As a preteen, I picked up a pen pal from Ghana. She told me how she was trying to save money for college. “We don’t go to college unless we have a purpose for it,” I remember writing back. We being conservative Mennonites and purpose being a vital occupation like a doctor or a nurse. […]
One of the people I most admire–a writing mentor about the age of my parents–recently lost her strong young-man son. My heart goes out to her. Life is so full of surprises. Not all of them are bad. But some of them are very hard indeed. “Hold your life with an open hand,” a beautiful
The Joy that Holds the Universe Together Read More »
Not long after I met Kelsey Osgood, we sat at a picnic table at the country ice cream store just down the road, she with her individual-sized bag of chips (chosen because of her Orthodox Jewish food requirements), I with my non-kosher cone. We discussed—among other things—Jewish food laws that seemed so stringent as to
Godstruck: A Response 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 »
Site Supported By 24x7 WP Support Desk