by MarianBeaman | May 4, 2022 | blog, book review, Coming of Age, Education, Family / Nostalgia, Nostalgia, Quotations, Uncategorized
What Amazon Says Loving our children’s children well is an art–one we keep learning as they grow. Making memories and fostering relationships with our grandchildren in the midst of a fast-moving culture isn’t easy, and a legacy that lasts...
by MarianBeaman | Apr 27, 2022 | blog, book review, Coming of Age, Literature, meditation, Memory, Quotations
My Review “Mister Mitch?,” Chika asks. ”Why didn’t you have babies?” I pause. “What do you mean?” “You said people brought you their babies, but you and Miss Janine didn’t have babies.” I’m writing your story, Chika. What does that have to...
by MarianBeaman | Apr 20, 2022 | blog, book review, Cliff Beaman artist, Easter, Family / Nostalgia, Gratitude, meditation, Memory, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Quotations, Uncategorized
Excerpt from “Easter and Politics,” chapter 24 in Mennonite Daughter: The Story of a Plain Girl Two doors led into Grandma Longenecker’s kitchen. On this particular Sunday, we aimed for her back door. After Daddy parked our car alongside the back porch,...
by MarianBeaman | Apr 13, 2022 | blog, Easter, meditation, Paska, Uncategorized
The Finished Work In Bible days, when you wanted a fine piece of furniture made, you picked someone with a reputation for excellence—a master carpenter or a finish carpenter. But these carpenters had an interesting custom. When a carpenter completed a...
by MarianBeaman | Mar 30, 2022 | chalk drawing, Cliff Beaman artist, Easter, Education, Kiev Ukraine, Paska, Travel, Ukraine, Uncategorized
Khristos voskres! Christ is risen indeed! These words spoken in Russian are the very first expression of Easter joy we hear on Sunday, April 24, 2011 as folks gather at Birth of Christ Church in Kiev, Ukraine, preparing for the worship hour. Here is the choir after...
by MarianBeaman | Mar 23, 2022 | blog, book review, Literature, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, popular culture, Quotations, Uncategorized
Sociology professor receives a dire diagnosis He is stopped in his tracks He is also a Mennonite pastor How can he find a path forward? These four lines describe pastor and professor Conrad Kanagy, a Mennonite author who lives with his family in my childhood...
by MarianBeaman | Mar 16, 2022 | blog, Conflict, Family / Nostalgia, Memory, popular culture, Quotations, Tips, Uncategorized
Hustler TV is X-rated Pornographic. . . with naked bodies filling the screen Though I’m not a fan of formulaic Hallmark movies, I’m more a wholesome-romance-kind-of-woman than the sex-crazed hussies and high-libido men featured on the Hustler Channel. ...
by MarianBeaman | Mar 9, 2022 | blog, Coming of Age, Education, Mennonite History, Reflection, Uncategorized
Sophomore Class, Elizabethtown High School 1957 Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania Have you found (or kept) an individual or a group photo from your school days? School snapshots are available online. Have you discovered a digital copy of a school...
by MarianBeaman | Mar 2, 2022 | blog, book review, Cliff Beaman artist, Family / Nostalgia, Kiev Ukraine, Mennonite History, Quotations, Travel, Ukraine, Uncategorized
I received a copy of Elfrieda Schroeder’s memoir, Ellie’s World, about a month ago. Though eastern Europe was rumbling louder in the news in early February, I had no idea how timely her story would be considering the horrific events of this past week....
by MarianBeaman | Feb 23, 2022 | blog, Cliff Beaman artist, Coming of Age, Literature, popular culture, Quotations, Reflection, Uncategorized
The cartoon is right! I have been blogging nigh onto nine years. Also right: My hair is often a mess when I blog. (I don’t see myself at the computer, so I have to trust the artist’s rendering here.) Blogging is fun for me. I don’t hate blogging, as the...
