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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 |June 27th, 2014|Columns, Making a Difference, Respect, Uganda, Values|Comments Off on Pillowcase Dresses and Washable Silk Can Change Lives and Attitudes

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 |June 6th, 2014|Columns, Faith, Uganda, Values|Comments Off on Watching, learning, and following are first steps to leading and teaching

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 |April 25th, 2014|Columns, Making a Difference, Uganda, Values|Comments Off on The source of bravery is in us all

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 |February 28th, 2014|Columns, Family, Values|Comments Off on Letting go helps us to hold on

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 |November 28th, 2013|Columns, Family, Holidays, Values|Comments Off on Remember the giving as well as the thanks

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 |October 4th, 2013|Columns, Respect, Values|Comments Off on A good deed feeds the heart and soul

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

A Lesson from Star Trek

“The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Or the one.” Die-hard Star Trek fans will remember that line from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. It’s what Spock tells Kirk after exposing himself to deadly radiation while repairing the damaged Starship Enterprise in order to save the ship and the rest of the crew. The flip side comes in the next Star Trek movie, when Kirk and crew violate orders so they can find and rescue Spock. When Spock asks [...]

By |August 16th, 2013|Columns, Faith, Travel, Uganda, Values|6 Comments

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