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A sense of purpose will launch your dreams

Note: For ten weeks, I am using the Dream Coaching® program to work on my dream of finishing and publishing a book about my trip to Uganda, and I am reporting on my progress in my weekly column. As always, my column is posted on my blog every Friday. To read the series from the beginning, start with the introductory post, dated May 3, 2013. The third session of the Dream Coaching program is the one in which people’s hidden traits and talents really start [...]

By |May 24th, 2013|Accountability, Coaching, Columns, Respect, Uganda, Values, Writing|Comments Off on A sense of purpose will launch your dreams

Integrity honors your values, your word, and your dreams

Note: For ten weeks, I am using the Dream Coaching® program to work on my dream of finishing and publishing a book about my trip to Uganda, and I am reporting on my progress in my weekly column. As always, my column is posted on my blog every Friday. To read the series from the beginning, start with the introductory post, dated May 3, 2013. “Integrity is doing the right thing, even if nobody is watching.” I don’t know the source of that quote, but [...]

By |May 17th, 2013|Accountability, Coaching, Columns, Quotes and Sayings, Uganda, Values, Writing|Comments Off on Integrity honors your values, your word, and your dreams

Set an intention, then get moving

Note: For ten weeks, I am using the Dream Coaching® program to work on my dream of finishing and publishing a book about my trip to Uganda, and I am reporting on my progress in my weekly column. As always, my column is posted on my blog every Friday. To read the series from the beginning, start with the introductory post, dated May 3, 2013. “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” There are several interpretations of that famous saying. What it says [...]

By |May 10th, 2013|Accountability, Coaching, Columns, Uganda, Writing|Comments Off on Set an intention, then get moving

A fool or a healer? Time will tell.

“Physician, heal thyself!” This ancient proverb isn’t just for doctors. It’s for all of us who sometimes need a reminder that we should be following our own advice, and that what we are telling or teaching others to do is exactly what we should be doing ourselves. That’s where I am right now, and what I’m preparing to do about it makes me feel vulnerable and exposed – because I’m going to be exploring and sharing in print some things about myself that I never [...]

By |May 3rd, 2013|Accountability, Coaching, Columns, Uganda, Writing|2 Comments

Laughter, hope, and miracles launch a big dream

“It was a different kind of laughter,” my friend Tabitha said to me recently. “It was the laughter of hope.” She was telling me about a phone conversation she had with some of the girls who are going to be moving into the Miracle Village we are building in Uganda. During my first visit to Uganda, in October 2011, one of the things Tabitha and I did was visit a muddy slum, not far from Uganda’s capital city, where young girls were prostituting themselves for [...]

By |April 19th, 2013|Columns, Uganda|Comments Off on Laughter, hope, and miracles launch a big dream

Igniting a dream through Fire of Hope

Although I often write about what’s going on in my life and the various activities in which I’m involved, I try not to do too much self-promotion in my column. Today I’m doing a little of both, however. I hope you won’t mind. I’m going to be speaking at an event at the State Theatre in Minneapolis on January 18 and 19, called Fire of Hope. It’s being promoted as a “Girlfriends’ Getaway for God,” although men are welcome to attend, too. The program I’ll [...]

By |January 4th, 2013|Coaching, Columns, Professional Speaking, Travel, Uganda|2 Comments

What to do when it’s difficult to give thanks

“Finding the Treasure in Our Gifts from God.” That was the title of my speaking program in Uganda this year, and it’s one I’ve been invited to present several times since coming back to the States. Part of the program focuses on our talents and traits – the skills and abilities that come naturally to us that we don’t always appreciate and sometimes don’t even realize that we have. Another part of the program calls attention to the gifts that are all around us – [...]

By |November 22nd, 2012|Columns, Holidays, Professional Speaking, Uganda|Comments Off on What to do when it’s difficult to give thanks

Find your voice – and use it!

“I found my voice. Now what do I do?” That was the subject of a session I presented at the Toastmasters District 6 Fall Conference last Saturday, and it’s a question I spent a long time trying to answer for myself. When I first joined Toastmasters, one of the reasons was that I felt I could express myself fairly well in print, but not when I was speaking out loud. I didn’t have any noble or global ambitions at the time, I just wanted to [...]

By |October 26th, 2012|Columns, Professional Speaking, Toastmasters, Uganda, Writing|Comments Off on Find your voice – and use it!

Travel is time for reconnecting

As the days grow shorter, and the weather turns colder, we start winding down in anticipation of the dark, dreary winter months ahead – at the same time we start revving up in preparation for the holiday hustle and bustle to come. Although I’m busier than ever right now, I’m enjoying the “winding down” feeling, reflecting on some of the events and activities I’ve been taking part in lately. Especially on my mind are the three trips I took between late August and mid-September – [...]

By |October 12th, 2012|Columns, Family, Travel, Uganda|Comments Off on Travel is time for reconnecting

Giving a little can give a lot

While I was packing and preparing for my trip to Uganda, I joked with family and friends that I’d need to dress in layers for my trip. Not because it was going to take a long time to get there, or because it’s so chilly in airplanes – although both are true. Instead I was afraid I’d have to go more than a week with just the clothes I was wearing, since my luggage was filled to the max with donated clothing, books, and supplies [...]

By |October 5th, 2012|Columns, Travel, Uganda|Comments Off on Giving a little can give a lot