Segullah

Mormon women blogging about the peculiar and the treasured

Refiner’s Fire

Today’s post is by Catherine Kemeny Gambrell.   This piece on motherhood adds to a popular UP CLOSE segment for May.  Catherine is an anything-but-stay-at-home mom to the world’s two most beautiful, entertaining, and sleepless children! She currently lives in northern Utah with her seminary teacher husband of 8 years. Together they enjoy hiking, camping, backpacking, cycling, and [...]

On Turning Eight

This month’s Up Close topic is “The Complexities of Motherhood.”  This week’s post is written by Andrea Rediske as she reflects on being the mother of a disabled child turning eight. I am eight years old.  My little brother has just been born and there is chaos and confusion at home – relatives coming and [...]

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 [...]

Rock the Boat (don’t tip the boat over…)

You know how you can pinpoint the exact place and time you were when you learned about the events on September 11th? Certain days become frozen in time; indelible impressions that mark a change. On 9-11 I was leaving to shop for a washing machine. My in-laws were visiting. My mother-in-law was upstairs ironing. There [...]

It’s a Miracle…

Miracle Max: Have fun storming the castle! Valerie: Do you think it will work? Miracle Max: It would take a miracle… As a scientist, I’m automatically skeptical of anything with the word “miracle” in it:  miracle cure, miracle weight loss, miracle hair restoration, etc.  Usually if something claims to be a “miracle” there is some [...]

This is normal

Southern Virginia University has an intriguing little calender on their website: Typical Ups and Downs of College Life. For your reading pleasure– February: * Feelings of claustrophobia and depression set in with winter * Potential increase in alcohol and other substance abuse * Challenges with love relationship at home * Valentine’s Day brings out loneliness, [...]

To judge or be judged

You’ve all experienced this to some degree… to judge or be judged. I remind myself today that We are all fighting a hard fight. About others, we do not know the whole story. Others do not know the story of our struggles. A good friend told me that she tries to keep this thought in [...]

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 [...]

Impending Doom?

Life is good right now, in fact too good. Everyone in our family is healthy, including my parents. My husband has a very stable job with a great work life balance. Our marriage is solid. We’re comfortable financially. My boys are having a good year in school. I am in a good creative groove. Really does it [...]

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

At five something tomorrow morning I will hear classical musical eminating from the Wave Radio, gradually growing louder until I realize it’s not part of my dream and fumble for the alarm remote on the top of my headboard. Exhaustedly, I will roll out of bed and trip into the bathroom, shivering and banging into the dresser along the way. With [...]

Failure Academy

“Try again. Fail again. Fail Better.”  Samuel Beckett In the early summer of 1991 we thought we had the world by the tail.  My husband had just finished his first year of law school and had been accepted to study international law for the summer in London.  Hooray! I’m no fool; I quit my job [...]

The Hard is What Makes it great

I’m going to brag a little today. I finished the Chicago Marathon this weekend. Twenty-six point two miles of road, bridges, cheering fans, fluorescent signs, balloons, volunteers, music, bananas, Gu, Gatorade, water, sweat, and yes, some tears. 40,000 runners and over a million spectators crowded themselves onto the streets of the city, undeterred by the [...]

Spiritual Resiliency

Everyone in our ward adored Brother Brown.* His countenance radiated light and goodness; his testimony was firm, sincere, and powerful. He drew us in droves to his gospel doctrine class and then, as a loving priests quorum adviser, he shaped and molded hard-edged teenage boys into men. He was a skilled and busy physician, the [...]

Paths of Agency

Today’s guest post comes from Natalie H. There’s one word that best describes me: novice. A novice at being a wife and mother. A novice at writing. A novice at the world of blogging. And, most of all, a novice at life (still). Luckily, I love learning and maybe… just maybe… someday I’ll elevate my [...]

Ward Envy – Part II

“It seems like the more we try to live the gospel, the more trials we have.  Why ?”  I will never forget Beata’s question while I was studying in Poland last summer.  Dr. Whipple and I gave our best Sunday School answers, but our words felt empty and our hearts ached for her pain. My mind went back to [...]

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