“Just Show Up…with intentionality, recognizing that the words you use, the actions you display are going to have an impact on someone whether you intend that to happen or not.” These wise words were shared by Pharmacy Professor Kim Jones during a 2022 chapel service and resonated deeply with me as she shared of a …
Category: Flourishing
Building a Household
If I were to ask you to take a few moments and describe your Household, what descriptors would you select? Would you describe the physical aspects of your home? The people who live inside? The U.S. Census Bureau’s definition is this: “A household includes the related family members and all the unrelated people, if any, …
Burning Curiosity
“I’m so sorry…for ringing your cowbell!” (Not an unfamiliar phrase to be uttered from these lips. At least the first part)! But last week at early voting in our county, my Burning Curiosity led me to, without permission, pick up the cute little cowbell sitting beside a computer monitor at the check-in desk. With her …
Write This Down
Write This Down! These words leapt from the pages of Scripture this morning, echoing one of the discussion themes from yesterday’s dialogue group among faculty. As Cathy described a classroom experience where a student maintained crossed arms and a blank stare throughout her presentation, never once attempting to take any notes on information they would …
Deep Dive
“Do you want to swim with the sharks?” Not a question I face every day and one I certainly didn’t expect to hear from John David as I neared the University technology booth at the health and benefits fair. But as John David stated, “I’ve seen photos of you swimming with dolphins, it’s now time …
Junk Food
“I bet you don’t eat stuff like this!” This comment was made by my colleague as our paths crossed in the bakery section of our local grocery store. Within his hands, located between an aluminum tray and a plastic lid, was a Danish-style pastry with cream cheese that looked delicious. Just a brief glance into …
Take Courage
Two pounds, five ounces. Not the metrics a parent desires to hear when describing their little boy’s birth weight. Seventy-seven days Benaiah Dew endured the NICU at a Nashville hospital until he graduated to five pounds, five ounces and was able to leave with his adoptive parents on a spring day in 2019. It Takes …
Everyday Faithfulness
“Well done, my good and faithful servant!” Don’t you desperately yearn to hear those words from Matthew 25 spoken over you as you enter into the Savior’s presence when your time on this earth is complete? As you walk into the Open Arms of the One who sacrificed it all, you are enveloped into a …
Bean-Eatin’ Appointment
“You and me, Partner. We meet center of town, high noon.” As a fan of movies and television shows set in the wild west, I’ve heard some variation of this phrase thousands of times, but I must admit that the latest GEICO commercial caught me by surprise with its application to our modern culture that …
Meh
Okay…so-so…average…good…fair-to-middling…each of these synonyms, whichever you choose, expresses roughly the same idea, but what if there was a word that captured a deeper, truer meaning, especially when spoken? It’s simple for us to say “Okay” (we even have an emoji and hand signals), but the crisp syllables of those letters fail to express the same …