Talking about feet might seem like a weird thing to discuss for an author, poet, Christian Minister, and/or lawyer. Seems like a better question for a podiatrist, runner, doctor or some other person concerned with body parts or physical fitness. However, I am asking you to consider the question today, right now as you read this on your mobile device or computer: Where are you feet? Entertain me and answer aloud. It may seem like a silly question and I am here to suggest to you that it is! Your feet tell you where you are physically located that it is it! Your feet are connected to the rest of your body and give you an indication as to where you physically are. Yet we go throughout our very days preoccupied, worried, and overcome by where our feet are. We spend hours talking about where we are and why we think we got there and whose fault it is that we are there. Yet, it is in fact a silly question. The question that really matters is: Where is your heart and mind? You are, wher ...
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I am realizing that many of us call ourselves family lawyers and often it is a misnomer. Unfortunately, often times we are not lawyers who work for families. Many of us have turned our profession into lawyers who work for one party, get enrolled in their drama, and advocate a position based righteousness, hurt feelings - filtered with a little law in between. What am I saying? A family lawyer can be expected to be just that. A lawyer representing one interest, yet being for the entire family. I am suggesting that family law is about the wholeness of the family. Am I a good advocate, yes. Do I get good reliable results for my client, yes. Am I for the families, yes. What am I saying? The job of a family lawyer is to bring professional sanity to a hurt and insane situation. Our job is to bring expertise and compassion to a highly emotional setting. Our job is to advocate for, while redirecting energies and attention to a new future. Yes, a new future. You do not have to always be fighting paren ...
The act of being thankful, often seems like a far cry from what is happening when engaged in the legal system, especially in matters of family court. When we think of the an adversarial system such as ours, thankfulness is not an idea that comes to mind. However, I want to encourage you to approach your legal situations with a thankful heart. Does that mean, you do not fight for or advance your own interests? No. Does that mean you do not put forth the relevant facts that advance your cause? No. It does mean that as you do those things you bring with you a thankfulness in your heart and mind and a vision for what you want for your future. When is the last time you approached your legal battles with a focus on the future? One of the first things I do with my clients is I have them write down their mission statement for my representation of them. This is so that we begin to get present in writing, what do you want your future to look like after this case is over. Said another way, when you look beyond the em ...