Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Levi's Will by W. Dale Cramer

Some sins follow you your whole life. Mr. Cramer’s book, "Levi’s Will", is the story of an Amish teenager who makes a mistake and spends the rest of his life wondering if it is possible to atone for some sins.

Young Will runs away at 19, escaping the control of his father Levi, who even by Amish standards exceptionally strict with his children. Leaving behind a pregnant fiancée, Will rides the rails before joining the Army during WWII, always depending on the work ethic he learned at home to help him cope with life, never learning how to trust, and how to give what he was never given growing up.

From his Amish roots, through service in the military during WWII, marriage, work and life we follow the story of Will Mullet/McGruder as he seeks to work his way to atonement. He lives a life of secrets even from those nearest and dearest to him and in the end becomes a proverb of how the sins of the father do linger on, hurting their own sons.


This is a story about the importance of family, of independence, of hard work and most of all love and forgiveness. Mr Cramer examines the relationships of fathers and sons bridging three generations.


If you like stories set in the Amish culture you will enjoy this one. Told from the masculine point of view it reveals the struggles Will faces seeking to reconcile the best of his Amish upbringing with the modern culture in which he has chosen to stay.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Hooray, It's Autumn & Hooray for AIR!

"Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns."
George Eliot


My sentiments exactly. And on the very first day of this incredible season I find myself thanking God for something I don't think I've ever thanked Him for before--AIR.

That's right just plain old air, that invisible stuff that surrounds us each moment, that makes life possible, that most of us never, ever think about.

Thank You Lord for air--

~for the life it gives us

~for sweet breezes blowing on arms in the mornings and across faces in the cool dark of night.

~for carrying wonderful fragrances to us stirring memories and longings in hearts and minds

~for lifting kites, balloons, birds, airplanes and our spirits soaring as we see them fly.

~for fluttering flags and rustling leaves and rasping cornstalks.



Thank you Lord for air.

1 Chronicles 16:34 (New King James Version)
Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.

P.S. Just found a really pertinent Facebook page if you'd like to check it out
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Thank-You-Lord-for-this-air-I-breathe-/119753944703018?v=wall

How cool is that?