Somebody See Me
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 there all along. You can learn more about Chris & Lindsey Wheeler as well as learn more about Lindsey’s book Sacred Tears at bottleoftears.com. Produced by Matthew Lyle MooneyMusic provided by Musicbed & Blue Dot Sessions.Sound effects provided by creators Freesound.org
we are not our talents
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 what others will think of them. In addition, Jamie shares a story of when celebrating someone with a disability is actually demeaning. Listen along as we contrast these two stories and are challenged to treat persons with disability as individuals instead of as a monolithic…
we are not our bodies. Part 2.
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 they are reading everything they have lived with their own daughter. Madeleine describes her journey throughout life and why the changes she desires have nothing to do with her autism. You can find out more about Madeleine and her newly released first novel- A Room…
we are not our bodies. Part 1
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 relationship the current Christian culture has with disability. Along the way, they talk with author KJ Ramsey & friend, Emeka NNaka, who help challenge the cultural norms that exist around disability. Music & sound provided by Musicbed, Blue Dot Sessions & Freesound.org Script available at…
summer
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 to whatever adult is talking to me, my head drawing a repeated triangle from locating the 3 bobbing heads while I simultaneously feign my best impression of the laid back dad & try not to tell this person what an idiot they are for trying…
weekends with rascals
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 thing that serves us this way. Now, I love my weekends at home and all- but it’s not a peaceful-cup-of-coffee-type of experience currently. If I had to measure, I would say it packs about the same rest as being chased by a pack of wolves….
The Surface Dialogue Guidebook
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 to talk about- other than the razorback basketball revival- in these parts; whether it be the gal sacking your groceries or the college hipster handing you $4 coffee, so goes the surface dialogue guidebook. It’s unwritten but just as real as the holy book itself…
shifting gears
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 hill behind my house where within a 3-minute ride Arkansas turned into Oklahoma. Often times I would lug the unstarted motorcycle to the top of a certain steep drop off in order to mount the red machine, point it downhill and coast until max speed;…
striving for a secret
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 you have been around me much, it does not take long to learn of certain things that come along as a part of the package- tethered to the molecules that combine to make me: At 37, I am still unable to grow any semblance of…
from Fergie to Ferguson
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 I don’t moan on and on about the drivel that she makes me watch. Ginny admittedly loves television. She loves awards shows. Loves reality tv. She once made me watch the Bachelor; she seemed happy. I put my foot down and told her I would…
I have not managed to write for quite some time. This says enough about the recent pace of life. Writing is for me the grabbing of the Dixie cup on life’s little marathon. But there are stretches where you just keep moving and the cool quenching possibility that accompanies the cup grab doesn’t seem worth…
We are stepping towards a new family rhythm, and enjoying the chaos of the season we find ourselves in. Everyone asks how Lena is doing, and all we seem to be able to muster in the moment is something akin to “really well”. As we made a point to not take anything for granted before…
Well, apparently I took a little blogcation. Upon my return it now seems a bit daunting to catch up on all of the life that snuck in since my last post. And yes, it’s been a bit wild- in a good way. Jet lag. Six weeks of work. Needy kids (and rightfully so). And a…
We blew out the computer charger & the converter has been given us some problems, so updates have been scarce. Instead of typing a post, here’s 3 things to catch you up. the story we’re living Although this won’t attest to it, I assure you that I am getting (and loving) time with Lena. However,…
Each year Ginny & I work together on some patchwork Best of List. I truly love this time of year- as it begs one to look back as well as ahead. You’ll need to remember the caveat with the following list: to be on our list does not mean that a thing was introduced in…
My mother is a gifter. Take whatever you’re thinking up a notch. There is no such thing as Christmas shopping or birthday gift shopping; for with her there exists no day where the ones she prefers have moved to the background of her mind. Each day it seems she is looking for something that will…
Disclaimer:: I assure you that I tried my best to steer away from this lesson because it almost seems obligatory for each and every Christian to rail against the consumerism of Christmas or the lost meaning of Christmas or heaven forbid you tell me Happy Holidays- apparently I am supposed to go Chuck Norris on…
Ginny has managed to do a better job of updating the day-to-day on her blog. We have now been in Kramatorsk, the region where Lena’s orphanage is located for three days. We get to go and be with Lena in the orphanage for two 90-minute periods within each given day. These times with her have…
Snow is lightly falling outside the window of our downtown apartment in the capitol city of Ukraine. No, it’s actually not the Ukraine, but the same still slips from my lips when I’m not trying. We were invited to come and make official the relationship with a girl we have been calling our daughter for…
We loaded up the newly-named Big Red (our new-to-us Toyota minivan) and headed to Louisiana for a Thanksgiving in the Delta. We ate turkey and I got to the see the Hog football team re-define Black Friday. And somewhere in the chaos that was our Thanksgiving- we got it. The email we had awaited since we…