My last blog, inspired by my mother’s diaries and love letters, described the deep sorrow I feel about the inescapable passing of time, as well as the challenge this gives me to be fully present each day I am given. Her writings also have…
My parents arriving in Paraguay in 1943. Sometimes the aging of our bodies and minds, and the fading of our lives occur so gradually that we’re hardly aware of them. Occasionally, when the passage of time reveals itself in a compressed fashion, it hits us in…
In my last blog post, I asked “Is Your Intimate Relationship Making You a Better Person?” What if the answer has historically been “no?” Is there a way to change the dynamics of a relationship for the sake of each individual’s growth and improvement?…
I love the honest and vulnerable comments I sometimes receive in response to my blogs. Last week, in a response to my blog “Is a Good Marriage Good Enough?” Teresa McNutt Story stated: “This is a great article that really resonated with me. If you…
(That’s me as a teenager, sitting on one of my Father’s Land Rovers.) My last blog (Money and My Mennonite Father) described my father as a man obsessed with living frugally. When I was a kid, I thought we were very…
My good Mennonite father was anti-materialist and anti-consumerist to an extreme. He firmly believed that God only asked for him to be obedient and humble in doing His will. He would take care of the rest. And he and my mother lived their…
As a young man just out of medical school, my father abandoned the possibility of a lucrative practice in the U.S. and took off for Paraguay, South America. He was on a mission to provide medical services for people living in that remote and…
As I mentioned in the last blog, my husband and I are writing a book about the life and works of an extraordinary, complicated and devout man, my father. His name was Dr. John R. Schmidt, and he’s known in medical and missionary circles…
My husband and I are currently writing a book about the life and work of an extraordinary and complicated man. His name was Dr. John R. Schmidt, and he’s mostly known in medical circles around the world as the physician who changed how leprosy is…
As I close the book on 2018, I see many year-end reviews. I’ve read that 2018 was the year for hearts — at least on Instagram. Instagram recently reported that the heart emoji was used more than 14 million times on the platform, and claimed…