Guest Authors — Colloquium

June 24, 2007

Today’s Guest Author is Izzy Dean, a thirtysomething work-at-home mom of two young children and resident concierge & butler to three cats. She was a graphic designer in her previous life but now she practices bad housekeeping and good butt-wiping, sometimes at the same time, and works from home as a web designer and copywriter. She can also be found writing for her personal blog IzzyMom, serving as editor of Props and Pans and as a contributor at Mamapop.

I am Woman, Hear Me Roar

by Izzy Dean

One of the first things I noticed about becoming a stay-at-home mom was how isolating it was. In my neighborhood at least, everyone was at work all day. Nobody to talk to. Nobody to complain to. Nobody to ask if I was doing it right or wrong. And it pretty much sucked.

{Click here! You know you want to keep reading . . . }

Rediscovering What I Believe

June 17, 2007

Today, in conjunction with Blog Your Blessings Sunday, it is my extreme honor and delight to present the first of what I hope will be a series of articles by Guest Authors.

And it is my privilege to introduce you to my friend and first Guest Author, Robert W. Mattheis, Bishop Emeritus of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Sierra Pacific Synod.

I first met Pastor Bob, as we knew him then, in 1974 when he was called to serve as pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church, the congregation to which I belonged and served on the music staff for many years. In 1994, St. Paul’s loss was the Sierra Pacific Synod’s gain when Pastor Bob was elected to the office of and became Bishop Bob, overseeing 215 ELCA congregations from Porterville, California north to the Oregon border and as far east as Elko, Nevada.He retired in 2002, and continues to reside here in Lodi. He is now active in Way of Christ Community, described as “a unique and evolving community looking to live, believe, worship and learn in a new way,” which is led by his daughter and son-in-law, Pastors Amy Jo and Peter Mattheis-Holmquist.

I asked Bishop Bob to be my first Guest Author for many reasons.

{Click here! You know you want to keep reading . . . }