Tag: Perseverance

  • Why Choose Leadership?

    Why Choose Leadership?

    Weekends are usually when I decompress from my work week as an assistant principal. Like it or not, I ruminate over decisions I made and difficult conversations I had with both students and adults. Yesterday morning, while accompanying my wife to a local supermarket, I kept thinking, “Why would anyone choose to be a leader?”…

  • Life’s Curveballs: Lessons from a Retired Army First Sergeant

    Life’s Curveballs: Lessons from a Retired Army First Sergeant

    A teacher at my school is a retired U.S. Army First Sergeant (1SG), which is one of the highest enlisted ranks. As you would expect, to make 1SG takes considerable leadership ability. Consequently, I like to glean administrative wisdom from this person whenever I can. During a break at one of our back-to-school meetings, I…

  • The Triple-A Approach to Helping Someone in Need

    The Triple-A Approach to Helping Someone in Need

    After I left full-time ministry, but before I became a teacher, I spent three years in sales with Frito Lay, Inc. I was a Route Sales Rep, which is a front-line position selling salty snacks to grocery and convenience stores. One day, my boss was helping me set up a huge display of potato chips…

  • Just Keep Going

    Just Keep Going

    The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. Deuteronomy 33:27a (NKJV) It should have been easy-peasy–leading and singing patriotic songs, just before the 4th of July. But I croaked like a frog on the high notes and was hoarse enough to be half my normal volume. One of the nursing home…

  • Holding Still

    Holding Still

    I remember the moment vividly. It was an early summer morning and dad and I were working together outside, using a wheelbarrow to haul rocks and dirt. All of a sudden, we heard a tremendous buzz. I looked up and the sky was filled with bees–thousands of them! They were flying together like a giant…

  • Building a Life Brick by Brick

    Building a Life Brick by Brick

    My father was a teacher who spent his summers doing odd jobs. One of these involved working as a small-scale brick layer–think barbeque pits, or outdoor flower planters and, as a teenager, I often spent my summers as dad’s helper. First, he laid the bricks one at a time, making sure they were true to…