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I started my journey of blogging in 2003 — mostly to capture what I called “transitioning life’s journey”.
In 2023 I took a 3 year break from blogging, but have decided to return to it. I hope you enjoy.
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Rhett Smith 99: Some Thoughts on Taking Next Steps In Your Life
Sometimes I have thoughts that I have been processing and I just want to explore out loud with others. In this case, the others is you. So in this episode I explore what it looks like to wrestle with taking the next step in your life, and how you discern what the next step is. […]
Rhett Smith 93: Understanding and Taking Care of You: Work, Relationships, and Self-Care
A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to speak to a group of employees for Marriott Hotels here in the local Dallas area. It was a great opportunity to help others understand how to have healthy relationships in and out of the work place by beginning to take care of themselves. So in this […]
Rhett Smith 84: Emotional Regulation, Boundaries and Anxiety in the Age of Online Political Discourse
So I am not one to talk much about politics…at least online. There are several reasons for this. 1) I feel a bit naive on the subject matter and not as fluent in political knowledge and conversation as I would like to be. 2) I’ve rarely seen political discussion online lead to anything positive. So […]
Rhett Smith Podcast 27: Mastering the Art of Trust — with Artist, Author, and Craftsmen, Aubrey McGowan
“The people who are having the greatest impact are the people who have heaps of this one thing… Trust.” (Learning to Master the Art of Trust, pp. 1) You may recognize Aubrey’s name from episode 14 which was a very popular episode. In that episode we explored his family’s move to Tennessee from Texas last […]
Rhett Smith Podcast 6: Exploring a Rhythm of Life, Creativity, and Leadership from the Quaker Tradition — with Theologian, Professor and Writer, Wess Daniels
As I say in the introduction of this podcast, Wess Daniels is one of the smartest guys that I know. I first met Wess about ten years ago or more when I was a student at Fuller Theological Seminary and pastoring at Bel Air Presbyterian Church. I started hanging out with Wess when he was […]
Rhett Smith Podcast 2: Transform Your Health, Fitness and Leadership — with Payan X Founder, Marc Payan
What can I say about Marc Payan? He is someone who is hard to sum up in just a few words. I first came across Marc in the online marriage and relationship space. Though we first met online I began to occasionally see Marc in person and I have really been inspired by him. Marc […]
Leadership and Relationships: Creating Safety
“Weak leaders are the ones who only extend the benefits of the Circle of Safety to their fellow senior executives and a chosen few others. They look out for each other, but they do not offer the same considerations to those outside their ‘inner circle.’ Without the protection of our leaders, everyone outside the inner […]
Why Ministry Leaders Don’t Get the Help They Need! (And What They Can Do About It)
I’ve grown up in the Church (son of church planters, pastor, spiritual director, chaplain). I’ve participated and volunteered in the Church my entire life. I’ve been on staff of churches for about 15 years. I love ministry, but I also know there are some inherent dangers in working in ministry. Burning out. Constant people pleasing […]
Youth Workers: Come Join Us at The Summit Conference in Atlanta, Georgia
I’m super excited to be part of The Summit this November 9-10 in Atlanta, Georgia. This event is put on by The Youth Cartel (i.e. Mark Oestreicher and Adam McLane). I love their ideas for this event, and love their passion for youth ministry. I got to spend a week with them in Haiti back […]
Are You a Self-Differentiated Leader? If Not, You Need to Become One
Leadership is an important topic for me. I spent years in leadership in various ministry positions, and I continue to take on leadership roles within my newer vocation of marriage and family therapy. But leadership has become more and more of an important topic for me these last couple of years because I know I […]
The 9 Letter Dirty Word in the Church
Introvert. Yes, if you don’t know that that has often been/and is a dirty word in the Evangelical and faith communities, then you are probably an extrovert. I didn’t realize it was a dirty word until I read Adam McHugh’s insightful and powerful book, Introverts in the Church: Finding Our Place in an Extroverted Culture. […]
Do Churches Try and Protect Their Congregants from Anxiety?
A couple of weeks ago a friend of mine shared an article with me on my Facebook profile called, How to Land Your Kid in Therapy. It is a fascinating read for sure, and well worth your time. But I was especially taken by this passage: Paul Bohn, a psychiatrist at UCLA who came to […]
How Ministry Leaders Avoid the Hard Work of Boundary Setting
We talk a lot about boundaries in our culture. “Boundaries define us. They define what is me and what is not me. A boundary shows me where I end and someone else begins, leading me to a sense of ownership. Knowing what I am to own and take responsibility for gives me freedom.” (Boundaries, Townsend […]
‘Taking’ a Triune God Into Our Pastoral Counseling Work
A book that I read about seven years ago, and have flipped back and forth through on occasion in the last few years…I have just recently picked back up again and started re-reading it because of my interest in the integration of theology and psychology, especially pertaining to pastoral counseling in the context of the […]
Ministry Leadership: Being ‘Authentic’ Doesn’t Mean ‘Bleeding All Over the Congregation’
It seems that everyone is searching for ‘authenticity’ in their leaders. At least a younger generation of people are wanting this ‘authenticity’. In fact, Thomas Rainer who co-authored The Millennials: Connecting to America’s Largest Generation with his son Jess Rainer, recently wrote this in the article 4 Things Millennials Want in Their Leaders: 3. Transparency […]
Pastoral Leadership: Why It May Be More About Your Family of Origin Than About Technique and Data Collecting
Family problems can often be resolved by having the parents or partners focus on and work at unresolved issues in their families of origin. By the same token, leaders must not only develop vision, persistence, and stamina, but also understand that the problems they encounter may stem from their own unsolved family issues, their organization’s […]
The Chemistry of a Church Staff
This is a guest post from my good friend Justin Lathrop whose company Help Staff Me in January of 2011 united with Vanderbloemen Search Group in an effort to serve the church with all their staffing needs. Whether it is a Jr. High Pastor a Lead Pastor or an Executive Pastor we are equipped to […]
Change vs. Transition: Why Most People Will Fail at Achieving Their 2011 Goals
Without a transition, a change is just a rearrangement of the furniture. –William Bridges I can easily say that I learn as much from my clients in the course of a therapy session, then perhaps they often learn from me. At the end of each day when the last client has left the office, and […]