a vulnerable tension. back from Africa.
I am that guy- just back from the trip that makes me look at all of it a little bit different. I look aghast at my child who grabs at gifts with a fervor that makes me question all of my parenting techniques. Attending a chicken buffet, within the confines of my head, I question if Paul- my new 9-year old friend in Uganda who drools non-stop and communicates without the gift words- I wonder if he would like fried chicken. What can I do with what I have just beheld? I know the right the answer here folks- so…
Headed Out
Thanks to all of you who have made the blog series for the book launch so much fun; also thanks to those of you have encouraged me and help spread the word so well. I am hurriedly attempting to type this out in a hotel room in Chicago. I’m typing on an iPad instead of my trusty sidekick laptop- cursing my fat fingers and the awkwardness more than I’ll relay. I & 16 others are boarding a plane soon bound for Kenya. We will be working with children with disabilities in both Kenya & Uganda over the next 10 days….
Unfinished Stories:: Jessica Turner
Since I was a little girl, I have always been told to pay attention to the tone of my voice and how I speak to others. I come from a line of strong-willed women who weren’t afraid to speak – and that fearlessness can be my biggest strength and my biggest weakness. As a mother, I sometimes find that I am too quick to go from zero to ten, the level of my voice escalating louder and more passionate than is necessary. Can anyone else relate to this? My tone and reaction has nothing to do with how much I…
the. (a guest post for extraordinary ordinary)
Thanks so much to all of you who have relayed encouragement about the book and what resonated through your reading. I appreciate the kind words as well as all the help you have provided in helping me spread the world. Here is a guest post I wrote for another blog. ____________________ THE. Ginny & I found out at 30 weeks pregnant that something was seriously wrong. Everything up to that fateful ultrasound had been normal- well, when you’re having your first child you probably stand in no position to define normal. But it seemed that way to us. All of a sudden,…
Walking Beside (a Deeper Church post)
Folks….the book lands in mailboxes today. I’m almost believing this is really going to happen- almost. We are continuing to gather great writers for the blog series. Check back soon for a guest post. Until then, here is a post I wrote for Deeper Church attempting to relay the humbling reality of being loved and surrounded by others. ________________________________ Eliot would be six years old. How I wish I could replace “would” be with “is.” His heart didn’t hold that long, though it did battle plenty long enough to leave the wordly-wise quiet; quiet–just as he was. His silent life seemed…
Unfinished Stories:: Jennifer Dukes Lee
_________________________ For the upcoming release of “A Story Unfinished”, we are gathering writers, friends and good folk around two themes. Feel free to join us, spread the word or just bask in some great truths. _________________________ “Honey,” I tell my husband. “I’ve got something I want you to see.” I slide my forefinger across the screen of my iPhone. I cradle the phone in my hands, and the two of us, heads bowed low, stand with our backs against the kitchen counter on a Saturday afternoon. Our girls eat sliced apples, at the breakfast bar across the room from us….
Well, here goes nothing. We are kicking off a couple of blog series here at the atypical life in order to gather folks around two themes that are near and dear to our hearts. We’ve timed the series to coordinate with the launch of An Unfinished Story– which should be rolling out around June 1st. The folks that have jumped in to write on these topics are my kind of people and I am excited to share their words with you in days to come. I don’t know how to sell a book. And honestly, I don’t care. But I…
life in the land of consumers
As you can see over there in the margin, we are trying to gather a group of folks who blog to tell stories around two broad themes (May 15th thru the end of June). The themes are Glimpses of Redemption & Unfinished Stories and I am excited at the group that is forming to tackle these topics. I would love for you join us by sharing stories of beauty within hard realities. You do not have to write like Hemingway or have the following of Justin Beiber. All that is required is a telling of an honest story focused on…
bowl cuts & potty talk
Thanks to each of you have encouraged me about the book or ordered it or pretended as though you ordered it. I guess hesitantly excited would best describe my feelings as the release date nears. I am working through the last edit this week and it has been wild to see it all come to fruition. In many ways the whole book thing has me feeling like a pimply seventh grader all over again. You gotta know that my m.o. (modus operandi to those unfriendly to dead languages) has been stuck in the preferred position of not-caring-about-much. My typical take…
and the rooster crowed
I hope that your Easter weekend allowed you some time to reflect on the claims of a man. I believe him. I have waivered and wandered and always returned to the one I could not believe spread arms wide in welcome. When I was in junior high, I was small. Until 9th grade came around- that fateful year that I finally grew underarm hair (a phenomenon that caught me up with every other boy my age); until then, I was the second smallest kid in my class. You make think that under this set of circumstances second place would be…
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…