Category: Leadership
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plain story
Filtering my thoughts, my words, my burdens, focusing on the positive, changes the perspective of my story. I don’t like to repet myself, so repeating my story gets dry, I’m tired of it. But I still like to share my heart, my two cents, with the people who ask us. I want to encourage, to…
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Self confidence
I rooted my belief system in the proverbs. In a childhood / adolescence where I didn’t ask many questions, it didn’t mean my mind didn’t question or wonder, and my heart was hungry for Knowledge, I poured hours in the proverbs. Silence, humility, generosity, wisdom we’re all praised. Self confidence was not among the valued…
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A new school year
After a week of fog and rain, the sun is shining over the hill in front of our breakfast window. It’s already 8:30 AM. But today we don’t have to go to class. We only have the festivity. Jackie is still sleeping soundly. I can ear her breathing contently in her bed. Ivy is of…
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No more social bandwidth
An old friend from California popped into my mind. I haven’t spoken to her in a year. But I trist she trusts my heart that nothing went wrong in our friendship, it’s just that I have no more spare minutes in my day to reach out to anyone else. A study I read recently says…
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I was wrong
The moment I start to focus too much on my own feelings, the ground starts to shift. I loose my footing and perspective. I finished listening to a book these days. It was dense. And for the first time I find listening to a book overstimulating. I think I enjoy the silence of reading more.…
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Seasonal friendships
A few weeks ago insecurity hit me like a boulder, out of nowhere. It passed. But the more attention I got, the more I questioned it deep down, or I felt this tension to be up to par with people’s expectations of me. It’s not really pleasant, being popular. Somehow you feel like you owe…
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Transition from the adoption honeymoon phase
Tantrum – When a kid wants something you can’t give him. Like them wanting to go back. To the foster family. Almost every night, they cry. And they will smell your insecurity the way a shark smells blood. Do you give in? That’s crazy! You can’t take the kid back at 10 pm or the…
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My passion
I love public speaking. I see it as a form of art that pulls people in and inspires them. It can move them to the core, but only when something valuable is shared. I am reluctant to speak if I have nothing to say. And more often than not, my mind draws a blank. I…
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Tending to our marriage
The summer vacation began with anticipation. Mom and dad were coming to visit. After a spring full of conferences and speaking engagements, music school, driving everyone with a busy schedule, wrapping up home projects, and planning our summer events, it felt like we never took a break to breath. Conrad gets pretty bad headaches most…
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Authority
Have you ever had a teacher without authority? Or a boss without authority? It’s uncomfortable, it’s chaos, it can be scary. Authority doesn’t mean forceful, unmovable. On the contrary. It’s reasonable, wise. And genuine authority is not something we muster up. Knowing God and understanding our mandate, we rise to the occasion to protect, to…
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The day I yelled at a stranger
In the parking lot, trying to drop Jackie off for camp, on our way to start our conference serving Ukrainians. It was a hot Sunday, and I was going to give the main talk to an uncertain number of attendees. Needless to say, we were on edge and we didn’t even know it. The drop-off…
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Secondary trauma – SALT reflection
People who have cared for refugees, who serve so selflessly still, even if they take days to refresh and refocus on their own family, they are touched by secondary trauma. We are by nature empathizers. We are motivated by other people’s needs and fueled by an unexplainable love and connection. Since the war began, we…