Time is the one thing I've never had enough of. Ever since I was a small child, I've been conscious of how quickly time passes and have wanted to slow it down somehow. Of course I never found out how to do it, but it's worried me nonetheless. About the only way I have found to hold on to time is to write down my thoughts. So I began keeping a journal when I was fourteen. Of course I didn't call it a journal back then. It was Dear Diary. My mother subscribed to Ladies' Home Journal and that January, the magazine gave away a free mini-datebook for the New Year. Mama said I could have it, so I began sporadically recording my thoughts and activities. Some of the entries I now find laughable or embarrassing. I was a middle school kid after all. But that diary set me on a path of recording the events of my life that I have followed for many decades since then. The paragraphs in this book grew out of that idea.

Long before the written word men told stories. Stories about home and family, stories that taught life lessons, stories that revealed the values and principles that were important in life. Stories that have secrets, mysterious secrets, secrets that are only passed down from generation to generation when the time is right, stories that change lives, this was to be Grandpa Martin's legacy to me. Grandpa's Porch Swing Stories is a collection of storyteller; Dennis “Dink” Martin's most requested tall tales. The Story Man has combined his Grandpa Martin's stories along with true life experiences of growing up in the country to weave together an adventure of folklore, history, and humor. Martin's stories and adoptions have their setting in Blount County, Alabama. Some, like Grandpa's stories, have a lesson to be learned. The Story Man carries you back in time, back to the days of his youth, back to the days of listening to Grandpa's stories, and back to the days of going to his Grandma Massey's house for Sunday dinner. His unique style carries you back to a time that no longer exists, to a time when family values and principles were taught by example, back to a time you wish your grandchildren could experience. These stories will warm your heart and bring a smile to your face as author Dennis “Dink” Martin takes everyday events and turns them into stories which provoke tears, chills, and shudders – enjoy the adventure!

An appreciation of the significance of the porch in everyday life in the US South. It reveals that the porch is a stage for many social dramas, and it uses literature, folklore, oral histories and photographs to show how southerners have used the porch to negotiate public and private boundaries.

Four seasons. Four stories. Each one set in the enchanting world of the South. These are the kinds of stories your grandmother told you from a front porch swing.Ice Melts in Spring by Linda W. YezakWhen Kerry Graham's boss forces her to return to the Gulf of Mexico where her husband drowned years ago, she feels only spring's chill and not the warmth of the Texas sun. Can the joy of a reclusive author and the compassion of a shrimp-boat preacher thaw Kerry's frigid heart?Lillie Beth in Summer by Eva Marie EversonWith the untimely death of his wife, Dr. James Gillespie believes God has abandoned him. He also believes he's never met anyone like the young widow Lillie Beth, whose beloved Granny lies dying at home, and who sees a God who sweeps hope through a farmhouse window. Can a young woman whose husband died in Vietnam restore a faith that is all but dead.Through an Autumn Window by Claire FullertonBecause her larger than life mother Daphne Goodwyn is dead, forty-year-old Cate returns to Memphis with one thought in mind: something always goes wrong at a Southern funeral. But surrounded by the well-mannered society that raised her, the nostalgic rites of a three-day, autumn mourning bring the unexpected gift of the end of sibling rivalry.A Magnolia Blooms in Winter by Ane MulliganWith Broadway stardom within her reach, Morgan James returns home in winter to help an old friend. Maybe it s just nostalgia, but when she sees him again, an old flame rekindles. When she s called back to NYC to take the lead in a new musical, will fame be worth losing the man she loves?.

Porch Swing Stories is a history of both a family and a community. Drawn from the reminiscences of J.T. McPherson's elderly aunts, these stories are set in Ringgold, Mississippi, a fictional town quickly fading into the past. Here are collected stories of melodrama, tragedy, romance, and even slapstick humor. Together they paint a picture of a South that never was, but should have been.

Does God just check up on you every now and then or is He really always around? Do you ever wonder if God cares about all your little things today? In this combination devotional and journal, Shauna Thomas bares all as she shares her personal stories and the faith questions they bring. With intimate knowledge of life ranging from being a child of a paraplegic to fertility struggles and a work accident that shattered her face, she opens up about how a change of perspective can truly change your life. A mom of four, Shauna has experience both staying home as well as serving nearly a decade on the staff of Life.Church, a large multisite church. Filled with a good dose of Southern humor and a whole lot of room to reflect, readers will be encouraged to move from seeing God in the sky to seeing Him right here on Earth. Volume 1 contains 40 devotionals with journaling space along with personal scripture sketches to encourage you.