Let your conversation be always full of grace. Colossians 4:6

The journey in our life brings us to many different places during different seasons of time. I began with a scripture from the bible, which was part of a devotional reading I do daily. Conversation not only came up in my daily devotions, but an author friend messaged me with an invitation to join a Zoom gathering of CPL’s 100th Essential Conversations. CPL-Center for Purposeful Leadership, and my friend is Patricia Neal. Patricia and her husband Craig are the authors of a book titled, The Art of Convening. It is a great book, and we will discuss it more this week. I included the link from the publishers to order a copy if you are interested in learning more about preventing comments like, “This meeting is a waste of time.”

https://www.bkconnection.com/books/title/the-art-of-convening

In the beginning quote, it is not simply words but the quality of those words—“full of grace”—that would allow them to be a genuine encouragement to others. In our opportunities to create environments which all voices are heard, many transformative actions and thoughts are shared, grace allows us the ability to listen. Listening is the highest level of communication.

Strings

Do you ever think about strings? It is a strange question to ask. But really, what is the purpose of a string? I pulled the string on my shirt, and the next thing I knew, the entire hem at the bottom came out. It was one string!

One string made a big difference because it connected all of the other strings to keep the hem together. So, maybe we need a string to tie us together to help us work better. Family ties? Can we connect?

There is more to strings!

Get your Passport

When I taught, I did a reading unit called “Reading takes you anywhere.” I had the students make passports, and we talked about how passports worked. The passports were made to look similar to real passports, and we recorded the places we went in our reading. We would have food from the country we traveled to and enjoyed learning about many different aspects. One of the enrichment activities we did was to create travel guides, marketing ads, and budgets for a destination. The kids did a great job!

Reading is my favorite thing to do, and I love all books. I do love some more than others, but I genuinely love the art of putting words together to capture an emotion, reaction, and desire in the readers. Some authors can place the words on the pages to take flight, and soon you arrive at the destination before turning the page. What is the last book you read? Have you read a book to someone else? Volunteer to read at a school, nursing home, hospital, church, or library.

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