Author: Scott Tufto

Well…perhaps my vision of the service aspect of my project was a little ambitious.  Unlike those of God’s children who are suffering each day and available for us to help, helping grieving children and families is a little more indirect (at least what I’m trying to do).  The challenge I have had is that there are individuals involved that have schedules…and, often times their schedules are dictated by those who sign their checks.  Anyway, through several phone calls, meetings and emails, I do have some GOOD traction on providing publicity for Children’s Grief.  Rather than beat myself up over reaching the finish line with my service project prior to the end of my Sabbatical, I realize this will continue to be an ongoing project.  And, I’m very excited for the seeds I’ve planted and the potential to work with MN Bound and Due North outdoors.  This dedicated time I’ve had has really provided me with an opportunity to learn more about how to navigate through the media industry and I’m confident we’ll get there some day.

Last week I mentioned that I was going on a fishing trip with my dad…and, we went.  We traveled to and fished Devils Lake in North Dakota and the ‘Devil’ definitely wasn’t there.  It’s amazing how when you embrace the fact that God wants us to be happy and to enjoy each other, the devil is nowhere to be found, isn’t it?  Simple concept but incredibly powerful.  It was simply amazing for a couple of reasons.  First, the fishing was very good which generally isn’t the case.  However, us fishermen keep going in hopes we’ll have a trip like the one I enjoyed last week with my Dad.  Second, I really enjoyed spending time with my dad.  We talked about a lot of personal things and bonded in a way I didn’t think was possible.  Over the years, our differing opinions on MOST issues has really prevented us from gaining a deeper appreciation for each other.  My strategy?  Listen and leave the criticism at home.  With my guard down, our time together was so much more enjoyable.  And, I could tell he was in a better place as well.    BTW…just the 2 of us caught 35 Walleyes and over 100 northern pike in 2 days.  That’s pretty good fishing but they said the walleyes are only just starting to bite.  Here are some pics:

Notice in the picture with my Dad cleaning fish…the pan to his left.  Those are all walleye fillets.  We finished off the last day with some shore lunch.  Absolutely one of my favorite trips of all time!

Also have been spending a lot of time with Ben and Will (Ben mostly as he only has school 3 days a week) and helping coach Ben’s baseball team.  In exchange, Ben has been helping me with fixing and chores around the house.  And, in place of my exercise for several days I traded the treadmill for a landscaping project.  Believe me…the landscaping was much more rigorous.  Helpers pictured below including my dog Indy.

On a final note, I’ll end my Sabbatical with some pictures of my Daughter’s graduation day.  She and her long time boyfriend Adam graduated from the University of Minnesota Liberal Arts college and commencement was this past Sunday.  I’m so proud of those two and know they both have bright futures ahead.  Adam is an expert with video production and photography and Regan is much like her mom and excels with organization and event planning.  She starts next week at Life Source in Minneapolis part time to continue to build her skill set and resume.

I’m truly grateful for having had this Sabbatical opportunity.  I really have come a long way in a short period of time and really feel fresh, renewed and blessed (and a little sore from my landscaping).  The rest and reflection opportunity was something I just haven’t had time to consider in the past.  And, without the barrier of everyday business in my way, I’ve been able to learn a lot about myself, enhance relationships and establish a vision for me to work toward.  The book Wild at Heart is really a good book (Thanks for the referral., Todd) and I’m ready to start another.  Although I still probably prefer fixing carburetors over reading.

To those that are coming, I look forward to seeing you at MFDA convention next week.  For those who are not, hopefully I’ll be lucky enough to see you this summer either at the sales meeting or on a VIP trip.

God Bless!

Scott

It’s interesting how the daily Devotional “Starting your Day Right” by Joyce Meyer and Wild at Heart seem to fit so nicely together with what I’m experiencing (and have yet to experience) on my Sabbatical journey. I mean…why wouldn’t they tie together…they both exclusively leverage scripture to give credibility to the messages and lessons they offer. Todd Carlson recommended the book “Wild at Heart by John Eldredge” to me a few years ago and ‘not being a reader’, I never have read the book…’big mistake’. FD has always encouraged reading since I became employed in 2014. And, with each book study…I’ve always come away enlightened. It’s time to make this a habit. Depending on ‘who’ you ask, it takes anywhere from 21 to 66 days to form a habit. So far so good…12 days of reading each and every day…a Scott Tufto first! What’s really cool is that I actually am starting to crave my reading time each day…hmm…I would have never thought it.

