There is almost always someone in our life who feels like a lighthouse. They are the steady beam when the fog rolls in. The voice we call when we are unsure. The person who reminds us who we are when we forget. A parent. A spouse. A mentor. A friend. A grandparent. Sometimes we do not even realize how much we have oriented our internal compass around them until they are gone. And when they leave or die, the ocean does not politely calm itself. It churns. It darkens. It feels

We just finished our fifth year of the marriage retreat that Dr. Erica and I developed and present at the Franciscan Renewal Center, which five years ago we titled "Marriage, It's Not for the Faint of Heart" - and it once again solidified for me a fundamental truth. At the end of the day, when the noise dies down and the lights go low, what really matters is surprisingly simple. Connection. Not the polished version of life we show the world. Not the milestones we post, the nu

I have spent my entire professional life sitting with people who are searching for meaning. Not success. Not productivity. Not even happiness, at least not in the shallow sense. Meaning. People come into my office with impressive resumes, full calendars, families they love, and lives that look good from the outside. And yet something feels off. Flat. Misaligned. Quietly aching. Over time, I’ve noticed a pattern. Most people have never actually been asked the most important qu

We are living in a time where it feels like everything is an argument waiting to happen. Politics. Parenting. Race. Gender. Religion. Vaccines. Education. Even grief has become something people debate instead of honor. For many people I sit with, the exhaustion is not just about what they believe. It is about what their bodies are carrying. Tight chests. Shallow breath. Shorter fuses. A constant low-grade vigilance that says, “Be careful. Say it right. Don’t get attacked.” Th