Personal Experience

Remembering Those Gone Before by Janice L Dick

Having been raised in a Mennonite home with pacifistic traditions, I’ve had a difficult time coming to terms with Remembrance Day and all it stands for. I am more thankful than I can say for those who risked or gave their lives so I can live in peace. I can recite “In Flanders Fields,” and… Read more »

11 Ways Writing Has Helped Me Grow by Pamela Mytroen

1. I learned that sometimes you don’t go anywhere as a writer until you take a risk. I got hired as a correspondent because I took a risk and pitched an editorial the day after 9/11. 2. I learned that 100-year-old women do not handle long interviews well. They tend to fall asleep. 3. In… Read more »

From Desperation to a Treasured Tradition by Jack Popjes

“I’m the cookie baker,” my wife, Jo, said, looking up from her flour covered kitchen counter, “and you’re the problem solver, so solve this one and do something to make this place look festive and Christmassy. And, hon,” she added with a rueful smile, “no cookie tree this time.”

The Greatest Day of My Life by Jack Popjes

    It happened at sundown. My wife and I, with our three preschool daughters, had just arrived and were staying with some missionary friends in their home on the edge of a small Brazilian town. At dusk I went outside to cool off. I looked over the fields below the house where a wide… Read more »