taking the time to die
photo credit: I_Believe_ Although my mind has not relented, I guess I may need to accept that a new level of fanatical wildness just may be the way things are now. Is this just part of getting older? I swear the turbulence is picking up with every mile that passes. As of late… we walked through the five year marker of losing sweet Eliot. traveled to Ukraine to meet our daughter for the first time- the one we are trying to get home. celebrated Hazel turning 3- although I am admittedly in denial of the fact that she is aging….
a window into us
Thanks so much to all of you who encouraged us on the 5 year marker of Eliot’s departure from our arms. Our friends are always quick to come alongside us on these days, and we are thankful beyond words. If you are one that thinks, as I did, that folks need space and you wouldn’t want to interfere on the darks days- just know that you are, most likely, full of it. And afraid. Fear of wading into low places should never outweigh the fear of not doing so. Thank you friends for teaching me this. ________________________________________ We are waiting….
::5:: (1 of 2)
photo credit: Alan Vernon. death by wave I am standing in water waist deep, Where I waded on my own accord. Waters ’round me race away and sand slips from beneath me. I see it building on the horizon- the mammoth wave that seeks to crush me. I do not move, but fix my gaze squarely on my foe. Bystanders mistake this for courage, but there is no place else for me to go. I am going to take it. The coming crest will overcome me. But come on great wave For I have only found life when drowning. I…
::5:: (2 of 2)
I like to fix things. Not appliances or cars- as a real man would. I like to come against issues, sift through the white noise and identify the real problem. I like to think that God has gifted me with this desire and that it is He that has hardwired me in a way that seeks resolve; but sometimes the gift becomes a curse, and I have recently become aware of my self-reliance. I fall back on my gifts and problem-solving before I sit or think or pray. I dive in because I think I can do something, I think…
Highlights and Thanks
Thanks so much to all of you who have followed along, given and participated in our BLEMISH IS BEAUTY blog series. We kind of rolled the dice on this one, and we feel like it was a huge success as well as something we can improve on in the future. Here are some highlights and references for you. Thanks so much to our talented contributors who advocated with the gift of words on behalf of these children and encouraged over 3,000 visitors to the site to spend time reflecting on a topic too often neglected- the plight of special needs…
meeting Lena
Ginny & I are in a coffee shop in Kramatorsk, Ukraine trying to tune out the local pop music videos- which are more fascinating than I can relay. We are racking our brains, trying desperately to sort our thoughts into some sort of order that make will make sense. Our last two days have been spent at Antoshka Baby House- an orphanage here in Ukraine. We are accompanying our TEAMworks therapy team that has come back this year to continue their work with the special needs children here. But we are here for her. To hold her. To let our…
International Project Page
99 Balloons is excited to launch our International Project Page where we will highlight and connect you with various needs for great works abroad. 100% of all donations on our International Projects Page will go straight into projects benefiting children with special needs! Our first project will help the kids living at the Miriam Center in Haiti, a ministry we featured on Blemish is Beauty last week. Please visit our International Project Page to find more information on how to give towards this current need. Also, please help us by spreading the word and letting others know how they can…
side notes:
photo credit: Nina Matthews Photography Thanks to everyone who has stopped by during BLEMISH IS BEAUTY. Thanks to you, I feel that we have been able to shed light on something often kept in the dark- the plight of special needs children internationally. Come back this week as we’ve decided to try and help out the Miriam Center and a current need they have…please help us spread the word and help these children. I wanted to take just a second to give some update on us and our journey. We will be leaving for Ukraine on October 8th! As many…
a post from a friend
My friend, Amber Haines, jotted down some insightful thoughts on her own blog about blemish is beauty. Having just had her fourth son, I am not sure how she did it, but I am sure glad she found a way. She’ll be adding her voice here soon, but this can serve as a backdrop to her coming post. on the meaning of beauty
intro:: matt chambers & mike rusch
read posts below… [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTtxH_6WFEo[/youtube]
Matt & Ginny start the second half of season 1 with a seemingly simply question: What is a good life? An entire episode focused on the life of a man known as Bulldog– told through the eyes of his brother, Chris Wheeler. It is a journey of Chris beginning to see a person who was…
In the age of television talent shows galore, our hosts attend one that manages to flip the narrative of what a talent show is & could be. Chelsea, Jordan & Claire want to sing at the bEfriend talent show hosted by 99 Balloons, but to do so they will have to overcome their fear of…
Matthew Lyle & Ginny Mooney continue the discussion of healing and the church by delving into the lives of their friends with disability who do not want to be healed, cured or fixed. When they stumble upon an article, written by Madeleine Ryan, entitled Dear Parents: Your Child with Autism is Perfect it is though…
When the loss of a child becomes a nationwide, prayer movement to #wakeupolive what does it say about the church and its relationship to healing? to suffering? In the first part of a two-part series discussing healing & the church, Matthew Lyle Mooney along with his wife, Ginny Mooney, set out to discuss the awkward…
Summer is here. At 5, 6 and 8 we got rascals riding bikes and swimming at a skill level whereby we are not in constant stress. I told Ginny sometime some summer not long ago that I was done going to pools. With 3 that cannot swim alone, I can only act like I’m listening…
I’ve worked hard to develop a new habit of carving out Monday mornings to sit and think and pray and grasp for some semblance of sanity before I cannonball into the week that will eat my lunch if I let it. It’s a rebellious act of counter-intuition as weekends are supposed to be the very…
We’ve reached that point in these beloved Ozarks where we’re just all waiting around for the good weather. We get all four seasons here; just enough of winter to know we don’t want to move north; which we needed no help knowin’. Being bone-tired of Ole Man Winter being a hanger-on is all you’re allowed…
I often look at my backside in the mirror. I move quickly past the place that you imagined I was seeking and find the splotchy spot just above the bend of my right leg. It’s my biggest scar- remnants of days I spent riding my Honda 80 dirt bike for hours on end along the…
Check it out, Ginny & Lena are in the current edition of National Geographic. A while back, a wonderful photographer followed our family around for a few days in order to capture photos illustrative of an article on brain development…fascinating article and wonderful pictures (we think). _____________________________________ If…
Against my better judgment, Ginny convinced me last Monday to sit beside her and watch the American Music Awards. I begrudgingly complied- mainly due to the fact that I love her and if she invites me to sit close to her, I do it- every time. I’m a sucker that way, but that doesn’t mean…