by Marlena Fiol | Apr 15, 2020
My Dad and I Today I want to unpack the “Nothing Bad Between Us” part of my book title. In earlier posts, I’ve described the scene with my father, when we both said those words to each other in our native Low German…
by Marlena Fiol | Apr 10, 2020
I have exciting news to share! My new book Love is Complicated, has a new title: Nothing Bad Between Us: A Mennonite Missionary’s Daughter Finds Healing in Her Brokenness. The new title has a special significance to me. At every goodbye…
by Marlena Fiol | Apr 8, 2020
My father and I hurt one another. Deeply. He was an angry disciplinarian. I was a horribly rebellious child. You can imagine the rest. Fortunately, we found mutual forgiveness several decades before he died — for ourselves and for each other. “Doa ess nuscht…
by Marlena Fiol | Apr 3, 2020
Wednesday’s blog mentioned that I’ve received unexpected gifts during this time of uncertainty, and I quoted Etty Hillesum. Here’s another Hillesum quote I love: “As life becomes harder and more threatening, it also becomes richer, because the fewer expectations we have, the more good…
by Marlena Fiol | Apr 3, 2020
I am honored to introduce today’s guest, Phil Cousineau. Phil is an award-winning writer, filmmaker, teacher, editor, travel leader, storyteller and TV host. We will be discussing a range of topics, such as the meaning of forgiveness and atonement, the…
by Marlena Fiol | Apr 1, 2020
“FEEL HAPPY” – created by a child in our neighborhood I’ve been given unexpected gifts. Time to Re-Focus Sure. Sometimes my monkey mind spins out of control. You probably know what that is like. But when it does, I keep reeling it back in…