Daily Connector | First Fruits Giving | Fred Suter
August is the time of year to prepare for harvesting—fruits from the trees and grains from the fields. It’s also a time of reflection and projection for me. As I consider the recent request from the Leadership Team for a First Fruits Giving commitment for 2021, I appreciate the role…
Daily Connector | Thoughts on giving | Pete Yoder & Metz Kramer
For good, or for ill, money has power, and it speaks for us. For this reason, we offer our financial giving intentionally. Just as in a growing season, from planting to harvest, we plan our giving upfront, so that it speaks to what we value, believe, and support. So where…
Daily Connector | Plarn anyone? | Katie Mast
The kitchen floor was nearly covered. I had just put all the groceries away and there they were, plastic bags puffed in a pile like cumulus clouds. I scooped them up and tried to stuff them in the cupboard where the rest of the bags were stuffed. The door didn’t…
Forest health, our health
One of my favorite Ohio-based organizations is the Arc of Appalachia. My introduction to the Arc came during a 2010 tree education course that rocked my world, bringing the forest to life in a way I’d never experienced. To borrow from this upcoming Sunday’s passage about Moses and the burning…
Daily Connector | Sixty-five and counting | Paul Swartzentruber
Jan and I were married on August 20, 1955, at 7:30 p.m., at the Orrville (Ohio) Mennonite Church on one of the hottest days of the summer. Even now, sixty-five years later, I can still feel my sweat-soaked body in my navy-blue wool suit standing in front of the congregation…
