Letting go of the outcome

I watched a little drama unfold one day in the hallway of the counseling center where I worked.  One of my colleagues had been teaching another colleague how to knit.  The new student of knitting brought his first product to work to show.  It was the first 8” of a scarf.  As he proudly displayed […]

Letting go of needless stuff

I’m a bit of a sucker for those TV shows that transforms a house that has been overtaken by clutter.  I’m not talking about hoarding. That’s a whole ‘nother level of disorder.  I’m talking about people like me who accumulate stuff because we like it or think we need it, only to discover at some […]

Ordinary People

If I introduced you to friends of mine by saying, “Hi, I want you meet my friend, Chris.  He’s an ordinary person,” you might be offended.  If school handed out bumper stickers that instead of reading “Honor Student,” read “Ordinary student:  Struggling Hard, Learning Lots,” would we be inclined to put that on our cars?  […]

The dilemma of being extraordinary

During the pregnancy for both of our children, Judy and I prayed and worried and hoped our child would be born with all the fingers and toes and with the normal mental and physical capacities of newborns.  Infertility and miscarriages had made these legitimate worries for us.  In short, we wanted a normal, healthy baby. […]

The remarkable father

Stan, a college sophomore, extremely bright and capable with a long record of successes had withdrawn from the university because he was flunking.  He was utterly ashamed.  It was baffling to him because none of his work was over his head, none of what was expected of him academically was beyond his capabilities.  Yet he […]

The joy of being ordinary

So what does it mean to be ordinary?  Being ordinary does not mean being mediocre.  It doesn’t mean we give up developing our skills, our competencies, our gifts as much as we can.  It doesn’t mean we settle for less than we are capable of.  We can still strive, practice, hope, and work at developing […]