“[There is] no furniture so charming as books, even if you never open them, or read a single word.” -Sydney Smith, in A Memoir of the Reverend Sydney Smith, by Lady Holland, 1855 I can spend hours looking at books. Absorbing the clever titles (My Lady of the Fog, mysterious, Their Yesterdays, intriguing), unique bindings…
(written November 6, 2001) I have a love for capturing memories on film, and then chronicling those pictures in scrapbooks. And it is not just a mediocre liking—this is something I am passionate about. I’ve filled many albums with my pictures and memories, and have many more to go. Jim Elliot, martyr of the Christian…
The sun is shining, the birdsongs drift in through the open window, and I don’t have to wear a coat and gloves every time I go out the door. Spring is finally acting like it might almost be here to stay! And Merritt and I are soaking in every ray of sunshine (though he soaks…
Every time Marlys and I brainstorm about the evening’s menu together, we are sitting out in the store. The beautiful, bright red, green, and orange jalapeno and habanero peppers in front of us most often inspire a Mexican meal. But the tempting aroma of the Walla Walla Sweet Onions always brings to mind my favorite…
If you wash on Monday, you have all the week to dry… If you wash on Tuesday, you’re still not much awry… If you wash on Friday, you wash in real need… If you wash on Saturday, you are slovenly indeed. -an early 1900’s skip-rope rhyme quoted in The Clothesline by Irene Rawlings and Andrea VanSteenhouse…
Our home is changing colors. As I write, I can see my husband and brother-in-law through the window, trekking back and forth in the mud, hanging hardi-plank siding on our house. It looks so nice, so proper and finished. But I can tell already, I’m going to miss the pink (“passion pink”, as Uncle Bill…
This weekend is my mom’s Creative Memories scrapbooking retreat. It’s the first time in ten years that I haven’t been there. I can see them all clearly, in my mind’s eye. Twenty or thirty ladies, pictures and colored paper and photo album pages spread on every bit of table space, in that retreat center cozily…
I love my down-to-earth farmer husband. He helps me see the Father’s hand in everyday things. He puts God’s truths in simple terms that I understand. When it snows at our house, I get excited. Merritt knows it means he has to plow the driveway, so he doesn’t quite share my excitement. But he still…
“The weather has been flirting with us, but no real snow yet. I’m ready for it. If it’s going to be this cold, I want there to be snow on the ground.” Though halfway across the country at Hillsdale college, my friend Emily captured my feelings precisely. Glancing out my window each morning I see…
We keep saying fall is here, but then comes another taste of Indian summer.But I think this time, the cooler weather is here to stay.Hints of autumn are everywhere we look.The leaves scatter themselves all over the ground, running from the wind.Wood smoke drifts from chimneys.Homemade signs advertise “Pumpkins forSale.”It is autumn, my favorite time…
Dear YLCF Readers, I wanted to write and thank everyone for all of your faithful prayers. God has been so good, even through the trials of the past few months. The generosity we been shown has been incredible, and humbling to say the least. Thank you all for the cards and letters, we have been…
“Do you have old people at your church?” It was kind of a strange question to ask as I called through the churches in the phone directory, but after I had asked about their theology and church government, it was my next question. Growing up in a little church in a little town with people…
The End.
The End.