“I thank my God in all my
remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you
all” (Phil.
1:3-4). “You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an
understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her
honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be
hindered” (I Peter 3:7).
Hey Gang: For you ‘regular
morning message readers’, you know that the author of these messages loves to
visit Shipshawanna, Indiana, which also happens to be Amish/ Mennonite country.
People think we are a wee-bit weird when we tell them we are going to Shippshy
in the morning for breakfast. Yes, it happens to be 145 miles, which may
seem strange, but the truth of the matter is we go there for a far different
reason.
I am also a Pennsylvania
Hillbilly, I had the privilege of working in Lancaster, PA, which is a very
large Amish community. Over 60 years ago I was privileged to work at a Dairy
that sent trucks into the countryside to pick up cans of milk from the
farmers. My route happened to consist of 53 Amish farmers, whom I learned
to love and respect in a very special way.
I love to go there because it
brings back wonderful memories of my days in Lancaster and seeing and learning
about the Amish culture first-hand and, we hear the clippity- clop and
see the horses. We made our most recent trip on a Monday, which also happens to
be wash day. Keep in mind Amish families tend to be large and, therefore,
Monday’s wash tends to be very large. Also keep in mind these are farm
families and live very close to the ground. Every member of the family
from three and up get their hands and clothes dirty each and every day, except
the Sabbath.
As you probably know, the
Amish are called the ‘Plain People’ because they do not get into
the bangles and beads of the modern conveniences. As we drove into town,
we passed many farms. Two ways to tell it is an Amish farm: it ha sno
electricity lines into the house and second, the clotheslines would be filled
with freshly washed clothes hanging to dry natures way.
Until several years ago such
conveniences as washing machines were taboo, so washing was a little more
involved than throwing the clothes in the washing machine and returning an hour
later to move them to the dryer. Wash day began very early by building a
fire, heating the many gallons of water and preparing for the washing process,
which was contingent on one’s knowledge of a ‘scrub board’.
There is the story of the day
the Elders of the Church decided a washing machine might be one of ‘God’s
inventions’ to make life easier for the woman folk. They passed a mandate that
washing machines were now legal. When Brother Yoder announced to his wife
that he was going to purchase a washing machine for her, she let it be known
there would be no washing machine in her wash shed. Notice her reason:
“As I wash those clothes, “she said, “I use that time to pray for each one of
my children. That’s not time I want cut in half”.
Soooo, is there not a lesson
in that story that we all need to heed? I wonder what would happen
in our country, if every parent threw the washing machine out and adopted
the Amish way? Or just spent the washing-time praying for our children? Or
prayed regularly and diligently for our children? Ah com’on, Gramps, you
got to be kidding!
Blessings,
Gramps
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