You Will Be the Villain Somewhere
This week taught me something I didn’t necessarily want to learn — but probably needed to.
I found myself reading words and sitting in conversations that quietly reframed my judgment and my values in a way that didn’t match my heart at all. Decisions I had made thoughtfully and conservatively were being interpreted as careless. Standards I believed were kid-centered and appropriate were described as questionable. And for a moment, I felt it — that tightening in my chest when you realize you are being cast in a role you never auditioned for.
Fine Is Not the Finish Line
Building culture is different than directing a show. It means holding a standard steady long before everyone else is ready to carry it with you. This season has stretched me more than I expected — physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Resistance doesn’t always mean something is broken; sometimes it means something is being built. It has tested my leadership, my endurance, and my conviction in ways I didn’t anticipate. There has been slow momentum, exhaustion that settles into my bones, and the temptation to lower the bar just to make it easier on everyone. But “fine” has never been the goal. Excellence doesn’t happen by accident — it’s built, protected, and sometimes fought for.
Looking Forward Through the Rearview
I didn’t plan to write this today.
This morning, I opened Facebook, scrolled past a few things, and then—boom—it did that thing it does and served up a memory I didn’t go looking for. Actually… it served up two. One from 2021. The other from 2022. Both deeply honest. Both from very different emotional places.
Reading them stopped me in my tracks. Suddenly, I was face-to-face with past versions of myself—one who was barely hanging on, and one who had found his footing again. It caught me off guard and sent me into a spiral of reflection I didn’t expect.
And that’s what led me here—writing this update four years later.
Faith Without the Fix
For a long time, I thought faith meant clarity. Or peace. Or at least relief. I thought if I believed hard enough, trusted deeply enough, or prayed the right way, something would shift—my body, my circumstances, my joy. And when those things didn’t change, I quietly wondered what that said about me.
But lately, I’ve been realizing that faith isn’t always revealed through resolution. Sometimes it’s revealed through endurance. Through staying present when the situation doesn’t improve. Through choosing honesty over performance. Through continuing to believe even when life doesn’t feel good.
Choosing Integrity, One Year Later
A year ago yesterday, my professional world was shattered.
There’s no dramatic way to dress that up. A routine request. A meeting I believed was ordinary. And then—without warning—the ground disappeared beneath me. No explanation. No conversation. Just an ending I didn’t see coming and didn’t understand. One moment I was fully employed, invested, and planning for the future. The next, I was untethered—left holding questions that never received answers.
The year that followed has been anything but simple.