that day you met my daughter
You saw fits and spasms. arms flying. neck wrenching. Instantly felt pity, and expected me to be embarrassed. But I saw her make eye contact with you. We have been working on that. I cannot wait to tell her mother. It’s not that I want you to feel guilty; I don’t really know what I woud prefer you do instead. It’s just that you were wrong. And I thought I should tell you. I don’t remember your name. What is it again? You said hello and pretended not…
difficult days
We are still planning on turning our trip to St Louis for Lena’s upcoming eye surgery into a full-blown family road trip to Michigan. We still think we’re crazy, and we’re still waiting to see if we come to our senses. But, for today, and tenuous at best- come mid July we’ll turn Big Red the mini-van north and try to convince the kids, as well as ourselves, that this is what fun looks like. Yesterday, Lena had one of her most-difficult-to-date days. 92.5% of the time, Lena is perfectly happy and full of smiles that stop hearts. Another 5%…
Ghandi, Mayer & Me
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uA_ya8DcLs[/youtube] Pain throws your heart to the ground Love turns the whole thing around No it won’t all go the way it should But I know the heart of life is good In days after Eliot, the album entitled Continuum by John Mayer provided a sort of soundtrack to the beginning of our grieving. I couldn’t tell you how it came to be our go-to record during this time or how we began the habit of playing it on repeat in the background, but it probably has something to do with a subconscious attempt to drowned some of the feelings…
summer planning & some motion pictures
As of late, my writing time has been been sunk into another project which I am almost finished with; instead of doing that thing whereby I disappear, I thought I would post a couple of videos that I have stumbled across recently. One of the more serious nature, and one not so much. I will leave it to you to decipher. Byway of quick catch up, we are contemplating driving our entire family to Michigan in July. Read that again to be certain that yes, we have indeed lost our minds. Many of you know that we often spend some…
dearest mothers,
We are all heading tomorrow to the place that produced my favorite person- Lake Providence, Louisiana. I am not sure that ole LP is ready for the circus that is us, but we are coming nonetheless. Ginny & I are undecided as of yet on whether or not we are excited about this trip- as these feelings can only be sorted out in the 20/20 vision that is hindsight- once we know if those three rascals slept a wink or not in the pelican state. If you came looking for evidence that there is a god and he is good,…
slow to see
Last week we celebrated Ginny’s birthday, as well as our 11th anniversary, with a trip to St. Louis that just happen to coincide with Lena’s doctor appointment at said location. At least that is the version proffered for the romantics. For the more practically prone, we went to the doctor in St. Louis and snuck in an expensive meal to acknowledge the date on the calendar. It’s all a little better for the romantics don’t you think? Life in the newly-expanded, ranch style residence we call home is precious these days. I am not sure the casual observer would handpick…
A man & his Mother Letters
I am a father. A man. Who went fishing this last weekend in fact. I like meat (although salads more, but also meat). With that backdrop of secure man-ness, I wanted to recommend a book that my friends recently put out. These are not digital, pretend friends. These guys are really my friends. I remember a phone conversation with Seth when he had no idea what to do with this idea for a gift for his wife, Amber. I am glad he figured it out. Parenting is tough. If you find something that encourages you in that journey along the…
the means of Matt.
It’s a funny stage we’re in these days. I use we to refer to the arm-candy calling me hubbums (Ok, she has never actually called me that, but we can all agree she should). Candy & I are making it these days. I blogged a few days back about how the transition has been hard on the ole marriage….blah, blah & a bear pees in the woods. Of course it has been hard. In effect, we have had 3 children in three years and functionally they all live like 3 & unders do- which to the unschooled can basically be…
images
Here are a few pics of some goings on around our house lately. I don’t post photos often, so when I do, I guess I sort of unload. DOOR:: When we recently built the addition to our house we did not put a door on the downstairs hallways to the room we built for Lena. Because we had built the hallway larger as to accommodate a wheelchair and because the door opened into what is our living/dining room area, we knew we did not just want to put a really big, normal door there. However, we did not know what…
sowing seeds
photo credit: Daan! Two pieces of news that I would have never envisioned typing even a couple years ago: Ginny is currently making her second annual attempt at a garden; I would say, her second garden, but that would be an overstatement the size of say- voting for Ron Paul. I got nothing against Ron; he is probably a great guy and sharp too; but he’s not going to be our next President and whatever last year yielded, it certainly wasn’t a garden. If something actually comes from the ground, I will be happy to call it her first garden….
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…