What's Inside Counts

   When you have been married 56 years, love has grown to the point that the mushy romantic stuff isn't important anymore. Love is expressed in little ways every day. It's in things like taking out the garbage without being asked and doing dishes or gardening together. Since my hip surgery love is shown in helping me get around, fetching things, and many other little ways. We find ourselves thinking more alike. Leroy will say something that is just what I was thinking about. It has been years since we had a serious disagreement. 

   When we were dating I anticipated the birthday and Christmas gifts I would receive, wondering what he might bring. Since our birthdays are both in the week before Christmas, we long ago reduced the gifts to one thing which serves for both birthday and Christmas.  And now we go out to eat (often on a gift certificate) and celebrate both our birthdays together. We still give each other something but getting a wrapped gift isn't necessary. This year we really hit the bottom of the romantic part of gift giving.

    When Leroy asked what I want I told him I wanted a book on church history that was published this year. We stopped at the bookstore yesterday and I went in with him to show him the book. Then I gave him some money and said, "I'm going out to the car so I can't see what you are getting." Sure enough! He came out with the exact book I wanted and handed it to me. No wrapping needed. I ordered his gift online and managed to whisk it away when it came. He will get it on his birthday next week, in the box it was in when it was shipped. It's what's inside that counts.

   

Price of Procrastination

    Our holidays are different this year. After years of suffering with an aching leg, I finally broke down and admitted I need a hip replacement. It could have been done in October but there were some things on the calendar I wanted to do in November. So I pushed the surgery off until November 21.

   The day came and I went into the OR at 7:30 in the morning. The next thing I knew it was 8:30 and I was in the recovery room. Everything went well and about 1 p.m. I was out of bed walking down the hall. The next day I was discharged and went home.

   Our daughter, Cheryl, came from Ohio to stay for a week and be my caregiver. Thanksgiving came during that week. Cheryl brought a smoked turkey with her and invited all of her brothers who had no other plans to come for dinner. As far as anyone knows, she has not been here for Thanksgiving since she was married more than thirty years ago. We set the table with my china dishes to add to the special occasion. There was eleven of us at the table.

       The aching pain in my leg that had plagued me for so long was gone but there was a different sort of pain from surgery. One surprising benefit was how much straighter I am able to stand since I have a solid post in that leg. I thought my scoliosis was getting worse but the reason I was bent over so far was from a crumbled framework. 

    I am going for therapy three times per week and my mobility is slowly increasing, but building up the strength in that weak leg will take time. Our children took charge of Christmas and said I am excused from cooking this year. We are also having it in a school where there are no stairs instead of our basement. I hope to be back to normal in January.

    My grandma needed a knee replacement. She would say, "If I could only get a new knee," but that was just wishful thinking in her lifetime. I am thankful replacements are possible today and wish I had not procrastinated so many years. A longer recovery is the price I must pay for procrastination.

Quick Trip

    We haven't traveled far since we went on a bus trip to Nova Scotia in 2019. The furthest we have been from home since then was to visit our daughter five hours west of us. And even then, our children did the driving. 

   When we got an invitation to a grandson's wedding in Boston, I really wanted to go. Our children worked out a plan to see we got there and it fit the bill. One son and his wife took us up to the hotel our daughter booked. She and her husband took care of us for two days and then another son and his wife brought us home. That way we got to spend time with each of them individually and each couple had some time to see the things that interested them. Our daughter and I had the same interests, so that was a winner.

    We never got into Boston proper but were in sections of the outskirts. Our hotel was in Burlington. We arrived Friday evening shortly after our daughter and her husband flew in to Boston. We shared a two-bed, two-bath, and kitchen suite that fit our needs nicely.  

   The wedding was at 3 in the afternoon, so we had time to squeeze in a little sightseeing on Saturday morning. Our first stop was the Alcott home where Louisa May Alcott wrote Little Women and other books. Louisa's father was a philosopher and educator. The building in the background was his school. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take photos inside the house. The highlight, for me, was seeing the desk where Louisa wrote her books. The majority of the furnishings are things that belonged to the Alcott family. On the walls are many original art works done by the youngest daughter, "Amy." I learned a lot about the real lives of this family. One of those things is that's Louisa's middle name is actually her mother's maiden name of May. Amy's real name was May and her sister "Meg" was really Anna.

