Speaker: Amy Steingard

Wasn't the talk this past week fantastic?

Amy Steingard (a former MOPS member!) spoke to us about owning and living into our stories and the importance of vulnerability and owning our stories instead of allowing them to own us.

If you want to read more of her writing, Amy writes at her blog "Tiny Uprisings". On her blog she introduces herself, "I'm Amy.  A southern girl transplanted to the Pacific Northwest...mom to three amazing, spirited tiny humans, seeking to reclaim my own place in my own life.  It's easy to get lost in there, but I'm rising up and digging out! I'm a purpose-seeking, authenticity-loving, relationship-needing, beauty-creating, faith-hugging regular Jane, trying to make the most out of this one life here on earth and encourage other women to do the same.  It might be a bumpy ride, but hopefully you'll join me."

Thanks for sharing your story with us, Amy!

Stardust

by Kay Lambert

My two older boys are what you might call “obsessed” with all things space and aviation.  As a result, I’ve been gifted the opportunity to re-learn or learn for the first time many a fascinating fact about space travel, space exploration, and our great big universe.  In learning about stars, one of the visually striking topics that often comes up is that of nebulae.  Some nebulae are basically star nurseries.

“Stars are born when clouds of gas collapse down under the pull of gravity. In this photograph, new stars still within the dark cloud are beginning to glow at the tips of fingers of gas.  As the stars get brighter, their radiation will blow away the nearby gas, and they will eventually shine out as newborn stars.” - (the Eagle Nebula from The Ultimate Interactive Guide to the Universe)

When we think of our own stories, it’s easy to feel like it’s a great big fuzzy expanse of brightness, darkness, ice, heat and dust that somehow all happened in the life of little ol’ “me.”  But as time goes by, all of those things start to come together to tell a story, to form, if you will, a really bright star.  

Some of you may be familiar with the work of social scientist and storyteller extraordinaire, Brene Brown.  In her book, Rising Strong, she talks about the importance of owning our stories.  The chapter opens with the following quote:

“A map does not just chart, it unlocks and formulates meaning; it forms bridges between here and there, between disparate ideas that we did not know were previously connected.”

- Reif Larsen

When you look up at the stars and can pick out some of the constellations that we’ve all learned about, you can’t help but see these bright stars in relation to one another.  Whatever path you’ve been on, and whatever path you feel like you’re walking, running, hiking, or crawling on right now, I can’t help but marvel at the fact that, basically, all our stars have aligned, and here we are, together at MOPS.  

So I just want to send out this encouragement as we get the chance to share our own stories, and hear the stories of the other moms at each of our tables.  Our stories will be as unique, diverse, beautiful and numerous as the stars in the sky.  Who were some of the other stars in your story?  How did something that seemed like a big hot mess turn into a major pull of how you became who you are today?  How did you get from there to here?  

Looking forward to building these star maps of our lives together with you ladies.  Shine on, bright stars!