Daily Connector | How I took a vacation and changed my life during the pandemic | Michele Dicke
Listening to self-care techniques so much recently, I challenged myself to listen. It seemed there were many broken threads from things I used to do – face-to-face visits with neighbors and friends, walks on the beach seeing new turtle nesting sites, eating out. I was feeling frazzled and frayed. My…
Daily Connector | My hero | Cindy Fath
From the vantage point of today, February feels like 100 years ago. I also tabulated how many weeks I’ve been doing virtual classes from home, and I think this is the 10th week. It feels like only a minute. As weeks stack atop weeks, dates and events begin to blur…
Daily Connector | Literally impossible. Literally. | Dan Halterman
I read slower now. And I read as swiftly as ever. I was surprised several weeks into “lockdown” and working from (at?) home that I finish a book much slower now. I love a good book – the only kind I read. A book on my reading list is there…
Daily Connector | Boxes bring joy | Chris McCarthy
David Emch wrote in his May 12 Connector article “Most things in life make us feel more than one emotion we’re feeling in each individual moment.” On the day I signed up for the Connector, I was feeling joy. Most of us have seen a child open a new toy…
Daily Connector | My Dad Died During COVID-19 (and I couldn’t be at his burial) | Shirley Miller
In Scott Peck’s book The Road Less Traveled the first sentence is “life is hard.” Before April 20 I could count on three fingers significant “life is hard” scenarios. One left me reeling emotionally, another almost killed me, and the third left me in a spiritual abyss. In 2004, after…
Daily Connector | Blessed | Samantha Allen
I am blessed. I know, in this age of social media and shallow hashtags, that the word blessed has taken on some negative connotations recently, but I am reclaiming its beautiful, sacred applicability to my life. I am blessed in more ways than I can count – let me…
Daily Connector | God has us | Cora Kuyvenhoven
Hello Dear Columbus Mennonite Church It is so good to stay in touch with you all through the communicator and Euchre games:) Martin has been helping me record various pieces for my students to listen to , to share within church services and to send to friends and family. Here…
Daily Connector | My Fair-Weather Neighbors | Jim Myers
They arrive in early spring and take up residence next to me. I have tried to meet them but they seem shy and aloof and quickly leave. In my comings and goings, they yield to me and move out of my way. Sometimes I tiptoe toward the house, thinking I…
Daily Connector | The big picture | Lavonne van der Zwaag
Last week my manager asked my co-workers and myself to contemplate several questions from an organizational, team and personal perspective. The following are the questions we were given for a personal “inward reflection”: • What did I learn about myself? • What do I want to ensure I continue? •…
Daily Connector | Hold the tension | David Emch
The rains came! Here in Thailand, from somewhere around mid-November until mid-April we don’t see any rain. And, in the midst of no rain the farmers begin to burn their old crops. The pollution gets pretty bad. Really bad, actually. As soon as April comes we start to check the…
