by MarianBeaman | Feb 1, 2017 | blog, meditation, neighborhood, Quotations, Uncategorized
If you are reading this, you have arrived at my new website, marianbeaman.com – welcome! It is still a work in progress. Another introduction is in order: I have been dying for you to meet my new neighbors who live peacefully on the lake behind our patio. After...
by MarianBeaman | Dec 7, 2016 | blog, book review, Education, Gratitude, Quotations, Tips
Whoopi Goldberg is no nun, but she played one in Sister Act, where she befriended three other nuns all named Mary and made the convent’s choir into a rollicking, soulful act. Dr. David Snowdon obviously is no nun either. He’s not even a monk. But he is an...
by MarianBeaman | Nov 30, 2016 | blog, Conflict, Education, Literature, Quotations
Bright lights overhead illuminate a fun space. My eyes take in shelves with animal puzzles, bins with textured balls, sets of play tools, baskets of plastic fruit and veggies with pans for the play stove in our classroom. On my right – xylophones, bells and colored...
by MarianBeaman | Nov 23, 2016 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, Gratitude, Literature, meditation, Mennonite History, Paska, Quotations
Before families went over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house, a postcard may have appeared in their mailbox to mark this grand American holiday of gratitude in the early 1900s. Grandma Fanny Longenecker saved three of hers. In this card dated...
by MarianBeaman | Nov 16, 2016 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, popular culture, Quotations
Did you make construction paper turkeys and buckled hats in elementary school? I know I did. We elementary school-ers dug our scissors into orange, red, brown, yellow to create Thanksgiving art. And then we looked at pretty framed pictures that have become American...
by MarianBeaman | Oct 19, 2016 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Quotations, Reflection
The Longeneckers think birthdays ending in 5 or 0 are special. At a Longenecker family gathering in Florida in 2003, we celebrated the birthday of my brother Mark, who turned the big 5-0. And also of my Aunt Ruthie who celebrated her 85th birthday at our house at the...
