Our Olympic Answer
Dear friends of Refuge, Every four years, Bill and I used to strategize about how much of the Olympics we’d watch. We simply couldn’t take it all in. One year, it was badminton (yes, badminton). Another year, it was fencing because a new friend had competed in earlier Games, which evoked my own memories of […]
Deep Water Love
Dear friends of Refuge, I know analogies can be cheap shortcuts to complex thoughts, but I kinda like this one, so bear with me… In March of 2022, Bill and I took a much-needed sabbatical. Friends loaned us their house in Big Torch Key, Florida, for three weeks. Mostly, we took lots of walks, ate […]
Looking at the bridge, not the chasm
Dear friends of Refuge, I hate the idea that nonprofits “fix” things, but sometimes that language is unavoidable. And it’s the downright wrong things that often spur us to generous action, right? One very wrong thing Bill and I noticed after we moved to Clarkston and got to know our neighbors was the lack of […]
Privilege – Part Two
Joy on the Sidelines A few weeks ago, I attended celebrations for Juneteenth and for World Refugee Day. I felt honored to be a part of both celebrations, even though both are “sidelines” holidays for me, a chance to stand cheering because neither holiday is about me, and I don’t belong on the main field. […]
People before narratives
Dear friends of Refuge, Recently, I read this phrase: Those who control the narrative control the people. I love sharing stories (narratives), so I had to ask myself if this was my way of taking control of others. Maybe so, but I also believe that if you spend enough time listening to people, they will […]
The Life Cycle of an Introduction
The First Act of Welcome I will always believe in the power of introductions. This often-clumsy social ritual is the first and simplest act of welcome, and I know from experience that an introduction can launch a world of wonders. That doesn’t mean introductions are easy. Somewhere in the last decade, my name bank overflowed, […]
Remembering we are human
…because sometimes we forget. “The human heart is the first home of democracy.” — Terry Tempest Williams In a quite fraught meeting a few weeks ago with some community leaders, one man said as a preface to a sincere apology for some things he’d said in an earlier email, “I forgot she was human.” I […]
What it means to care….
Dear friends of Refuge, Thank you for helping us raise a total of $30,000 in ten days!! And thanks to our very special donor who TRIPLE matched all gifts – you know who you are ; ) We’ve already begun the long process of refurbishing our trucks, carts, and espresso machines, enabling us to grow […]
Joy Metrics
“Joy is the simplest form of gratitude.”~ Karl Barth You cannot measure joy. You just have to experience it. This weekend, as I walked home from our Refuge Spring Market, exhausted, peopled-out, and sore, there was another feeling superseding all the others that I could not ignore: Joy. And joy made me so grateful to […]
Everybody Matters
(Say it on a SHIRT!) When our oldest grandson turned 13, our son Stephen took him to Yosemite to celebrate. Stephen asked the important men in his life including, of course, his dad, to send a 3–5-minute video message to Gunnar. While camping in the wilderness, Stephen had issues downloading his dad’s message… because instead […]
