<![CDATA[Fike's Substack: 🤗 Between People]]>https://www.robfike.com/s/between-peoplehttps://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Z422!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0b629478-973b-4ed8-a53d-d5ccd62030ca_256x256.pngFike's Substack: 🤗 Between Peoplehttps://www.robfike.com/s/between-peopleSubstackTue, 23 Jun 2026 15:28:09 GMT<![CDATA[My "WHY"]]>https://www.robfike.com/p/my-whyhttps://www.robfike.com/p/my-whyFri, 30 Aug 2024 15:40:46 GMTIt's no secret that I am a #girldad (see: Bluey Shirt and my beautiful wife Damaris Cavazos Fike) with three unique, beautiful, intelligent, and tenacious little girls.

The most beautiful women in the world… and me.

And they get 'less little' every day. The more they explore the world around them, the more they ask questions, and the more their questions begin to stump me. I look at my girls and see a future they will inherit and a promise they will build. But both of those things rely on me fulfilling my promise: to leave the world a little bit better than I found it.

I have spent my entire career in nonprofits, serving folks where spirituality and physical needs meet. First, it was at CityChurch (formerly BRCC) in San Antonio. Then, I spent four years at the San Antonio Food Bank during the height of the COVID-19 Pandemic, and I've spent the last 15 months at SAMMinistries.

Every role I've taken since having children has been with this people focus in mind. That is not only because of my children, but because of the Christian scripture passage that has guided me for the last decade:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Luke 4:18-19

Many cite the Sermon on the Mount as Jesus' first sermon, but to me, this passage was truly the first time Jesus stepped out and preached; his message was that God's favor was upon the most vulnerable. And I wanted to bring myself as close to that mission of love as possible. The Good News is that God's Kingdom of Love came down to us, His face shining upon the widow, the captor, the oppressed, the poor.

That is why I love serving at SAMMinistries. It is why I continue to push against food and housing insecurity, why I cannot abide pain and suffering for our neighbors in a plentiful land.

I can do what I can where I am with what I have, and you can, too. Service is not reserved for those who work in nonprofits. Everyone can contribute their talents, treasures, and unique perspectives to make our communities a beautiful place of hope.

If we do that, I can look at my children and know I left everything on the table for them and their future. We can build higher walls or a longer table for our neighbors in need. I can tell you what I want to build, and I can't wait to sit at that table with all of you. 🏠🔑

Fike's Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

]]><![CDATA[Bringing My Father With Me]]>https://www.robfike.com/p/bringing-my-father-with-mehttps://www.robfike.com/p/bringing-my-father-with-meSun, 16 Jun 2024 18:53:29 GMTThis Father’s Day, I wanted to talk a bit1 about my dad who will be 692 years old this July.

I bring my dad with me everywhere I go.
When I make decisions.
When I speak with others.
When I write – my father’s wisdom comes with me.

My father’s kindness is reflected in the work that I do, the people that I serve, and the way I play with my kids.

Some of you readi…

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]]><![CDATA[Not Here to Make Friends]]>https://www.robfike.com/p/not-here-to-make-friendshttps://www.robfike.com/p/not-here-to-make-friendsMon, 03 Jun 2024 15:08:51 GMT“I’m not here to make friends.”

I don’t know when this saying came about. I want to say it was during the ‘reality TV’ craze in like Survivor, but it always struck me as weird.

[Just Kidding] This was bothering me so I looked into it.

In that This American Life episode, I traced the reality TV origin of “I’m not here to make friends” back to the first seas…

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]]><![CDATA[Creative Mournings]]>https://www.robfike.com/p/creative-mourningshttps://www.robfike.com/p/creative-mourningsWed, 15 May 2024 14:44:42 GMT

This October, I will turn 40 years old. 4 decades.

I have a beautiful, smart, and loving wife. I have three amazing girls. I have a beautiful (messy) home, a job, and family that cares about me.

And I am deeply depressed.

