I was vacationing at my parents’ house in Maryland when I found out I was pregnant with my fourth child. Giddy with excitement, I shared the news with my mom and (by telephone) with my husband. It was hard to sleep that night as I thought about tiny socks, soft blankets, and heart-cracking little smiles. [...]

Q. What do experiences with stillbirth, wayward brothers, malnourished children, aging parents, mental illness, and abortion have in common?
A. Each provides rich opportunities to learn about the pure love of Christ.
Don’t miss the essays and poems on these and other topics in our fall issue, Cleave Unto Charity, featuring the artwork of Rose Datoc Dall. It’s available for your [...]

I walked out of James Bond last night after the first scene. The violence made my heart double dribble and I started getting hot flashes.
I came home to watch Isabel Allende shove peanuts down her dress on Craig Ferguson.
I had a tuna sandwich on hazelnut bread. It needed more mustard.
I watched the sporadic snow out [...]

We are excited to host a new poetry contest, sponsored by Lisa Meadows Garfield. Enter your unpublished poetry according to the guidelines.
Deadline: December 31, 2006

Blood and Milk
I dreamed of Oxford . . .
          (spires, a thousand spires, endless lectures, musty halls
          a solitary self in a Bodleian expanse
          A good life my dear Wormwood. An orderly life.)
then awakened to laundry
          and things to be wiped
          (countertops, noses, bottoms)
How did this happen? And when, exactly?

“Hi Dad.”
“Courtey, is that you?”
“Dad you still sound sick.”
“I am so sick Courtey.”

Kathy Soper’s article Greater Good from the Spring 2006 edition of Segullah has really been resonating with me.  She references the scripture from Mosiah, where Alma is inviting the people to enter the waters of Mormon to be baptized. 

I lost my groove. I’m not really sure where I put it, but suddenly, it was gone. I looked fervently for a few days, in all the usual places, but never was able to locate it. And so it has been, for nearly three years now, I’ve been doing without my groove.

I will never forget the Thanksgiving when I was finally given a food assignment to bring. The whole ordeal meant more to me than my high school and college diploma combined. A food assignment at Thanksgiving was the true test of adulthood.

I have a small life. I live in a small house with thankfully small utility bills. Our town is small, with a small grocery store and small library (the librarian calling me by name on my second visit almost made up for the lack of books). Big things don’t usually happen here, and I like [...]

Take a moment today and open your purse. Really
examine its contents. Let’s open mine, shall we?

Sitting in my sun-filled lounge yesterday pondering on lofty doctrines and brownie recipes I was jolted by a very sincere thought,
“I need to get my Christmas shopping done. Today.”

I had just released the belt on my son’s car seat when I heard him utter a phrase no mother wants to hear. It wasn’t “Mom, I think I’m going to throw up” or “Look mom, I cut my hair (and my brother’s too!)” or “I hate you.”

We’re presenting at the Association for Mormon Letters Conference tomorrow.
Come join us!

My husband and I finally bought our dream house this year. The funny thing is, we didn’t even realize it at the time. We thought we were making a practical decision in response to my husband’s chronic health problems. No, we didn’t buy the large house with the amazing yard in the right school [...]