A Journey South and New Perspectives

Photo by Saloma Furlong: “Taking the Long View” Whenever I travel, I gain new perspectives. The trip David and I just returned from is no exception. We started our trip a week ago last Saturday, driving to Harrisonburg, Virginia that first day. We enjoyed visiting Park View Church the next morning. The singing in that…

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An Amish Farming Success Story

I wanted to share a link to an Amish success story I happened across the other day. It’s in a publication I’d never heard of called “The New Food Economy” and it’s called How Amish Farm Produce Gets to Whole Foods Without Internet, Tractors, or Phones. It is an in-depth article and well worth reading.…

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And that Important First Paragraph…

Wow! I had no idea how many of you would respond to my last post. Thank you, thank you, and thank you again! I think at least twice as many people liked the bonnet beginning better. Both will be in the first chapter, but I wanted to get a sense of which line would grab…

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That Elusive and Important First Line…

I don’t have time to write a long post, but I have a question for you, my dear readers. In re-writing the beginning of my memoir, I am trying to decide on a first line. Will you let me know which of the following lines you find more compelling? A light rain fell as the…

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An Interlude

A memorial service was held for Marie yesterday morning at the church she’d been part of for more than 50 years, which David and I attended. Neither of us felt like the service quite fit Marie, but we don’t know why that was. Normally when I attend a funeral or memorial service, there is a…

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When the Sun Sets on a Life Well-Lived

These past few weeks have been life-changing for me. It is hard for me to know where to start, so I’ll guess I’ll start at the beginning. Several years ago, David and I began attending church services at the Congregational Church in South Amherst. One day, someone introduced me to Marie Houle, one of the…

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A Time for Reflection and Renewal

This morning David kissed me awake and wished me a happy birthday. Yesterday was his, and we took the day off from working so hard to reflect on the new beginnings on our horizon and to have dinner at a nearby restaurant. A few minutes later when I really awoke, I was hit with the…

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An Anabaptist Ecumenical Hymn Sing

This morning it came to my attention in three different ways of the article in Lancaster Online article about the recent hymn sing in which different Anabaptist groups sang their songs. You can hear songs from all of the groups: The Amish, The Old Order River Brethren, Groffdale Mennonite Conference, Weaverland Mennonite Conference, and the…

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