Waste: Day 5

Amish Awesomeness!!! Today was so great for me… loved it! The simplicity of their lives, the hard work you see everyone (even the children) participating in, the “togetherness” of everyone, and their commitment to their beliefs… regardless of what the outside world is doing. 

Let’s start at the beginning… the conversation leading up to me taking all the kids to the Amish community…

Me: “We are headed to the Amish community today to buy some food at their store and to see how they live. Who’s excited?”

Landen: “I don’t want to go, they totally freak me out” (this would be my child that does NOT like change or anything new… and also has no idea what an Amish person is)

Brayden: “They aren’t freaky Landen. They really just live pretty much like the pilgrims did. So really it is just like we are taking a trip back in time. Also, they are mostly populated in Maine.” (This would be my factoid kid that likes to read about EVERYTHING and wants to discuss and discover new things ALL of the time, and never gets embarrassed in the process).  By the way… “populated in Maine” is an incorrect fact… but Delaware has a large population, so he was at least on the correct coast. :)

Me: “They aren’t freaky, Landen. They just live different than us. Some thing that is different is they don’t use electricity. They also drive horse and buggies instead of using cars. It will be fun.”

And off to the Amish community we went.

On the way, we stopped at a local honey self-serve station to pick up some honey. They kids loved opening the door and finding the honey inside. Brayden could not believe that they would trust you to leave your money without cameras or anything. It was a sad little moment knowing the world our kids are growing up in. 

Once at the Amish store they kids were impressed at the amount of stuff they had, and also that everything was in the same type of container. Very different from the grocery store where there is a picture of what is inside on the outside of every box. The first thing Landen wanted to point out to me was that there was a ceiling fan going in the store and “I thought they didn’t use electricity” came up. I pointed out that the fan was operated by water pressure coming from outside the store. It was really very cool. And I absolutely loved that they hold true to what they believe, and find a way to make it work.

We picked up several items, and all the kids got to pick a treat. Then we headed down the road to the furniture store. It was all amazing, hand-made stuff, and surprisingly priced cheaper than it would be at Lowe’s. The kids enjoyed playing with the animals while I talked to a man about the furniture. They had lots of little kids running around… 2 boys and 2 girls… just like us. We drove through the community and the kids used “clues” (was there a car or a horse and buggy outside) to decide if Amish people lived there or not. It was a fun adventure.

I wanted to snap pictures of everything because I was so taken back by the simplicity of everything, but as to not be offensive… I just grabbed a couple of shots… mostly when I didn’t see anyone around. 

The simplicity of the way these people live was so comforting and peaceful. And just like Brayden said, it was almost like a trip back in time. A much simpler time that didn’t have bad things to shield your kids from around every corner, and when there wasn’t so much glorification of busy. Just doing what you need to do to manage you and your family and loving and helping your neighbor… that is a world I long for.  

I love the little things God is showing me this month. Slowing down, considering the world around me, using what He has provided, taking the time to take care of it, and using the things that are in my community(or the community I am visiting) to provide what I need. I know it is only the first week, but it has been an enjoyable month so far.

Thanks for joining me on the journey!