Christmas

Growing up Amish, we had no decorations inside of our house. I didn't have a christmas tree until after I married. So Ed and I had the biggest and bestest tree ever. Decorated beautifully! I invited my mom and dad and brother and sisters; but that year they had the flu and no one could come. So Ed and I enjoyed our tree alone.

Growing up we received gifts at Christmas. I so totally treasured that gift. I learned early on to ask for something that would last and last. I hated broken crayons, so that was on my list often along with a coloring book(big book!). I would color one page at a time so it would last longer. Another gift I ask for several times was a blackboard and chalk because I could play school with that and it would last. That breaks too and I didn't like broken or cracked boards so that was asked for several times.

My first memory of Christmas growing up, we set the kitchen table with a plate at the "spot" where we sat and in the morning we would have an orange on our plate. That must have been a "big" thing. Several years I remember my dad would hide our gift and we'd run around looking for it. I loved that!

One year my older sisters made cloth dolls for my younger sisters. These dolls were pretty modern because the arms and legs moved. Of course all the dolls had no faces. (graven image - - forbidden!!!) Sometimes English people would feel sorry for us "poor children", playing with dolls and no faces, they would bring us a plastic doll, my parents allowed us to play with them that day and than after we'd go to bed, they would forever disappear.

One year my dad built a big barn for the boys and a doll house for the girls. Another year he built a cupboard and dry sink for the girls. One year the "older" children received an ice cream freezer. To this day I love popcorn with ice cream. We would make homemade ice cream and pop popcorn. Yummy!

At our family reunions (the Amish can't call our get togethers reunions), my parents were excommunicated and shunned.

I loved Christmas growing up! We would have big family dinners. After we started raising turkeys for sale, mom would bake the biggest turkey for dinner. She would get it into the oven early in the morning so it would be cooked in time for dinner at lunch.

Dreams can be Dangerous

I am trying to read through the bible this year. Meaning that by the end of 2008 I want to have finished this task. In the nineties PF sold bibles that are set up to read Old and New Testaments, either Psalms and Proverbs every day. I never finished the year out back than so now with not so many distractions in my life, I should accomplish this small task.

But getting back to the title . . . I was reading about Joseph and his dreams this week and it reminded me of the first dream that I remember when I was either 5 or 6 years old. My family had a beat up bible story book and it had a great story along with pictures of Jacob leaving home after he stole Esau's birthright and his blessing. In a dream he saw a ladder going to heaven and God telling him that he was with him and would bless him and bring him back to this land. The bible says that Jacob saw angels assending and desending on this ladder.

I was either 5 or 6 years old when I remembered my first dream. My sister Anna who is about 2 years older than me, we'd talk about stuff and we talked about remembering dreams. Up to this time I don't remember remembering any of my dreams. So we talked about how to remember them.

Anyway, I had this dream around this time of my life. I don't know if I ate pickles and ice cream before bed or how it happened, but I was so shook up about this dream that I still remember it to this day. Along with several dreams that I have had over the years. Anyway I dreamed that something like a lion was chasing me down our corn field. Sometimes we would run through our fields of corn and play hide and seek, so this was nothing new but I had a lion after me and I saw a ladder coming out of the skies rescuing me.

I think somehow I heard the scripture found in I Peter 5:8 . . .your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. (NKJV) So I might have been older like 9 or 10 years old because I might have heard the preacher in church preach on this verse. I don't know how it all fits together, I just know that I had this dream and I believe that it has an interpretation; since my family "got saved", I believe that it means that God offered salvation to our family and we accepted Christ and made him Lord of our lives. For me, I accepted Jesus and found God's safety and protection over my life. That even when I was a child God had his hand on my life.

So this Thanksgiving season I am very grateful to God for giving me "salvation", and that he protected my life down through the years and that He will continue to protect me and my family.

Mr. and Mrs. Clark

This picture was taken at our church in Sheboygan, WI on our tenth anniversary celebration of us pastoring 1st Assembly, which is now called Prasie Fellowship. The church invited family to come help us celebrate as a surprise to my husband and I. My mom fortunately couldn't stand not telling me that we would be having company over the weekend. Thank God she called me on Friday night, or the day before they arrived and let me know that we'd have company over the weekend. Mr. & Mrs. Clark drove my parents to Sheboygan. It was VERY nice to have the Clarks visit my home and see my family and our church.

Mrs. Virginia Clark is the lady that visited our home and would always talk about God. Eventually my parents attended the New Castle Revival Center.

