On an average day in Minnesota, more than 7,000 children are living in foster homes.
Last year, a total of 11,235 children and young adults in our state experienced out-of-home care because they could not safely remain in their own homes. Some were housed with another family, others in group facilities.
All of them are children in crisis.

 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”- John 16:33
Spring Greetings!

At one time, vacations to distant places provided a chance to finally get away from it all. You left behind your job, the usual things from home and the people you interacted with on a daily basis. It was a change from the normal.

I spent all day last Saturday at the Synod Assembly for the Southeast Minnesota Synod of the ELCA. As a result I did not check the news feed on my phone until I got home in the evening.
When I did look at it the first thing that popped up was a headline about a mass shooting in Texas. Another shooting, I thought. What is going on? I clicked on the headline and that’s when the story became personal.

As president of Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (SMIF) I travel across our region nearly every day visiting people and places in the 20 counties that we serve. Over the 16 years that I have worked at SMIF, I have watched farming practices change and adapt.

The ability to do it yourself often is a badge of pride for many people. If you can do it yourself, you can eliminate the need to call in somebody else and can save yourself money. And if you don’t know how to do it, there is probably a YouTube video that can give you step by step instructions. While this ability may serve you well in many instances, it has also become a sly plot of many businesses for you to do their work for them.