Tea and Trouble Brewing

Interesting, and very relatable, stories of family and faith. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the authors reactions to her children's antics, and her efforts to raise them to be good people

Wonderful book. Each chapter stands alone, making it a perfect book for busy days. It makes you laugh, makes you cry, and makes you think. Smucker has the rare talent of being able, not only to see beyond the everyday happenings to deeper meanings and lessons for life, but also to write about those things in a way that draws her readers in to participate. My favorite chapter was Imperfect Moms, where Dorcas tells about forgetting her son's fourteenth birthday, and then about the orphans in Kenya, one of which became one of her sons. She ends with these two paragraphs: "I have told myself this many times since and shared it with other moms who feel they never quite get it right: an imperfect mother is really pretty good. Give yourself credit for showing up every day and loving your children and doing the best you can, I tell them, because that in itself makes a huge difference to a child. And, I add, give yourself some grace: We are allowed to make mistakes. I will always feel sad about the missed birthday, but when I see my son's eyes and think of the eyes of the orphan boys, I know that I was here, and I did the best I could, and it has made all the difference in the world. "

I’ve never met Mrs. Smucker, but in a way, she fills the role of “mentor mom” for me. Whenever I’m struggling to figure out parenting (particularly with my teenagers), her books are one of the first places I turn. I took a screen shot of her analogy about being a good mom and mountain climbing, and I reread it often. For anyone who has a hard time thinking that they’re being a good and godly mother, I highly recommend Dorcas Smucker’s books!

Beautifully written and interesting book on every day life on a farm as a wife of a minister, growing children, century old farm-houseing, gardening and just looking at the realities of Mennonite, Amish, and plain every day life. The fun, the sentimental, the ups and downs and moments of travel, home, missions, and having lived in peculiar places I would not have guessed. I love this author so much, I bought all her books and am anxiously waiting for her next! I can't put them down once I start. I have come to love her and her family. I like the way she lets you know being a Mennonite doesn't make her or her family and friends perfect. She does end with rounding the chapters with thought provoking words that lay on my heart for meditation or laughter. Able to connect as a woman, wife, mother, neighbor, follower of Jesus, and friend!

The author has found a perfect balance between living her Mennonite roots and being "in the world." She writes with humor, faith and love. While I laughed a lot, I found much of it to be very moving as she contemplates such things as children - those who stay and those who leave - motherhood, farming, the importance of family, and so many other things we mostly gloss over as we live our lives. Mrs Smucker wrings every drop of living out of her life and does not look back and wonder "what if I had taken a different path?" This is a book to make you look at your own life and appreciate what you have rather than mourn what you don't have.

I enjoyed. The calm way that forces recounts the activities of the family. I enter the deeper look at the spirituallity. The story progresses on more than one depth which have the book so much more flavour and meaning

Having read her blog periodically over the years, I expected at least some interestingly written chapters but I was pleasantly surprised at how Dorcas Smucker pulled me into her life as a wife and mother. Every page brought glimpses of her normal Mennonite family life but written with fresh perspective and thoughts about life that most of us never notice in our busy scurrying through life. Being a voracious reader of all types of genre, it is difficult to find authors and books that keep you glued to the end unless it is a fast paced mystery. This was not a fast paced mystery but none the less entertaining and thought provoking, "good to the last drop".

Dorcas wrote an interesting book...you could follow her story of raising their 6 children...homes she lived in. And, she wrote about her faith, growing up Amish, married into the Mennonite Church. Along with her husband's profession at school, her family also had a business/warehouse involved with grain so she worked in weather, crops, bugs contaminating crops. She has spoken to church women's groups, had a relaxed attitude with her children's childhood exploits & her using the internet to keep in touch & taking pictures with her cell phone after a trip to the farm where her father grew up.