Welcome! I’m so glad you stopped by!

My name is Michelle-Christian, and this here is my blog. When my daughter was little, I used to call her Mustardseed because, well…she was small, because my favorite Shakespeare play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, has a fairy in it named Mustardseed, and because of Jesus’ parable of the mustard seed, where he says that even though it’s a very small seed, it grows to become something great. He tells us if we have the faith of a little mustard seed, we can move mountains. It’s an encouragement to me to remember, when my life and my efforts seem insignificant–and I hope it will be to you also–that great things come from small things.

So broadly, The Mustardseed Chronicles is about the significance of the seemingly very small. More specifically, it’s a community that invites women to what some people have called “mother culture,” others The Great Conversation, and what I call thought life, while removing the intimidation or overwhelming factor. And not only philosophizing and reading books, but also art, nature, beauty, and the things we create, from afghans to paintings to novels to families. It’s a chronicle of my striving to use my intellect and my creativity, contemplate questions of faith, explore nature, and figure out how to do that while raising a young person to do the same.

A few things about me:

• He or she who supplies me with chai shall never want for friendship.
• I’m married to a handsome, serious Colombian guy who pretends he doesn’t want to laugh at my jokes.
• We live in a suburb of Houston. I am Texan to the core.
• I’m a translator, editor, and Spanish and English teacher. I love language(s).
• I want to make too many things to count, starting with sweaters, shoes, short stories, clothes, and art.
• One day, I will hike the Appalachian Trail. For now, I love walking around my flat little prairie, barefoot as often as possible.
• I rarely wear make-up but believe the bigger the earrings, the closer to God.
• I grew up in the Church, but I wasn’t always a Christian, so I know what it is like to have genuine reservations that deserve to be addressed patiently, compassionately, and with open discussion.
• You can catch me listening to the Civil Wars, Coldplay, Marc Anthony, or Alison Krauss.
• If I can meet any famous person in heaven, I hope it will be C.S. Lewis.