Values – Page 21 – FindYourBuriedTreasure

When the numbers are off, so is trust

One of the things I’m very good at is proofreading. Part of this, as you might expect, comes from the years I’ve spent writing and editing. But even when I’m not looking for typos, misspellings, or other mistakes, they jump out at me. I’ve found them in books, magazines, newspapers, and catalogs, as well as the dictionary and the phone book. I even saw an error once in the numbers on the side of a measuring cup. I just found another one that surprised me, [...]

By bettyliedtke|February 13th, 2015|Columns, Values|Comments Off

It was time for a shake-up at the top

I just fired myself. And it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Not long ago, I was on the phone with the business coach I’d been working with for several months. At one point during our coaching call, she asked me a few questions about my work in Uganda. After I answered them, she said, “You know, when you’re talking about Uganda, you sound like a completely different person than when you’re talking about your business. You sound more confident, more focused, [...]

By bettyliedtke|September 26th, 2014|Columns, Success, Uganda, Values|Comments Off

An emotional goodbye offers a promising hello

They’re a lovely family. A young couple with a little boy and another baby on the way. I met them last weekend while my sisters and I were cleaning out my dad’s house and preparing for the estate sale on Saturday. I’ve always found the term “estate sale” to be misleading. It sounds like the sale of precious and valuable furniture and antiques from wealthy patrons who lived in grand houses. And I’m sure that in some cases, that’s exactly what it is. But it’s [...]

By bettyliedtke|July 4th, 2014|Columns, Family, Values|Comments Off

Pillowcase Dresses and Washable Silk Can Change Lives and Attitudes

They are ladies I haven’t even met in person, or that I’ve known for only a short time. Yet they are doing something very special for people who are very special to me. And that makes them saints and heroes in my book. Late last year, a friend of mine told me about dresses that her sister makes out of pillowcases, and she asked if I would be interested in taking some of them with me on my next trip to Uganda. I immediately accepted [...]

By bettyliedtke|June 27th, 2014|Columns, Making a Difference, Respect, Uganda, Values|Comments Off

Watching, learning, and following are first steps to leading and teaching

“See one, do one, teach one.” If I recall correctly, that was a line I first heard years ago on an episode of “ER” – one of my all-time favorite TV shows – by a doctor who was encouraging and guiding a medical student in a procedure the med student had never done before. The line came back to me last weekend when I was in the “See One” phase of a training I’m now going through. I haven’t switched careers and started med school. [...]

By bettyliedtke|June 6th, 2014|Columns, Faith, Uganda, Values|Comments Off

The source of bravery is in us all

What makes you brave? The date was October 27, 2011. Four people walked down a narrow pathway between two rundown buildings. When they came out on the other side, they were in a different world. Sounds like something out of a Harry Potter book, doesn’t it? But I can assure you that the place these four people were traveling to was not a magical one. It was a muddy and garbage-strewn slum not far from Kampala, the capital of Uganda. Of the four people there [...]

By bettyliedtke|April 25th, 2014|Columns, Making a Difference, Uganda, Values|Comments Off

Letting go helps us to hold on

I spent last weekend at my dad’s house – the house that we moved into when I was nine years old, and that for me defines the word “home” when you talk about going home for the holidays. The main reason for the visit was to help celebrate my nephew’s 13th birthday on Saturday, and to attend the rock concert he was performing in that same day. He’s been taking guitar lessons for about four years, and every three or four months, the school arranges [...]

By bettyliedtke|February 28th, 2014|Columns, Family, Values|Comments Off

Remember the giving as well as the thanks

I’m doing Thanksgiving a little differently this year. That doesn’t mean I’ll be making any changes to the traditional meal, or abandoning time-honored practices and customs that go along with the day. And it certainly doesn’t mean I won’t be thinking, talking, or writing about all of the people and things I am grateful for. What it means is that before I focus on the “thanks” part of Thanksgiving this year, I’m going to concentrate on the “giving” part. I want to spend time reflecting [...]

By bettyliedtke|November 28th, 2013|Columns, Family, Holidays, Values|Comments Off

A good deed feeds the heart and soul

I was in Hopkins last week getting some service done on my car. The dealership where I bought the car and where I used to get my service work done went out of business not long ago, so I only recently started going to the place in Hopkins. Whenever I take my car in for service, I usually pack enough work to do – reading, writing, and whatever I can fit into a tote bag – and just wait there while the work is being [...]

By bettyliedtke|October 4th, 2013|Columns, Respect, Values|Comments Off

Amazing Grace is alive and getting better

I got a phone call last week from my friend Tabitha, who’s still in Uganda. She had been in the hospital visiting Grace, who was having surgery the following day. Grace is the young mother I wrote about in my column two weeks ago. She’s from Gulu, in Northern Uganda, and I met her when I was there to speak with a group of women who have formed a farming co-op and are now rebuilding their lives after years spent living in refugee camps. Grace [...]

By bettyliedtke|August 30th, 2013|Columns, Faith, Uganda, Values|2 Comments

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