Michelle Wegner

Writing For…

Mel’s World!  Check out Melissa Mashburn’s site today.  I wrote a post for her about all the this and that of what ministry life is for me right now.  You’ll like Mel.  She’s positve and upbeat and loves Jesus, her husband, and family with everything in her.  Thanks Mel, for giving me the chance to write for you!

No Benches At My Park

I just got done reading The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton.    I loved this book.  The friendships that the women were able to make starting on a park bench on Wednesday mornings while their kids played were truly remarkable.  The book is set in the late 1960’s which offers a lot of perspective on how they were able to formulate these friendships.

They saw each other through births, miscarriages, deaths, infidelities, cancer…all the hardships we as women are faced with regularly.  What tied these women together was their love for one another and their love for writing.  I really enjoyed the book, but have some thoughts about it that have been bubbling around in my head.  Before I spew my guts out, you have to promise not to feel sorry for me, judge me, or try to be my best friend.  Deal?  OK.  Here goes:

The reason I am cynical about this book is that I just don’t think these types of friendships are possible anymore without a ton of work and effort. Things have changed, and part of the problem is that we are living in a very transient society. People come and people go in and out of our lives on a regular basis, with not many feeling settled in their homes or communities.  We are either coming or going with no deep roots immersing us into a place for very long.

  We have sealed up ourselves in our neat little houses in our neat little neighborhoods and close the door so no one ever comes in and no one ever goes out.  There is one park in my community where I take the girls to play.   There aren’t any benches.  A lot of the moms sit in their cars on their cell phones while they watch their kids play.

When Belle and I play outside by our house on a school/work day, you can hear our voices echo in our street.  It is so quiet, you can even hear the echo of the crickets chirping.  I am the only mom on my block that stays home during the day, so there is literally no one around to spark a friendship with, let alone even have a conversation with.  When the other moms on the block get home from working hard all day, they are tired and want to rest awhile before they have to do all the regular mom duties no one else did while they were working. 

I don’t have a relative or sibling that lives close enough that I can just drop my kids off so I can go run an important errand, or just have a few hours to myself.  I have to pay a babysitter almost every single time.  I can’t go to church mid-week because all my babysitters are at church, and the mom’s in my network of friends are too tired from long days to take on 3 more kids.

I am not alone in all of this, I know.  I don’t know many women who have it all figured out. The whole women/friendship thing has always baffled me.  I just don’t see how women have the time or energy to pour into lifelong, deep, solid friendships.  I think times have changed, and it is much harder to make friendships than it was 30 years ago.  It’s not impossible, just a lot harder.

A Slow Burn by Mary DeMuth

I got to read a pre-released version of Mary DeMuth’s second book in her Defiance Texas Trilogy called A Slow Burn.  My initial thoughts:

• Mary’s writing makes me a better writer.  She has a profound gift for imagery and making her characters come alive.
• Mary has a unique gift for weaving story in with struggle and faith that is believable and captivating.
• Mary’s story telling abilities held me captive page by page.

The book A Slow Burn is about redemption and healing in a Texas town.  You can feel the Texas heat as you read, as well as know the sorrow of struggle and loss along with Emory Chance, the main character of this book.  Her addiction and loss are struggles we all can relate to even if our issue is not the death of a loved one or a drug addiction. 

I’d strongly advise you to get this book, and get in someone else’s head that is not you.  See how Emory Chance slowly allows God’s redeeming work in her life.

I’m more than willing to share Mary’s 1st book in this series, Daisy Chain, and then A Slow Burn for anyone who wants!  Books are my passion and I spend way too much money on them.  Thanks for sharing this with me Mary!

If you're planning on purchasing the book, would you do me a little favor? Please purchase via Amazon on Thursday, October 1st, its release date. Click here to buy.

Tell Your Story

My Mom made the most amazing discovery the other day it is about 30 seconds long, but brought us unthinkable joy.  My Grandma was a regular on radio programs broadcasted from Moody Radio in Chicago similar to Aunt Theresa’s KYB Club.  My Mom said my Grandma’s radio name was, “Little Dottie Sunshine”.  Is that sweet or what?  You can hear the song, “I’m So Happy” by clicking this link:  I’m So Happy 

These little snippets from my Grandma’s life are a precious treasure to our family.  We have some photos, patched together memories, and little odds and ends like this that make up a part of who my Grandma was.  Grandma Blom is still with us, but her mind left us a few years ago, way too soon for someone her age.  We’ve got stories to remember her by, and we are thankful for that.

This is a new age in Grand parenting.  I am not sure how many Grandparents read my blog, but if you are one, you need to start a blog, or make videos of yourself telling the wonderful and terrible stories from your childhood.  We want to hear the whole thing.  We want to hear why you are so strong.  What made you resilient.  What made you stubborn.  We want to know these things so we can learn from your greatest victories, and yes, even your greatest failures. 

