HOPE 4 THE WOUNDED, LLC

Authoring a book about achieving wellness has put me into an interesting predicament.  I care deeply about others' mind space.  I believe we've put forth some important things for people to consider as we journey this crazy life, and then suddenly....BAM....yeah, I need to heed my own advice.  There's a strange accountability going on here that kind of ticks me off.  "Do as I say, not as I do" just doesn't cut it once you've put it all out there in print and want others to follow along, but it's easy to justify when I'm nobly taking care of everyone else, right?  

Nope.

In our work, we talk a lot about false beliefs.  They take up residence in our minds and hearts and begin looking like truth.  One of the biggest false beliefs we can fall victim to is that by taking care of ourselves, we are compromising the care we give others.  We must be last on the priority list because it's selfish not to put the needs of others first,...

Stress, secondary trauma, and all the varying obstacles in education can lead to educators asking themselves, "Do my efforts really matter?" Heap on top of the "normal" challenges to be found in this profession the weight of the challenges of 2020, it would be easy--even justified--to just withdraw any emotional investment whatsoever.

But please don't. 

If you've known us professionally, you know that we often share the real and raw of our personal experiences as they relate to our passion for marginalized children and the people who serve them.  We are here to tell you from a very tender place in our parental hearts that the answer is yes, what you do matters.

On the evening of December 14, 2020, our 15-year-old son's best friend and running partner, Noah, died in a tragic accident.  Before this news was made public, Noah's parents entrusted the school with delivering this news to our son.  While the principal was telling us about losing Noah, the boys' cross...