Leaving Oz

Wildfire on campus

The phone call from my son, Hethaestus, came early Thursday evening.  "Mom, I thought you should know.  A wildfire started in the hill just above Westmont College.  It's reached campus, so everyone has been evacuated into the gymnasium. The gym is built of cinder-block; it's fire-safe.  I'm at the apartment, so I'm ten miles away, but I can see the glow from here.  Two of my roommates are still on campus, and lots of my friends.  I've been texting them--everybody seems safe."

Coming Out as a Christian

No, I'm not gay.  But, psst.  I'm a Christian.  Surrounded by a lawyer who just got off a tough work day, a Manhattan mom in kitten heels, a Los Angeles writer, and the company of Silicon Valley moms, I came out of the proverbial closet about being a Christian.  Not by announcing it.  By simply passing out my business card, which had Leaving Oz as a "Christian Moms Blog" printed on it.

A few weeks ago, I was registered to attend the annual BlogHer Conference (2,500+ attendee conference for women bloggers).  And to kick off the festivities, I was invited to attend the Night Before Party at Slide, a really uber hip, private club in downtown San Francisco hosted by Yahoo, Chevy and Saks Fifth Avenue, just for the writers of the Silicon Valley Moms Blog.

I was feeling very excited about getting my hair done in the city, dressing up for a night out on town and checking out such a cool party as part of an exclusive community of writers.  Little did I know that I would be challenged that night by my own feelings of inadequacy and fears of being known as a Christian.

 

 

My July 4th Prayer

I love July 4th.  When I was out in the workplace, it meant I'd get a three day weekend out of the office.  Not only that.  Tack on some personal vacation days and voila! I get an extended time away for a long trip somewhere.

But this year as mom, I'm especially sentimental about July 4th.  It's not only a date on the calendar. God reminded me this holiday to be thankful for being a mom in the US.

There is so much unrest in the world, violence, war, and death.  Our country is also in the midst of internal turmoil, with bad blood between those of the extreme left or right on political party lines.