11/11/2026
Life moves fast. When you carry the weight of providing for your family, your team, and the people who count on you, it's easy to get lost in the daily grind of checking boxes. The work can be deeply fulfilling, but it can also move right past you if you aren't paying attention.
One of the hardest lessons in leadership is learning to say no so you can say yes to the right things. That kind of discernment takes time. But when your community asks, it's worth stopping to listen, because you never know what might become the honor of a lifetime.
October is one of our busiest months. Like a squirrel gathering what it can before winter, we're working hard to finish the season strong for our customers, our crew, and our work family. So when we were asked to help bring a mural to Springboro, it wasn't at the top of my list. It just seemed like a neat opportunity to give back.
It turned into much more than that. I got to meet Lula Goce and her husband and watch true excellence up close. I've learned that when you get the chance to brush up against excellence, nothing bad comes from it. It may not go how you expect, but there's always some magic in it. Just being able to say we were part of it would have been enough.
Then the Springboro Arts Council, the City of Springboro, and the Springboro Chamber of Commerce chose to put our name on this plaque. I never expected that. You shouldn't serve for gratitude. If you expect it, you're doing it for the wrong reasons. You serve because there's a need and because it's right to give back.
Honestly, it feels a little undeserved to have our name set beside something this permanent. It reminds me of the grace Christ showed us on the cross. We didn't earn it, and no amount of work ever could. It's simply given.
Life can be hard, and it moves quickly. Still, slow down and look for chances to give back. In the end, a community is what we put into it.
And sometimes, along the way, you're given a little grace and get to bring a little heaven down to earth.
Thank you to Lula, the Springboro Arts Council, the City of Springboro, and the Springboro Chamber of Commerce for letting us be a small part of "Origins."
