My ten-year old son’s words stopped me in my tracks. “When I grow up, all I want to be is a dad.” He wasn’t smiling. It wasn’t one of those cute moments. There was no appreciation in his words. No thankfulness. No joy. He meant it as an indictment on me. Innocent and honest words to let me know that I was letting him down. It happened one too many times. Then just too many times. The jobs I chose had me traveling quite a bit, even deep into my son’s high school years. I even forced a moved on the family across state, and then across the country, from Ohio to Washington state. I knew as soon as ..read more

In my experience, leaders are born. And leaders are made. It’s never one or the other. It’s always a combination of the two. I’m convinced of this. Some are more born than made, though. These are the natural leaders. They seem to have an easier path, hitting their leadership stride and making a difference at an early age, and building from there, even given life’s normal ups and downs. Others require more making along the way. These are the late bloomers, not as naturally inclined to leadership. They spent their early years as students of leadership, not so much practitioners, fading ..read more

Blood trickled from under the dirtied rags wrapped tight around his wrists and hands, rolling down to his fingers and jumping to the snow below, a few tapping to his boots. His fingers were cold and hard and cracked. He’d started the walk up alone. A new beginning. Unwanted things left behind. But they pursued, unforgiving. Like the shadow that trailed him dark and low. Relentless. Freedom gave way to burden. Each step a another reminder of all that he carried. There was pain in the journey. Joy seeped in at times, though fleeting—a gift to hold but only for a moment. Then gone. As the sun tea ..read more

I was mad at my dad most of my life. That’s not honorable, I know, but there it is. Not angry, ready-to-lash-out mad, just frustrated mad, hurtful mad. He had something I wanted, but he held it back, out of reach. I tugged. But he held strong. We fought a cold war that lasted decades. I built up an arsenal of emotions, readied for when he might blink. The front he established never moved. Never wavered. I battled on, though, even through family trials and tragedies. Mom My mom and dad finally split after she died. I had always seen them as one and the same, inseparable. As I grew older, though ..read more

What Is A Highly Sensitive Person? Carl Jung termed the trait “innate sensitiveness,” but it was Elaine Aron, Ph.D., who brought the term Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) to the forefront in 1996 with her groundbreaking book, The Highly Sensitive Person. Dr. Aron’s book has since sold over a million copies and has been translated into 17 languages. (Dr. Aron is currently working on a documentary of her work, called “Sensitive,” to broaden awareness of this trait. To learn more about HSP or to watch a trailer for the documentary, click here to jump to the movie’s ..read more

Family dysfunction sneaks up on us and steals decades of joy and happiness. I know. I experienced it. My parents never kissed. At least, I never witnessed it. I also never saw them hold hands. Or hug. Or sit next to each other on the couch on TV nights. Or do anything that showed they valued each other and their marriage. Only one time did I see them place their relationship ahead of anything else. They took a long weekend trip to Kentucky (we lived in Ohio), just the two of them. My mom was as happy heading out on that trip as I ever remember her. Other than that one trip my mom and dad each ..read more

“He’s a Jesus Freak!” That’s what Jesus called John the Baptist. Honest! Okay, maybe it was more like “among those born of women there is none greater than John.” (Matthew 11:11) I just think that Jesus Freak is much more succinct and to the point. And cool. It’s also the title of a song by DC Talk. Read these few lines from the lyrics. It’s a rap song, so go ahead and bust the words inside your head, or out loud if you have the courage (and the voice). There was a man from the desert with naps in his head The sand that he walked was also his bed The words that he spoke made the people as ..read more

“He heals the brokenhearted And binds up their wounds.” Psalm 147:3 (NASB) I have experienced emotional healing. It is real and a journey worth taking—worth every anguishing moment, costly dollar, and painful tear spent on it. In the instant I was healed the engine that had been racing inside me for over fifty years stopped. It. Just. Stopped. A peace flowed over me. The weight of the world that I’d been carrying all those decades fell away. For the first time in my life I felt free. I was unshackled from past events and behaviors that were thrust on me without my permission. I felt ..read more

The temple courts were filled to capacity with the faithful, vendors, and animals for sale. Throngs of people were talking and weaving in and around the temple grounds; vendors were yelling over each other, working hard to entice everyone to buy their wares. The noisy scene was probably not unlike a modern-day carnival on a Saturday night with barkers yelling at those passing by, working hard to entice them to spend their limited money at their booth, not caring a whit about the people, only about the money they would make. Faithful Jews had traveled long distances to Jerusalem for the annual ..read more

I have a good friend. (Actually, I have two, but that’s another blog post.) Let’s call him GF1. GF1 and I meet for coffee often. We talk about faith, family, business, world events, and everything in between. Early on in our coffee confabs, we spent 90% of our time talking about him. Wait. Let me correct that. He spent 90% of our time together talking about him. Yep, that’s it. That’s how our coffees went down. No exaggeration. After about 30 minutes, I would find myself drifting to thoughts of “Wow, I’m so bored. I wonder when he’ll be done? Does he not care about my world?” Instead ..read more