Second Chances and the Chance of a Lifetime

Beth Vogtbravery, challenges, change, choices, confidence, courage, dreams, encouragement, grace, hope, Life, opportunities, perseverance, perspective, Quotes, success 10 Comments

My husband Rob and I are Guy Fieri fans. Fieri is American restaurateur, author, and an Emmy Award-winning television presenter. Rob and I first got hooked on his TV show “Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives,” segued to “Guy’s Groceries Games,” and our favorite is now “Guy’s Ranch Kitchen,” where his chef-friends come to his ranch and cook themed meals. Which brings …

Finding Hope in How You Finish

Beth Vogtbravery, challenges, choices, competition, confidence, courage, dreams, encouragement, failure, Fear, goals, hope, Life, perseverance, perspective, Quotes, sports, story, strength, success 6 Comments

@bethvogt I like to watch pro football. This is not a surprise for many of you. I’m a loyal fan to the Broncos despite years – yes, years – of disappointment. But this blog post is not about being a frustrated Broncos fan. As I worked on my social media for this week, I listened to the pregame show for …

What Life lessons Did You Learn on the Playground?

Beth Vogtchallenges, change, childhood, choices, dreams, encouragement, expectations, failure, hope, Life, perspective, Quotes, Relationships 2 Comments

@bethvogt I was thinking about life yesterday. And the children’s game “Mother, May I?” You remember how to play this one, right?   You have one player who is Mother. Other players are, well, just regular players. The regulars line up shoulder to shoulder in front of Mother. Make sure there is plenty of space between Mother and the regulars. …

Sometimes We Need to be Reminded There’s Always Hope

Beth Vogtanxiety, brokenness, challenges, choices, crisis, encouragement, expectations, Faith, grace, grief, hope, Life, perseverance, perspective, Quotes, Scripture, suffering, trust 10 Comments

@bethvogt “There’s always hope,” my daughter Amy said. “I’ll hope in a minute,” I told her. I was sitting down, leaning over, grappling with some unexpected news. Unwanted news. The kind that takes your breath away, even as your eyes sting with tears. You know what I mean, right? For just a minute, you lose your grip on hope … …

What Helps Us Clean Out Our Mental Junk Drawers?

Beth Vogtacceptance, anxiety, brokenness, challenges, change, choices, crisis, emotions, encouragement, expectations, Faith, family, Fear, Friendship, grace, grief, hope, Life, listen, Love, mental health, perseverance, perspective, Reality, Relationships, Scripture, stress, suffering 12 Comments

  My friend Mary and I went for an early morning walk the other day. During our weekly walks, we take turns talking about life in an honest, here’s-what’s-going-on-with-me kind of way. Mary invited me to go first, so after discussing my latest ups and downs, I yielded the, um, sidewalk to Mary. As we neared the end of our …

Life is Hard … and There is Still Reason to Hope

Beth Vogtchallenges, choices, crisis, encouragement, expectations, grace, hope, Life, perseverance, perspective, Quotes, stress, suffering, trust 17 Comments

@bethvogt   I’ve backed away from this blog post numerous times. I’ve rethought the topic, but the theme continues to sit there and stare at me without blinking. Life is hard. Yes, I’m the same woman who just blogged about wearing Life is Good T-shirts as a reminder to look for the good in life. But sometimes circumstances weigh us …

What to Do When You’re Heavy-Hearted

Beth Vogtanxiety, brokenness, challenges, choices, emotions, encouragement, expectations, Faith, Fear, Friendship, grief, hope, Life, perseverance, perspective, Quotes, Scripture, strength, stress 10 Comments

@bethvogt I’ve heard the term “heavy-hearted” quite a bit recently. People are heavy-hearted about their life circumstances – from family struggles to friends’ setbacks. People are heavy-hearted about life “out there” – events playing out across the world via nonstop news headlines every single hour of the day. How do we counterbalance the ongoing challenges that weigh our hearts down? …

Life, Reality, and Pondering the Credibility of a T-shirt Motto

Beth Vogtbrokenness, challenges, choices, encouragement, Faith, Friendship, hope, Life, perspective, Quotes, Reality, suffering 18 Comments

@bethvogt My walking buddy Mary told me to write this blog post about our conversation yesterday. “Write a blog about it. See what your readers say.” So, yes, you may thank Mary for today’s post – and yes, I’d love to hear your thoughts about … my choice of T-shirts. At the end of our hour-long walk yesterday, Mary commented …

What Do We See When We Focus on the Haze?

Beth Vogtchallenges, choices, crisis, encouragement, Faith, hope, Life, opportunities, perspective, prayer, Quotes, Reality, suffering 13 Comments

A heavy brown haze has hung over my hometown of Colorado Springs for several weeks now, often completely obscuring the view of Pikes Peak. Smoke has blown in from the wildfires in western states, particularly the Dixie Fire, which is now the largest single fire in California history. The weather app on my phone includes an air quality alert, just …

Choosing to Hold Our Pace When We Can’t See a Way Forward

Beth Vogtchallenges, choices, competition, confidence, courage, encouragement, failure, Faith, goals, hope, Life, perseverance, perspective, Quotes, sports, success 14 Comments

@bethvogt It’s been another week of watching the Olympics for me and yes, another athlete’s experience in Tokyo taught me a life lesson I’m going to remember for years to come. Rob and I were watching one of the heats for the men’s 800 meter. (Can I just say track and field has a lot of heats?) USA’s Clayton Murphy, …