T P Graf

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.

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.

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.

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.

Was it a chance meeting in the Daisy Cafe that brought Tyler Jemison and his boys into August Kibler's life, or was it the mysterious workings of Tyler's grandmother, Momma Daisy? 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 membership?Journey 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.