Böcker av T P Graf

"Infused with heart and humor ... Graf finds a way to pull on your heartstrings with a grounded narrative doused in realism." - Readers' Favorite Review___No one member of the Geermann-Schlatter family defines the life and essence of the ranch quite like Sallie. When her great-nephew, Noah, says to her, "Grandpa writes the poems; you need to write the stories," Sallie reflects upon the lives of those before her, those in her life now and the extraordinary healing that comes to all when hearts are open.Sallie's own life has been molded by her father's reverence for "nature's symbiosis" and her mother's contemplative spirit. She blends her characteristic wit and gravitas with her unending love for the people, land and creatures that surround her. She takes us along on the journey as only she can.

★★★★★ "Insightful, powerful, a story of life and how it's changed by so many tiny happenings."- Reader Review___After August Kibler's death, his executor and friend, Tyler Marvel-Jemison, finds a file on August's computer that enlightens Tyler on August's ancestral roots and earlier years before he, Johnny and Jimmy wandered into the old man's life at the Daisy Cafe. In this collection, August expands on the people and places in his life beyond those introduced in "As the Daisies Bloom." We sojourn with August from the rural Ohio township, to Indiana, down to Louisiana and finally to North Carolina.August peels back the hidden layers of a life lived in the shadows of abuse-facing his own regrets for how he might have been a better friend.He unwittingly exposes an unhealed wound from Miles' childhood. He and Miles learn just how Maggie and Ethel from the Daisy Cafe are "joined at the hip."We witness how time and circumstance shape lives and families and diverse friendships over a lifetime, and how the Hope Mennonite "creed" of Loving God, Loving Ourselves and Loving Others is all the creed we ever truly need.

★★★★★ "Great for group or personal study and reflection!" - Reader Review____In this companion book to the novel As the Daisies Bloom, August shares with Tyler a life's thoughts on what he would call his tiny systematic theology.What might Eve say after millennia of being the first scapegoat?What might the first and last wives of the great king say to us if we read between the lines?How can we walk a bit with Joseph as he rides with Mary into Bethlehem?And what does Philip have to say to the black Eunuch, and to us about church membershipJourney with the author as he imagines what we might have overlooked in the Bible stories that we teach our children.He shows how reimagining these people in voices for our time can bring to life each of these important guides, who could never have imagined how they would shape 2,000 years of Christianity, and how they can still transform us!Let the biblical stories come alive, and meet the biblical characters in a whole new way!

★★★★★ "A refreshing read in a world of turmoil!" - Reader Review___Was it a chance meeting in the Daisy Cafe that brought a father and his boys from Macon, Georgia, descendants of slaves, into the life of a descendent of Swiss Mennonites, or was it the mysterious workings of the father's grandmother, Momma Daisy?August Kibler tells the stories of his own life and the lives of Tyler, Johnny, and Jimmy through the tragedy and grief, and the joy and gratitude, that each discovered along the way.The generous spirit they share is a gift to any seeking greater understanding when you believe you have little in common. Yet it is through sharing that August discovers a deep reverence for Momma Daisy and Pappy Jemison, and for the legacy of love and mettle that defined their lives.August challenges our certitudes as, in his own life, he says, "I would rather have doubts and be wrong than to be certainly wrong."Tyler and August bear witness to what might appear to be ordinary lives, yet which both see as nothing less than extraordinary.

★★★★★ "Desert Delight!" - Reader Review___Jaime Cruz is a native Californian whose dream of the good life has ended in abject failure.With little more than peanut butter and an old Ranger pickup, he heads to a west Texas town he's only seen in a movie where he longs to find a new life and some glimmer of hope he's ever really known.What he finds in this remote, desert town is a host of characters that slowly work him into their lives as he works them into his own.Jaime can't conceive of a plan for his life-instead he takes each day as it comes.In the captivating, generous and unpretentious lives of the people of his adopted home, he finds that humor, solace, joy and dignity abound!

★★★★★ "Very thought provoking!!" - Reader Review____A beautifully written book that celebrates the free gift of creation!Long abandoning the popular notions of optimism and pessimism, Looking Out onto Our World is a many-year journey, with plenty to despair, yet always with a mind toward hope and joy!You are invited into musings that on one page delve into our complex complicity and on the next observe as a simple creature goes about its daily work.It is a celebration of life and the grace that comes at the cost of each of us recognizing what we have done and what is still ours to do.You are invited to examine where we've been, where we are, and where we are headed as human and spiritual beings!

★★★★★ "Jaime's story, simply put, makes me happy." - Reader Review___Now a gen-u-ine cowboy, firmly rooted in far west Texas, Jaime Cruz tells the stories of his life as a member of the Geermann-Schlatter family.He waits to see if any of the seeds he cast to the wind in writing to his own estranged family take root.The Schlatters deal with their continued disappointment in their son, Brett, as it seems his life becomes evermore distant from his roots and his own children. Sallie's humor and connection to the natural world continue to nurture "the boys" and inspires the next generation.And still lamenting the actions that drove her oldest son away, Betsy says, "If there isn't a story in the Bible about a prodigal mother, there ought to be."In this sequel to Tumbleweed and Dreams, Jaime embraces the joys, meets the challenges and faces the shocks with his adopted family now woven so intricately into his own life.