On Restoration.

Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm on Unsplash

I would not necessarily consider myself a person of faith. However I was brought up by a very kind hearted Baptist minister, my adoptive dad. He ran a sustainable, impactful nonprofit training youth leaders in and around Minneapolis for 29 years. In these years, I did very little outside of helping stuff envelopes during annual appeal season or tabling to sell t shirts at the occasional benefit dinner I tagged along to. However, it was not these events that stood out to me most as a young person watching a flourishing community based leader. It was the way he lived his life according to his convictions.

My dad had integrity. He was the same person to me as he was to the people he served, to the donors he appealed to, to the youth he inspired to find higher calling in faith or to hold on for a brighter day ahead in moments of despair and hopelessness. He took his time, he stopped completely to talk with people who were struggling. People who needed the care and compassion of a leader who was willing to keep his soul closest to the heartbeat of the community he served.

I watched my dad go from speaking to thousands of people, in large venues with well known or powerful figures in the mainstream faith community. He would also sit down for an hour at a booth in a diner or at a park and speak with a stranger who wanted to share a piece of their life with him. I remember watching my father do…