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.

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!

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.

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.

When tragedy strikes a family in Lancaster County, can two young Amish people find the hope that lies on the other side? “This story of profound loss and deep friendship will leave readers with the certain knowledge that hope exists and love grows through faith in our God of second chances.” —Kelly Irvin, author of the Every Amish Season series Laura Riehl is no stranger to heartache. Less than a year after her mother’s death, Laura finds herself burying another loved one: her best friend, Savilla, who has died after a brief and sudden illness. Laura feels heartbroken and alone, but her pain is nothing compared to that of Allen, the husband Savilla has left behind. He now faces a life so different from the one he imagined—plus a baby to care for on his own. When Laura offers to help Allen with baby Mollie, he jumps at the opportunity until a permanent solution can be found. She’d do anything to lend a hand to Allen and to honor her best friend’s memory. Rudy, Laura’s boyfriend, is initially supportive of her plan, but the more time Laura spends with Allen, the more jealous and frustrated Rudy seems to become. As Laura and Allen face hardships together, their friendship takes a surprising yet comforting turn—and she discovers an attraction she’s never felt with Rudy. Would falling for Allen betray the people she cares about most, or would denying those feelings betray her heart? This latest installment in the Amish Homestead series returns us to Lancaster County, home of the beloved Riehls, where a family’s strength—and advice from a new friend—may help Laura find God’s direction. This sweet read is the second book in Amy Clipston’s Amish Homestead series, but it can also be enjoyed as a standalone novel. “Readers . . . will appreciate the author’s realistic portrayal of coming to terms with loss in order to continue living with hope and happiness.” —RT Book Reviews, four stars

What if friendship cost you everything? Dumped at her grandmother¿s house in Hawaii after a family tragedy, sixteen-year-old Olive Galloway is desperate to return to Boston before her dad loses all common sense and sells the family house. But plane tickets cost money. With the help of a quirky guy named Brander, and a mysterious girl named Jazz, Olive lands a summer job and launches a scheme to buy a plane ticket home by the end of the summer. They talk her into hanging out at their church youth group, but Olive can¿t help remembering how God didn¿t answer her prayers the last time it was really important. Why should He help now? It¿s up to her to make it home. When Jazz reveals a painful secret, Olive¿s plans are challenged. Jazz needs money¿lots of it. Olive and Brander are determined to help their friend but, when their fundraising efforts are thwarted, Olive is caught in the middle. Helping Jazz means giving up her ticket home. And time is running out.

“Part Mark Twain, part Garrison Keillor, Philip Gulley is a breath of fresh air in an over-sophisticated and often jaded world.” —Gloria Gaither, singer and songwriter Master storyteller Philip Gulley shares tender and hilarious real-life moments that capture the important truths of everyday life. When Philip Gulley began writing newsletter essays for the twelve members of his Quaker meeting in Indiana, he had no idea one of them would find its way to radio commentator Paul Harvey Jr. and be read on the air to twenty-four million people. Fourteen books later, with more than a million books in print, Gulley still entertains as well as inspires from his small-town front porch. “Perhaps more things were resolved on America’s front porches than in any other place, and yet so few are being used today. With this delightful collection of stories, told in a warm and easy style, Philip Gulley invites us to sit again on the front porch—a place of hearth, home, and folks we’ve known.” —Gary Smalley, bestselling author and family relationship expert “The tales Philip Gulley unveils are tender and humorous . . . filled with sudden, unexpected, lump-in-the-throat poignancy.” —Paul Harvey, Jr., American radio broadcaster

The Porch swing is a realistic fiction story about a grandmother who spends a summer sharing the stories of her life with her grandchildren. She shares the good and the bad, the love, the laughter, and the heartbreak she's experienced over the decades. This is a good clean story for all ages, that has a surprise ending you won't ever see coming.

If you long for a trip down memory lane when life seemed simpler and kinder, this is the book for you! Perhaps I'm biased--since the author and I are around the same age--but I could clearly identify with her images of The Five and Dime, the corner drugstore, the lazy days of swinging and chatting on the front porch. What I couldn't identify with, but cherished in the telling, was her relationship with her grandparents, from snapping beans to listening to the ticking of an old clock. All my grandparents who lived in another state were either dead by the time I was born or died early in my childhood. Diane White's carefully crafted account of her time spent with Grandma and Grandpa made me both long for what I'd missed while also encouraging me to be the best Grandma I can be to my seven grandchildren. Highly recommended read for all ages!~Eileen Hunkle Rife, author, Masquerade

Evoking a time when life revolved around the front porch, where friends gathered, stories were told, and small moments took on larger meaning, in today’s hurry-up world, Philip Gulley’s essays remind us of the world we once shared—and can share again. When Philip Gulley began writing newsletter essays for the members of his Quaker meeting in Indiana, he had no idea one of the essays would find its way to radio commentator Paul Harvey Jr. and be read on the air to 24 million people. Fourteen books later, with more than one million copies in print, Gulley still entertains as well as inspires from his small-town front porch.