by MarianBeaman | Oct 13, 2021 | blog, Cliff Beaman artist, Family / Nostalgia, Literature, Mennonite Lore, Quilt, Tips, Uncategorized
You’ve heard many metaphors for life, images that suggest how daily happenings can throw us into a tailspin: Life is like a roller coaster with lots of ups and downs Life is like a washing machine, churning round and round Life is like bumper cars, hitting one...
by MarianBeaman | Oct 6, 2021 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, Gratitude, Uncategorized
The poet Maren Tirabassi reflects on the life of Christ, depicting autumn leaves showing their beauty, their brilliance, and their fragility–and then falling. Observe her weaving the seasonal into the scriptural, spanning His birth and, eventually, His...
by MarianBeaman | Sep 29, 2021 | blog, popular culture, Quotations, Uncategorized
The Boy with a Dream and a Cure True Story In the nineteenth century, a Member of Parliament went to Scotland to make an important speech. He travelled to Edinburgh by train, then took a horse-drawn carriage southward to his destination. But the roads were bad...
by MarianBeaman | Sep 22, 2021 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, Literature, meditation, Uncategorized
Crying: Trying to Make Connection “Her throat felt thick inside; it was the lump that forms when it might help to cry but tears don’t come.” Amy Kenyon, author of Ford Road I’ve been wanting to cry for days now. Not because of anything specific, just...
by MarianBeaman | Sep 15, 2021 | blog, popular culture, Recipes, Uncategorized
Molly Yeh, a Chinese-Jewish American chef, cooks tasty dishes on the Food Network. In a show titled Girl Meets Farm, Molly is equally at home with baking challah as using chopsticks. “Molly Yeh attended the Juilliard School in New York City to...
by MarianBeaman | Sep 8, 2021 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, popular culture, Travel, Uncategorized
Your thoughts on the photo? Reply below to enter a drawing to win an e-copy of Mennonite Daughter, photos and artwork in full color. Contest winner will be chosen via random.org and announced next Wednesday. Thank you! Indicate if you want to be entered...
by MarianBeaman | Sep 1, 2021 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, Memory, Mennonite History, Travel, Uncategorized
The National Weather Service blurted out: “Get ready for a hurricane, Jacksonville, a Category 5 storm named Dorian, is creeping up the coast.” It was September 2, 2019, and any day now I was awaiting the delivery of 16 cartons of books, my memoir. The skies...
by MarianBeaman | Aug 25, 2021 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, Gratitude, meditation, Memory, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Reflection, Travel, Uncategorized
When I was a plain, ten-year-old girl, I wanted to looked like Mary. My big brown eyes turned green with envy when Mary Martin and her sister Evelyn walked through the door at Grandma Fannie’s house for holiday dinners. Both were elegantly turned out, resplendent in...
by MarianBeaman | Aug 18, 2021 | blog, Cliff Beaman artist, Education, Family / Nostalgia, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Travel, Uncategorized
Howard and Faythe Landis don’t operate a bed and breakfast, but they are hospitality hosts extraordinaire nonetheless. We discovered their great hearts and open arms on our recent trip to Springfield, Missouri in mid-July. Before we ever boarded the...
by MarianBeaman | Aug 11, 2021 | blog, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Quotations, Uncategorized
Have you noticed? Housing prices have gone through the roof! All-cash offers, bidding wars, homes selling for thousands over asking prices—these describe the US housing market in spring-summer of 2021. The boom may continue indefinitely. It’s hard to predict....