Before we headed out to spend three nights at a little AirBnB on Whidbey Island this last weekend, I was feeling a little mashed to a pulp. Or maybe a lot mashed to a pulp. The constant rotation of one of us three in my little family being mildly sick over the past eight weeks, … More A Brief Interlude Provided by Nature
I love it when I hear our grown daughter offer a glimmer of insight so profound that as soon as she says it and the thought flies out of her mouth, she whips her head around just in time to see my grin. Yep. Nothing’s better than catching our children in a moment of knowingness. … More Guarding Our Spare Moments
It seems like these days pass so quickly that we often finding ourselves reading, appreciating the gift of a post, and then moving on too quickly. To extend some of the great notes of the week, we are trying out Well Said Saturdays – bringing a few quotes from recent posts forward. From Find Good … More Well Said Saturdays – May 27
I often get a little nervous/excited before recording a podcast conversation. It’s a chance to meet someone new, have a deep and intentional conversation, and I value that time. This week’s podcast though is a little different – it’s a deep conversation that I had with Vicki about our beloved fathers and the letters we’ve … More Episode 19: Long Distance Letters with Vicki and Wynne
I feel gratitude for how supported I feel in my life right now. And please don’t even begin to assume for a sec that my life is super easy and awesome. But, it’s also not too terrible. It’s a mix of both yay and not-so-yay, and there are ups and downs at all times. And because this is generally just how life operates and flows, I think any one of us could easily get swept away by the drama of any single life circumstance. So, how do we stay on track during the yay and nay fluctuations? How do we keep growing and flourishing, even when we fall backwards at times? … More 5 THINGS I NEED IN ORDER TO FLOURISH AND GROW
As a young boy I watched my father take a block of wood and hold it in his hands. Others saw a piece of rubbish, but my father saw the value hidden below the surface. He’d analyze the wood, turn it over in his hands, and examine it for imperfections. When he was satisfied, he … More Carving out my place in the world
I met someone recently at one of the kids’ events and as I sat there talking with her, I kept thinking, “Geez, she seems so familiar.” Now that I’ve seen her several times and we’ve had some fairly deep discussions about life, live, work, and family, I finally put my finger on it. She reminds … More Better Off Without
This month we continue to focus on the topic of growth here at Heart of the Matter and this post is another in my short series about writing my mother’s story in my upcoming book, “Surviving Sue”. Thank you to those of you who’ve asked about maintaining the motivation to write. In this post I’ll … More Find Good Everywhere
It seems like these days pass so quickly that we often finding ourselves reading, appreciating the gift of a post, and then moving on too quickly. To extend some of the great notes of the week, we are trying out Well Said Saturdays – bringing a few quotes from recent posts forward. From Mother’s Day … More Well Said Saturdays – May 20
Our podcast guest this week is Mark Petruska of the Mark My Words blog. If there is someone that hasn’t yet had the pleasure of reading Mark’s delightfully clever and witty blog, we can’t recommend it highly enough. In fact, you can read below for Mark’s guest post about the podcasting experience and see for … More Episode 18: No Time For Kings with Mark Petruska
The Heart of the Matter 