The Mental Health “Connection”

Recently, I traveled to North Carolina for our annual family vacation. On Sunday, we attended First Baptist Church of Bryson City. The guest Pastor brought the house down on that rainy day with a message on love and acceptance. He described the ways in which we used to value connection with one another through meal time and went on to emphasize how important social connection is for our mental health. If you feel connected and cared for, he argued, then love has the ability to heal.  That’s wonderful to hear about in Church, but how does that translate to the

Mom, I’m Bored

“Mom, I’m bored,”  said one kid from the backseat after we told them NO MORE DEVICES on a road trip to kick off the summer.  You see, devices for them create the stimulation that makes them, well, crazy.  So after allowing them on the first leg of the trip without any constraints, we put a cease and desist order out on all devices and prayed we wouldn’t all kill each other over the course of the next hundreds of miles.  Our trip began with a desire for our kids to see all 50 states before our oldest leaves for college

6 Tips to Help You Unplug for Your Vacation

With 4th of July being the unspoken week of summer vacations, it’s time to consider- does anyone every really truly go on vacation now days? By a true vacation I mean no work is done. None. No emails, no voicemails, no finishing up a project, starting a project or even thinking (and therefore procrastinating) on a project. In a world of constant connectedness, I’d venture to guess most people don’t actually unplug completely from their work. According this article, more than half of Americans plan to work while on vacation. But if you are headed on vacation or on vacation

Space to Focus

    It has been a busy month. We call it Maycember, busy like December but without the gifts. Focusing during a busy month or busy season can be tricky. Not only is May a busy work month, wrapping up one big project to begin the next, it is also a busy season for me personally. My daughter’s high school graduation is tonight and focusing is something I’m struggling with right now. Juggling so much makes it difficult to focus. However, this isn’t my first rodeo with busy seasons. Working moms do this time and again. We are fortunate at

What’s Relationshipping, and How Do I Do It?

Networking establishes connection. Relationshipping builds bridges and two-way streets with sidewalks and wildflowers! When we relationship (yes, we’re using it as a verb), we have a sense of belonging. Belonging feeds engagement, creativity, and passion, which generate business success and real community impact. Come relationship with us! I recently had the great pleasure to speak at the NAVIGATE Nonprofit Network Conference as part of the Building Effective Teams track with Leadership Greater Huntsville. NAVIGATE is focused on equipping nonprofit leaders with the unique KSAs needed to operate on a lean budget, raise funds for continued operations, and provide services with