The Fight Against Racism Starts Within Our Families

Beth VogtBeth K. Vogt, bullying, challenges, change, choices, crisis, family, Identity, Life, perspective, Quotes, racism, suffering 41 Comments

@bethvogt   My son Josh and daughter-in-love Meagan stopped by our house on Monday.  “How are you?” A simple enough question, right? Not these days. My son Josh is white. My daughter-in-love Meagan is black. Meagan backed away from me. From responding. “I don’t want to cry. I can’t cry … I won’t stop crying …” And then I held …

Choosing to Believe that Life is Good When We’re Waiting

Beth Vogtacceptance, Beth K. Vogt, challenges, choices, contentment, dreams, expectations, hope, Life, perseverance, perspective, Quotes, success, time 7 Comments

@bethvogt   A long-time wish came true for me two weeks ago. My family transformed the back corner of our yard into a hummingbird garden for me. It’s the barest beginnings of what will one day be a glorious garden with a ceramic bird birth, complete with a solar powered water fountain, two feeders, and yes, the proper plants and …

Quotes Worth Remembering from a Commencement Conversation for the Class of 2020

Beth VogtBeth K. Vogt, challenges, change, choices, confidence, courage, dreams, expectations, failure, goals, Life, lifequotes, opportunities, perseverance, perspective, Quotes, success 8 Comments

@bethvogt I attended a graduation ceremony on Monday. It was a virtual ceremony, hosted by actor John Krasinski, via his Some Good News (SGN) YouTube channel. One of the fun things about the ceremony? People were graduating from kindergarten right on up through college, all across the globe. I also loved how, while John highlighted several valedictorians, he opted out …

Being Brave Enough to Choose to Trust (and a Giveaway)

Beth VogtBeth K. Vogt, books, challenges, choices, courage, Giveaway, Life, perspective, Quotes, Relationships, trust 24 Comments

@bethvogt The Best We’ve Been, the third book in my Thatcher Sisters series, is a story about what happens when you lose control of your life. The book releases today, during the worldwide coronavirus pandemic. A time when it seems as if each one of us — no matter where we live, no matter our occupation or vocation, or where we …

Choosing to Heal the Stress that Sprains Our Souls

Beth Vogtanxiety, Beth K. Vogt, challenges, choices, crisis, Faith, Life, perseverance, perspective, Quotes, stress 9 Comments

I stumbled across a new definition of stress the other day. Stress, according to author Richard Carlson, is a sprain to the soul. Yes, yes, it is. There’s no denying we’re all stressed right now about too many things. Carlson’s perspective reframed my understanding of the life we’re all living – stretched out of emotional proportion by the coronavirus pandemic, …

Choosing Honesty and Hope for the Difficult Days

Beth Vogtanxiety, Beth K. Vogt, challenges, choices, Faith, hope, Life, perseverance, perspective, prayer, Quotes, Reality, stress 15 Comments

@bethvogt I struggled to write this blog post. For the better part of Tuesday, I thought I just wouldn’t write anything. The hours kept ticking away, and I kept tossing aside possible topics. And at ten o’clock Tuesday night I started typing words. Just how honest would I be? Life’s been hard the past few days – the kind of …

Reading Between the Lines of the Serenity Prayer

Beth Vogtacceptance, anxiety, Beth K. Vogt, challenges, choices, courage, crisis, Faith, grace, hope, Life, perseverance, perspective, prayer, Quotes, strength, stress, trust 8 Comments

@bethvogt (With acknowledgement to Reinhold Neibuhr (1892-1971), who wrote the Serenity Prayer.) God grant me the serenity  Help me to stay calm. To not yell at my family no matter how much longer we’re quarantined together or say out loud all the snarky comments I’m thinking, even if I do think they’re funny.  to accept the things I cannot change …

How Do We Choose Love and Grace Over Being Right?

Beth VogtBeth K. Vogt, challenges, change, choices, expectations, forgiveness, Friendship, grace, Love, perspective, Quotes, Relationships 15 Comments

Sometimes I just like being right. And that’s when I usually end up saying the wrong thing. Yes, I’m telling you this because I “righted” myself into the wrong corner a few days ago. I didn’t realize how my conversation with my friend Gianna had veered into unexpected territory until she said, “You’re angry with me, aren’t you?” I stopped …

Coronavirus, Christmas, and Choosing Truth to Change Our Attitudes

Beth Vogtanxiety, Beth K. Vogt, challenges, change, Christmas, crisis, expectations, Faith, hope, perseverance, perspective, Quotes, stress 13 Comments

Have you heard about people putting up their Christmas decorations during the coronavirus pandemic? I hadn’t considered hauling out my decorations and decking the halls – until yesterday. I don’t know about you, but I’m still adjusting to life in the midst of COVID-19. It’s a daily tug-of-war between my expectations and reality. Between my emotions and my faith. My …