Welcome to James' Gems! The semi-precious blog of The Family Pro.

Hi! I'm James Baumgardner, The Family Pro. And I bet that before you're willing to invest even 2 minutes into reading this blog, you'd like to know a little about me. I totally understand...

So allow me to introduce myself: For over 30 years, I’ve helped people thrive in their individual lives and family relationships. Initially, I began serving as an ordained family life minister and certified family life educator, but for the past almost 20 years, I've worked as a Licensed Professional Counselor in three different states (OH, KS, and now OK) in a variety settings.

Currently, I help people as a professional counselor through my private practice, The Family Pro, providing personal care, primarily for individuals and couples, from a Christian perspective. Specifically, I offer counseling services in a comfortable, local office setting (Owasso, OK), and coaching services in a convenient, global online format. At present (and for the last 12 years) I also teach students as an adjunct professor in the psychology department at Rogers State University.

I've been married for over 35 years, and have 4 children. I love to listen to all kinds of music, play my drums, beatbox, play disc golf, hike, read espionage thrillers, teach Bible class, and take trips with my family.

This blog, James' Gems, is intended to provide you (my readers/my friends) precious (or at least semi-precious) nuggets of truth that will give you practical help both for your inner world of thoughts and feelings, as well as your outer world of behaviors and relationships. I will sometimes offer you instructional gems, which I hope will spark a fresh understanding or launch a positive change. At other times, I will offer you inspirational gems, which I hope will lift your soul and, perhaps even, change your eternal future.

For future blog posts, please leave a comment below, listing some topics or questions you'd like me to address. I really, really enjoy addressing you and your concerns specifically, rather than simply offering up general information. So, let's collaborate.

Until we meet here again, all the best to you and yours!

--James

BTW: Why do think I chose a pic of turquoise gems? Comment below with your best guess.