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 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 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...