This past week I had the privilege of reading a non-fiction book by debut author Emily Sara Smucker. The book, The Highway and Me and My Earl Grey Tea, is an account of Emily’s year traveling across the country visiting a different Mennonite community each month. At every stop she experienced something unique, seeking what […]
Faith Matters
When in Babylon
I’ve always held a quiet reverence for Daniel of the Bible, who, along with his friends, was taken captive and transported to Babylon under the rule of king Nebuchadnezzar—young Hebrews suddenly thrust into a culture quite different from their own. The foods, the rules, the dress were all strange to them. Yet they refused to […]
An Autumn Hello
This week we bid goodbye to summer. I confess I’m not sorry to see it go. This series of days between June and September has been unusually hot, long, and dry. Oregon summers typically aren’t like that, so enduring this non-ending chain of boiling afternoons and humid evenings has taxed all of us. I’m hoping […]
When Life Ends Too Soon
This week our family lost a gentle giant. Our nephew succumbed to pneumonia after surviving a bout of Covid. He will be missed. A big man with a bigger heart, he stood every inch of six feet four. He owned his own business and was well respected in his community. He and his wife had […]
Life After Trouble
When my daughter first graduated high school, she continued her art studies with a private tutor who was a student at the University of Oregon. Instead of going home to New Hampshire at the end of each spring term, the tutor opted to stay because she said Oregon summers were delightful. I wonder what she’d […]
A Saturday Waffle Tale
This morning I made waffles for Saturday breakfast. I choose this day because I have a little more time to prepare and waffles tend to be more complicated than a bowl of cereal. I’ve done it so often my family expects their weekend waffle as if it were a long standing tradition. I like […]
Compassion by the Slice
Tonight I’m ordering pizza for my family. It’s a big deal for my daughter. I never serve pizza except on the last day of the month, so for me to make dinner with her favorite food in the middle of the calendar month leaves her giddy. If only the reason for this change in menu […]
Thankful in the Little Things
Today I cleaned my kitchen floor. Again. Not exactly earth-shattering news. I love the honey color of the maple hardwood but the light tone shows every spot, drip, or dribble. With several people “cooking” in the kitchen, the floor takes a beating. I’m picky about the way it looks. So I clean it. Frequently. But, […]
Pushing On Through Trouble
The prairie my great-great-great grandfather crossed with his new bride and her entourage of immediate family most likely seemed an unending landscape of dust, dirt, and scorching sun. He had ridden across this unforgiving territory once on horseback. Now he led his unsuspecting in-laws. While the account of the Hills wagon train of 1851 is […]
Packing for the Journey
Deciding what to bring across the prairie often meant heart-wrenching sacrifices. All too often an item viewed as essential at the beginning of the journey in St. Joseph, Missouri became the first thing discarded when the oxen became too weary to go on, or the wagon carrying the cargo wore out. My great-great-grandmother had to […]