You may have noticed that my last post was two months ago. If you didn’t notice, it’s okay: I did. I’ve been staring at a drawer full of…

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]]><![CDATA[You Pass Butter]]>https://www.robfike.com/p/you-pass-butterhttps://www.robfike.com/p/you-pass-butterFri, 27 Oct 2023 17:03:44 GMT Read more

]]><![CDATA[Between People: Gina 'Beana']]>https://www.robfike.com/p/between-people-gina-beanahttps://www.robfike.com/p/between-people-gina-beanaThu, 19 Oct 2023 14:31:11 GMT

Gina and I worked together for a handful of years in the 2010s and have been friends ever since. She is an exceptional artist who made crocheted versions of Bluey and Bingo for my kiddos for Christmas1, and she has always shown our family - and my wife especially - warm kindness and intentional empathy. I’m delighted to have this conversation with her an…

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]]><![CDATA[Between People: Roger Narvaez]]>https://www.robfike.com/p/between-people-roger-narvaezhttps://www.robfike.com/p/between-people-roger-narvaezThu, 05 Oct 2023 16:03:36 GMTMeet Roger.

Roger and I had the pleasure of working together at the San Antonio Food Bank. I was working in the Development team and Roger was working in Client Services. We both now happen to be writers and working at different organizations. Roger recently published his first book, a memoir titled Between the Tracks, and I wanted to share his work with…

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]]><![CDATA[Between People: Jon Pyle]]>https://www.robfike.com/p/between-people-jon-pylehttps://www.robfike.com/p/between-people-jon-pyleFri, 22 Sep 2023 14:11:18 GMT and I have known each other for over a decade. We worked at the same church for several years, and have since kept up the conversations. He's one of the most insightful, thought-provoking people I know, and I'm proud to be talking with him today.

Jon is standing cool in the middle. I’m on the far right. Don’t ask about the sword.

An unrecorded podcast 🎙️

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]]><![CDATA[Pivot!]]>https://www.robfike.com/p/pivothttps://www.robfike.com/p/pivotFri, 15 Sep 2023 11:57:59 GMT

Why Between People?

You may have read the last couple of posts from BETWEEN PEOPLE and thought to yourself, “What crawled up this guy’s butt?” I don’t blame you. I think, for the most part, this sub-substack is about people in community, and I’ve had a hot-mess discontent around our economic structures making war with the gentle, supportive ideal our com…

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]]><![CDATA[Up and to the Right ↗️]]>https://www.robfike.com/p/up-and-to-the-righthttps://www.robfike.com/p/up-and-to-the-rightTue, 12 Sep 2023 12:47:08 GMTA word of warning: I’m not an economist. I’m pretty terrible with money in general. So, the observations I’m making are less about the fundamentals of the economy, but rather my observations from a historical perspective, which I do have a degree in.

Historical Implications

From the historical side of things, you zoom out far enough and a lot of patterns…

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]]><![CDATA[When the Math doesn't Math]]>https://www.robfike.com/p/when-the-math-doesnt-mathhttps://www.robfike.com/p/when-the-math-doesnt-mathFri, 08 Sep 2023 13:10:22 GMTLet’s face it, y’all: the math isn’t mathing. Yes, I’m aware that the grammar isn’t grammaring there, but the writer in me and the discontent within me are at war over my soul.

We are in a maelstrom of inflation, greedflation1, a volatile housing market, the throws of a pandemic bucking itself back into the spotlight and governments that don’t seem to car…

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]]><![CDATA[When Talent Destroys A Team]]>https://www.robfike.com/p/when-talent-destroys-a-teamhttps://www.robfike.com/p/when-talent-destroys-a-teamTue, 16 May 2023 14:38:55 GMTIt’s no secret that I love basketball. I grew up playing it in little leagues. I never got to play in school, but that didn’t stop me from dreaming about playing in the NBA. I’m guessing I never got the call up to the big league because of a lack of height and general talent, but that’s not really what this post is about. No, this post is about two NBA …

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