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A few weeks ago, an Amish friend in Sugarcreek handed me an invitation to her wedding. I was greatly honored. After I got home, I put the invitation on my refrigerator and it was then that I noticed the wedding was to be held on a Thursday morning at 8:30 A.M.!!! I attended that wedding last week. It was utterly fascinating, quite beautiful, and there is simply too much to put into one post. However, I did discover the reason for the early morning timing—the Amish are SERIOUS about weddings!!! The “ceremony” went on non-stop until about 12:30 p.m. During this time, the bride and groom and the other four members of the immediate wedding party sat quietly while various ministers took turns preaching. It was all conducted in German. I did, however, catch 5 English words that were enunciated quite clearly by the Amish preachers–possibly for the benefit of the handful of Englisch people there–”Divorce is NOT an option!!” I asked my friend, later, what other things the ministers were saying. She explained that they were following a traditional course of instruction about God’s plan for marriage. They begin in Genesis and continue on through the book of Job. […]

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I spent the weekend in Indianapolis last week-end at a major writer’s conference, learning more about the writing craft, and talking with other professionals. It’s nice to spend a few days out of the year with people who are as weird as me. “Weird” is truly the word I wanted to use. It just isn’t normal to want to spend hours every day sitting at a keyboard making up stories.  Sometimes it’s easy to doubt your own sanity. Although I took notes like mad at all the great classes–high points for me were getting to hear the great Janette Oke (Love Comes Softly) speak and applauding like crazy as my agent, Sandra Bishop, won the “Agent of the Year” award. [nextgen_cooliris id=3 width=500 height=420 numrows=2 style=dark] But the highest point of all was being inspired by one lovely African American mother who came to our multi-author book signing. She had her three daughters in tow, and all of them were buying books and talking to favorite authors. “That daughter over there is in law school,” the mother said. “And the middle one is planning on becoming an engineer.” “The youngest wants to be a writer. All three are straight-A students.” […]

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[nextgen_cooliris id=4 width=500 height=420 numrows=2 style=dark] Wonderful book signing at the Gospel Bookstore in Sugarcreek Oct. 1. A major highlight was meeting Doyle Yoder, the professional photographer who took the pictures used on the cover of my book. For a glimpse of his beautiful photos of Amish country, check out his link on my site. My son, Jacob, caught these pictures of the Kiddie Parade that was going on during the annual Swiss Festival this weekend. Another highlight was spending time with Rhoda and Freeman–owners of the bookstore.

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