details of his plan . . . until he returns next Monday from his trip out of town.

When I told him that I had already passed the plan along to the National Christian Foundation, he was incensed. How dare I?

Today I went back over our original “Membership Agreement” with his organization. The second paragraph says, Read the rest of this entry »

Ah! It’s been a mess.

I asked J____ for forgiveness to the greatest degree I felt I could, in good conscience.

He accepted my apology and proffered forgiveness.

I made no mention of the conclusion of our relationship. He had stated firmly on Monday that “this was it.”

He made no mention of continuing our relationship, either.

So a couple of hours after I asked forgiveness and he granted it, I wrote him about a refund.

“Interesting follow up email to your email asking for forgiveness,” he replied. Read the rest of this entry »

It sounds as if the threat–the thought–of termination is becoming a reality. J____, our legacy planner, just wrote me a letter:

John,

This email I just received from C____ [the attorney to whom he introduced us] only further confirms my decision to discontinue working with your family. Exactly when was I going to hear about this new development?

Read the rest of this entry »

I’m in shock. Stunned.

J____, our legacy planner, called this morning. And, boy! He let me have it. Right between the eyes. And he wasn’t about to back off an inch from his perspective or position: He is right. Sarita and I are wrong. We have (I have) no business questioning him. Certainly not in front of others (the way I did in my “Building or Destroying Trust” letter last week, in which I copied our CPA and attorney, our company’s general manager, Sarita, and our four kids).

I guess I should note something I haven’t made clear before. J____ is a devoutly Christian man. Very concerned (as I am) about conducting his affairs uprightly, according to Scripture. Problems can arise, of course, when two devout people bump into one another as a result of differing perspectives on what a certain Scripture may mean.

For J____, the fact that I copied my email, last week, to others: that means I am wholly in the wrong. “You talk about building or destroying trust, John! You have completely destroyed my trust in you. . . . I am of a good mind,” he said to me this morning . . . –”I am of a good mind to terminate our relationship.” Read the rest of this entry »

I am “just” astonished. And appalled. And deeply distressed.

As I went to create this post, I noticed I have a post category called “family relationships.” I don’t have one called “advisor relationships.” But I’m thinking maybe I ought to create one!

The revelation, yesterday, has completely consumed me.

I spent most of yesterday afternoon, and several more hours this morning, drafting a letter to J____, our legacy planner. Read the rest of this entry »