My pastor asked for a quick “cheat sheet” for the fine folks on his staff that are in contact with people that are feeling distressed about COVID-!19 and all the chaos surrounding the “lowering the curve”. What can they say? What can they suggest? I drew up a quick “coping kit” for him that he …
When I spoke at TEDx Winnipeg 2018 last year, I finished with a story about Bonnie. We’ve known each other for a lot of years. In the TEDx talk, I started the story by saying, “I can think of no better way to tell you about the beauty of the human forest that to tell …
I have had opportunity this year to hear of the devastating effects of serving in the military. Loss of life is what we often hear about in the news. However, so many serve–and while their hearts remain beating, they thrum uncontrollably dealing with the traumatic effects of service. Their families then also deal with the …
I posted a picture last week, the day before school started on Facebook: I wanted to encourage the students, the teachers, and everyone else that was and is starting something new and exciting and terrifying and wonderful and nervewracking. Hal Anderson read it and got choked up. It touched on the part of him that …
It has been three years since Husband and I stood before family and friends to commit our lives to each other…our third anniversary. Maybe now we are an old married couple? 😉 Pastor John was one of the officiants at our ceremony. He means a lot to both of us, as he has had significant …
Y’know in the movies, when there is that ominous sound? Well, in my mind, the cute little dog isn’t included…but I have often heard a sound rather like that as the calendar approaches March 29th. My body could feel the day coming. The March breezes don’t have quite the bite that February winds do. We …
Depression is a scary diagnosis when it happens to someone living in your house. When depression hits someone you love, it’s so hard to figure out how to be meaningfully supportive. It’s so much easier to support someone with a broken leg than with a heart that feels lifeless and heavy, isn’t it? In this …
I’ve been thinking a lot as we go into the new year about using the challenges of life as an opportunity to be creative, to grow, and learn, and make something even better than was before. Challenges can inspire creativity and options considered that wouldn’t have been otherwise been needed. This thinking started with a …
A few weeks ago, Husband’s finger lingered over the “send” button on a text. For a looong time, his finger hovered over the message. We had talked about it. We had together decided on a course of action with a family member. And now, he was doing his part of the implementation, and as we sat on …
This week, someone tried to scam us at the office. Twice on the same day. For several weeks of someone from another country asking to set up a series of appointments with us while here on an extended leave. Melanie’s spidey sense said something wasn’t quite right, though nothing she could specifically point to. The gentleman …