Editor’s Note: Melodie Davis is on a one-week vacation from writing her column. Here is a column from the summer of 2000, about her life as a sometimes-recognized local newspaper columnist. I got my hair cut recently, and even some people who know me well had to look twice to see that it was still me. So I was a little surprised when a total stranger in Burger King asked, “Do you write the column in the paper?” He said he is one of those people who is able to recognize people by face alone—he doesn’t look at extraneous things […]

My grandsons are at the wonderful age where they are beginning to mimic what they see being done in the home and family. My youngest daughter was babysitting for her nephew when she first noticed that James was carefully “cooking” on some shelves that were in the dining room. His parents had wisely removed the books and knickknacks from the shelves; the bottom three shelves are completely open for his make-believe play. James was pouring the imaginary contents of one small pan into a larger pan, using some adorable tot-sized pans his other grandmother bought him. Children learn what they […]

In the space of several months, I heard several women talk about how difficult it is to be a single parent—especially in church. Without meaning to, good people say things that cut. There are worse things than being a single mom, and that is being a non-caring, nonfunctional, uninvolved mother. One of the persons who said something cutting was me. I had given a talk for a church group about my book Whatever Happened to Dinner? I mentioned the statistics from Columbia University’s research on substance abuse that I quote in the book—about how trying to eat together as a […]

Editor’s Note: Nancy Ketcham is a sister to columnist Melodie Davis, and a semiretired registered nurse. First in a two-part series on single parenting. You asked me if I would consider doing a guest column about raising kids without a partner. “Whoooaa!” I said to myself at first, “no way.” But as I thought more about it, I began to jot down a few tips I could share. Then I could enjoy facing parenthood and tune in to what each of the four kids was needing to tell me. Number 1: It is not easy. Number 2: I didn’t do it […]

If I had lived during the first century after the death of Christ when the early church was forming, would I have thought those Christians were just a little too far out on a limb—willing to die for their beliefs? The statements of forgiveness expressed so early by the families of the victims of that shooting were nothing less than breathtaking. These thoughts stirred in me as I read a Rejoice! devotional by Katerina Friesen: How might the words and lives of prophets Amos and Martin Luther King Jr. help us remember our own baptisms? Hans Hut and early other […]

I have worked in the same building for 40 years. To some, that sounds like a jail sentence. Boring. To others, that might sound like glorious security and stability. I’ve entered the same doors and gone up the same steps for 40 years. That’s as long as Moses and the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness! I used to ponder how they could have tolerated that, but now I know just how long that is! In some ways it feels like no time at all. I’ve entered the same doors and went up the same steps for 40 years. That’s […]

Editor’s Note: Jodi Nisly Hertzler writes occasionally for Another Way and is a college counselor, tutor, and freelance proofreader. Jodi and her husband have three children. Nine o’clock on a summer morning. The task at hand is simple but necessary. We’re out of granola, and that just won’t do. I can still picture the recipe card taped to the inside of Mom’s cabinet; I can still remember standing on a chair in the kitchen, helping to dump and stir. Most of my friends have a granola recipe that they claim is the best. Some of them are quite good, especially my friend Carmen’s, […]

How many shoes do you own? I’ll wager you own a few less shoes than the legendary Imelda Marcos (rumored 3,000 pair in her collection), but more than the impoverished Cinderella. I am certainly no shoe collector; my shoe wardrobe is sparse compared to many women. But I have way more than two pair of shoes. Don, the pastor who married my husband and me over 39 years ago (now pastor emeritus and, yes, he’s getting up there), posed a challenge on Pentecost Sunday in a private conversation during coffee hour. Our current interim pastor (and we’ve only had two […]

Do you believe in praying for good weather? What about for rain? While great weather is nice to have, especially in summer, and I’m grateful when it occurs on opportune days, I’m not sure it is right to pray for good weather. What if my nice sunshiny day for a picnic prevents a farmer from getting the rain he or she needs so desperately for a crop? I’m often aware of how public prayers can affect those around us, particularly if there are persons in the group who are not necessarily Christian. In early May we had a brief getaway […]

An interesting email came my way today, encouraging youthful summer job seekers to “look outside the box.” The story pitch noted that the most traditional jobs for teenagers are retail, recreation, and food service. Done, done, and done—between me and my children, at least, we covered those bases. How nice for kids to use summers to experience a bevy of different kinds of jobs! But it made me think of some of the more unusual jobs I held during those magical summers when I wasn’t yet employed full time year-round. How nice for kids to use summers to experience a […]