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 …
Unpacking My One Word for 2022
@bethvogt I’m five days into focusing on my One Word for 2022. A quick reminder, because you’re not responsible to remember my One Word: I’m focusing on the word pray. Pray, not prayer. I’m specific about the difference between the two words. Prayer is a noun, a word referring to a person, place, or thing. Pray is a verb, …
Finding Hope in How You Finish
@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 …
10 Memorable Quotes by General Colin Powell
@bethvogt Gen. Colin Powell, the former U.S. Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, died this past Monday due to COVID-19 complications. He was 84 years old. Powell was the first black Secretary of State, and was appointed by President George W. Bush, serving during the years after 9/11. Today, I wanted to honor him …
Sometimes We Need to be Reminded There’s Always Hope
@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 … …
Choosing to Hold Our Pace When We Can’t See a Way Forward
@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, …
Don’t Believe Everything You Think
@bethvogt I mulled over this blog post for quite a while. Started one topic. Erased it. I wanted to think of something funny. Something light. Put a spin on things so my words were encouraging from the get-go. But it was a bit of a fractured start to the week, one where I fought to find a good rhythm …
Leaning Into Grace As Life Goes On
@bethvogt My youngest daughter Christa is having ankle surgery today. Surgery and rehabbing her ankle were not part of her original plan for the summer. I talked about how her Plan A fell apart in my blog post “Why Can We Be Hopeful When Our Plans Fall Apart?” Christa got through the last weeks of her spring semester at Bethel …
Choosing to Conquer Our Challenges One Small Step at a Time
@bethvogt The subject of resilience came up last weekend during a text conversation with my friend Bernadette. We were discussing how a year has passed since COVID upended our lives. One whole year. Also, like so many others, Bernadette and I are walking through grief because family members died during the pandemic. “I don’t know about you, but I feel …
Choosing to Do the Work to Reap the Benefits of Marriage
I blew it with my husband, Rob, the other day. To be more specific — I blew up at Rob over the most trivial thing. Rather than dealing with the unexpected interruption to my day – I did say it was minor, right? – I called Rob and made sure he knew I was upset. That I didn’t appreciate what …