mentoring digital wordsmiths
I grew up less than a mile from our local public library. It was back in the day when there were rows and rows of little drawers holding the card catalog, each card representing a book on the library’s shelves. To check out a book, you signed your name on the card you pulled from the pocket in the back…
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Oh how I’d hoped to give you a hug this side of Heaven.
But you touched my life from afar. Just like you did the lives of so many others.
From that very first letter you wrote to me when I was a tween girl hoping to find your program on a local radio station… You sent me cassette tapes of your radio program “A Time for Sharing” which I’d always enjoyed at my grandma’s house. I’ll never forget your voice telling the story of Mrs. McGuffy and the way she kept her chicks safe under her wings.
Last fall, I was asked to share with a local mom’s group about some of my specific goals for my children. I was glad of the opportunity, because it forced me to actually think through and write down some specific ideals. It also brought me face to face with the reality of our humanness–theirs and mine. What are my hopes…
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Have you ever looked at how much you spent on Kindle books in a month? I score a lot of free Kindle titles, but I love to pre-order new books to support my favorite authors. And other times, there’s a book I really want to read but my library doesn’t have. Enter the book budget saver, Kindle Unlimited. No, not…
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Whether you’re schooling at home during this extended change in routine, or missing the extracurricular activities during your normal homeschool week, you might be looking for some screen-free ways to entertain your children. Audio adventures are a budget-friendly, germ-free way to entertain the whole family. Nothing fills the extra hours in our home better than audio adventures. My children listen…
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I may have spent the better part of my childhood pretending I was Queen Lucy, but the Chronicles of Narnia and George MacDonald’s Scottish tales were as close as I got to Medieval fiction. Until our pastor’s wife offered me a copy of her book, Sirocco Wind from the East. And as I delved into its pages, losing myself in…
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“Any letters?” One of my children asks the oh-so-hopeful question almost every single day when they see me walking back from the mailbox, flipping through the mail. And oh the delight–the raptures–when an epistle has arrived from one of their pen pals! My children come by it naturally. I’ve been writing letters to my pen pals since I was a…
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Dear Friends and Family, Merry Christmas! Mommy was busy this year so I (Ruth Anne) am writing our Christmas letter. We have had a very busy year, with several remodels and the farm chores to boot! We have had an important project which has now stretched for four years. Any guesses? Our house! This year so far, Daddy’s cousin Will…
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My first mailing address was at a little white house on half an acre about a mile out of town. I still remember how grown up I felt when my parents let me cross the country road to get the mail out of our mailbox all by myself. My daddy’s youngest cousin is just six years older than I am….
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Herbert and Alma were married on September 26, 1929. Just over one month later, the stock market crashed. By the time the effects of the Great Depression were felt in Ohio, Herbert was out of work and he and his new bride had to move in with his parents, Marion and May. They hadn’t fared much better–losing their farm and…
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An unopened letter. A childhood friend. A bootlegger “cousin.” It’s 1922 in the town of Emmett, Washington. Fluffy biscuits fresh from the oven to feed to paying boarders. The love of a precocious 4-year-old girl and the friendship of a maiden sister. The white three-story boarding house should be a domestic delight to 24-year-old Grace Halstad. But she needs a…
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Sometimes, in the day to day life as a mom, I need perspective. I don’t need someone to tell me five ways to be a better mom. I don’t need another book to tell me how to keep my house perfectly clean and organized (though if there’s really a secret that works, I’d be glad to know it). I just…
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