Sunday Silence

Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." - John 4:13-14

Big Thoughts

We're back home from our wonderful week of retreat. Today's a snow day...again! I have loads of laundry and housework and church work to do. But I wish I could curl up in a corner and think big thoughts.

• I want to process the retreat, think about what I've taken away and what that means in my life.
• I desperately need to pray and evaluate the tears and broken heart of my littlest boy, who once again got in trouble at school. Is the strict legalism of this place harming my child?
• I want to contemplate my oldest going off to college and pray for God to help him in this decision making process.
• I want to seek God about what to get off my plate and what to put on. I can feel that He is changing my ministry, but it's so blurry right now.
• And...I have to make some kind of sense out of the last episode of Lost Season 2!

Well, I have some big thoughts in this head of mine.

...except for the Lost Season 2 comment, ignore that one...

Good thoughts. I like these thoughts because I know that they lead somewhere. As I think and pray and listen, God will reveal to me the answers. And in the revealing I will get to know Him better.

Always a good thing.

13 Things About Ohio's Amish Country

Brian and I have been, at the Pastors & Wives retreat this week in Sugarcreek, OH. It's been a great time and God has given me much to take home with me and ponder.

Tomorrow is our last day here. So in honor of this mini-vacation in Ohio's Amish Country, I will share this Thursday 13.

1. Holmes County, Ohio, has the world's largest population of Amish, not Lancaster, PA.


2. Amish and many Mennonites speak a unique blend of high German, called Pennsylvannia Dutch. They read the Bible and worship in traditional high German. So the Amish are fluent in three languages.


3. World Crafts, located in Kidron, is part of the Mennonite project: 10,000 Villages. This is my favorite store in all of Ohio's Amish Country. They sell ethnic arts and crafts from around the world. The profits return to the local artist. I love, love, love the nativity sets!


4. Lehman's Hardware, also in Kidron, is world famous for their non-electric appliances. They've even furnished Hollywood with period appropriate pieces.


5. I have found nowhere else in my limited travels, where you are regularly served mashed potatoes, homemade stuffing, homemade noodles, homemade rolls, and gravy IN THE SAME MEAL. Carb heaven.


6. There are many cheese factories in Ohio's Amish Country. Amish dairy farmers refuse some of the technology required for "approved" drinking milk. So they make cheese, wonderful cheese I might add.


7. At Heini's Cheese try free samples of green moon cheese, chocolate cheeses, peanut butter cheese, and more. My favorite: lacy baby swiss.


8. Attention seamstresses! You must, must, must go to Zinck's fabric warehouse. Sorry, no website, but you can find them in Berlin. They sell fabric at outrageous prices. I bought two bolts of denim there, the stuff that Amish men's pants are made out of. Virtually indestructable. I've made slipcovers, blue jeans, shopping bags, purses, and more out of that stuff. Ten years later I have just now used it all up.


9. Ohio's Amish Country is "touristy" but it only takes a turn or two to get onto a township road and enter another world. Just today within five minutes we saw two one room Amish school houses, kids at recess throwing snowballs, fields of shocked corn, multiple buggies, and lines of laundry hanging on porches.


10. Ohio's Amish drive around in square topped buggies. We used to live near Berne, IN, where the bishops would not allow their people to use covered buggies. Those poor people would drive around in open buggies using black umbrellas to block the wind.


11. This region is not only home to Amish, but also multiple groups of Mennonites, Dunkards, Hutterites, and Brethren. You will find endless variati on the prayer cap and cape dress.


12. What I admire about the Amish: Their work ethic and their purposeful removal of distractions. I think this has given them a strong family bond that we struggle to achieve today.


13. What burdens me for the Amish: We have romanticized these people. We forget or don't take time to learn that their religion keeps many of them in fear. There is no freedom to be different, to question, or to leave. Those who do pay a huge price emotionally. There is much we can learn from these hard-working people, but not all the lessons are positive.

I hope you've enjoyed my little tour through Ohio's Amish Country. It's a great place to visit!!

Changing the World - One Life at a Time

EDITED: I wrote this post last night and have decided to include it on Works for Me Wednesday.

...rather than my black beans and rice burrito recipe...

Yes, the following is what works for me this Wednesday - realizing that changing our world is done one person at a time, one act of love at a time. For other great WFMW tips see Shannon's Rocks in My Dryer.

---

I've been following the Compassion International Blog Tour. Amazing stuff has been chronicled over there and I encourage you to check it out. I consider the people who do these type of ministries to be my heroes.

But there are people in my own little church who are equally my heroes. I want to give them and the God empowering them my own bit of praise.

• D & J leaving this Friday for their umpteenth medical mission trip, this time to Belize. Next month to Honduras.


• D & E, already a family of 6, who just brought home little A from Ethiopia because they felt God called them to make a difference in the life of an orphan.


• S & H who are in the midst of the adoption roller coaster, going through depression and doubt, because they feel called to bring home a little orphan girl from Vietnam.


• The 20 odd kids in our little church who raised $700 to buy 10 goats and share the love of Jesus with needy families.


• E who is graduating this spring and starting her ministry journey with CAMA, as a single woman. Brave girl.

I am privileged to call these people my friends. I worship with them almost every week. And they, in the power of Christ, are changing our world...one act of service at a time.

Pastor's & Wives Retreat

I'm headed out the door to one of my favorite events, our district's Pastor's Wives Retreat, held at the Carlisle Inn in Sugarcreek, OH.

I wrote about it a bit here.

I can't wait!

The Inn has wireless, so I may post a bit. If I don't, you'll know why.

Agape and Apologetix

Last night was our annual Agape Dinner. Our church family always has a lot of fun at this event.

We do an Agape Dinner in place of the traditional Valentine's Banquet, including the whole church family. It's a time celebrating God's love, especially the evidence of that love in the past year.

Everyone brings a pot of soup to share. Together we enjoy testimonies, music, games, and entertainment. This year we had Pastor Brain and the Elders, aka my husband and the elder board. They did a lip sync to Apologetix's Baa We're Lambs. It was a big hit!

Are you familiar with Apologetix? They are a Christian parody band. Baa We're Lambs is a parody of Beach Boy's Barbara Ann. Here's a cute You Tube of the song to get your Monday started off right. The lyrics are below.

Baa Baa Baa Baa Baa we're lambs
Baa Baa Baa Baa Baa Baa
I'm a lamb -- in God's hand -- I'm a lamb
He's got a flock of lambs who know Him
Robbers cannot steal 'em from His hand
Baa Baa Baa Baa we're lambs
Went through the fence, lookin' for some friends
God saw me scram so He brought me back again
Cause I'm a lamb in God's hand
You got to follow where He's goin'
God'll take you in the Promised Land

CHORUS: Baa! We're lambs, Baa!
We're lambs, Baa! We're lambs ...

Tried many moves -- Tried getting loose
Tried petting zoos but I knew they wouldn't do
Cause I'm a lamb in God's hand
You got to follow where He's goin'
God'll take you in the Promised Land
Baa Baa Baa Baa we're lambs

CHORUS: Baa! We're lambs,
Baa! We're lambs, Baa! We're lambs ...

Sunday Silence

The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you." Genesis 12:1