After we finished the tour we went to the cemetery nearby and found "Author's Ridge" where the Alcott family is buried near other famous authors.

  A few steps from the Alcott family lies the family of Henry David Thoreau. 

     A short distance in the opposite direction lies the family of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Both of these writers were good friends of the Alcott family.

   A mile or two from the cemetery is Waldon's Pond.  This is were Thoreau meditated and wrote about nature.

   Thoreau's cabin sets on the hill above the lake.

   Although I do not agree with Thoreau's transcendentalist ideas, it was nice to add a photo of his desk to my collection of famous author's desks.

   Then it was time to get ready for the wedding in a church in Andover.

   Dylan Martin and Claudia Heidrich were married in a beautifully simple wedding with the ceremony conducted by his father. 

   The reception followed in "The Vault" in Lawrence. It appeared to have once been a bank or something of that nature now repurposed as a venue for parties.

  The newlyweds left in a shower of confetti for their honeymoon in Ireland. May their years together be many and blessed.

   On Sunday morning we watched the live stream of Sunday school where another of our sons was teaching the lesson. Then we called in to listen to our church service at home. We ate the lunch I had taken along. 

   At 4 in the afternoon we drove about twenty minutes to Waltham to visit a friend of mine. She buys every book I write. I knew it would make her day if we stopped in. She insisted on feeding us and we obliged. Her daughter was there to help her and she also invited her brother and his wife. We had a nice two-hour visit. Then it was time to go back to the hotel and pack up to leave in the morning.

   Our son appeared before 7 and loaded our things while we finished eating breakfast. And then we made a bee-line south toward home. When we got to Morristown, NJ, we took a short loop off the Interstate to see the hospital where Leroy served two years of alternate service during the Vietnam War.

The hospital has grown significantly in the last 50+ years. This is the old wing that was there in the sixties. The house across the street where he lived is gone.

  We got home about 1 p.m. and began the process of unpacking and getting back to normal.  We are grateful to our offspring for making it possible for us to go to this wedding. I don't know if we will ever be able to take another trip like this. And if we never do, I'm happy at home. It's still the best place in the world. 

Morning After

    After four years of political turmoil and wrangling, yesterday's 2024 election is over and the results were announced this morning. I am exceedingly sick of the noise and hope we can regain some peace and quiet now. 

   While my own beliefs are conservative, I am neither a Republican or Democrat. I am not joining some of my friends in saying "Thank you Jesus" that Donald Trump was elected to another term in the White House. I don't understand how a person who has been convicted of breaking the laws of the land qualifies for or can be trusted to steer the nation on a straight course. But I do know that God can use even the basest of men to fulfill His purposes.

   No human leader in the world has all the answers to the world's problems or the power to fix them. They are all under the authority of God and accountable to Him. While I am a citizen of the United States by birth, my primary allegiance is to the Kingdom of God of which I am a citizen by virtue of the New Birth. For this reason, my vote was cast  on my knees, not in the polling place, for God's will to be done. 

   Our vision is too narrow to see the bigger picture of what God is doing in the world. God said in Proverbs 8, "By Me kings reign." Daniel 2:21 says God sets up and removes kings. Only He knows why this election turned out the way it did. We can only wait and see what the next four years will bring. Whatever happens, I know God is faithful and we can trust Him to see us through.

   Regardless of which political party is dominant, these facts remain

1. God is still on the Throne

2. Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords.

3. The Bible has the answer to every problem.

4. Jesus is the only way to heaven.

5. God answers prayer.

6. Anyone who believes in Jesus and puts their trust in Him can be saved.

7. God will never leave or forsake us.

 

   Beware! Trusting the world's political leaders instead of trusting God is breaking the first commandment. 

All Good Gifts

   Last night a brilliant sunset painted the sky over the bare harvested fields. Although there have been dry spells this year, the fields still yielded good crops for the farmer who tills this land behind our house. It seems only weeks ago these fields were planted with corn and soybeans, but the cycle is completed and harvest is finished. 

    I was reminded of the hymn by Matthias Claudius, "We Plow the Fields."

We plow the fields and scatter the good seed on the land,

But it is fed and watered by God's almighty hand.

God sends the snow in winter, the warmth to swell the grain,

The breezes, and the sunshine, and soft refreshing rain.

Refrain

All good gifts around us are sent from heav'n above,

We thank you, God, we thank you, God, for all your love.

