@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 …
Judge Not Lest You Be Blind
@bethvogt Sometimes we just don’t know. That’s my takeaway from all the news swirling around Simone Biles. Sometimes we just don’t know the entire story and we need to be okay with that. Simon Biles is an American Olympic gymnast. The GOAT — the Greatest Of All Time. People love her. Love her story. She’s a gymnastics powerhouse and when …
Realizing Stories Connect Us: Where Were You on September 11, 2001?
@bethvogt There are days that change a generation. That change the world forever. Days that are marked as “never to be forgotten.” Today is one of those days. On September 11, 2001 – 18 years ago – four U.S. commercial airplanes were hijacked in terrorist attacks on our country. A total of 2, 977 people were killed in New …
Celebrating How Friendships Deepen Our Stories
Being Brave Enough to Say Yes to Each Other @bethvogt I had a belated birthday party a few days ago. I gathered together a group of my special friends, who agreed to dress up and go out to dinner. My friend, Mary, even supplied me with a pink “Birthday Girl” sash, which ensured I was covered in glitter …
What Do We Do When Our Stories Collide?
Choosing to be Kind and Gracious by @bethvogt Two stories collided the other day – and erupted in kindness and grace. The collision played out on national TV during a morning news show, and so I wonder if most people viewed it as merely news, overlooking the exchange of kindheartedness and graciousness. Allow me to recount the story for you: …
Uprooting Racism from Our Family Tree
Choosing to Love Someone for Who They Are by @bethvogt Last October, my son Josh remarried. His wife is a beautiful young woman named Meagan. I remember months earlier when my husband and I talked with Josh about his relationship with Meagan – about how we knew he was falling in love with her and yes, her three children. We …
In Others’ Words: When Story Conquers Fear
I sat across from my trusted friend Wise Guy recently and told him, “My heart seems smaller.” Had unrelenting circumstances — mine and others’ close to me — turned me into some emotional Grinch and downsized my heart? As I talked some and listened more, I realized that yes, fear had crept in and silenced me … that unknowingly I …
In Others’ Words: How Stories Conquer Fear
So … the robot. I came upon him while walking with my husband and youngest daughter during a a foggy day in Carlsbad, California last summer. Some ingenious artist painted him on the side of a building. And yes, this painting told a story. You can come upon stories in the most unlikely places. We expect them within the covers …
In Others’ Words: Surrounded by Story
More and more, I have come to love story. My life story — and other people’s life stories, too. To be honest, there are times I see someone and, at first, I’m closed to their story. Maybe they seem a little too different from me … and I’m put off. But I’ve learned to say to myself, “This person is …