Segullah

Mormon women blogging about the peculiar and the treasured

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 [...]

Dear to the Heart of the Shepherd

Today’s Up Close guest post is by Sunny Smart. She is a stay at home mom with four wonderful, hilarious kiddos and one hard-working, good-natured husband. She has battled depression at various times in her life and to varying degrees. She wanted to share her story so that others who suffer silently and alone might [...]

things

Yesterday, I wrote on my personal blog about my mother’s piano. As religious people, we take the attitude of eschewing worldly things, of treasuring our relationships, not our possessions. And yet, I feel a great spiritual peace in my mother’s gorgeous grand piano (which is now mine). Perhaps a bit foolishly, I offered up my [...]

Get thee hence, butterdream cookie!

Chocolates on the kitchen counter, heart shaped waffles with whip cream at breakfast, cookies in Young Women’s and a pink lollipop bouquet shyly placed in my hands from an especially sweet girl; ripe red strawberries dipped in Belgian chocolate, a heart shaped cake, pinky red m&ms— I’ve been off sugar for three weeks and ably [...]

Sisterly Love

When I was a little girl I thought one of the happiest sounds I’d ever heard was my mother laughing with her six sisters. They’d stand around my grandmother’s kitchen, washing the dishes and putting away the Christmas dinner leftovers, laughing so loudly they sounded like the kookaburras that cackled outside my window every morning. [...]

The Rain Falls on the Just and the Unjust

Laguna Beach, 1993. As fierce wildfires fueled by 70 mph Santa Ana winds swept through the Laguna Canyon and hurtled towards their neighborhoods, several families in our Laguna Beach ward found themselves literally racing to escape the 200-feet-high flames. When it was over, the fire had claimed 366 homes, and, though most of our ward [...]

‘Tis the season to give each other goodies (but I really wish we wouldn’t)

I know that some of you out there enjoy giving and receiving neighbor gifts at Christmas time. In fact, right now you’re putting the finishing touches on your homemade, hand-dipped chocolates or your caramel macadamia nut popcorn balls before deftly wrapping them in cellophane and gold French ribbon and delivering them to snow-covered homes all [...]

Pliability, Adaptability, Variability

When Grandma is writhing in pain from cancer– who will hold her hand? When the school calls about Johnny’s trouble with reading– who will spend countless hours tutoring him? When a neighbor goes through divorce and then depression– who will tend her children; who will bring her meals? We will. The Women of Zion.

Home for the Holidays: The Good Times Abound

I have a *friend* who, although she loves her family dearly, finds her stomach tightening and her left eye twitching when holidays and family gatherings approach. Perhaps it’s the added pressure of having to dust all those high shelves and wipe those fingerprints off of the walls (and cabinets and doors and chairs and floors). [...]

Ebbing Tide: Reflections on Entering Menopause

My eleven-year-old daughter, my youngest child, is losing her little girl look. In the last six months she’s sprouted out of her jeans and shirts, her legs suddenly long, her angles and straight lines softening into curves. She closes the door when she showers, asks me when she can start shaving her legs, and wears [...]

Workers of the Ward, Unite!

In my first singles ward, our bishopric held a special retreat to teach new ward members about being an active part of an adult ward. Brother Thompson used an analogy I have never forgotten. “When you’re at a potluck dinner,” he said, “the person who is assigned to bring the roast beef is someone who [...]

Spiritual Mentors

Who are the most influential women in your world? I checked out  The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women; Forbes magazine claims their list “isn’t about celebrity or popularity; it’s about influence. Queen Rania of Jordan (No. 76), for instance, is perhaps the most listened-to woman in the Middle East; her Twitter feed has 600,000 followers.” [...]

I love Mormons!

Formerly a television writer and romance novelist (though she doesn’t like to admit that), Mama calls parenting her three beautiful boys her most challenging job. You can take a peek at her life at The Elmo Wallpaper, which is featured on the New York Times blog roll where she has also been a guest columnist. [...]

My Life’s True Mission

At twelve, I felt the first stirrings of destiny. What plan did God have for me, and how could I follow it? I took German and French, discovering I had a knack for languages. Maybe I’d serve a mission. Perhaps I’d become an ambassador, maybe even feed the hungry masses in India. I loved, loved, [...]

Launching our youth into adulthood

Recently our ward had the exquisite pleasure of welcoming home not one but two missionaries on one Sunday (in the process reducing the number of current missionary plaques in the foyer to one).  The abundance of love and support for these young men was palpable.  But it was more than that.  As we listened to [...]

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