Sarah and I have spent the week in Salt Lake City at a conference with people from around the country and around the world who help kids, adults, and families in need by using what we call the “Teaching Family Model.” We all use this model to shape behaviors, to nurture relationships, and to help others heal from trauma.
At a conference like this you swap stories and are around a bunch of people who have seen it all, been called every name in the book, have learned about some of the hardest situations, been put through their own personal griefs — and still stuck with it. Some a couple years, some twenty or thirty.
They stick with it because they believe in the work they do. They know that by serving others, you are also serving and loving God, and honoring yourself in the process.
I’m humbled by being here, yet I carry a sense of pride for the work we do in this world. What an honor to be sitting alongside them all here this week in Salt Lake City. To be counted among them — people who have given their lives to serve kids, adults, and families in need — what a way to spend your life!
Sarah and I have spent the last nine years doing this work together, day by day, hour by hour by each other’s side. We’ve served 69 girls in our home over the years. Micah and Ezra have grown up only really knowing this way of life, and continue to do so. It’s a wild and precious lifestyle.
Family teaching is a unique role. When I say I couldn’t do this job without Sarah, I literally mean it. There’s not many positions out there that require a married couple to do the job.
So it’s particularly special to be recognized with an award for doing what we do together. Being recognized as practitioners of the year is not about me, it’s not about Sarah, it’s about us together — partners, spouses, lovers.
I mean, wow! How cool is that?!?
Sarah and I have been together for over 21 years now. And despite me trying not to, I do sometimes take that for granted. I know it. There’s not a lot of people who are desiring to live like we do. And to do it well, you have to be in sync with your spouse. This job requires a tremendous amount of flexibility and understanding and patience — not just with the kids, but with each other. We call it zimzum, a constant rhythmic harmony of expansion and contraction that creates a partnership that is able to operate in unity. There’s a deep sense of wholeness I feel in this, and it’s perhaps what I’m most grateful for. It’s what enables us to live the life we live.
A week ago we were also awarded a similar award at Boys Town as Family-Teachers of the year. And all I want to say about that is how much I truly do consider it an honor. I care so deeply about this life here at Boys Town, for the kids we serve, love, fight for, and root on after they leave. To be a part of this mission is the honor of a lifetime. There’s no award or recognition that is needed for that to be true.
I’m grateful to be a part of an organization that provides my family the ability to serve others with our lives. It’s hard work, but I can’t think of anything more rewarding.
Human beings are precious and valuable. Each person contains multitudes of complexity and potential. Each and every individual carries the image of God within them. Our job allows us to honor that and to live like it, to not just talk a good talk, but to walk the walk. And to do so on a square mile filled with other like-minded people. Wow! I’ll never get over that.
Love people, even the hard ones to love, and you’ll be blessed beyond all measure. There is no wasted life that is spent on loving others. I’m convinced of that and will continue to give my life trying to do that to the best of my ability.
Thank you to all my friends, family, and colleagues who have carried us to this point. I’ll forever be grateful. Much love to you all.
Stepping Back 