[Author’s Note: I am once again in the position of having overcommitted my time at month’s end. When this happened last November, I took the easy way out: I merely compiled all the introductions from my previously-written MOPS emails and pretended that it was a well-crafted post.
That original hodgepodge is now called To Email Anything Less Than My Best: Part II. Its introduction is still relevant here, but I won’t reproduce it in its entirety.
Rather, I’ll leave off with this: A poor man rejoices to find a completed punchcard for “Buy Twelve Sandwiches, Get One Free”.
I, likewise, am elated to redeem my “free” blog post.]
Spring 2022
January 3
Happy New Year! This can be a difficult time for me: I desire that the calendar change will bring with it new beginnings, but so often I just end up with the same old stuff!
However, I am so comforted by the knowledge that God’s mercies never get stale — they are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23)!
January 16
Today I realized that, due to a variety of illnesses and holidays, my son has attended preschool only three times in the past eight weeks. (Clearly, money well spent.) It’s been frustrating to explain to him week after week why he can’t go see his friends: “You have a cough,” or “It’s Christmas break,” or “We have Covid,” or, most recently, “Your teacher has Covid.” If my son weren’t so trusting by nature, he would surely suspect me of duplicity by now.
But, as I write this email, I’m reminded that no season lasts forever — so my internal dialogue matters, because I won’t get the chance for a redo. I’m convicted by Ecclesiastes 3:1,6a:
“To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven…
A time to gain,
And a time to lose.”
Instead of viewing this season as a *lost* opportunity for my son to attend preschool, I ought to reframe it as a *gained* opportunity to spend more time with him before he goes off to school for good. After all, it won’t be long before he grows up! If I don’t press into this precious time with him now, then I’ll truly have lost something.
(But, for the record, I still want him back in preschool. 😉)
January 20
(This was a “bonus email” addressing several items of housekeeping, including our MOPS response to the historic Marshall Fire.)
Fun personal fact: I ran my one and only marathon exactly nine years ago, today. The task — “complete a marathon without dying” — was one of only two items on my before-I-turn-eighteen bucket list. (In case you’re curious: The other item was “have my first kiss”… and it says something about my seventeen-year-old self that the marathon was the easier challenge to complete. 🙃)
Back in my cross country days, I [unsurprisingly] had an affinity for the ultimate marathon verse, Hebrews 12:1 — “Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”
These days, however, my “running” (both physical and spiritual) feels a bit more like “jogging”— or maybe “fast walking”. Therefore, in this season, I am so much more drawn to a verse later in that same chapter: “…Make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed” (v. 12).
Running when you’re strong is easy. You can leap over rocks, barrel through mud, and take on any hill. But running when you’re injured is harder. You must be much more conscious of the terrain, the distance, and especially the speed at which you’re running. If, while you’re hurt, you try to run like you do when you’re well, you’ll only prolong your injury.
In short, not every season is the same. Let us look to God for wisdom on how fast to run, in this specific season.
(Oh, and also, for wisdom on how to write better bucket lists. 😜)
January 30
This afternoon, I realized that I truly must have an astrological type. Not only are my mother, father, and husband all Pisces; three of my exes are, too!
I’ve got mixed views of astrology, so I wasn’t quite sure what to think of this revelation. I did a quick Google search for “normal” Piscean traits, and in the course of that research, I found something quite surprising.
According to this Wikipedia article (in the last paragraph of the Mythology section), the archetypal Piscean is none other than… Jesus! (Bet you didn’t see that coming, right?) This attribution is partly because His birth is traditionally pegged at A.D. 1, which apparently was the start of “the age of Pisces”.
Regardless of the astrological reasons, the implications are beautiful: Christ came as the perfect Fish to become the perfect Fisher of Men (Mark 1:17). It’s just another picture of how He truly stepped into our shoes (ahem, our “fins”). No one knows the mind of a fish better than does another fish, and no one knows my mind better than does My Savior. ❤️
P.S. It also makes me feel better about falling for so many Pisces — after all, they were all pointing me back to Jesus, right? 😉
February 11
What a snowy evening! Safe at home, the flurries are beautiful — soft and silent as a goodnight kiss. Outside, though, the snow seems a lot more sinister — especially when it comes to driving.
