The Vintage Butterfly

For those of you who would like to watch the short doc by Sarah Colt Productions that followed our run for U.S. Congress in 2018: https://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/598117/robb-ryerse/

http://happinessisabutterfly.blogspot.com/2019/11/true-believer.html

This is an article I wrote for the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette for the Faith Matters column in July. The pictures are mine.  West Texas Windmills My facebook feed is spiced up thi...

http://happinessisabutterfly.blogspot.com/2019/07/road-trip-reflections.html

I was super excited when I saw one of my favorite quotes on the wall of one of my favorite leaders: Brene Brown.  Locals may have also seen it at the lovely Freckled Hen Farmhouse: "THESE ARE ...

http://happinessisabutterfly.blogspot.com/2019/03/these-are-good-old-days.html

As the cross is formed in ashes over your head, we say the words  "From dust you came, to dust you will return."   Ash Wednesday is an invitation to remember that life is unpredictable,  ...

http://happinessisabutterfly.blogspot.com/2019/03/an-ash-wednesday-reflection.html

I came across this image from Emily McDowell in my Instagram feed and as usual, was struck by her ability to communicate with honesty and depth (and frequently, humor) what we feel as humans. ...

http://happinessisabutterfly.blogspot.com/2018/12/good-news-for-all-people.html

It's not the first time I've said it, but gardening does my heart, soul and body good.  All summer long, I ignored my garden and it was almost as if the tomatoes got offended and just stopped gr...

http://happinessisabutterfly.blogspot.com/2018/10/removal.html

For almost two years I have been working on a massive mosaic installation project.  The installation date has been set for October 19th, 2018, and when it is done, I intend to write about the wh...

http://happinessisabutterfly.blogspot.com/2018/09/someday-maybe-soon-i-will-blog-again.html

When people hear that my husband is running for Congress, I can see the curiosity and confusion on their faces.  There are so many ideas about what that must mean for us. They try to connec...

http://happinessisabutterfly.blogspot.com/2017/12/when-you-wonder-how-campaign-is-going.html

A few years ago, we stumbled upon the idea of using the part of the church calendar called Ordinary Time to bring a new energy to the summer months at Vintage Fellowship .  It has become some o...

http://happinessisabutterfly.blogspot.com/2017/07/the-wonder-of-ordinary-time.html

My husband always answers the phone the same way: "THIS IS ROBB. HOW CAN I HELP YOU?" It's pretty smart, really.   He can quickly sort out if they are calling Robb the pastor of Vintage Fell...

http://happinessisabutterfly.blogspot.com/2017/06/this-is-robb-how-can-i-help-you.html

*Trigger Warning -Sexual Assault, Abuse A few minutes ago, I had to stop in the middle of a telephone survey because I started to cry.  The woman conducting the call paused with me, and asked ...

http://happinessisabutterfly.blogspot.com/2017/03/on-swallowing-camels.html

I grew up in Fundamentalist Christianity, and that tradition does not allow women to be ordained or to have a leadership role that would result in women teaching men.  I am not a part of this t...

http://happinessisabutterfly.blogspot.com/2017/03/ordination.html

Today, I am 42. Which frankly, with a two year old underfoot, feels pretty much exactly like 32 did.  But, as I was thinking on this around 5:30 am when my body was trying to convince me it was ...

http://happinessisabutterfly.blogspot.com/2016/11/whats-working-at-42.html

As a freshman in college, I was cast in the lead role of the play Antigone.  A week ago, today,  I was back on campus with my husband and my daughter.  We toured the campus and visited all the...

http://happinessisabutterfly.blogspot.com/2016/10/a-young-girl-and-powerful-man.html

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 As the plane rose in the sky and the few clouds scattered to make the scene below us visible, Robb promptly drifted off to sleep.  Apparently, planning a massive su...

http://happinessisabutterfly.blogspot.com/2016/08/twenty-part-4.html

Part 1 Part 2 When we were 21 years old, we accepted that a wedding reception involved a nicely decorated church fellowship hall or gym, punch and cake, church-approved background music, a...

http://happinessisabutterfly.blogspot.com/2016/08/twenty-part-3.html

Part 1 I'm told that one of the most delightful members of our flock at Vintage Fellowship , while getting ready for this event, commented to his wife, "I don't really g...

http://happinessisabutterfly.blogspot.com/2016/08/twenty-part-2.html

Sometimes a story is so good, it can be paralyzingly hard to tell it and do it justice.  I find myself in just such a predicament, but I must tell the story and I must do it in the confines of a...

http://happinessisabutterfly.blogspot.com/2016/08/twenty-part-1.html

Sometimes a story is so good, it can be paralyzingly hard to tell it and do it justice.  I find myself in just such a predicament, but I must tell the story and I must do it in the confines of a...

http://happinessisabutterfly.blogspot.com/2016/08/twenty-part-1_19.html

Now that summer is upon us, I asked my brilliant stylist to send clothes I could wear in the heat of Arkansas summer.  I love summer, but I admit, I do not love the humidity here.  I get so hot...

http://happinessisabutterfly.blogspot.com/2016/06/stitch-fix-15-review.html

This morning, I stopped at my local coffee shop for a bracing cup of coffee and a small bite to eat.  The truth is, I had just had my first mammogram, and I was feeling a little shaky.  I was p...

http://happinessisabutterfly.blogspot.com/2016/06/hello-19-year-old-meand-goodbye.html

It was back in February when I first heard about Mercy Hospital of Joplin's desire to have a butterfly "decorated" for their garden in commemoration of the the devastating 2011 tornado and conse...

http://happinessisabutterfly.blogspot.com/2016/05/the-mercy-butterfly-from-concept-to.html

sick baby before chicken soup  Someone in this house has been sick for months now.  We've thrown up, coughed, sneezed, and fevered for so long, I am starting to lose my mind.  I know I'm ...

http://happinessisabutterfly.blogspot.com/2016/04/chicken-soup-recipe-that-fights-colds.html

When I was a teenager, I was part of one of those amazing 1990s youth groups that was so ridiculously cool, Buzzfeed made posts about us 30-something years later.  (seriously, just google Buzzfe...

http://happinessisabutterfly.blogspot.com/2016/04/jumping-and-pushing.html

A few weeks ago, I was at my favorite coffee shop and the barista asked me how my week was.  I reached into my thoughts and fumbled around like I do when I need to find something in the bot...

http://happinessisabutterfly.blogspot.com/2016/04/when-you-feel-like-punching-customers.html