Read This and Do Yourself a Favor

Among the sources I consulted last summer in preparation for a class I’m teaching was a small book on memoir writing called Shimmering Images: A Handy Little Guide to Writing Memoir.  The book recommended capturing the “shining moments” of our lives, pinning each of them to text so that others can enjoy or learn from them.  Dorcas Smucker doesn’t need this book.  She's already been there and done that.

Shimmering images and shining moments abound in Footprints on the Ceiling, Dorcas Smucker’s newest published collection of stories and reflections originally written as content for a monthly  newspaper column.  Astute observation and reflection and “mad” writing skills are the main things that make Dorcas’ life seem filled with shining moments.  In reality, her life is the stuff of which all of our lives are made.  This is the allure of her writing: we begin to see shining moments  in our own ordinary lives, and a desire stirs inside us to savor and share these moments.

Aging parents, travel and ministry, storytelling tips, picking and preserving fruit, parting and loss, growth and celebration, rest and rejuvenation–it’s all there–and more, and all worth pondering.  Sometimes it’s worth laughing about or crying over.

Many of the stories in Footprints on the Ceiling were written about events that occurred since Dorcas had written the previous column for the newspaper.  Those stories are about life in the Smucker household as it was right then–with a pastor/teacher/grass seed warehouse owner husband and father, a busy-brained and diligent homemaker wife and mother, and teenagers and young adults with colorful personalities entering and exiting the scene at a lively pace.

That isn’t all, however.  Some of the stories in this book happened decades ago, and the telling of these stories is enriched by the view from a distance.  Footprints on the Ceiling refers to one snippet of Paul and Dorcas’ “how we met” saga.   I especially enjoyed the “Off to Bible School” chapter where Dorcas writes of having attended the same school in Arkansas where I attended ahead of her.

I will give away one autographed copy of Footprints on the Ceiling (supplied by Dorcas) to someone who comments on this blog post.  If you include a shimmering image or shining moment story idea from your own life, I’ll add your name twice for the drawing.  Check this space for an announcement of the winner.  I’ll make the announcement on Nov. 25, one week from this publication date, and will seek mailing address information at that time.  If the winner does not come forward for a week following that, I will draw a second name, and repeat that till a winner is found.

Footprints on the Ceiling is available for $15 per book, postage included.  You can mail a check to Dorcas Smucker, 31148 Substation Drive, Harrisburg, OR 97446.  US addresses only.  To send a copy to Canada or overseas, email Dorcas at dorcassmucker@gmail.com.

Dorcas Smucker’s blog address is www.dorcassmucker.blogspot.com.

Do yourself a favor and read the book and start following the blog.