We learn how to live well from those who have gone before us.  It’s not too late.  Tell your story, no matter how old or young you are.  We all have something to learn.

Even Today.

  

There are days that are filled with laughter, and wonder that captures each smile. 

There are days that are golden, laced with joy and squeals of delight.

There are days when we are all in syncopation, our hearts beating as one,

ready to take on anything together.

 And then there are days like today.

Where anger captures our thoughts.

Where our smiles are ground down

by teeth chomping away at each other with selfish arguments.

Where clouds hang low and lightning strikes with rage.

These are not my favorite days.

But, I still love you. 

You are still the golden sunshine that laces my day. 

You are always the happy thought that makes me fly. 

You are the seasoning in my life. 

You give me strength to do things I never thought I could or would.

I’m glad I’m your Mommy. 

 Even today.

Ready For Anything

 

Time stretched out

Between here and there

The end of the school year

The beginning of our greatest adventure yet

Tucked in

Sweet dreams

Swallowed up by another morning of hope

Risen with the sun

Awakens the day

Brings joy of anticipation

Stretching our arms in praise

And our wings in faith

We fall asleep to dream again

Of what will be new with the summer

What we will see

Who we will change

How we will be changed

A free fall of hope

Waiting to be caught by the unexpected

Ready for anything.

Life From Death

photo by: Rachel Ort Leazenby

We planted our garden a few weeks ago.  Here in the mid-west, you’re not “supposed” to plant until after Mother’s Day.  I couldn’t help it.  I could not wait.  The day was beautiful, the whole family was into it…it was great fun.  We pulled weeds, dug in the dirt, and planted all day long.  At one point, the girls along with some neighbor girls decided to see just how many worms they could gather up.  They walked over to me with a giant fist full of 100 worms.  Each counted and some named.  I told you it was great fun.

We carried on until the clouds rolled in and it started sprinkling, watering our freshly planted flowers.  I felt God was smiling on us, his final approval buckets of rain to finish the day.

I didn’t get to a whole flat of flowers.  I laid them on the side of the house until the next day, but forgot about them for a couple of weeks.  Rob was so kind this past weekend and endured the pain of the new Hannah Montana movie for the both of us while I stayed home for a bit of rare quiet.

I watered all our previously planted flowers, made the rounds to the side of the house only to see my poor forgotten flowers.  Dead.  Wilted.  Sad.

I’ve got this stubborn streak in me.  It tells me to do things that other people tell me I shouldn’t.  Like “Never plant before Mother’s Day,” and “Never plant dead flowers.” 

Well, I can’t honestly say I’ve ever heard anyone tell me not to plant dead flowers, but I’m even stubborn when it comes to my own common sense.

I planted them.  Then something odd happened.  I sensed the presence of God.  I felt Him whispering in my ear, “I bring life from death” over and over again.  With every shovel full of dirt and wilted plant in the ground, “Life from death, life from death, life from death.”  It became sort of a mantra, a dare from God to me to believe the unbelievable.  A dare from Him to me to pray His words.

And so I did.  “God, bring life from death.”

I left my dead flowers in the ground after I watered them, smiled and walked away.

That night, Rob and I learned of the tragic suicide attempt of a beautiful girl with a beautiful spirit that we happen to know quite well.

And you know what was the first thought that popped in my head, standing there in the middle of the night, the vision of her amazing smile burned in my mind?  “Life from death.” 

The clouds have hung low all week long.  I snuck a peak out my rainy window to check on my dead flowers.  They’re alive.

You can only imagine the hope I have for this girl. 

God is stubborn too.  He sees hope where there is only despair.  He brings peace to chaos.

  Life from death.

The Rain Is Falling

Falling

Falling

And the grass is finally green

How long was it brown?

I don’t remember

How we worried and sprinkled and

mowed and trimmed

And breathed the dry dust of summer

And now the rain falls and falls

The water covers the earth today

The provision we had heard about

And experienced in another lifetime

The provision we forgot

With angry fists and empty storehouses

Dusty dirty storehouses thirsting for rain

We forgot that you did this

and you do this

Now we see the green, green grass soaking in the rain

Getting greener by the moment

And we remember

And we tuck our fists in our pockets

And we smile

And sip our coffee

And look out

Storing up this memory

For another time of worry

Kem Meyer-Less Clutter, Less Noise

I had the awesome privilege of being part of a super-secret undercover sneak preview review team for my friend Kem Meyer's book Less Clutter Less Noise...Beyond Bulletins, Brochures and Bake Sales.  With almost every single page I turned, I could think of someone I knew whose business, website, or ministry would be tremendously impacted by putting into practice the things that Kem has to say about simplifying and streamlining . 

