Advent: A Story of Hope
I thought and prayed a long time before deciding to write an Advent series again this Christmas season. You may know my husband David passed from this world to his eternal home on September 21st – just weeks ago. As I write, the grief is still fresh. It’s surreal. I keep thinking he’s going to call asking what’s for dinner…or if we could go to dinner. (We talked a lot about dinner!) At the same time, I’ve been thinking a lot about hope these past several weeks. “And now, dear brothers, I want you to know what happens to a Christian when he dies so that when it happens, you…
Everyday Ways to Practice Communication
Communication at home can be hard. This struggle has been a hot topic among parents throughout the pandemic, and with a new school year and new routines looming, tensions and old habits often sneak back in. My organization conducted a survey of parents which showed us that communication at home is harder now than ever – and in many cases not happening at all. After months of sharing the same space with family (and for a good while, only family), teens generally turned inward and struggled to find anything to talk about. Grief and loss felt heavy, and otherwise tiny frustrations mounted. When we see our students pulling away and…
Sherbet, Speech, and Skills for Success
This story is an excerpt from my book Vital Signs: Five Essential Skills Every Student Needs for Success in Education and in Life. Enjoy! I remember my first time meeting Janai. The shy little girl was gripping her mother’s skirt, hiding behind her back as we chatted. She only peeked out to say a quick “Hi” when prompted. Then she was right back in her hiding spot. When I first announced that I was starting a public speaking class, Janai’s parents signed her right up — to their daughter’s horror. I coached the timid girl for a year, watching her grow and grow and grow as she learned the foundational…
Multi-Generational Teams
Originally posted at the Christian Leadership Alliance Blog Shifting from Frustration to Momentum “Nobody wants that!” These words expressed the sentiment of just about every organizational leader at the end of our annual international convention. Senior leaders left frustrated and exhausted. Younger workers felt devalued and overlooked. I was annoyed… angry…hurt… numb. Did I cause this? How could I have worked against the very ministry I passionately toiled to advance? I replayed their painful words of misunderstanding for days. The next week our ministry got intentional about creating multi-generational teams. I devoted myself to designing a culture fueled by multi generational leadership. I studied multi generational teams inside and outside of…
Leadership 412
It was Sunday morning and my family was out of town visiting a Christian fellowship with friends. A teenaged young man had been invited to share his testimony of participation in the youth mission trip. He approached the platform reluctantly, accepted the microphone with his right hand and tossed it to his left like a football, then continued tossing it back and forth throughout his address. The next few minutes were awkward for the young man and the congregation. “Like…uh…we….like…..uh……flew in a like…..uh….you know…..plane…and stuff. And we like….uh…you know….helped out some like people…with like…you know…stuff. I’m s’posed to like tell you like…my uh testimony…and stuff…and like y’know it was like…
