Category: Light and Shadow

  • 15 things I have learned since I moved to Uganda–15 years ago today

      On September 17, 2000, I boarded a plane in Phoenix, Arizona. I was headed for my new home in Uganda, East Africa, and my mission was to create AidChild.   (Thanks to the love, compassion and expertise of so many, AidChild has now touched thousands of lives, won countless awards, and Read more […]

  • Are You Hard-Headed or Heart-Headed? (5 Q’s reveal the answer)

      Hopefully we all have passion, conviction and principles. But as we engage with others, do we allow these passions to make us better, smarter and stronger? Or do they diminish our essence? Here are five questions I ask myself  in an attempt to be heart-headed instead of hard-headed:     Have Read more […]

  • Ignore the giant, step towards the beauty

    I just finished my daily wog (half walk, half jog) through the park.  On the homestretch, as I jogged past a garden springing fresh with colorful blossoms, a little girl, maybe three-years-old, stepped directly in front of me.  She was drawn to the beauty of the flowers, totally oblivious to this giant—nearly Read more […]

  • Change-making vs. Mistake-making (Is there a difference?)

    I just finished sparring with my boxing partner under the branches of a huge tree in Balboa Park.  We do this four or five times a week (when I am not home in Uganda or otherwise on the road).  As we scrap, we move in and out of the shade, often emerging into the golden…

  • Yet another way to use the Light

    The room was just another fancy DC hotel ballroom, but the Academy of Achievement’s team had transformed it by mastering the use of light.  The space was mostly dark except for the candles on the tables, swirling lights cast onto the wallpapered walls, and the spotlight on the dais.  There were only Read more […]

  • Fatigue and Disappointment: 7 reasons I am grateful they exist in my life

    12:09am.  I was asleep, blissfully asleep.  And then I awoke.  Not to a noise or to a phone call—but to the sense of a burden. A few minutes later, my phone rang with disturbing news.  Now one hour later, I have had multiple calls with colleagues in Uganda, and am aware of an emerging problem…

  • How do you know what you know?

    About a year ago, I wrote a blog post which I called “4 Things I’m Glad I Don’t Know for Sure.”  I reflected on the wonder of faith, and the miracle of the unknown as it adds nuance and “magic” to our existence. Today I received an email from a distant friend espousing a very…

  • So, I got punched in the face. (A 60-second read on addressing psycho-violence.)

    So, I got punched in the face.  No, I don’t mean that metaphorically.  My boxing partner and I were sparring, and boom!  Okay, it wasn’t hard, it was my fault for not ducking (I knew it was coming), and it was with a padded focus mitt, so it was really a non-event.  But at least…

  • 4 Reasons I Value Disagreement

    I find myself becoming a louder and louder advocate of civil discourse, of engagement in conversations where fundamental, absolute disagreement may exist, but so does esteem for the fellow-person.  I believe that one can disagree without being disagreeable. The loss of respect for those with whom we Read more […]

  • “The Elusive Image” (A 90-second read about drawing the impossible)

    You have likely heard the story of a little girl who sat down to draw, and when her teacher asked what she was going to draw, she said, “I’m drawing a picture of God.”  “But, honey, no one knows what God looks like,” the teacher said.  To which the little girl replied, “They will in a…