Friends

I’ve never been any good at making friends. I remember after moving to northern Michigan in 1975, my mother prodded me out of the house to “go find someone to play with!” I walked up and down the street, knocking on doors, asking the question, “Do you have any kids here? Do they want any [...]

The Prayers of Many

Like many good LDS women I have suffered with heavy-duty fertility issues. Not so much fertility as just staying pregnant the entire nine months. If it seems like doctors don’t know much about how to help a women get pregnant, they know even less about how to keep a woman pregnant. But this post isn’t [...]

The Home Teacher

Juliana is originally from the Pacific Northwest and is publishing this post anonymously because she doesn’t want to offend anyone. My cell phone rang, and the caller asked to speak to my husband. It was our home teacher setting an appointment for the next Sunday. He arrived promptly at the arranged time, sat in our [...]

Confessions of a …

Karyn works in the the tech industry but would rather be playing with her six-year old daughter. She has supported her husband through 7 years of cancer treatments and chronic pain. Just to tempt herself, Karyn lives in Los Angeles– a mecca of fabulous shopping and exquisite bargains. A few years ago, I decided that [...]

A welcome or unwelcome guest?

Well, it happened yesterday. I had a guest arrive who decided to move in permanently. I was surprised when I answered the door and there she stood. I eyed her warily, wondering how she found me. We looked at each other for a few moments, she waiting for my reaction, me, wondering how she got [...]

Interview with Featured Artist Lee Bennion

Here at Segullah, we’re giddy about our new issue of the journal. We love the essays, articles and poems; and Lee Bennion’s artwork makes the print edition a thing of beauty. We can’t quite believe our luck to have Lee Bennion, one of the most highly-respected and well-loved contemporary LDS painters, as our featured artist. [...]

It’s Snow Problem…

Am I the only person on this good earth that loves snow? All around me, even in my own house, I’m bombarded with complaints of cold, whines about shoveling, grumbles about snowstorms.

A Love Story

I have a very busy husband. In addition to running two businesses, he holds a calling faithfully and is solely responsible for the financial well being of our home. Still, he always makes time for his first love: himself.

different

Just to clarify who I am: I’m “the other Michelle L.” here at Segullah’s blog, not to be confused with the lovely Michelle L. who helps this blog run so smoothly. Because online there are so many Michelles (and ‘Chelles…see yesterday’s post), you’ll usually see me comment with my handle, m&m. Curled up in bed, I spent an hour praying, [...]

Fall 2008 Edition of Segullah

Segullah is always thoughtful, insightful, touching, and inspiring, and the Fall 2008 edition is no exception. Dalene Rowley shares her joy and anguish at sending her son on a mission. Kristen Carson shows us how she keeps her stomach reverent on Fast Sunday. Wendy Ulrich, PhD gives us insights on achieving happiness in simple ways. [...]

Pass it on

Can you feel the love in the air? Chelle’s guest post will bring you a bigger smile than pink & white Valentine M&Ms. Her previous Segullah post can be found here(which will also make you smile) and you can enjoy her fresh, positive personality at There she goes… Do you want to know what I [...]

Bearing a ‘peculiar’ burden

I live here, amid leafy foliage, snowy fields, and brick walls of small-town New England, in a white Colonial house with a red door and black shutters. I may seem ordinary, but I bear a peculiar burden. Only nine of the 9,500 people in my town are active members of the church (five of them [...]

The Security Blanket

When my boys were toddlers, they took a page from the Linus Van Pelt playbook and carried their favorite baby blankets everywhere they went– to the playground, to the grocery store, to church if I’d let them. I had to sneak them away to wash them. And believe me, after being traipsed through the mud [...]

Deliberate surrender

There’s a woman in my ward named Joanne. She’s probably sixty-ish, but her smooth, rosy cheeks make her look much younger. Although stalwart in the gospel she rarely comes to church these days because of the effects of severe Type 1 diabetes. But once in a while I see her shuffling a slow course around [...]

“Experiment Upon My Words”

I’ve always been a skeptic — critically thinking, cynical perhaps, un-trusting at the rotten core. I think it might be my parents fault, but I’m trying to blame everything on them, so I’m not sure if it’ll all stick.

