Degrees in Idealism

exploring how we would live if we truly believed life was meaningful

  • Culture
  • Marriage
  • Family
  • Wellness
  • Beauty
  • Soul

Christmas Eve, 70 Degrees, and Hail

12.24.2015 by Elizabeth Hanna Pham // 1 Comment

Baby Jesus did you come like they say in all those songs and stories and books? Like a lamb? All quiet and unobtrusive? Little cries, little weak cries? Sleeping through the night from the start like a “good baby?” No struggle to fight out of those swaddling cloths? So subtle, you were, that the others never […]

Categories // Beauty, Soul Tags // #babyjesus, #christmas

No Santa? But What About the Magic?

12.17.2015 by Elizabeth Hanna Pham // 1 Comment

I’ve written before about why we aren’t doing Santa in the traditional sense. We love and appreciate him and want to maintain his spirit through both his real Saint namesake and through his fairy tale, but we won’t be insisting that he delivers our children’s gifts on Christmas Day. I am a bit unique in the camp of […]

Categories // Family Tags // #children, #christmas, #faith, #magic, #parenthood, #santa

I Don’t Like The Red Cups, But Not Because They Offend Me

11.12.2015 by Elizabeth Hanna Pham // Leave a Comment

When I heard about the “Starbucks red cup controversy” I wasn’t very surprised by the red cups, but I was surprised to see the whole thing being referred to as a controversy. Apparently Christians are “outraged” and “offended” by this rather secular business’s decision to be rather secular during the months of November and December. I’m […]

Categories // Culture Tags // #christianity, #christmas, #redcups, #secularism, #starbucks

Why Santa doesn’t come to our house

08.10.2015 by Elizabeth Hanna Pham // 1 Comment

I love Santa (to be distinguished here from the historical St. Nicholas, who I also love). I don’t mean I “love” him in the way that I “love” the color green or goat cheese. I love Santa in a way that makes me tear up at the thought of him. I love Santa more than any […]

Categories // Culture, Family, Soul Tags // #children, #christmas, #faith, #magic, #santa

Fevers, Christmas, and the Problem of Pain

12.28.2014 by Elizabeth Hanna Pham // Leave a Comment

I have mixed feelings about fevers. On the one hand, I hate the way they knock you out. I hate the pounding head pressure, the weakness, the chills and the sweats, the so-exhausted-but-can’t-sleep feeling, the fear of it getting worse. But there is a special tenderness that comes with a fever. The warmth of my head […]

Categories // Soul Tags // #christmas, #findingmeaning, #problemofpain, #suffering

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About Me

I'm Elizabeth. I'm a wife, a mother to five little boys (and a little girl on the way!) a writer, and a lover and seeker of the beautiful, the true, and the good. I am a believer in idealism-- that even amidst the chaos and the confusion, the exhaustion and the sadness of life there is always joy to be found, hope to be clung to, and a better path to be taken. I write my thoughts on this blog. Links to my fiction books are at the bottom of the page.

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Storybook of Saints

Book Cover: A Storybook of Saints

A Storybook of Saints

sons of God

sons of God

A short novella in which Lucifer talks about his dad.

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