deborah wenzler farris

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finding Hope in hard places –stories & thoughts on love & loss

Hope reveals that “Otherworldliness”—a Place beyond us where we can live and breathe, move and change and find our being.

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When There Are No Words: a Reflection

by Deb Farris | December 7, 2023 | Advent, Devotions, Nature, Writing | 3 Comments

The photos in this piece are the work of Photographer/Writer Gary Fultz “There are many things we don’t have language for,” our instructor Tolu said last Saturday in the One to One Care class I attend. It made me stop. She continued. “Often we don’t have words to...

Faithful Companions this Advent: Joy and Peace

by Deb Farris | November 30, 2023 | Advent, Devotions, Writing | 12 Comments

All the photos in this piece are generously provided by Photographer/Writer Gary Fultz, Unsplash. Many companions have joined me along my way—the Way to deeper understanding of the heights of Love. Two in particular, I have named Joy and Peace. I’ve never traveled...

Hope in Hard Places

by Deb Farris | November 28, 2023 | Advent, Devotions, Mental Health | 4 Comments

I say that I write to find Hope in hard places. But what does that mean? We are just upon the Advent season, my favorite stretch of the year—it’s like celebrating a Birthday for four weeks. The first of the four candles representing each week leading up to Christmas...

Love at its Best

by Deb Farris | November 26, 2023 | Faith, Family, Musings | 18 Comments

“Keep going, it’s okay if you mess up, you’re only human,” I tell myself. God’s grace is on you, His glory is in you.* I have the best writing friends. Their words arrive and bless me every day, even at 3:00 a.m. Especially at 3:00 a.m. When I can’t sleep these days,...

On Remembering the Corn Story

by Deb Farris | November 23, 2023 | Faith, Family, Musings | 12 Comments

Do you have a favorite Thanksgiving story? I do. Some stories never grow old, but this one had to grow old before it became a favorite. I thought of the story once again this year and considered sharing it, but since I had already shared it here—twice!—I changed my...

on writing new beginnings and surprise endings: in his time

by Deb Farris | November 18, 2023 | Faith, Musings, Writing | 10 Comments

Ecclesiastes 3 reminded me this morning that there is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven a time to write and a time to edit a time to rewrite and a time to wait a time to study and a time to stop a time to be patient and a time to be...

Yellow Hoodie Haiku

by Deb Farris | November 13, 2023 | Musings | 11 Comments

The sweatshirt he wore yesterday was the color of the leaves. He stopped. I kept going, but Turned back when I noticed he Wasn’t beside me. My hands were cupped to Keep the wind out of my ears. “Wear your hat,” he’d said When we left the house. He handed it to me, the...

Major Classics for Minors—a Letter to My Late Brother

by Deb Farris | November 8, 2023 | Art, Faith, Family, Musings | 17 Comments

Dear Ed, Man (remember how you used to use that word for emphasis?) well, man, could it be that I have finally come to the place you knew so well? The place where things intersect? The great place where faith, life and art intersect? I believe I have. Art is about...

The Flame

by Deb Farris | November 6, 2023 | Devotions, Poetry | 14 Comments

There was a perfect opening between the trees, A frame for the Flame Of Fire. We walked towards it because that’s what you do when the Sun greets you and then follows you along your path. You realize. We walk in the Light Of Love. __________ In memory of Dee June 20,...

Hands, Feet, Tears

by Deb Farris | October 24, 2023 | Devotions | 14 Comments

Maybe you can understand why I said yes without hesitation last week. My dear friend, Harriet, asked if I would represent the Christian faith at a Shabbat Service Friday evening, to participate in an interfaith grief ritual. “To come together, facing our broken...

“This is what I call a Master piece in every sense. Beautifully thought and beautifully written. I am always glad for my visits here.” –Sarah

Deborah Wenzler Farris

Author

Deb Farris is a writer from Wisconsin. She is a former equity actor and singer who served on the adjunct faculties of Tulane University, the University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill, and the University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee. She was Executive Director of the nonprofit arts organization Danceworks MKE for 18 years and is the author of Conversations with Dad. She recently completed a new biography about Missionaries Marc and Nan Erickson, Just Along for the Ride, and is currently working on her debut novel. Deb holds an MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in dance and writes weekly on her blog to encourage hope in the hard places.

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Conversations With Dad – The Book

Told with tenderness and humor, this is a love story—the love of a man for his wife and family, his love for his work and church, and the love of a daughter for her parents. It is rich with memories of her father’s life adventures and career as a noted architect. Layered with the author’s personal account of her walk with her parents as they aged, their health declined, and the eventual loss, Conversations with Dad grew out of time spent together—father and daughter—sharing the stories of those who paved the way for her.

Purchase your copy today.

deborah wenzler farris

finding Hope in hard places –stories & thoughts on love & loss

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Deborah Wenzler Farris

Conversations With Dad – The Book

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