THE AWKWARD MOM

because uncomfortable conversations are the ones worth having

Category: helping others (page 3 of 7)

A Letter to My Daughter: I Hope You Have Ugly Hands

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Hey.

So–I was thinking of you. Every month I get a little excited when that one women’s magazine pops in my mailbox. Your brother brought it in to me last week. It’s a frivolous happiness, just one that keeps me posted on the latest trends, gives me good ideas, and, let’s be honest, keeps me from getting frumpy.

But every now and then, there’s an article that lifts my eyebrows. Sometimes the frou-frou just gets too obvious. This month, I found one that I might cut out so you don’t accidentally find it. But instead, I’ll tell you about it.

World Refugee Day 2018: Pawad’s Story

Reading Time: 5 minutes

A late addition to this post: There’s another step you can take to stand with refugees. Consider signing the UN’s #withrefugees petition here! 

I want to introduce you to my friend Pawad. Pawad is South Sudanese, and he’s from the Dinka tribe. Physically, this means that when Pawad gives me a hug, the top of my head aligns with his armpits. It means that when he smiles with those white-white teeth against his 80% cacao skin, it’s as if someone flipped on a couple hundred watts of electricity. He’s built like a piece of black licorice, limbs long and loose.

Pawad is fully scholarshipped to African Renewal University in Uganda, after which he hopes to become a pastor to his people, many of whom have been traumatized by 35 years of war. Coincidentally, Pawad is also a refugee.

Never Forget: Slavery is Now

Reading Time: 2 minutes

In the car last week, my kids and I were discussing the American Civil War–and whether they thought it was initially about slavery or about the states’ rights. Maybe you’re like me in these discussions, or in reading books about abolitionists: Maybe you wonder whether you would have had what it takes to do what was illegal and could put your family in jeopardy in order to free slaves.

Confession: I caught myself thinking of slavery as something that happened back then

As if abolitionists were only needed then. read more

The Stories We Don’t Tell: On Choosing Vulnerability

Reading Time: 4 minutes

In college, I answered a youth crisis hotline one night a week. So many who called in were so…raw. Or embarrassed. Or afraid.

There was something freeing, I think, calling someone anonymously; at finally being able to share the invisible bag of stones they carried around, its weight occasionally flopping over their foreheads and making it hard to see anything else. read more

A Good Day

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Today, I woke up in Thailand.

My sister and her husband start their day early on behalf of their community, feeding a bunch of kids breakfast so they can grow up strong. The food is cooked by an amazing local Burmese woman with a heart even bigger than her industrial-sized rice cooker.

Freebie Fridays [INFOGRAPHIC]: Helping Kids Deal with Their Fears

Reading Time: 2 minutes

We were on our way to the local aquatic center with friends in my trusty, dented little Subaru. We passed a few yard signs for our small town’s upcoming election. I was listening to my 10-year-old chat with her friends about how excited they were about summer’s approach. Of course, right? But get this. “Yeah, I can’t wait for summer, with all this election stuff and the school shootings.”

Well. Is that how you know that your daughter is growing up in a different world?

I eventually talked with her about the local election: That despite she and her siblings’ wide-eyed ingestion of the scrolling newsfeed in 2016, elections are not usually scary things in our country. (This was less so in Africa, where she grew up, so I get that, too.) read more

What Ails You: On the Drive for Healing that Propels Us Forward

Reading Time: 3 minutes

run healing propels forwardI talked to a man a few weeks ago whose perseverance I’ve gotta admire.

He was in a bad place–really hurting. So he called a local support group (get this!) six times, when his message wasn’t returned, to get connected to the help he needed.

It’s a light-bulb moment for me. read more

An Open Letter: When You’re Tired of Doing the Right Thing

Reading Time: 3 minutes

faithfulness tired of doing the right thingHey.

I was there just this past Saturday, too. Felt like it had been a year of keeping my head down, doing the right thing with a hopeful smile. Or maybe some tears. I’ve mentioned this last year my struggles with feeling powerless; with the tension of not living some dreams.

I may have even scrawled the phrase tired of a “Yes, sir” life in my journal this past weekend.

31 More Things to Be Thankful for Today if You Live in the Developed World

Reading Time: 2 minutes

So many of us are experiencing new heights of irritation with and alienation from our own nations’ government. But consider this post an opportunity to shift our eyes in gratitude. When I’m struggling to feel content here, I think of my African friends’ perspectives on just what abundance we drink in every day.

Today’s and yesterday’s posts, rather than reinforcing the misguided, often arrogant notion that developing-world countries are horrible places to live, are simply invitations to be grateful with me about what we have…but generally did not create for ourselves. read more

Guest Post: Helping Our Kids Become a Safe Place

Reading Time: < 1 minute

becoming a safe place person of refuge

It’s been a rough month for a lot of people around the United States.

As I type, there are children in Florida and Montana and Texas whose lives have been precisely, heart-rendingly divided into before and after. read more

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