Back to “Wild at Heart”…With the service aspect of my project heavily on my mind I had an epiphany yesterday while reading this book. You’d have to read it to understand, but John Eldredge talks about young men becoming ‘wounded’ at some point in their youth (usually from their fathers). Before you freak out by this, sometimes (most times I think), the wound is unintentional and mostly because of a hand-me-down learned behavior from previous generations of men.  Eldrege continues to explain that boys need to be ‘initiated’ into manhood and how many men today are living without having had this opportunity and therefore are wounded. And yes, a death, especially of a father figure, can cause a wound and cause all kinds of problems later in life. As Eldredge points out: masculinity is an essence that is passed from a father to a son. However, “the true essence of strength is passed to us from God through our union with him.” (BTW…ladies, this is a great read for women as well).  So, the initiation CAN happen through an experience with your father, however, if you are ready and you haven’t had your INITIATION yet, the LORD is ready and waiting to provide you with yours (explained well with ties to scripture in the book).

The light bulb illuminates! – Perhaps Eldredge is EXACTLY what some of our campers need which may also fit in with the CGC working on offering a Christian based program to help grieving families (I need to learn more about this).  Since the service aspect of my project is somewhat without specifics, the nature of it continues to evolve.  Since my last blog, I have connected with Leah McClean from KSTP (http://kstp.com/news/leah-mclean/4182251/) to spread the word on CGC (Children’s Grief Connection).  Also, I have a confirmed appointment with Bill Sherck from MN Bound/Due North Outdoors (http://www.ronscharaproductions.com/bill-sherck/).  So, with some good leads on the networking side in place, I felt a need to connect with Coral P. from CGC and share some of my revelations.  I asked Coral if there was any merit to expanding the CGC camp offerings to also include an outdoor/adventure type activity.  Boom…Coral has many connections with other organizations where she says hiking, camping, rafting, etc…types of activities have huge impacts and troubled youth.  So, what does this all mean?  Bill Sherck is an Eagle Scout, Survivalist and incredible story teller.  There might just be a great fit here between Bill, MN Bound and CGC.  Coral and I are planning on reconnecting and continuing our communication with the hope we can connect with someone who is the RIGHT fit to tell the CGC story and get more grieving families to our camps.

Regarding my Sabbatical…tomorrow I leave for a 3 day fishing trip with my Dad.  I’ve never been on a trip like this before with him and I’m really hopeful we can reconnect and create memories.  Other than my normal daily activities, this past week I have been consumed with spring activities such as tilling the garden, mowing the lawn, cleaning the garage, fertilizing, rebuilding 6 carburetors on the boat, and also taking Ben golfing on his days off from school.  Yesterday, my daughter Regan also joined Ben and me for golf and lunch.  Regan managed to get stung by a bee at the golf course but thank God she is not allergic.  Had it stung me, we may have had problems…Until next time!

God Bless!

Scott

We are fresh off our visit to Florida to visit relatives (and mix in a little fun for the boys). We spent a few days with Miki’s aunt in Nokomis, FL and my God parents at the Villages. Wow…great visit on many fronts. Miki’s aunt is a long time employee at a local golf club and has formed many deep relationships with the members there. However, with the death of her long time partner (Wally) a few years back, she remains alone. She has struggled with the uncertainty of an unstable employment situation and worries about what she will do if she is let go. For now, she has her heart set on staying in Florida but has thought about returning home to Minnesota at some point. Of course, we have opened our doors to her should she ever want to come home. The timing was right for us to visit and we are so blessed to have been able to be there for her last week.

With my God parents (and Aunt and Uncle), the visit was also VERY beneficial I think for both them and me. My aunt continues to receive cancer treatment and travels to Gainesville frequently for treatments. Considering what she is going through, she looks great and I made sure she knew it. My uncle continues to stay busy with golf, softball and pickleball which I think by design allows him to spend time away from my aunt. A little sad, but it has been that way since I can remember. What I didn’t know is how close my uncle and mom are to each other. They are the only 2 siblings from my grandma and grandpa who are both deceased. According to my uncle, he and my mom talk once a week by phone.

Anyway, we had great quality time with all and I feel so good to have spend time with all of them. For some reason the hugs felt much tighter this time around. All good.

A couple of days at Disney with my boys included visits to the Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. Both the boys were crazy about all of the Star Wars stuff and we were fortunate to spend a couple hundred bucks on a bunch of plastic light sabers, spray bottle fans and chicken nuggets. All good…with a lot of great memories to be had. Ben’s highlight of the trip was riding on the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train roller coaster. My highlight was exploring with Ben around the Port Orleans Riverside resort where we stayed.

We finished yesterday at Disney Springs and arrived back in Minneapolis just before midnight last night. Reflection time today will more than likely be a nap!

