Browse Delaware Authors: Seyfried, Elise

A humorous look at the hectic, disorganized, perfectly imperfect life of a mom of five who is also spiritual formation director at a Lutheran church. From trying to keep up an old house (and an aging body), to suffering through little league nights,family card games and waiting at the deli counter, from remembering our cute babies to holding our cute grandbabies, Everyday Matters reminds us that every day is sacred, however improbable that may seem. Washing dishes, driving the car, vacuuming the rug: God is in the minute details of our lives, and is there to direct us even when we seem to have no sense of direction ourselves. In these essays, God gently laughs with us, never at us, as we try to navigate this crazy mixed up world. Every day really does matter, if we stop and think about it. And so do we.

Seyfried has an inexorable skillfulness for seeing the miracle within the mundane. The real gift in reading In Discovery allows a reader to open up a new package with every chapter. The author's insights into her daily life discloses the connecting points between all of us, and how the God of the universe really does care for each of us. I appreciated how the topics in the book unfold in the way our lives do for us-one choice tidbit at a time, and an opportunity to learn and grow from each new insight. Parents and grandparents will especially treasure her playful, humorous, and always heartfelt style as her latest submission is simply a joy to read. -Daniel D. Maurer, award-winning author and former ELCA pastor, Saint Paul, Minnesota These essays are a delight! They are sometimes humorous, sometimes profound and sometimes enlightening but always thought-provoking with her wise insights into the human spirit. They are worth reading over and over again. -Len Lear, Local Life editor, Chestnut Hill Local

As caterpillars become butterflies, so do we all transform, throughout our lives. Nanamorphosis is a collection of humorous spiritual essays celebrating Elise's ever-evolving life as Mom, Nana, church worker and writer. Her fifth book, Nanamorphosis includes stories of her growing family, her recent retirement from church, and life during the pandemic.

Underway: Reflections on Everyday Grace is a book of humorous essays that focuses on the (very) hectic and (mostly) happy life journey of one spiritual traveler and her family--and the everyday traces of God's grace that keep her going. From counting her Facebook "friends" and revealing her bucket list, to sharing her children's adventures--on a submarine out of Hawaii, a week spent in the Guatemala mountains, taking the SATs--Elise Seyfried finds that God's loving presence can be found everywhere, just as long as we look for it.

Unhaling: On God, Grace and a Perfectly Imperfect Life is a collection of funny, insightful essays that celebrate the spiritual in the most unlikely everyday moments. These are snapshots of Elise's cluttered, wildly disorganized, very full life as church worker, actress, writer and mom of five. God's grace can be found everywhere: in burned dinners, bungled piano lessons, forgotten appointments, and overgrown yards. God is right there when the kids break out in chicken pox (all at once), when they skydive, study in Thailand, enter the Naval Academy, perform their music in concert, take a first solo bus trip to Boston. And God gently and lovingly encourages a certain perpetually nervous fifty-something to unclench, relax and "unhale". Unhaling challenges us all to look at our own experiences with new eyes, and recognize the faithful One who stands with us, with all our flaws and our failures throughout our perfectly imperfect lives.