Family

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 […]

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 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 […]

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, […]

Osso Buco

I woke up from surgery, my throat sore from the ventilator, and I immediately reached to touch my face. I smiled. I gritted my teeth. I rubbed my nose. Gloriously I felt nothing. Not the familiar electric shocks or burning sensations that ultimately led me to let someone cut a hole in my head and […]

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, […]

The Gentleness of Dusk and Dawn

The Longing Arms   Emptiness filled now and spilling when arms hold and hush the long anticipated one- sweet love requited.   Did I know how empty they were- my arms, heart- before you? You laughed at the emptiness and swallowed it whole.   …of the wind she is, a soft kiss mystery come alive […]

To Grieve and Grow

“I’m gonna need you to sing a little louder,” Paul said with a flirtatious grin. “Or I’ll have to move you closer so I can hear you.” He grabbed the sides of my chair and gently pulled me forward until my body filled the space between his long, bony legs. He softly picked the tune […]

Podcast: How Shattered Expectations Lead to Hope with Tatyana Claytor

Native Bermudian Tatyana Claytor is a writer, academic, and mother of four. A navigator of multiple cultures and life experiences, Tatyana meets us in The Mudroom today for a discussion on how expectations shape us and our perception of God. Lean in for her extraordinary story . . . http://mudroomblog.com/how-relational-expectations-shape-our-vision-of-god/ Tatyana’s Website: https://tatyanastable.com/ Links to Tatyana on the […]

Under this Same Sun

It wasn’t cued to play today. It’s been years. But somehow between My Chemical Romance, Green Day, Imogen Heap, and all the other music encroaching the playlists of parents with teens, it surfaced: This fragment of life Lora gave me a lifetime ago. I listen to The Weepies, as the Steve Tannen from 16 years […]

Podcast: Finding Grace in the Middle

Season 1 Episode 5 This podcast is a companion piece that goes along with the previous post of the same name. In this episode, writer Nicole Walters narrates her latest Mudroom piece, “Grace in the Middle,” with pauses throughout where she speaks deeper into the meaning of her text. If you find yourself in the […]

Grace in the Middle

Editor’s Note: Don’t miss the audio addition of Nicole’s piece below – where she narrates her  journey into liminal spaces and delves deeper into finding grace there . . . in the middle. (The Mudroom Podcast, Episode 5) I was falling behind, dragging them down. I glimpsed it on their little faces—the fear gathering in […]