You only are the Maker of all things near and far.

You paint the wayside flower, you light the evening star.

The winds and waves obey you, by you the birds are fed;

Much more to us, your children, you give our daily bread.

We thank you then, Creator, for all things bright and good,

The seed-time and the harvest, our life, our health, our food.

Accept the gifts we offer for all your love imparts, 

And what you most would welcome, our humble, thankful hearts.

 

Patience

   My mother-in-law sold her house and the contents seven years ago and moved to a nursing home. Among other things, I bought her huge Christmas Cactus and Amaryllis plants. The Amaryllis bloomed for several years but then refused to bloom again. I kept trying for the last four years without success. Discouraged, I let the pot sit in the dark basement room for about a year and totally ignored it. 

   About two weeks ago I noticed some leaves had started to grow. They were pale and looked sickly. I brought the pot up to the sunlight and the results were amazing. The leaves turned green and grew rapidly. Within days a bud appeared and the stem shot up an inch or more per day. The bud opened and split to reveal four blossoms. Today they are opening into bright red flowers.

   There is a lesson in this story. Sometimes things seem hopeless and there's no use trying any longer. But as long as there is life, there is hope. It may take a long time, but things will happen when the time is right and there will be joy. "Let patience have her perfect work." (James 1:4)

Faith of Our Fathers

 My newest book was released on October 4. Faith of Our Fathers was written at the request of CAM Books for the 500th anniversary of the beginning of Anabaptism on January 21, 1525. The stories of the five most prominent leaders, Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, George Blaurock, Michael Sattler, and Menno Simons, are told in chronological order. 

Where was Conrad Grebel when Felix Manz was martyred? Where was Michael Sattler the night Conrad Grebel baptized George Blaurock? How many people were baptized that night? Did Menno Simons meet any of the first four men? You can find the answers to these and other questions in the book.

The book is now available in bookstores or can be ordered online from

 https://cambooks.org/shop/cam-published-books/young-readers/faith-of-our-fathers/

End of the Books

    In 2003, I had 5,000 copies printed of my first self-published book, Annie's Day of Light. The book sold like hotcakes and in less than a year I had another 4,000 copies printed. Self-publishing means the writer pays for the printing and the books are delivered to his/her address. Then it is the writer's job to advertise and ship the books to buyers. We stored the book pile on pallets in a corner of the basement where there were no water lines overhead. This is how the book pile looked after a shipment.

   A book always sells best when it is new. By the time the second printing arrived, sales had slowed and continued to decrease as the years passed by. I could not afford to advertise just one book. Cost of advertising ate all the profits. Without advertising, sales kept dropping.

   Then I self-published a second book, A Home for Sarah, in 2006 and the pile was stacked high for the third time. Those 5,000 copies sold within six months and I had another 3,000 printed. That book sold out several years ago but I still had about 1,000 copies of Annie's Day of Light. I thought the pile would outlive me and I'd never see the floor in that corner again.

    Then a miracle happened. In June, two women who have the Honey I'm a Homemaker podcast did an episode on the  Annie book. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Hp319xMkeQ

    Sales skyrocketed. Today, three months later, the pile is gone and I can see the floor again. We hung the porch swing that had been in that corner before the books came. It had been in storage all these years and most of our grandchildren never saw it. The three cases still in the corner are an order I need to deliver and an assortment of my books I kept for my own use.

   

   It took 21 years to sell 17,000 books. I am not reprinting. I don't want to be bothered with it anymore. I have written ten more books since self-publishing these two but went through a publisher who handles the cost of printing, advertising and shipping of sales. The royalties are not as great as the profits in self-publishing, but it's a lot less work and headache. I'm just glad I lived to see the end of the books!

   

Off to School

    August 26 was the opening day of school for all but one of our younger grandchildren and great-grandchildren. The other school started August 27.

Grayson, grade 7

Nick, grade 6; William, grade 5; Emma, grade 4

Avery, grade 1

Colton, preschool

Abigail, preschool

   Our generations cross with the last two. Colton is a great-grandchild and Abigail is a grandchild. Avery is also a great-grandchild. Abigail was allowed to enter preschool this year because her fourth birthday is less than a month after the opening day. Everybody is smiling and looking happy to go to school. 

