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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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