At the 2025 Global Leadership Summit, Thasundra Brown Duckett, CEO of TIAA, offered a word picture that has stayed with me. She said we should live our lives like a diversified portfolio.

Just as an investor spreads resources across different assets to weather the ups and downs of the market, so too in life we must recognize the different areas that matter—faith, family, health, work, relationships, service—and give each its rightful place.

She was honest: even with diversification, life will still experience market volatility. Illness comes. Loss hits. Unexpected changes shake us. She told of a season when her brother was ill, and she had to dedicate more of her time to caring for him.

But here was her wisdom: when your life is a diversified portfolio, everything that truly matters is included. And over time, you will outperform this thing called life.

That picture is both practical and spiritual. The Bible says, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12). A wise life is one that invests in the things that matter most, balancing the temporary with the eternal, the urgent with the truly important.

Maybe today is the right moment to look at your portfolio. Not your stocks and bonds—but your soul and your time. Is God in it? Is family in it? Is service in it? Is health in it? Is rest in it?

Because if you make sure the right things are in the portfolio, you may still ride through storms—but in the long run, your life will be fruitful, faithful, and flourishing.

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Until next time - grace, peace, and every blessing.

Pastor Martin D. Odom