You should read this book if:  

•  you want to increase the power of your voice by simplifying your message
• you want others to hear what you have to say, but don't think you are being heard through the noise
• you are a blogger, a ministry leader, a web-designer, or business owner.

The biggest take-away idea I got from Kem's book is this:  Your voice will actually be louder and clearer if you clean away the clutter that surrounds what you are trying to say.  "More" is not better-usually ever.  This book is really a pretty spiritual book in that it challenged me to think about who I am at my core, what my message is, and how I am going to convey it to others.

If this book were free, I would gather up as many as I could and hand them out to just about every business owner, web-designer, blogger, or ministry leader I know.  But, unfortunately, it's not free, so you have to order it yourself.  You can get your copy here.    Or if you know Kem, give her some cash for a book and ask her to sign a copy for you.  I'm sure she would.  She's pretty nice that way.

Is Blogging the New Avon?

                                                   

Is it just me, or is blogging becoming the new Avon?  

I remember growing up in the 70's where every house-wife sold Avon.  It drove my Mom crazy.  All her friends were trying to get her to not only buy Avon, but sign up to sell it as well.  The Avon ladies used to bang on our door with their big plastic Avon bags dangling from their wrists.  They would spray us with stinky perfume and try to sell us Angel pins when they found us at a neighbors house who willingly opened her doors to them. 

There was one lady on our block who was such an avid Avon seller that we never learned her first or last name.  We knew her simply as "Avon Lady."

Between Twitter and the Blogging world, I am starting to feel the presence of the Avon Lady reborn.  The new Avon Lady is snazzier, sneakier, and wants to be your "friend".  The second you click "accept" to accept this new friend on Twitter, you are amazed and befuddled at how every other Twitter update of theirs is pointing you to their blog.  Little do you know, that they have advertisers paying them for each click they receive on their blog.  These new Avon blogger's are smart.  They're tricky.  I hope they're making a lot of money because these economic times are hard.  Long live the spirit of the Avon lady!

For me, for now, my blog is not for sale.  I just want to be your friend.  I want you to see my life as it is, not as polished up stories guaranteed to make me money.  My position as a Mom, Pastor's wife, writer, daughter, niece, friend, is what is important to me.  The relationships I have and the people that read my blog are those I want to build into.  I want to provide a sense of what life looks like going "Further up, Further in" to God, His ways,  and His Kingdom in a normal, ordinary person in a normal, ordinary world.

I tried to sell Mary Kay once.  I was a miserable failure.  I'd never make a good Avon lady either.  Maybe that's why God made me allergic to both perfume and nail polish. 

For my  blogging friends who do advertising on your blogs, I love you and respect what you are doing.  I would open my door to you any day if you were trying to sell me an angel pin.

A Hundred Pounds of Memories

I pulled an old box from the top shelf of the garage today.  I was standing on the ladder thinking, "This is very bad.  This box is probably 100 pounds.  How in the world am I going to get it down the ladder?"  Of course I did what any intelligent person would do, I gently slid it out and let it crash 10ft. to the ground.  I didn't know there was glass in there.  oops.  Anyway, it was totally worth the broken glass.

In this box that I have not opened in the 4 years since we have lived in this house are my journals.  I started journaling when I was probably 12 years old.  I had a counselor at summer camp tell me that writing down my prayers was a great way to connect with God.  I took her up on her idea, and have been journaling ever since. 

100 pounds of journals.  My most precious belongings.  I am so glad I took the time to write everything down as a teenager.  I'm glad I have my entire relationship with Rob chronicled from the first time he walked in my house when I was 12 until today.  I am so glad I wrote down my thoughts and feelings the first years Rob and I shared in ministry.  I learned so much in those days.  So much I would most likely have forgotten otherwise.  I am so glad I wrote about what it was like to be pregnant for the first time.  Then, what it was like to see my daughter get a sister that we were sure was going to be a brother... And then one more sister.  I'm so glad I wrote it all down. 

I Can't wait to dig into the pile of journals tomorrow. And NO, you can't look at them.  :)

Blissfully Domestic

Ok, it's official.  I am writing for an online magazine called "Blissfully Domestic."  For those of you who are laughing out loud right now because you know me and you know that I am anything but a "blissfully domestic" kind of person, STOP IT!  You are a meany. 

I will be writing for two different channels.  One is the Parenting/Family channel, and the other is the Inspiration/Faith channel.  You will find me periodically hyperventilating because I am so excited.  It's not a paid gig, but it's wonderful practice at being a "real" writer, and the audience is huge.

I am really hoping that I can use my writing gift to influence Mom's to be better Mom's and at the same time bettering their own spiritual lives.  This is an amazing opportunity, and  I would really appreciate your prayers!