Quick: Who Am I Now?
It all happens in a flash. Our youngest turns 8 and counts the minutes until his friends arrive for backyard maniac birthday party. My eldest turns 21 and heads to Prague with his collegiate basketball team to inspire high school students to strive for an uplifted life. Then, of course, he’s taking the dozens of dollars he’ll have left to tour Germany and Austria for an extra week. (Ah, yes. No “SendMoney” phone calls coming from that one, right?) In the middle of our home-tribe, is a beautiful and high-integrity 15 year old part-young-woman and part-little-girl who is trying figure out how she thinks about smut on instagram. Lots of parents who have a long span of years between kids’ Birth Days need to operate with a form of parental schizophrenia,...
Read MoreOK. I’ve had enough shipping now.
You know when your eight year old boy gets a hearty laugh for some good-old-fashioned poop-humor? And then, because he’s 8 and he doesn’t have a fully developed social intelligence filter, he doesn’t know that the joke isn’t funny after the first few laps around the toilet? But we still love him because he’s ours and … he’s 8. Today in my inbox, I received a head-shakingly dumb email from a company who’s genuinely trying to be relevant to their audience. But I fear their marketing advisors must be … 8. As a mom and a marketer, I wish the youtube video didn’t get 16million-kajillion views, but I’m also certain that the viewers were mostly 8. Even I [admittedly] laughed when I first heard the idea,...
Read MoreThe battle wages on and you’re still the prize.
Don’t Look Up! More than one war is waging above your head today. Yes, I am intrigued by the fierce battle between good and evil waging in the heavens for our hearts and souls. But God only knows who will win that one today. (wink) Right now I’m referring to the battle in Washington over controlling our digital screens. Our Good Congress is flexing muscles and rattling swords against the digital ad industry’s alleged slow-walk toward Do Not Track technologies and practices. This means that you-consumer can’t be followed around the web and served ads that someone paid extra to be able to serve you because they bought you a cookie. Unless you agreed to let them buy you a cookie. Here’s the truth as a high-integrity surfer and mom: we are willing to take...
Read MoreDo we see that we each have the power to change this?
Here are a few interesting dots to connect. Yesterday CNN covered loads about their own media industry. Wait, is that a circular reference? No matter. They featured a shouting panel of experts arguing whether or not we should vilify the writers of Glee who predictably leveraged the public debate of guns in schools to desperately elevate their ratings. An equal number of arguments expressed moral devastation as those expressing the show’s right to be current. Immediately following that story was a follow up to the true story about the young woman who was raped after passing out at a party, and then committed suicide after the horrendous assault was publicized on social media. I confess to seeing a connection in these two reports and their tragic realities. The...
Read MoreWhich article surprises you more?
Today’s news connection: The Huffington Post reports on what men say about their ex-wives. This oughta be good. Click. The statements are contradictory and, on the surface a bit whiny. But when you stop to consider the deeper meaning, (which might be risky) the potential truth huddled beneath the whining is quite important. And the reality is magnified. The statements are true…. each one. How much do we honor their needs without worrying about our own being neglected? Hmmmmm. It seems that we still have lots to learn about the inexpressible fulfillment of sacrificial marital love; that it returns manifold, mountaintop joy. I know: it’s so not ingrained in our world. We struggle with equality, feminism and some misguided belief that couples have a...
Read MoreA really bad blogger.
Wow I have been a really bad blogger lately. Maybe that means I ‘m not really a blogger at all, because one cannot truly be called a blogger if one does not do the blog-things consistent with those bloggers who define good blogging. So now I have also proved that using the word blog in as many forms as possible in one sentence, still doesn’t make you a blogger. I have, however, on occasion written about the journey of this life, as individual and common as yours, through many varied seasons of growth as wife, mom, marketer and grown-up-girl. So as I navigate a new season of an invigorated business life, taking me on traveling and brainstorming adventures, the focus I had attempted to create on my blog seems to have gone up like dandelion dust, even though...
Read MoreWhat might we see if we stop to look outward?
Not by accident and not by coincidence, our family encountered an extraordinary person this week. He is someone who dedicates a part of his life to living without a plan at all. But rather he joyfully steps out and intentionally responds to the opportunities God places before him to help others. On a given day, he grabs some cash and a snow shovel, or maybe a set of jumper cables, or a grocery bag full of food, and he hits the streets. Then he asks God to show him who needs his help today. He is literally hunting, eyes and heart wide open, for a chance to help another person. A unique and particular connection only God can make — no filters, no expectations. He’s a channel. Not by accident or coincidence, pastor-rockstar Dr. Jim Samra taught us this...
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