Click below to hear Rebecca read her piece. We Believe in God the Father, Almighty Creator of Heaven and Earth – We jumped in feet first – followed quickly by heart and head – 15 years ago now – and said yes to a church plant. We said yes to building community around a […]
Community
Lost Girl
I can’t smell it, as a pack of coyotes do when they corner trembling prey. But I can always see fear. It swept across her face like a time-lapsed eclipse: First, panic in those tiny, azure eyes. Then the floodgates burst forth. Tears barreled down her cheekbones and mingled with stray, blond hairs that matted […]
Announcing our Fall Themes!!
We need your voices! This September, The Mudroom is launching a four-month series titled “Lost & Found: Stories of Belonging in a Bruised and Broken Body.” We desire to amplify the stories of those who’ve ever felt unseen, untethered, or set adrift from the Church—and those who have found or are finding, their way back. […]
Generational Divide
Recently, I had the opportunity to attend a teaching conference during which I attended a session specifically geared toward identifying and breaking down generational barriers. Many educators in the room could share the same story – frustrated by colleagues of various other generations who had different modes of teaching and learning, who could access teaching […]
Something Big and Real Inside
I set up my kids’ nursery with Winnie the Pooh décor. It wasn’t much, really—just a comforter and crib bumper. I used the same set in the crib and linens with all of my children. In later years, I read the stories of Winnie the Pooh and Christopher Robin aloud to my kids. Despite the […]
Birds and Branches
A Reflection on Being a Visitor About 8 years ago I attended a regional Catholic Worker gathering for families like mine: people of faith who operated houses of hospitality. I lamented to the other leaders that our first resident volunteer had prematurely announced her departure the week before, leaving the co-founder and me to lead […]
A Look at the Last EIGHT Years!
Happy Birthday, Mudroom! Today marks the 8th birthday of The Mudroom, which came into being in my mind in 2014. I was part of the now-defunct Influence Network, founded by Zondervan authors Jess Connolly and Hayley Morgan, who believed in my vision and sponsored our domain the first year. I wanted it to be a […]
For the Heavy Lifters
Dear You, Crouched in that corner of the closet you’ve made your own, so you can steal one more moment before you have to hold up half of the sky again . . . Before you flip the nebulizer’s switch and pray your lungs cooperate this time—so you can tuck your boys in tonight. Before […]
The Rest of the Time
Some mornings I wake up and I don’t feel tired. My hair isn’t frizzy and I had the forethought to iron my shirt the night before. I exercise. I pack a healthy lunch. I read a devotional. I drive the speed limit. But, the rest of the time…. I skip a few or all of […]
The Starting Line: The Journey Begins
The South African word ubuntu loosely translates, “I am because we are,” and highlights how our lives are deeply intertwined and impacted by one another. Without ubuntu, individualism, possessiveness, and self-centeredness are the order of the day. We need support from others, especially as we grapple with issues around race, equity, belonging, reconciliation, and revolution. […]
Episode 10: When We Listen to Our Longings
Sarah Guerrero’s Journey Through Feasting The religion that I had grown up with was a religion of rules and do’s and don’ts. These are the steps you take to be a good person; this is what you do to show that you love Jesus; this is what you don’t do to show that you don’t […]
The Feast of Friendship
I know it’s coming, but I’m not prepared. Fill in the blank with “it.” It could be dinnertime each day. I’m not prepared to answer the daily question, “What’s for dinner?” “It” could be the next difficult season up ahead, or it could the wildest season of joy. Why do I assume it will […]
The Recipe of Me
We are noisy, we cousins gathered around the long wooden table smack in the middle of the restaurant. Melissa leans over our shoulders to place multiple plates of fresh lumpia down in the center. We clamor over each other, elbows flying, to grab the freshly fried spring rolls between our fingers and dip them into […]
Breaking Bread and Belonging
I struggle with feeling accepted when it comes to enjoying time around people. Mainly it is all in my head. I have dealt with mental health struggles since middle school. It caused me to isolate and question whether people approved of me or whether they only tolerated me. Anxiety and depression do that to your […]
Prepare the Table
Preparations and Feast We start early. Dressed in layers that reflect the cool spring morning, and the day of feasting to come. Waiting for the sun to rise. We are a faithful few, gathered and quiet – maybe a little impatient – steam rising from our cups, waiting. As the light blinks above the tree-line, […]
Let’s Not Chase the Spotlight
Stage lights shone on my two friends as they belted out “Making Our Dreams Come True” at our high school pop concert. For weeks they had practiced this arrangement of the theme song from the TV sitcom Laverne and Shirley. The time in rehearsal had certainly paid off. The three of us had done everything […]
Why I Quit Church
It’s been two years since I quit the table— and the pew; since I’ve pinched the broken piece of bread between my fingers and dipped it in the crimson cup. The body and blood of Jesus, given for me . . . and promptly declined. At first, it wasn’t on purpose. (There was a global […]
Come and Feast
We are God’s creatures, created ones, who harbor inside us a Spirit-inspired love of reveling.