May is a busy month — with end of school year parties and graduations, the time flies as summer begins. This month is significant for another reason: May is Mental Health Month. It is wonderful that our society talks openly about mental health issues. When I was growing up,…

Many years ago, while working in the association management world, I had a director who challenged his managers (including me) to calculate the “true” cost of every program we proposed. My director’s challenge was not merely a budgetary task; it was an exercise in extreme critical thinking that moved us…

It is no secret that I am a pastor in the United Methodist faith. Many times, I find that having children with bleeding disorders challenges my theology and how I view the world, when considering divine providence over life and the struggles that make us human. I am…

Our family took a recent trip to White Sands, New Mexico. The dunes were amazing. I had thought that my feet would burn due to the heat. However, I was pleasantly surprised to realize that the sand was cold. I enjoyed walking barefoot as we climbed to the top of…

Summer is upon us. Our kids have big plans: sleeping in, watching television, playing video games, sleepovers, vacations, and summer camp. From church camp to athletic and band camp, the summer is filled with opportunities. The bleeding disorder community also has summer camps across the country from June to…

As I write this, Mother’s Day is approaching, and tributes to mothers have begun filling the pages of local blogs and publications. They speak of the heroism of moms around the world. The sacrifices that moms make for their children. Everything they do to make their families’ lives a tiny…

I once spent an entire summer reading Emily Dickinson’s work and analyzing it, from the literal meaning of her words to the historical context of her work and the constraints under which she wrote each line. At the end of that summer, I was positive about one thing when…

A name is not mere letters on paper or a screen, but a way to proclaim our existence. What we call ourselves lets the world know who we are. My name, Joe Keith, comes from my great-uncle (my grandfather’s brother). I take a great deal of pride in carrying on…