Posts – Deepening Our Journey

Freeing Myself Up to Listen Better

March 29, 2026

Living within a community of 2500 people is quite different than living on a few acres out in the woods! There are certainly advantages and disadvantages to both. One of the big differences is that the opportunity for interaction with a wide diversity of people is endless, creating fertile ground for new and ongoing dialogue. I was recently part of a conversation in an informal, small group setting which slowly and somewhat cautiously migrated to the participants’ concerns regarding the present political climate. Several folks began attacking a variety of

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Fels-Naptha Soap: The Soap that Planted Seeds

February 26, 2026

Are you familiar with Fels-Naptha soap? I have come to realize that many younger folks have never heard of this brand of soap which was first introduced in 1893 and is still available today. My mother used it throughout my childhood and it played a starring role in one of the most transformative seeds she planted deep within my soul which still bears fruit to this day. I don’t remember my exact age, I would guess about ten when this caring-but-direct confrontation took place. Other than my age, the majority

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The Extraordinary Power of the Three L’s

January 27, 2026

This post was written after a request from a client to share a simple but transformative technique I’ve called the three L’s which I introduced to her years ago and she continues to use on a regular basis. It can be applied to basically any life experience, positive or negative, but I find it most helpful in those that we ourselves or someone else may have labeled as a “failure”. The first L is “Look closely.” Since failure is such an unpleasant experience, our immediate instinct is to immediately push

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The Last of The Human Freedoms

January 5, 2026

Many years ago I came across one of the most transformative books I had ever read and I have referred to various parts of it many times over the years both personally and professionally. That piece of writing was Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor E. Frankl. If you are developing a reading list for 2026 I strongly encourage you to put this classic on the top of your list. Frankl was a practicing psychiatrist in 1942 when he and his family were rounded up and placed in a Nazi

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Gaining Perspective

November 30, 2025

If you find the theme of this post similar to others I have written over the past several years, I don’t apologize but rather alert you to the fact that I will be lifting this up time and time again! Gaining perspective has clearly been and continues to be one of the major gifts in my life journey, especially as the years continue to add up. This time of year there seems to be an increased effort by various groups and agencies to reach out to folks who have much

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The Gift of New Eyes

November 4, 2025

Have you ever gotten a new set of eyes? I have. So many times, in fact, that the list is only limited by my challenged memory! But right now, I’d only like to share two, one I had been gifted with over 45 years ago and I have unwrapped it many times since, the second one I received within the past year through one of the many new friendships which we have been gifted with since moving into our over-55 retirement community. In 1982 The Lutheran Home at Topton had hired

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They Will Never Know…

September 30, 2025

Before I get into this month’s post, there is an important clarification I want to make in regards to the September post based on responses from some folks who follow our post faithfully. Several people commented that they were glad I wrote about this topic because they too are annoyed by people who do not pick up after their dogs! I wanted to more clearly explain what I intended to lift up in the post. It wasn’t about “calling out” the other owners for their behavior or even my anger

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Self Growth Projects

September 1, 2025

I was steaming mad! I had been sitting our “grand dog”, Arnie, while our youngest son and his family were visiting Yellowstone for two weeks and while we were on a walk, I had accidentally stepped in a non-harvested pile of some other dog’s poop! Cleaning that “poop” (my internal dialogue at the time used a different word!) from the treads on my sneakers left me quite angry at someone I didn’t even know! Who was it that didn’t take the time to pick up after their dog? How could

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Community?

August 2, 2025

Recently after attending a concert at our retirement community, I greeted a “newbie” resident on the way out of the auditorium and asked if she enjoyed the music. She said she had. “All of the amenities, programs, dining options etc. are even better than I expected,” she said. “However I haven’t experienced the sense of community I had hoped for.” This caught me off guard and I wasn’t sure how to respond (not a common experience for me!). When this happens, I usually revert to asking a question in an

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