Next steps: Continued focus on my service project with new developments in my next blog.  Upcoming visits with my Mom and possibly a LONG awaited fishing trip with my Dad.

God Bless!

I must admit it’s VERY weird not being at work.  But, I’m starting to really grab hold of this and am starting to really understand the WHY behind the sabbatical.  Primarily, each day my mind is consumed with thoughts of work such as, pre-call prep for appointments, marketing, lead generation, prospecting, putting out fires, etc…you all know the drill.  These thoughts subside somewhat at night with family when we gather to eat but then creep back in prior to shutting it down for the night.  Now that I’m letting go of that, all kinds of new thoughts are coming in.  Primarily guided by the devotional and my reflection time.  I’m really starting to see there is so much more I can become if I just commit to it.  What a great opportunity I have and I’m going to make the most of it.

The first couple of days it has been difficult to not think about clients, so I immersed myself in reading and activities.  Don’t worry, I’m not going to give you a day by day account of what I’ve been doing but since it’s only been 3 days…

Day 1:  I spent the entire day with my son Ben.  He is 5 years old and is in preschool part time.  Ordinarily on Monday he has school but not this time.  As Ben put it “Mom, today is Me and Dad time!”.  So, after my morning exercise and coffee, Ben and I went to the range to hit some golf balls and do some chipping and putting.  All that work made us hungry so…off to McDonalds.  From there, we went to Dick’s to shop for new batting gloves and a bat for Ben as he is starting baseball soon.  He’s only five, but will be in minor C which is the next step up from T-ball.  He hits the ball better if it is pitched to him than if it is on a tee (actually he’s VERY good at it).  However, he needs to work on his catching, throwing and fielding (He has time…he’s only 5).  Anyway, the day was awesome, and I can’t really recall having a whole day one on one with just Ben.  Pretty special.

Day 2:  The service component of my Sabbatical is something I’ve been thinking about and praying about probably since last year when we started preparing for the Sabbatical.  Yes, I’m very passionate about funeral service…and also very protective of it.  With Children’s Grief Connection in Minnesota, I’ve learned over the years how amazing funeral directors really are.  Of course coming from manufacturing and engineering, I was an outsider like most and was skeptical about the profession.  To make a long story short (very difficult for me to do) I have never met anyone as passionate and caring about people as are funeral directors.  And, when our industry receives publicity, it is generally negative…wrong body at a viewing, cremated the body and shouldn’t have, she didn’t look right, flowers were terrible, etc…the list goes on and on.  So, I’ll be working hard to educate and inform some of our local media outlets in the Minneapolis area on CGC and lift up our funeral director volunteers.  My ultimate goal is for someone to pick up the story, but If I can meet with as many as I can and educate them on our great organization, perhaps it will lead to something in the future.  Ultimately, story or not…I’m going to spread the good word.

So, this morning, I stopped in to talk with Bill Sherck from Due North Outdoors.  No commitment yet, but Bill is asking questions and considering how we could spin an outdoor element into doing a show about our CGC camp.  Also, I have reached out to a couple others at Kare 11 and WCCO in Minneapolis through networking connections.  We’ll see how that goes.  When I secure an appointment, I’m hoping to connect with Coral and have her joint me.

Today:  Thanks to my devotional, I walked out my door and had conversations with neighbors that I rarely ever talk to.  We live in a neighborhood of empty nesters and my perception is that we really don’t have much in common.  Nothing could be further from the truth…our lawns all look horrible from the winter, this spring has been way too cold, taxes are too high…yep, plenty in common.  Also, in the past I’ve somewhat been resentful of the fact that if we stay in this neighborhood long enough, my neighbors are going to need our help with more things…what?  I don’t have time to help myself…let alone…wait, stop…what am I thinking?  This is a great opportunity to help people!  The good Lord has put this right in my lap and I’ve been blind.  Blind no more…this is going to be an awesome next several weeks.  I’m hopeful to reach out and start planting seeds that I’m here to help and just hope and pray that my neighbors will welcome an extra hand.  More to come on this topic…

What’s next?  Off to Florida tomorrow.  Seeing Miki’s Aunt and going to see my God Parents (Aunt and Uncle).  My Aunt Donna has been battling cancer for the past year and it’s been a struggle.  I haven’t seen her or my uncle for over 5 years…I’m super excited to see them.  They send me a birthday card every year and haven’t missed one in 47 years.  I’m very grateful.  We’ll be in the Nakomis area for 3 days, then at the Villages north of Orlando and then off to Disney with Ben and Will for a couple of days.  Ben was at Disney when he was a baby, but doesn’t remember.  With Will 9 and Ben 5 years, they are at pretty good ages.

God Bless!

Scott