If You Had Told Me When I Was Young...

I suspect very few people get to their 50s and say, "This is exactly where I thought I'd be in life." Did you? I sure didn't.

A marriage ending in divorce. A Master's degree, full time teaching job yet a regular at the community food shelf. Marrying a 2nd time to an ordained Lutheran minister and eventually switching religions. Then things REALLY get interesting. LGBTQ+ child. Get struck on the head, ride a Post Concussion Syndrome roller coaster which will never end. This last one is a doozy...Find out your brother in law had been grooming a teen family member for sexual abuse. Yeah.

Those are just the big events on a path that turns this way and that in ways one would not expect.

I'm a big picture person always thinking about how things connect and the effects. I'm an introvert who struggles with perfectionist tendencies. I'm into growth mindset and figuring out how to be the person God created me to be and my role in helping others become the person God created THEM to be.

So let's explore this wide range of experiences and share our thoughts on "where do we go from here." Let's make connections, all sorts of different connections with different people in different places that may have different viewpoints and yet we can do what so many people can't and won't do anymore - discuss conflicting viewpoints while maintaining the dignity of those we are engaging with in conversation. What a breath of fresh air that would be, huh?!