Dick, Ginny's husband was not attending church during the time Ginny was witnessing to our family. Having known how the Amish are; he told Ginny she was wasting her time talking to us. But she felt that God wanted to work in our lives and continued to witness to our family. So Dick told her that if she got my family to attend her church he would start attending church too. So the first time my parents attended church with Ginny, she drove past their house and tooted the horn so Dick could see my parents in their car. I don't know how long it took, but after awhile Dick started attending this church too. He accepted Christ into his heart and life and started serving God. He became their Sunday School superintendent and became involved. So you never know what God wants to do!

Another Picture of our Farm

This is the other part of the farm I grew up on. The front building is the chicken coop and the back part the barn. They were connected. Dad built the little building in front of the chicken coop to sell the eggs and it had water in the back to cool the eggs (from a spring?) and to keep them cool until sold. Dad had a shop on the 2nd floor of the chicken coop too. In front of the chicken coop is what we called a skating pond. It had a drop of about 4 feet from the lane. We would sled down the lane from where dad had his saw mill and if we went fast enough we would fly over the drop off. Of course it was a challenge to go fast enough! I have many memories from this farm!

These buildings need paint. Saloma when she was still home painted all of our buildings. That's the only time I ever remember them being painted. That was the bad thing about living on a paved road that I felt shame, that our buildings weren't painted. All of my siblings and no one bothered painting!!!

The House I was Born in

This house is where I was born along with most of my siblings. This picture must have been talken years after my parents sold our farm.

What I remember . . . it was a one story house over a hundred years old, moved from somewhere else. When I was in school, maybe first grade? My dad put a 2nd story on our home. He had a frolic and when I got home from school, the 2nd story was on. I was impressed! Being very young it was so very exciting! Every day more would be done. Actually my dad never totally finished our home. The windows upstairs were never finished off. When we had snow it would snow onto our bed in the upstairs, south west bedroom.

I was always pretty happy because we lived on a paved road. St route 208. Many Amish live on dirt roads, but this was paved!

My Visit with author Beverly Lewis

Beverly Lewis writes books about Amish and Mennonites in the Lancaster County area. She grew up in that area and moved away during her high school years. Sam & Judy Walker (owners of our Bible Book Store in Sheboygan) talked to me last year about growing up Amish and mentioned that they met Beverly Lewis. So they booked her in Sheboygan area while on a book signing tour. They arranged with Beverly to meet me and I also had an hour private interview time with her. I was anxious about our time together and right out mentioned that I wasn't expecting anything from her.

At General Council last August I saw in an Evangel College ad that she had gratuated from Evangel in 1972. Since Brent & Holly both graduated from Evangel I mentioned this to her when I met her at the end of the book signing at Sonlight. Sam invited me to have lunch with their selected people. At first I didn't know how I would feel about this but after talking to Sam again the day before her arrival I had decided to attend the luncheon. I was glad that I attended this event. It helped me to relax and not be too excited for our time together. About 25 people were at the luncheon. Beverly asked everyone to introduce themselves and mention something about themselves. Very interesting.

I bought her latest book published "The Parting" where it was written during the 1960's. The Amish in Lancaster County were "getting saved" through reading the Bible. I had Beverly sign that book along with "The Shunning". This was one of the first ones I read from her writings. I have always tried to stay away from any TV shows about the Amish. I do however own 2 videos that were done and one was a comedy and the other pretty well written and acted out.

Anyway, our time together I gave her my families testimony. She told me a little about herself too, that she has Mennonite relatives. Some continue to live in Lancaster County where she continues to get up-to-date materials.

I felt privileged to have this time together and I sent Sam and Judy Walker a thank you note for arranging our time together.

The House My Parents Rented

This was called the Greer Farm. My parents sold our farm and we moved here on my 16th birthday. Since my parents were excommunicated and shunned by my Amish relatives, including 4 sisters and 1 brother. When we left the farm our parents left whatever they wanted my older siblings to have. I heard either Saloma or Martha talk about going through the house after we moved out of it and talking whatever was left behind. This is all sorta sad with the shunning practice of the Amish.

Mom took her dishes when she moved from here and made 12 bags and randomly put dishes in these bags for her children. (If I remember correctly it was for everyone). This is the last picture I have of all of us dressed Amish. Mary Beth & Blair Clark are the other 2 children. Maybe my next trip to PA I'll drive past this house and see if it still sits up close to the road.