And then the brownies exploded

I invited a friend over for Sunday dinner the other day, which meant that after we got home from church, we went into full company mode. My 6 year old was ordered to clean the playroom, my husband was relegated to the grill to smoke the salmon (yes, it was a good as it sounds), [...]

Sister Act

I have three daughters who are thirteen, seven and three years old. They spend an alarming amount of time complaining about each other, criticizing, bossing and generally being as annoying as possible. Last week my seven year old, Arabella, came to me crying about how she has no friends in the family (I also have [...]

The Ugliest Girl in the World

Blue is a mother of two and wife to a 40 year old med student(it’s never to late to chase those dreams!). You may want to share this wonderful guest post with your children. As far back as I can remember I felt like a social misfit. Ridicule and name calling were a common part [...]

Through Heaven’s Eyes

The phone crackled with my dad’s excitement, “Bill has been called into the bishopric. I’m flying out to California to set him apart as a High Priest. I knew he would do great things when your sister married him. I knew he was a man of God.” Emotions swarmed my mind—excitement for Bill, worry for [...]

To Let

I know what you are going to say. I am going to write this post and then you are going to say, “Oh honey it’s so normal.” And I don’t want you to say that. Because I know it’s normal. But that doesn’t make it any easier. Also, I don’t want to write this post [...]

As A Woman?

A few days ago I posted this quote from Chieko Okazaki at Times & Seasons, and asked readers if they believed it was true. We know that on some level Jesus experienced the totality of mortal existence in Gethsemane. It’s our faith that he experienced everything–absolutely everything. Sometimes we don’t think through the implications of [...]

Tears

I went to the temple Wednesday. Oh boy did I need it. I sat in the temple after the session and cried and cried and cried. Why? I have no idea. Was it because I had lost my recommend and hadn’t been in a couple of months? Was it because I was PMS-y? Too much [...]

Calling Out Our Callings

On my birthday (fancy that!) I was called into the Bishop’s office and given a new calling—a calling I had always presupposed would be my dream calling (seriously: fancy that). As soon as he said, “instructor in the Relief Society,” a huge smile burst forth from my lips and almost as quickly, I felt immediate [...]

Sort and Purge

On Monday night we had to move Stella’s bed out of the kids room, the shoe baskets, roller skates, hobby horses, LeapPad, princess books, floor puzzles, and some other stuff we keep in that corner had to go too (yes all from one corner. It’s New York, remember? And we have three kids in there [...]

With the Exception of Sponge Bob and Jack Black’s Forays Into Children’s Movies

Many thanks to delightful Kacy for guest-blogging today. She has lives in Provo, UT with her hubby and 4 children and can also be found at lightrefreshmentsserved.com and Every Day I Write the Book. Sometimes I wonder if I’m doing my kids a disservice by sheltering them from funny TV. I let them watch Disney [...]

Bitte Alle Aussteigen

It takes an hour to get there. One bus, two different subway trains, one street tram: I try never to make so many connections but the cemetery is as far away from the city center as you can get without entering the countryside. I can see why Vienna’s Zentral Friedhof is a tourist destination. It’s [...]

Living in a fishbowl

I’ve never been a private person. The only time I ever got called into the bishop’s office as a teenager, it was for mooning a van full of our ward’s young men on the way home from Youth Conference. When Leslie and I were college freshmen, we never closed the shades to our dorm room [...]

You’ll notice. Oh yes, you’ll notice.

If I hear it one more time I might scream, or laugh hysterically in the face of a well-meaning friend. Neither of which would be good. “It” is this: Once you have three children, you can have more and not really even notice.

Resolved

I’m not going to kid you. Losing weight is NOT a resolution this year. And neither is less chocolate, more vegetables, less butter, more hymns. None of it. My New Year’s Resolution this year is one I can absolutely and decidedly FULFILL.

The New Year at Segullah

Three cheers for the sentimental sorts. I am not among you. I don’t notice dates, I don’t take note of names, and the only reason I remember my anniversary is that I might get a present out of it.