This is the true story of a marriage gone bad and then redeemed.   Jeff and Cheryl  Scruggs seemed to have it all – professional success, adorable children, and a good marriage.  But like so many other couples like them the Scruggs lacked a connection on a deep intimate soul level.   After many attempts to let Jeff know there were problems, Cheryl thought she had found what she was missing through a relationship with another man.  The Scruggs marriage ended in divorce. During their 7 years apart, Cheryll came to know Christ and Jeff renewed his commitment to Christ.   Eventually they were remarried.

This first part of this story plays itself out, hundreds of times every day.  Couples in this situation need to know that there is hope and the story can have a happy ending.  This book proves it and also provides reach insight into how to save a broken marriage and how to make a good marriage better.

This is the best business book I have read in a while.  My wife started the book and I read a little, got hooked and ordered my own copy.  No regrets.  Read it in a short time period and was inspired.

The book is written by Tony Hshieh (pronounced Shay).  After floundering around in college to some degree he graduates and starts a company, LinkExchange.  He turns down an offer for $22 million to sell the company but later at the age of 26 sells it for $274 million.  He then turns his attention to another endeavor by pouring his energy into a infant company called Zappos.  Zappos was a start up company selling shoes on-line.  People in the shoe industry were skeptical.  When Zappos was about to close its doors, Hshieh and the leadership decided on making customer service the number 1 priority.  They opened their phone lines 24/7 and made it goal to “Wow” every person that called in. 

During the early stages of the company Hsieh felt that creating the right culture was a key to success.  In time, they were able to list their core values.  Here are a few:

Deliver WOW through service

Embrace and drive change

Create fun with a little weirdness

Be adventurous, creative and open minded

To give you an idea of their success, the leadership team decided to move their base of operations from San Francisco to Las Vegas.  At the time they had 90 employees and 70 of them moved their families to the new location.  The ultimate measure of their success from a business standpoint is that they sold Zappos to Amazon for $1.2 billion.

I found that this book had many applications for my own life and the people I lead.   It reminded me of how being open to change is so vitally important in today’s world.  I also saw how creating the right culture (in your family, business, church) is the foundation for future success.  At Zappos it really does not matter how competent you are, if you do not embrace the culture, you are not a good fit.  In fact, they will pay you anyone their full salary and $2000 to leave during their first month.

I highly recommend this book.

This is the newest Max Lucado book.  He is still one of my favorite authors simply because his books are inspiring.   His books are always filled with great stories that help us connect the dots when it comes to spiritual truth.  For instance, he tells the story of Carl McCunn, a man who moved from Texas to Alaska At the age of 35 he embarked on a photography expedition.  He hired a bush pilot to drop him of 70 miles north of Fort Yukon.  Later that year as his supplies ran low he realized he had not made arrangements to be picked up.  When a state trooper discovered his body he had left behind a 100 page diary in which he wrote, “I think I should have used more foresight about arranging for my departure.”

The lesson is clear – many people live this life with no clear exit strategy.  They live as if life will go on forever.  Those who realize this is not the case and commit to following Christ will be ushered from this life into the next.

I liked the verse quoted at the start of the book:

God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes. - I Samuel 22:25 (MSG)

As I have stated before, Lucado’s books seem to run together at this point but are still worth my time as far as I am concerned.