Segullah

Mormon women blogging about the peculiar and the treasured

Lose Yourself

Today’s guest post is from MJ Frandsen, who adventures through motherhood with a pen in her hand, a pony tail elastic around her wrist, cochlear implant batteries in her purse, and gratitude for the repentance process. She is constantly challenged and inspired by her boys; ages 3, 1 and 28–her husband, with whom she has [...]

IN PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS

As I knocked on the peeling front door, an old fat dog pushed against my knee, wagging his stump of a tail, waiting with me for permission to enter. “Shirley?” I called, “It’s Lisa from Meals on Wheels. Can I come in?” A querulous voice responded, “Yes, yes, come in.” I pushed open the door, [...]

Thanks(giving) for the Memories

On a recent flight, my daughter sat next to an actress affiliated with a Chicago based comedy troupe. The actress needed some ideas for an upcoming Thanksgiving sketch routine and asked my daughter if she had any funny family holiday meal stories. The story my daughter shared was one my husband and I have no [...]

Forget Not

Like many of you, I attended the Saturday night Relief Society broadcast at my stake center and came away feeling spiritually rejuvenated and replenished. I listened with interest to Sister Beck’s talk about the history, purpose, and vision of Relief Society (can’t wait to read the new book!), Sister Allred’s thoughts on charity (note to [...]

State of Bliss

I’m feeling dizzy these days. My husband and I divide our time into seasons and spend winters and summers in Utah and springs and falls in Illinois. For the past three weeks, however, I’ve been in Boston. I just got back to Illinois last night and spent the morning at the temple for my Friday [...]

Eat Dessert

Example of my side of a conversation held many times before: “Yes, I would like the dessert menu. Yes, I know I haven’t ordered my main. I would like the dessert menu at the same time as the main menu. Really. (Muttered aside to my Mum/friend/nearby stranger – Would you mind telling the lovely waiter [...]

Parenting and Happiness

Twenty-one years ago I wrote the following in my daughter’s baby journal: “It’s a lovely morning—sunny, yet hazy in the hills with wisps of fog. The baby and I have had a pleasant morning playing downstairs. She squealed and rocked on her hands and knees as I played her Raffi tape. Then I fed her [...]

Tiger Mothers, Mormon Mommy Bloggers, and Happiness

By now, I’m pretty sure most of you have read both the infuriating/fascinating Tiger Mother article as well as the fascinating/infuriating Mormon Mommy Blogger article that have been making the rounds over the past couple of weeks. (If you haven’t read them yet, I’m left to assume that you’re too busy berating your children into [...]

Mourning the Plan

When the doorbell rang at 7:30 in the morning, I wasn’t sure I should answer it. Who would be coming over so early in the morning? I peeked out the window and saw it was a FedEx delivery man. Did I order something online? I was briefly excited for the morning surprise. As I grabbed [...]

Are We Remotely in Control?

As much as I would love to take credit for the piece here, I cannot.  I opened my email this morning and found the following thoughtful colloquy on the effects of watching television by my brother, Zachary Hutchins.  He’s a writer and educator, helping his wife to raise three small boys while living in the [...]

Beautifully, Impossibly Wonderful

I had a rather serious, soul-wrenching post planned today, but I  just don’t have it in me. My oldest son received his mission call to Milan, Italy last night and I am giddy, silly, over the moon with joy. Italy. Are you kidding me? Florence, Venice, gelato, pasta, rolling vineyards, soaring Alps. It’s all too [...]

Jumping Into Change… or Not

For some time now, I’ve known that change is coming. I’ve been told in prayer, in conference talks, in myriad different ways that life is going to change, yet – once again – I was standing without any defining details or factual flares to light my path. Then, in the course of a week, the Lord [...]

Tell me something happy

It’s been a season of heartbreak. Strolling up and down the streets of my neighborhood I can describe the anguish in one house after the other: a baby born still a house under foreclosure after the loss of a job a teenage son addicted to marijuana a marriage broken by pornography addiction the sudden death [...]

The Winds Will Blow; I Will Listen.

I was a young-married with two toddler sons and we were on a two-year adventure on the pacific coast when my maternal grandfather died. I remember thinking about my Grampy in the evening of his life, the build-up of the tempest, far-away and non-threatening. His death became somehow anticlimactic because it happened 3,000 miles east [...]

Success as Joy’s Counterfeit

What if the famous scripture in 2 Nephi 2:25 read this way? “Adam fell that man might be; and men are, that they might be successful.” I’m sure most of you, like me, would find such a scripture discouraging and irritating and false instead of inspiring and hopeful and true. But sometimes I look around [...]

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