It is, of course, best practice to just avoid the roads in this weather. However, I had committed to delivering a meal tonight — and, despite the recipient’s graciously allowing me to cancel, I was determined to keep my word.
I am pleased to report that the meal was successfully delivered, and my Ford Explorer made it all the way home — although, tragically, that was not the case for numerous vehicles dotting the shoulders and ditches along our drive. But for my husband — a snow-experienced Minnesota native — I might have suffered a similar misfortune.
I — an Oklahoma transplant — have minimal skills when it comes to snow driving. I don’t have the instincts to keep me glued to the road, and I’ve ended up in a ditch multiple times. (Different ditches — and never permanently.) Driving in bad weather frequently has me feeling unmoored.
Thankfully, that’s not how we have to live life! When we feel untethered from reality, we can cling to the knowledge that God’s promises and His Word are a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul (Hebrews 6:19). I might not be able to stick to the asphalt, but my soul is anchored to something much more lasting than 6th Avenue. ❤️
February 27
I’ve got very mixed feelings about the arrival of March. On the positive side, it’s a huge birthday month in our family (reference my previous email) and brings with it the start of spring. On the negative side, it’s [Lord willing!] the last full month I’ll have before our baby arrives — and we still have so much on our agenda!
It’s hard to even make a list of all the things I’m “supposed” to do in March: make room for bassinet in bedroom; find bassinet in grimy basement; sanitize bassinet; locate high chair — no, wait, we won’t need that for another six months; pack labor bag; etc. I feel like a first-time mom again — but with more experience, and even more stuff!
So, as I hurry about my frantic, last-minute preparations, I’m comforted to know that this is *not* how God prepared for our arrival! His “ways are higher than our ways” (Isaiah 55:9) and His “foolishness… is wiser than men” (I Corinthians 1:25). He didn’t have pregnancy brain, and He definitely knew where He left the bassinet. His preparations for us were perfect — and He brought each of us into existence exactly when and where He wanted us to be. 😊
[Author’s Note: Conspicuously absent from the above introduction are the two most significant contributors to my pre-baby stress: 1) the interminable anguish of writing The Death of Occidentalis, and 2) the constant anxiety of having a breech baby. Both of these stressors are more honestly portrayed in Somewhere Over the Rainbow.]
March 13
This next meeting happens to be my husband’s birthday. Last year, we spent his birthday building a big snow dragon slide (an endeavor which you can read about here, if you’re especially curious). This year, however, any attempt at the same feat would surely fare pitifully.
This is because very few snowstorms produce snow suitable for large-scale sculpting: it must have the right combination of volume, wetness, and subsequent weather — and, incidentally, last March 15th’s snow met all of those criteria. This presented us with a conundrum: seize the once-in-a-year opportunity, or continue to chip away at my never-ending to-do list? In the end, we chose the former, and I’m glad we did.
Some things — dishes, grocery shopping, taxes, etc. — will always be around. As Jesus said, “The laundry you will have with you always.” (Ok, so maybe John 12:8 reads a little differently from that.)
So, what things in your life will you not have with you always? A quiet walk with God; a tickle fight with your husband; a tea party (or snow dragon slide) with your kids; etc. In short, are we sacrificing important, life-changing opportunities merely for “urgent” ones?
April 3
Fun personal fact: my 27th birthday is next week, which makes me — wait for it — *still* the youngest mom in our MOPS group… for the fourth year running.
(If there are any younger mamas hiding out there on our email list… Please join us in-person. I will gladly give up my position as “Baby of the Group”.)
But, that’s sort of the beautiful thing about motherhood. God calls some of us to be young mothers; He calls others to be mature mothers. Either way, it’s not we mothers who create our children; God does! He knits them together in our wombs and counts all their days before the first one even exists (Psalm 139:13,16). How wonderful to think that He so carefully picks out the precious souls whom we get to raise!
April 17
I hope that you are filled with the joy of Christ’s resurrection on this Easter Sunday! This year, Holy Week happens to coincide with Passover — a coincidence that mimics the very first Easter, when Jesus shared the traditional Jewish Seder meal with His disciples and told them: “This [bread] is My body which is given for you… [And] this cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you” (Luke 22:19-20).
