Leading

Hey Y’all,
I did a thing! Well, two things actually. I went to New Zealand and while there I was a guest on a leadership podcast!

Jim’s oldest son and daughter-in-love live in New Zealand and invited me for a visit. It was actually a trip Jim and I had planned to take together but couldn’t. There are so many wonderful things about New Zealand I don’t even know where to begin. If you are a traveler, move it to the top of your travel list! I’ll be presenting a slide show to the church in June and will post that when I have it done. You may have seen where I took my granddaughter’s stuffed piggy with me and made an adventure story with it. I will finish the story and do a picture book for her.

Spending time with Brian and Sharon was so special, a continuation of the intentional work of shaping my life without Jim (that hurts so much to say … I know he’s with me still but not, you know?). We ate our way through much of the South Island. We sampled a lot of wineries. There were penguins and sheep and alpine parrots, mountains and lakes and rivers, signs to report wallaby sightings, chocolate and honey and more chocolate. I had more hot chocolate in two weeks than most of the rest of my life combined (they do hot chocolate big in NZ, no powder in hot water but real chocolate and steamed milk with real cherry flavored marshmallows not just puffy corn syrup). And the sky!!! Oh my word, the SKY! From their yard we could look up and see the Milky Way and the Southern Cross and one night we saw the Southern Lights!! We talked, we laughed, we cried, and I think I am beginning to recognize the signs of healing and growing since losing my dad and my husband within three months of each other last year.

Sharon and I share a passion for helping others lead well and being authentically who God made us to be. She does leadership consulting and began a podcast called “Who’s that Leader in the Mirror”. She’s not yet had a guest to talk about Christian spirituality and leadership and she asked me to record some episodes with her. I was/am thrilled (we recorded some while I was there and will do some more long distance)! On one of their trips here to visit Jim and me, Sharon told me how sometimes when she’s coaching others about leadership she feels a bit of ‘impostor syndrome’ creeping in and ask me if I’ve ever felt the same. Without hesitation I said, “every Sunday in the pulpit”! It was a bonding moment.

We both know we are called to do this kind of work and I give thanks to God for bringing us together to share our hearts’ desire to glorify God in all that we do.

In whatever field you are in, I encourage you to listen to all of the episodes of “Sharon Blanchard’s Leadership Podcast – who’s that leader in the Mirror” (you don’t need to create a Buzzsprout account to listen) and stay tuned for more of mine and Sharon’s conversation. And go to New Zealand.

If you have an Audible account, you can listen here:

Sharon Blancard’s Leadership Podcast – Who’s that leader in the Mirror