Top 7 = Happy 4th! Here's a bucket of Cool Whip

This week we celebrated the 4th, enjoyed hanging with family, and made a few strides forward in the release of the upcoming Trauma Comes Home documentary.

Each week I look back at the week behind + preview the week ahead— so I don’t miss anything— and look and highlight at least one thing for which I’m grateful in each of the 7 key areas of life…

💙 Fitness

💰Finance

🏠 Family

🛠 Field (work, career)

🙏 Faith

👊 Friends

🎉 Fun

Here’s the run-down from last week…

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Fitness = Soul Wholeness book

This week I had a few opportunities to talk about the Soul Wholeness project (see “faith” below).

About 6 years ago, the importance of emotional health as part of total health became apparent to me— in large part due to some life experiences as well as several great resources I stumbled upon at just the right time.

The Soul Wholeness book is available free on our website— pay the shipping and handling and we’ll send it your way (same day).

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Finance = Bought a snake at Harbor Freight

Sunday afternoon (last week, after I wrote the Top 7 for the previous week), I rode to Harbor Freight and bought a plumbing snake. With 10 kids in and out of the house— plus their friends and others— it seems we’re always clogging up something.

Seriously, about once a year I have to phone the plumber. It cost about $350 to have the line snaked.

So, I decided that the next time I heard gurgling I would by my own tools…

Harbor Freight ran a 25% off ad this past week, so I splurged for the $399 motorized snake. Since the clean out is a mere 15 feet from the septic, I can totally handle it…

With my coupon AND the tax, I was still LESS than what I paid the plumber.

That’s a financial win.

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Family = Mom & Dad over for a few days

Mom and Dad rode into town and stayed in the #DreamSuite at the #Hilltop this Monday through Wednesday. The visit was a two-for-one:

💙 enjoy some time together

💙 create the framework of a website, as well as a template for a book

Dad retired (again) a few months ago— I wrote about it back when it happened. After that, he took a few months off. Now, he’s finishing an upcoming Bible study (I’ll wait and let him announce the WHAT and WHEN and all the details), as well as publishing and setting up a website for his recent writings / teachings.

So, I spent a few hours tutoring / training Mom on how to run our web processes, walked her through the book template, and more.

I’ll post here when the webpage is live…

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Ah…

Some of the grown kids came by Tuesday evening for the 4th. (I wish I would have snapped a few pics, but I didn’t.)

And, Beth bought some of my parents favorite foods— including Cool Whip, one of Dad’s go-to snacks (as long as it’s low fat or fat free).

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Field = Trauma Comes Home, film page live

Bob and I made a site visit to the Homewood Theatre, where we’re looking to screen the soon-to-be-released Trauma Comes Home film. (We begin showing the film a the end of this month.)

We also created a webpage for the film where you can watch the trailer.

At Crosswinds released two documentaries so far. This will be the third in a series. 

Invisible Scars, the first, was released in 2014.

The first release by Crosswinds / Front Porch Media broke new ground by beginning a discussion about Post-Traumatic Stress and the invisible wounds of deployment. 

Featuring interviews with warriors, political leaders, and professional therapists, the documentary focused attention on what was then a little-discussed (yet prevalently experienced) topic.

Honoring the Code followed a few years later.

While creating the first documentary, our team continued hearing professionals discuss something that "looked like" PTSD but wasn't PTSD. We learned of a second "invisible scar" known as Moral Injury.

Whereas PTSD is a response to external threats (mortar fire, dangerous situations, past events), Moral Injury is a response to internal threats. It manifests as guilt, shame, survivor's guilt, feelings of worthlessness and despair. 

Finding a path forward, towards healing, was the focus on this film.

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Whereas the first two documentaries focused primarily on the warrior's experience, the third release affirms that when one family member is affected, everyone is...

And, to find healing, the needs of the entire family unit-- whatever that group looks like-- must be acknowledged and addressed.

Again, here's the link to the trailer, as well as where you'll be able to register to attend a screening.

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Faith = Podcast w/ Roxanne and Ace

I met “Roxanne” Holifield a few years ago when she helped launch the WellHouse. The first gals the WellHouse rescued actually lived in my personal home, with my family, and the ministry officed in space our 501c3 provided for them…

A few weeks ago, she reached out about the Soul Wholeness project.

“Would you come on the podcast and talk about emotional health?”

I was honored.

I met with her and Ace this Monday— and, within a few days, by Friday, they released the talk…

(After leaving WDJC several years ago, they waited about a year and then launched a new podcast— available on all the major platforms.)

Here’s the YouTube of the talk.

At the end, I mentioned the free Soul Wholeness book (pay the shipping and handling, and we’ll send you a free copy), as well as the free audio course.

Here’s another link to the book referenced above:

Here’s a link to the free audio course. 

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Friends = Quick Saturday meet-up

One of the guys I’ve gotten to know through the Crosswinds projects is Matt, a marine.

Saturday morning he reached out: “I need to write my story. Can you help?”

We grabbed coffee that same day and talked about the mechanics of writing, sharing your story, and inviting others on the journey.

The more I talk with people like Matt, the more I realize:

✅ We’ve all been through (different) versions of hard things.

✅ You can’t heal hurts you won’t acknowledge.

✅ You don’t need to dwell on the past, but you don’t need to overlook it either.

✅ We’re better when we forge ahead together, because we learn from each other, we find common ground, and we encourage the healing process (and health-experience) for one another.

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Fun = Movies

Tuesday evening, while Em was over for the 4th, she asked about seeing a movie. We’ve both got movie-passes. We set a date to go see Past Lives the following night, then went to Black Market for a quick dinner.

Beth and I went to see Sound of Freedom the following night which, admittedly, I was far more interested in. (But enjoyed both and the company at both.)

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BTW, Em has her music on Spotify…

Here's her link.

That’s the highlight reel for the week.

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