In so saying, Jesus radically redefined the purpose of Passover. The Exodus had always shown God’s sovereign provision of deliverance from physical bondage; now, Jesus revealed that it was also the most literal and important precursor to His providing deliverance from spiritual bondage.
Thus, Easter isn’t just a day; it’s a lifestyle. While Passover annually celebrates a one-time event, Easter continually declares that God delivers us from spiritual bondage, day by day. (And on some days… moment by moment.) Easter is the ceaseless proclamation that Jesus didn’t stay in the grave — and thus, neither must we!
April 22
(The email announcing my son’s arrival, reproduced in its entirety — minus the Meal Train link.)
Hi everyone,
Please join me in congratulating — uh, well… myself?
Anyway — Holly, our Communications Chair, on the arrival of a healthy baby boy!
Orientalis joins big brother Borealis (4) and big sister Australis (2.5). Everyone is doing well! The family is grateful for your love and prayers — but if you feel so inclined, you can also check out their Meal Train.
Joyfully,
Your MOPS Leadership Team
(photography by Monet Nicole; email scribed by Holly)
P.S. Let it be known that multiple people offered to write this email and construct my Meal Train for me — but by now, y’all surely know what a tyrant I am when it comes to writing. Plus, I’m the only one with the email list. 😉
April 30
Happy [almost] May! May Day holds unusual significance for me — it’s the birthday of two of my old best friends and the anniversary of my brother and sister-in-law. I also attended one of the few high schools in America with a May Day tradition — in our case, “May Fete”.
Not sure it’s a value-add, but you can read more about May Fete in this article (which, I realized belatedly, was actually written by one of my good high school friends). Basically, the point is to elaborately welcome the coming of spring.
May Fete holds a special place in my heart, but I still think that Solomon did it better:
“For lo, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone.
The flowers appear on the earth;
The time of singing has come.”
— Song 2:11-12a
[Author’s Note: This email corresponds to the MOPS meeting described in Back to the Salt Mines, so I’m retroactively impressed at the peppiness I managed to muster here.]
May 12
Wow… I can’t believe it’s our final meeting of the year! Bear with me as I briefly reflect on this milestone.
This was a season of expansion for our little group. We undertook new careers, new roles, and new babies! (As an aside — five babies within six months is pretty impressive. The nursery will be quite fun this autumn!)
But, this was also a season of recuperation. We grappled with unrealized expectations, broken relationships, and lost loved ones — all while continuing to work through the emotional, spiritual, and physical trauma wrought by the pandemic and its accompanying fallout.
Thus, each of us brought both our joys and our hurts when we came to a MOPS meeting — and there, we found other women: women whose lives look very similar to our own. We formed friendships, shared food, swapped stories, and prayed prayers. In short: we were reminded that we weren’t alone.
That’s the point of MOPS, after all: it’s a bit like a refugee camp for mothers who are in the trenches of this short and intense period of life. When we gather together, we bear each other’s burdens (Galatians 6:2). We rejoice with those who rejoice, and we weep with those who weep (Romans 12:15). We don’t support each other perfectly — but by golly, do we try. ❤️
Summer 2022
[Author’s Note: In contrast with the previous year, Summer 2022 was quite busy for MOPS. While I wanted to take off more time than just a single month, I recognized that the longer I delayed, the harder it would be to get the ball rolling again.]
June 14
We hope that your summer is getting off to a great start! (Ok, so it’s technically still spring… but you get what I mean.)
I can’t believe we’re already halfway through June! Our flowers are blooming, our sun canopy is up, and our transplanted trees have [mostly] survived. (Reference my tree-related emails from last year.) The Strawberry Moon is tonight, and the Summer Solstice is a week away. It will all come and go in a blink.
Time passes. Seasons change. Once gone, a day cannot be retrieved again. It’s a sober reminder to be careful in how we live and to make the most of every opportunity (Ephesians 5:15-16). Let each event on the calendar remind us that every day is a gift to be redeemed and used for the glory of the Lord!
July 3
Happy Independence Day! It is wonderful to celebrate the freedoms we have as Americans: to worship as we choose, to live where we desire, to marry whom we wish, etc.
Even so, these freedoms pale in comparison to the liberty brought about by Christ! As He Himself testifies, those set free by the Son are free indeed (John 8:36). Thus, even our brothers and sisters living under authoritarian regimes are no less free than we, in the scope of eternity!