Rough and Tumble

    Leroy's dad was on the committee for many years of the Rough & Tumble Old Thresherman's Reunion at Kinzers, PA. It is always held the middle of August and boasts of being the "Most Complete Steam and Gas Show in the East." There are steam traction engines, antique tractors, threshing machines, Hit & Miss gas engines, stationary balers, antique wagons, miniature steam trains, and more.

    Because Pop was heavily involved, his wife and children went with him. Rough & Tumble became a family tradition. One of the grandsons took his place on the board when he died in 2004 but the tradition of going to Rough & Tumble is carried on by his children, grandchildren, and now the great-grandchildren.

    Gerald took Abi last year and she couldn't get done looking at tractors. He took her again this year and she had a blast. As soon as they got there she headed for the train.

   Then it was on to see the tractors and other things.

One of the Stauffer tractors

Row of steam engines

Barrel train

Smaller train

Corn box

Ice cream turned by a tiny steam engine made by a Stauffer

Digging in the sawdust

It was an exhausting day for  a little girl.

    

Fruits of Our Labors

    

    On a hot humid day in August one can sense the ripeness of the year. The earth is producing an abundance of fruits and vegetables that beg to be preserved for the coming winter. The four big canning and freezing jobs in August are corn, tomatoes, peaches, and applesauce. 

   Years ago, when I was feeding a family of six children, I canned fruit in two-quart jars and did 100 quarts each of peaches and applesauce. I don't remember how many dozen ears of corn we did but we needed six cups of corn for one meal. We all pitched in to husk a huge pile of corn. Now, I put only one cup of corn in a pack. Peaches and applesauce are in one-quart jars and that is enough for at least three meals. Green beans are in pint jars, pickles and relishes in half-pint jars. 

    I only did eight dozen ears of corn this year. A grandson came one day in July and helped us get it in the freezer. It was such a small pile I didn't think to take pictures that day.

   Today my supplies of the big four are complete and stored away for another winter, thanks to a daughter-in-law, Velma, who volunteered to help. Yesterday she came to help can peaches for another daughter-in-law, Kelly, who has two small children. I had done my own peaches earlier so these were all for Kelly.

Sam is six-months-old

   Today Velma brought the green beans and tomato products she canned for me at her house and helped can applesauce for both of us. Bless her heart!

    

Everybody helped, even Grandpa

Abi stirred the red hot cinnamon candy into some of the applesauce to make her daddy's favorite flavor.

   When we were finished we had thirty quarts of applesauce, nine quarts for me and nineteen for Kelly. I had also canned two pints and six half-pints of sweet pickles before they came to start on the applesauce. Before we are a full week into the month, the August rush is over for 2024. 

   I am grateful for the help with canning. It would have been a lot of work for me to do everything by myself. Thanks also to the people who had extra green beans and pickles in their gardens they were happy to share. We are blessed!

   

Fifty-seven and Counting

    We celebrated our 57th wedding anniversary on Monday while we marveled how fast the years had flown and remembered some highlights of the wedding. We were young, strong and naïvely confident of a rosy life together. Today we are old and don't have enough strength to do some of the things we once did without much effort. I am increasingly more stooped due to a combination of scoliosis, osteoporosis, and rheumatoid arthritis.  I asked Leroy if he would still have married me if he had been able to see how I look today. He turned the question around and asked if I would have married him if I had seen how he is today at eighty years old. We decided we probably wouldn't have believed what we saw.

   We have had a good life although it was not all rosy and my confidence was shot full of holes. I was not as wise or mature as I thought I was at nineteen. There were times I didn't know how to handle the problems in life and made a lot of mistakes. Two things were in our favor. We had a strong faith in God and commitment to each other. 

   The older we get, the more we realize either one without the other would be in trouble. He depends on me to keep the books and the calendar. I depend on him for maintenance of the property and car. We were raised in families with similar values and agree on most things. Sometimes when I didn't agree with him and he went ahead anyway, I found he was right. Our children say they never heard us argue. I'm sure they heard us disagree but never heard a loud blow out argument.

   Leroy worked until he was 77 and retired three years ago. All physical ailments aside, these are the best years of our lives. We enjoy the luxury of being together all day every (or most) day. We do volunteer work at several places as we please. It took a long time and hard work to get to this place. 

