by johnnoltner
I’m good at looking forward. I like to set goals and strategize. I enjoy dreaming and planning and striving. Every time I reach a goal, three more goals take its place. Every time I climb to the top of a hill, I see a bigger hill and wonder what the view would be like from there. The hills become mountains and I’m beginning to think I just like climbing mountains. I’m not so good at looking back. Karen and I […]
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by johnnoltner
To get our new video, click here…but keep reading for a special discount. Happy new year! I learned a lot of things in 2018. Top of the list? I can’t be everywhere. I know it’s true, because I tried. Last year, A Peace of My Mind led programming in 20 states. I drove 40,000 miles and flew even more. I crossed the entire country three times in one week and learned that scheduling will always be messy for this project. […]
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by johnnoltner
We’ve been talking about how we care for one another this fall…how we lift one another up…how we build relationships that allow all people to thrive. In this season of gratitude, think about how you got where you are today. Who has helped you? Who has encouraged? Are there ways you can do the same for others? At West Virginia University at Parkersburg, we asked, “What is the greatest sacrifice anyone has made for you?” It might be an interesting […]
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by johnnoltner
“I think you have to think life…right ’til the end…and then you think eternal life.” I met Tony and Jenny Potts at a Bruderhof community in New York’s Hudson River Valley. The Bruderhof are Christians, living in community…they share resources, faith, and a life-long commitment to care for one another. Tony: We are here to serve others. It’s not a life of getting. It’s a life of trying to see where you can support others, show love and do also […]
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by johnnoltner
I live in the city, but my wife and I have a Christmas tree farm. So I’ve seen the divide. I’ve been on both sides of it. I know how my farm neighbors feel when yet another city person buys the field down the road. I know how my city friends joke about life in the country. I’ve seen kindness and patience on both sides, but I’ve seen lack of understanding and frustration as well. There are differences. In priorities, […]
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by johnnoltner
“Every now and then it’s good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy.” That quote by French poet Guillaume Apollinaire was posted behind the ticket counter at the ferry dock north of Chelan, Washington. We were on our way to Holden Village and it’s a journey to get there. A 1,529 mile drive west. 20 miles by boat up a wilderness lake on the edge of North Cascades National Park. 11 miles up a gravel road […]
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by johnnoltner
It’s my third father’s day without my dad, and just yesterday I finally dropped off a stone to be carved for his marker. It took a while, but like he told me once, some things take time. I’m not always a patient person. I get frustrated as I learn a new skill and progress is never as fast as I’d like it to be. It was in high school that he gave me that little gem. I was practicing a […]
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by johnnoltner
As we move into the Memorial Day weekend, I am aware that I don’t personally know anyone who died in military service. Nobody. I certainly know women and men who have served, even though less than one percent of our population has done so. I know people who have been injured both physically and emotionally through the experience of combat, but I haven’t known anyone who has died in military service. Last week I was in Grand Lake, Colorado for […]
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by johnnoltner
Colorado is nice this time of year. Today, I visited Mesa Elementary School in Boulder and spoke at an assembly for a few hundred students. One first grade teacher returned to her classroom and asked her students to share what they had learned, and this is what they said. Sometimes we make life complicated. These young ones understand things we seem to forget. Maybe they will grow up and sort out some of the mess we big people have created. […]
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by johnnoltner
I often hear people express ideas in ways that resonate when we set up studios. Sometimes they are ideas I am familiar with, but they say them in new and articulate ways that make me see things with a new clarity. It is one of the things I love about this exercise of our studio days. Last week at Pacific Lutheran University we asked people to answer this question: “How has your college experience allowed you to build bridges?” and […]
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