These days, the first thing I look for when our church’s band starts playing on Sunday morning is who’s on electric guitar. In the last six months or so we picked up one of the most passionate electric guitarists I’ve ever seen.
Continue reading “The Best Guitarist in the World”
I somehow thought that digging around the roots of my family tree would lead to answers. I assumed that the things I learned about my ancestors would be like the final pieces to a puzzle.
“Ah, so that’s why I bite my fingernails.”
“I knew there was someone to blame for my two cow licks and tendency to sprain my ankles.”
“Imagine that – my great-great grandfather loved to write.”
But with every unearthed answer came a new root system leading to a different part of the yard. More questions. More unknowns.
For example, my grandfather used to disappear, sometimes for an entire day. “Dad’s gone,” grandma would say, matter-of-fact, as if she had actually just said, “The milk’s run out,” or “We need more eggs.” Continue reading “The Scary Thing About Family Trees (and Their Roots)”
Thanks to everyone for submitting their most-read blog posts of June! Every month I look forward to meeting new bloggers and connecting people to my old favorites. For a complete list of reader submissions, check this post out (and if you have time, read through all of them – I just don’t have the time or space to review each one here, but they are all enjoyable reads).
Of all the posts that were submitted, these were the five that jumped out at me:
Ken Mueller’s “How I Nearly Tripled My Blog Traffic”
Ken gives us some detailed insight into growing a blog: a few helpful hints of which I needed to be reminded, and more than a few things I had never heard of before. Bloggers: check it out!
Jess Ramsey’s “Rob Bell, Mountain Dew and the Zoo”
Jess revisits this oft-discussed book, weaving in a story about her son’s concern for an injured stranger. A beautifully written post.
Alise Wright’s post about getting off the couch and running. Hilarious and inspiring.
Kristina’s “Putting the Parts Together, or Why We Should Get Naked”
From nearly-naked photo shoots to nudist beaches, Kristina addresses what’s at the heart of our discomfort with nudity – ourselves.
Shanelle’s “When Life Goes Away” (a guest post on the great Brenda Boitson’s site)
A post about miscarriage, loss and how friends can get you through tragedy.
Thanks again to everyone for taking part in the best of June.
Today I’m proud to introduce a friend of mine, Ira Wagler. When I moved home to Lancaster, PA, almost two years ago, I started bumping into various writers in the community – Ira was one of them. Let me tell you: Ira is an enigma. A respectful maverick. A jolly philosopher. An Anabaptist Libertarian (okay, that’s not entirely true, at least not the Anabaptist part). I have enjoyed our lunches at the DutchWay Value Mart immensely.
Please consider ordering Ira’s beautifully written new book, Growing Up Amish (link provided at the bottom of the page). You won’t regret it.
Continue reading “An Interview With Ira Wagler, Author of “Growing Up Amish””
As Maile and I walked into the motel, I heard a police officer in the lobby.
“You guys mind if I turn it to CNN?” he asked the lady cleaning the room. “They’re about to announce the Casey Anthony verdict.”
We walked up to our room and turned on the television. The timing was impeccable. We stood in front of the television as Ms. Anthony stood in front of the jury. They read off each count. The verdicts shocked the nation:
Continue reading “A Knee-Jerk Reaction to the Casey Anthony Verdict”
The 8-year-old boy sits quietly on the sofa watching the Major League Baseball All-Star game. He has his baseball glove on and throws the ball into the mitt over and over again. It smells like leather and fresh-cut grass. The boy makes a mental note that he will be Tony Gwynn the next time he plays baseball with his cousins.
Hot, humid night air comes in through the screens, as palpable as the flies sneaking in through the crack where the storm door doesn’t close properly. Night time on the farm is rarely quiet – either the cows are mooing in the barns, or cats are fighting, or dogs are barking at raccoons while possums try to plunder the trash cans. Many a night their glowing eyes reflected his flashlight beam, sent him scurrying back inside.
Continue reading “The Unwanted Sister”
