There are articles everywhere about how to offer excellent customer service; the customer is always right; customers need to feel listened to, valued and validated. Those are all valid thoughts…but what you don’t see often is an article on how to be a good customer. Most people don’t work in customer service, but we are ALL customers. Don’t you think it’s worth some time to learn how to be a pleasant one? After spending my entire working career providing customer service in some way, shape or form, I offer you this list for your consideration, as we embark on the
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A few months ago, I began attending the Mostly Mom’s Bible study at World Outreach Church. As I settled in that first day, I discovered the group was beginning a new study called, Jonah: Navigating a Life Interrupted by Pricilla Schirer. It was uncanny timing…our lives had just been completely interrupted…and for the past six months we had been calling Tennessee our Nineveh. I sat there, stunned, as I realized this Bible study was EXACTLY WHERE I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE. In October 2016, when Rich and I heard from God that we would be moving to Nashville, we thought it would
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After living in Yosemite National Park and the Sierra foothills for the past 20+ years, I’ve been spoiled by beautiful views and natural treasures. That’s why, when I recently took a walk around my neighborhood, I didn’t expect my subdivision with thousands of nearly identical houses to give me much joy. But it was a beautiful fall day, I wanted to be outside, and I didn’t feel like driving, so I ventured into my little piece of suburbia. I didn’t find wildlife like turkeys or deer, but I found something else. I found people enjoying their lives on a Sunday
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I’ve always felt God’s presence most in nature. There is a sense of grandeur, infinite peace, and creativity beyond my imagination that transports my mind away from the bustle of the world and into the quiet. Time and time again, when I wander in the forest, or by the sea, or up a mountain top, I learn a bit more about myself, and about God. One of God’s greatest gifts to us here on earth is the earth itself: The granite cliffs of Yosemite Valley; the powerful surf crashing against cliffs on the Big Sur Coast; the giant Sequoias that
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Photography has defined my life since I first started dating my husband, Rich, nearly 30 years ago. Since then, photography has taken us on adventures I never could have imagined that first time I stood next to him in his old-school darkroom, watching an image magically appear in the developer tray. After navigating through brambles, long-awaited sunsets, several versions of LowePro backpacks, and countless dropped lens caps, here are 15 things I have learned about being married to a landscape photographer: 1. All extra money that comes into the household will be first considered for photography or photographic purposes. 2.
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I am waiting for the certainty. I am longing for the guarantee. It’s been well over a year since we’ve had a predictable paycheck, and in that time, we watched the business we spent 19 years building, be systematically disassembled. In the face of starting over mid-life, we moved across the country. We placed our homeschooled children into public school. With more changes on the horizon, I continue to wait for some semblance of normal to return to my life. Instead, all I see is the open space of time…and the frustration of not being able to see beyond the
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It was just past sunset as we drove a twisty road toward the interstate. An old church with a cemetery appeared along one bend, with a “point of historic interest” sign. We turned around a mile or so later, intrigued to see who might be buried on that old piece of land. Our kids thought we were crazy, and they begged us not to stop…it was growing dark, and their imaginations filled with stories of ghosts, dead bodies and who knows what else might lurk in an old cemetery. We knew better… Having grown up in Ohio, with family on
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