  Leroy got a gift certificate for Cracker Barrel for his 80th birthday last December. We saved it to celebrate out anniversary. We have learned that restaurant meals are too large for us and one entre is enough for both of us. We ordered a steak and shrimp dinner with two sides and an additional side of a loaded baked potato. The waiter brought us an extra plate to divide it and it was plenty. I asked him to take a picture of us because it was our anniversary. He obliged and when we finished eating brought us a slice of chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and ice cream "on the house." It was against Leroy's diabetic rules but what could we do when he set it under our noses? We thanked him and ate it!

Sneak Preview

   Last summer I was asked to write something for the 500th anniversary of Anabaptism on January 21, 2025. The book committee said they wanted something small and easy to read. I wasn't sure I could do it but after some thought and prayer decided to try. It turned out to be not as hard as I thought it would be. I told the story of the birth of Anabaptism by telling the stories of the five most prominent leaders in chronological order. It shows how the lives of Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, George Blaurock, and Michael Sattler were intertwined in Switzerland and Germany. 

     Menno Simons was converted ten years later in the Netherlands after the four in Switzerland had died. The Mennonite church bears his name for he was the leader who united the scattered brethren and guided them safely through the turbulent early years of Anabaptism. His cautious, thoughtful understanding of Biblical principles led to the development of a reputable church that adhered to the founding principles laid down by the Swiss founders.

    My manuscript bounced back and forth between editors and proofreaders while an artist drew pencil drawings and another painted the cover. Finally, in June, one year after the initial request, the book was finished and sent to the printer. It is summary of the historical events suitable for ages fourteen and above. It is scheduled to be released in October and will be available through the 2025 anniversary year.  

This is the front cover

4th of July

 The older we get, the better we like it at home. We don't want to be fighting holiday traffic to get somewhere or jostling elbows in a crowd on a hot day. We like it just fine in our cool, quiet house. And so we spent this 4th of July at home and had an indoor picnic for two. This morning I thought I should have invited one of our children to join us but I did not have enough corn or hamburger buns for more people. So we had a "picnic" by ourselves. Leroy grilled burgers and I made potato salad and corn on the cob. The best eating season of the year is here!

Join Franklin Graham in this prayer for America

Lord,
We are thankful for the abundant blessings You have bestowed on America. Our forefathers looked to You as Protector, Provider, and the Promise of hope. But we have wandered far from that firm foundation. May we repent for turning our backs on Your faithfulness.
We pray that this great nation will be restored by Your forgiveness.
From bondage, You grant freedom.
Through Your own sacrifice, You offer salvation.
From the state of despair, You offer peace.
From the bounties of Heaven, You have blessed – not because of our goodness – but by Your grace.
You have given us freedom to worship You in spirit and in truth as Your holy Word instructs. May our lives honor You in word and deed. May our nation acknowledge that all good things come from the Father above.
President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed that our nation should set apart a day for national prayer to confess our sins and transgressions in sorrow, “yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon… announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.”
“We have vainly imagined in the deceitfulness of our own hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own… we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God who made us! It behooves us then… to confess our national sins and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.”
Help us to pray earnestly for our president and leaders who govern, that they will humble themselves and seek Your guidance so that everything we do will shine the light of Your glory in a darkened world.
May our prayers as a people and a nation be heard and blessed for such a time as this. We make this plea in faith, believing in the mighty name of Jesus our Lord.
Amen

Family Weekend

   Our family goes to a cabin the second weekend in June. For the past twelve years we have been going to a cabin on the Texter Mountain. This was our last year to go there because the cabin has been sold. The younger children were sad because it's the only place they ever knew. We have another cabin booked for next year but it won't have the big lawn this one has.

    We had perfect weather this weekend for all the outdoor activities. Gene built a campfire on Friday evening for us to make mountain pies for supper.

   Amy brought things for activities on Saturday afternoon. We made pine cone bird feeders

and looked through a microscope at tiny critters that live in moss and pond water.

 

The children provided some activities for themselves.

 Gerald grilled chicken for Saturday supper, which has become a tradition.

  Everybody liked the food and close fellowship at meal times.

   Sunday morning we all went to the baby dedication for our newest grandchild, Samuel Isaac Stauffer, at Green Terrace Mennonite Church.

The smallest fry seemed to enjoy his first cabin experience.

   We made a lot of memories at this cabin. The cabin will be different next year but it's the people, not the place, that makes family weekend a highlight of the year.