The Mansfield Newsletter Empowering you to overcome challenges and succeed At first glance, my Newsletter today wouldn’t appear to be for everybody. It’s got fighting, and prayers to vanquish Hitler, it’s got tales of woe and a nod to folks who traffic in bodily “organ recitals”. In truth, it’s about men and women advancing in age, decade after decade, and embracing those advances with a smile and a twinkle in their eyes. So, since were all aging, maybe this newsletter just might be for you....
29 days ago • 6 min read
The Mansfield Newsletter Empowering you to overcome challenges and succeed Friendship happens in the context of doing something else. At least in reality, it does. Allow me to explain by presenting the opposite idea first – that being engaged as a friend and being entertained as a fan are two totally separate things. You see, our culture tends to believe the lie that friendship is something manipulated or controlled, like an Uber Eats order: find an interesting person, order up a relationship...
3 months ago • 7 min read
The Mansfield Newsletter Empowering you to overcome challenges and succeed Have you ever gone to places that friends warned you were dangerous, but you went anyway? Well, I just returned a few weeks ago from Poland and Israel. Why did I do it? Stand by and I’ll tell you. Right now, I’d like to challenge you to join me on my next trip to Israel. (I’ll unpack that shortly, too.) Here’s a little background: Although I’ve visited Israel and Egypt several times in the past, it was still a surprise...
5 months ago • 6 min read
The Mansfield Newsletter Empowering you to overcome challenges and succeed For the past several months I’ve been a candidate for city council. The race came to completion yesterday, on Nov 4th. More on that in a little bit. Throughout the time of the race I made a decision to keep my personal priorities straight. Elections, like jobs or hobbies can tend to fill up the gaps of unscheduled time slots. Everything “seems” important and therefore moves up and fills in the gaps! I’ve learned over...
6 months ago • 4 min read
The Mansfield Newsletter Empowering you to overcome challenges and succeed Losses come our way in life. We know that to be true, though we often pretend otherwise. It could be the loss of a position, or the loss of wealth, or even one final failure that envelopes us is the loss of health – we die. We are born into the world to live. In fact, as Americans we have the Right to Life, guaranteed us in our Constitution. We accomplish much, fail frequently, reassemble ourselves in our lives, start...
7 months ago • 8 min read
The Mansfield Newsletter Empowering you to overcome challenges and succeed A close friend of mine, Terry Bush, passed away at the end of 2024; his wife decided to hold the memorial for him in late June, which we just recently went to. It was a wonderful and honoring event of his memory. My daughter, her husband, my son and his wife attended the service – a reflection of how much he was loved and respected by the Roe and Mansfield families. Many of his other friends attended, too. Each had...
10 months ago • 6 min read
The Mansfield Newsletter Empowering you to overcome challenges and succeed Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond, is oddly responsible for helping birth the most iconic rock band of all time, Led Zeppelin. Allow me to explain. When the very first James Bond film was being scored, Ian Fleming met with the proposed composer to discuss how the music should go. Fleming did not like that composer’s work and demanded that composer John Barry take his place. Barry was a respected motion picture...
11 months ago • 7 min read
The Mansfield Newsletter Empowering you to overcome challenges and succeed Difficult decisions are often easier to make than we think – especially if we’ll pay attention to key signposts along the way of the journey. Allow me to offer two examples. First, when the cardiac surgeon came to the opinion that my congenital heart problem needed to be addressed VERY SOON by open heart surgery. I looked at what an operation would entail, including being operated on (and recovering in) hospitals far...
11 months ago • 6 min read
The Mansfield Newsletter Empowering you to overcome challenges and succeed Last week I was in Washington D.C. with my 7th Grade granddaughter, Amelia. She wanted to learn first-hand about American history. I was quite pleased that she wanted to visit D.C. with me. In another sense, I was equally pleased to be there for myself. Washington D.C. is where I was born. I have had years of memories there from when I was a candidate for U.S. Congress, from my time with Focus on the Family & The...
12 months ago • 6 min read