July 16
I hope that everyone has been keeping cool in the midst of this blistering heat! Today, our sprinkler malfunctioned, leaving our garden without its usual morning watering. How quickly those parched flowers wilted under the relentless midday sun! But, they revived just as quickly when my handy husband fixed the sprinkler.
The episode reminded me that I’m like that, too. Without a fresh outpouring of God’s Word and Spirit, I droop under the weight of life: the cares of this world, the responsibilities of motherhood, and (most of all) the burden of my own sins. What joy to remember that God promises not to leave me there! Instead, He says:
“For I will pour water on him who is thirsty,
And floods on the dry ground;
I will pour My Spirit on your descendants,
And My blessing on your offspring.”
— Isaiah 44:3
July 31
I am writing this to you from our Leadership Retreat, where we are joyfully praying over this coming year! We are so excited to see what God has in store for us in this coming year: the women He brings to our group, the stories He leads us to share, and the grace He bestows on our lives! We want to be fully surrendered to His will — because “a woman’s heart plans her way, but the LORD directs her steps” (Proverbs 16:9).
[Author’s Note: Somewhat less joyfully, I also posted my July story from that leadership retreat.]
August 11
Fun personal fact: today marks exactly eight years since I met someone. Back then, he was just a boy named Taylor; now, he’s my husband of six years.
Things shouldn’t have worked between us — because, most significantly, Taylor had a long-time girlfriend and didn’t believe in God. I was devastated by both facts. I had followed my heart, but my heart had seemingly led me to the wrong person! I couldn’t see a way for us.
But where I couldn’t, God could. Within two weeks of our meeting, Taylor had accepted Jesus as his Savior — and had also agreed to marry me! In Christ, Taylor was a new creation: the old had passed away, and the new had come (2 Corinthians 5:17).
I love our testimony because it’s a reminder that Jesus (and only Jesus!) saves — and that only God knows the heart. The stubborn atheist on your prayer list may likewise be only weeks away from salvation. ❤️
[Author’s Note: Oops, looks like I forgot to mention that those two weeks also included a nasty breakup between Taylor and his erstwhile girlfriend.]
August 14
Is anyone else caught flat-footed by the school year’s arrival? Like, I feel like we were just puttering along, one week after another, and then suddenly — BOOM! — it’s the middle of August, and my stolen/reclaimed linden tree has been in our yard for an entire year. (You might remember it from my emails last year.)
I remember being so worried that my linden wouldn’t survive. We attended to all its needs — fertilizing, watering, pruning, etc. We went all-out for the linden because we perceived it to be especially vulnerable.
I love that our MOPS group strives to treat one another in the same way — caring for those among us who are in a position of vulnerability, and seeking to “provide for urgent needs” (Titus 3:14). We’re not perfect at it, but I think we’re getting better as the years go by. ❤️
Oh, and my linden? It’s now one of the strongest trees in our yard.
August 24
It’s been an interesting week for my household. In an unexpected turn of events, we have temporarily become the host family for a French engineering graduate who cannot receive her diploma until she attains a certain level of English competency. Unfortunately, she has not yet attained this level, so our conversations still rely heavily on charades.
More unnerving than our awkward communication, though, is the knowledge that our family’s witness is on full display for this complete stranger. It’s relatively easy to “act Christian” for a few hours, but it’s much harder to keep up a false pretense for days or weeks. In short: when someone lives with you, they generally see the “real you”.
This whole situation has got me praying fervently — specifically, that we would really lean into Galatians 2:20: “It is no longer I who lives, but Christ lives in me.”
…because only God can transform the “real me” into a more patient, loving, gentle mother!
[Author’s Note #1: Curious what happened to my French guest? Well, she is no longer my guest. On the third day of her stay, I developed what might have been a sinus infection — an illness that temporarily manifested in severe fatigue and fever.
When I informed her “true” host family of my symptoms, they decided that it was best if our guest came to their house immediately, rather than waiting for another several weeks. At the time, it seemed the best way to protect her from what could have been a communicable illness.
I had prayed that I would have a good testimony before her — and apparently, that translated to scaring her away with my 101°F fever. 🙃]
[Author’s Note #2: This series continues here.]