Words of Hope: Finding Balance

I loved asking Dad his thoughts about parenting and coaching- both are similar. An authoritarian coach or parent who leads with fear and intimidation creates difficult home and team dynamics. In this leadership style, the law is highest, there...

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Words of Hope: Forgiveness as a Healing Force

Dad loved servant leadership. One beautiful definition Dad would have loved from Dr. Marleen Ramsey, who writes, “Servant leadership is an ethical perspective of leadership that identifies key moral behaviors that leaders continuously demonstrate to lead with legitimate power.” For...

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Words of Hope: The Gift of Mentoring

My Dad believed in the intentional work of mentoring. Many of you reading Words of Hope are testimonies of Dad's investment in your life. My husband, Shann, is a perfect example of Dad's mentoring vision. Shann traveled around with...

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Words of Hope: Dad the Adventurer

Traveling through Switzerland recently reminded me how much fun my Dad had sightseeing around the world. He loved new places and adventures. Swiss physician Paul Tournier writes, “All human enterprises start amid the exciting fever of discovery… gradually the...

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Words of Hope: God supplies our Needs

God shall supply ALL my needs?! What a sentence! Do I live like I believe this? I know this is something Dad wrestled with for a long time. If it is true that God shall supply all our needs, why...

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Words of Hope: Strong Love

Dad loved my mom. They were married for 58 years. He loved to tell the story of when he first saw her at the University of Idaho. My dad consistently spoke well of my mom. He complimented her often...

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Words of Hope: Focused Feelings

Dad didn't like it when I asked him how he felt. He instead preferred me to ask what he was learning from God or what he wrote about in Words of Hope. He lived daily with pain and discomfort....

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Words of Hope: The Full Amor of God

One of the passages of Scripture Dad and I memorized is Ephesians 6:10-18. Verse 12 says, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against rulers, against powers, against the world forces of darkness, against the spiritual...

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Words of Hope: Detachment

One of the essential life lessons Dad helped me with is the idea of detachment. I am very passionate and opinionated, so the lessons of detachment take me time. Dad worked to empty himself of anything that took the...

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Words of Hope: Generosity

My dad grew up extremely poor. He often told stories of the paper route he had when he was age nine. He told us often that some of the wealthiest houses on his route rarely tipped, but one house,...

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