This article was first published in my column in Anabaptist World. *** Let everyone be swift to hear and slow to speak, James tells us. But my inclination when a difficult conversation arises is not to speak at all. I’ve had to learn to be swifter, not slower, to speak. Too often I’ve left unsaid words
I’ve Learned to Be Swifter to Speak Read More »
For over a month now, I’ve been writing down snippets of things I want to tell you, so this update will be random and long and interspersed with pictures of life here on the farm (that we no longer farm much, since Ivan is into storage buildings and we rent most of our farmland out).
Heartstones, slugs, and snippets of things Read More »
The following prayer was first published in Anabaptist World. Dear FATHER, IN WHOM I try to believe, my heart feels muddled and squished, like a stress ball in a clammy hand. My mind is clouded by vague worries and muddied emotions. It feels presumptuous to ask you, the Creator of sparrows and stars, into the small
God of Broken and Little Things Read More »
Which title is supposed to be a clever pun for my made-in-May update. I am sitting at the kitchen table to write this while the children take their afternoon naps. My hair is loose down my back–a pleasantly relaxed feeling for someone who usually wears it up. I am wrapped in two sweaters and a
This post was first published in Anabaptist World. We recently bought a neglected house in town to use as a rental—a property foreclosed on and sold cheap after its owner died. So now we are left with the task of sorting through piles of “junk” once valued by someone. I sort through a box of
Remnants of a Life Read More »