Sydney Frusti | Author & Creative Mind

Category: Christian Living

  • I’ll Take My Coffee Lukewarm: Thoughts on Productivity from the Trenches of Motherhood

    A common response I get when people find out I’ve written (and am publishing) a book is “how do you have time?” Usually the question comes from other moms juggling their own responsibilities and is followed by “I could never do that.” Though I don’t believe everyone is called to write a book, I do…

  • You’ve Got Mail: How Authenticity Cuts Through Advertising Noise

    I receive a lot of newsletters in my email, and many of the author ones offer writing advice. Makes sense, right? A writer talking about… writing. But one thing I often ponder is “what audience is this author trying to reach?” Because most readers probably don’t care much about the craft of writing. They just…

  • Steward of Solitude

    As a stay-at-home-mom and writer, I have plenty of time alone. Even time spent with my kids can be “alone time.” But though my days are filled with solitary endeavors, I feel just as drained at bedtime as if I worked an office job. This seems like a contradiction—how can an introvert feel spent after…

  • Fine China Reflections

    When I was creating my wedding registry, people kept asking me if I’d picked out a set of china. As someone who often enjoyed my Thanksgiving meal on paper plates for easy cleanup, this concept was foreign to me. Why would I have china on my registry? Wasn’t that just for taking up space and…

  • Choosing the Narrow Road

    Being an introverted mom is a challenge. There’s always someone needing me, pulling me away, vying for my attention. I can get sucked into the cycle of unproductivity because I keep getting disrupted when I try to focus on something. And as I mentioned in a previous post, it’s already hard enough to focus on…

  • When the Ordinary Comes Knocking

    I’ve been re-reading The Screwtape Letters, and I’m once again struck by Lewis’ insight into the human condition. In one of the early letters, the demon Screwtape encourages his nephew on the effectiveness of the ordinary to draw people away from God.  The ordinary has certainly been persistent in knocking at my door lately. Over…

  • Disciplining the Heart

    Going grocery shopping is a big event now. Not that it’s one I want tickets to, but somehow I always land the VIP seating. And since I usually have a toddler in tow, I’ve gotten pretty good at saying no. We’ll pass by the candy, the seasonal items, the sugar cereal, or the fun trinkets…

  • Leveled Up Priorities

    I’m pretty bad at video games, even though there are a handful I like to play. Among my chosen few are Minecraft, Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Pokemon, and all the Lego games (especially Lego Star Wars). All of them have some level of exploration, which is why these are among my favorites.…

  • Disrupting the Status Quo

    There’s a fairy tale I often think about that involves a farmer with lots of children.  He complains about how little space he has and dreams of the day he can buy a big farmhouse to fit everyone.  A wise old woman tells him how he can fix his problem–bring all the chickens inside the…

  • Holistic Housekeeping

    My mom recently invested in chickens.  It sounds like no big deal, until you realize just how much work goes into their startup and upkeep.  From planning and building the enclosure (in the middle of an Arizona summer) to researching the best kind of feed for the budget to the physical labor of cleaning the…