Arwen Mosher lives in southeastern Michigan with her husband Bryan and their young children Camilla and Blaise. She has a bachelor's degree in theology. She dreads laundry, craves sleep, loves to read novels and do logic puzzles, and can't live without tea. Her personal blog site is 
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Pans Under the Tree?
Faith and Family Live! | Posted by Arwen Mosher in Marriage on Wednesday, December 22, 2010
My husband and I had been married for one Christmas, or maybe two, when some family friends gave us one of their tips for a happy marriage.
“No gifts that plug in!” the wife admonished Bryan laughingly, wagging a finger in the air.
Over the years I’ve often thought of that moment as I’ve opened gifts by the tree. Some of my favorites have broken that rule - like the year when my husband went way over... READ MORE
Christmas Generosity
Faith and Family Live! | Posted by Arwen Mosher in News on Monday, December 20, 2010
I love stories that remind me how kind and generous people can be.
I read a good one this morning, and hours later I’m still tearing up a little when I think of it.
A blogger made the generous gesture of offering $30 Amazon gift cards to the first twenty commenters who could tell her why they needed them. The cards went quickly, but in poured offers from readers to help provide gift cards for the... READ MORE
Joyful Anticipation
Faith and Family Live! | Posted by Arwen Mosher in Faith on Thursday, December 09, 2010
One of the beautiful things about the liturgy during Advent - and I never noticed this as a kid, but am increasingly aware of it as an adult - is its eschatological focus. Advent is about anticipating the celebration of Jesus’ birth at Christmas, but it’s also about anticipating Christ’s second coming. The Feast of the Nativity is a whisper of the joy of our ultimate redemption.
I love this Advent... READ MORE
'Tis the Season
Faith and Family Live! | Posted by Arwen Mosher in Family on Wednesday, December 08, 2010
Since it’s December, one of the things on my to-do list is Christmas cards. It’s a multi-part process: writing the accompanying letter, ordering the cards, making sure we have enough stamps, actually stuffing and addressing the pile that seems to grow as we work.
But for me, by far the most daunting part is obtaining the dreaded Christmas Card Picture.
I only have two children to photograph, so you’d... READ MORE
Preparation Season
Faith and Family Live! | Posted by Arwen Mosher in Faith on Wednesday, December 01, 2010
Two years ago, I blogged about my new resolution to keep Advent.
I now make that resolution every year. In some ways it’s gotten easier, but I don’t know if it’ll ever be really easy.
In order to keep Advent and Christmas in their proper seasons, we have to hold off on celebrating Christmas while the world is singing about “the most wonderful time of the year.” Then, just when we are given the chance... READ MORE
Sharing Advent Hymns
Faith and Family Live! | Posted by Arwen Mosher in Just me on Monday, November 29, 2010
As part of our family’s resolve to keep Advent, we’ve replaced the Christmas carols to which we used to listen during December. I’ve amassed a decent playlist of Advent music (including the appropriate portion of Handel’s Messiah) and we’ve grown to love the sound of it during the weeks leading up to Christmas.
But before I made a concerted efforted to collect Advent songs, I knew very few of them.... READ MORE
Are Easy Babies "Better"?
Faith and Family Live! | Posted by Arwen Mosher in Family on Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Recently, an acquaintance of mine was telling me about her fourth child and the joy and grace his arrival had brought to her family. I was eating it up - I love this kind of stuff.
But then she started talking about what a “good baby” he was. He never cried, he slept easily and often, he was mellow and easygoing. He was so “good.”
I bristled, a little bit. I’m not sure this is a fair reaction, but... READ MORE
Crossing Genres
Faith and Family Live! | Posted by Arwen Mosher in Just me on Monday, November 22, 2010
Like most dedicated readers, I’ve got favorite genres. And for the most part, I stick to them.
I like realistic fiction, including historical fiction, romantic comedies (clean, obviously), and most of the classics. I generally enjoy stories about everyday life, and I don’t mind if they’re written for younger readers. (The Betsy-Tacy high school stories come off my shelf on a regular basis, for instance.)... READ MORE
Craft Those Thanks
Faith and Family Live! | Posted by Arwen Mosher in Homemaking on Friday, November 19, 2010
I’ve often heard the idea of having everyone at your Thanksgiving table share something for which they’re thankful. I think it’s a great one - Thanksgiving is a holiday of gratitude, so it seems fitting to focus on that.
If you want to take it a step further, here’s a neat idea I recently came across: make a Thankful Tree. The instructions in this article suggest having guests at your Thanksgiving gathering each fill out a leaf for the tree, but I think it could also work well to do the whole craft ahead of time with kids.
My daughter is just four and I think the holiday is a little abstract for her, but I’m hoping that doing this might help make it more concrete. Happy (almost) Thanksgiving!
Think Happy, Live Longer
Faith and Family Live! | Posted by Arwen Mosher in News on Thursday, November 18, 2010
Do optimists live longer?
According to some very preliminary research, it appears they might. This article has the details.
The team that did the study made it clear that this could be a correlative rather than a causal relationship: “Pessimistic people may be more prone to developing habits and problems that cut life short, such as smoking, obesity and hypertension.”
I know very little about medicine... READ MORE
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