Christmas 2008

Christmas will be different this year. After we celebrated Christmas last year we packed and moved all of our (Christmas) stuff to PA anticipating selling our house and getting moved. Well, it didn't happen that way and so we are celebrating Christmas without all the trappings this year. Josh and us are going to Raleigh to celebrate with Chris, Holly and our grand children. Than back to Sheboygan to celebrate with Brent & Tracy and Andrei our grandson in Sheboygan.

We didn't get our house put on the market until mid July and the city decided to dig up 6th Street and they worked on it until the end of August. We had an "Open House", mid September and had several people walk through but by than the economy had gone sour and our house didn't sell. Its not like we have a "starter" home.

God gave me a promise several years ago and now I need to live out these promises. It's one thing to tell others how to live and another to live it our myself! "Do not be afraid; I will lead you into green pastures; trust and you will see the glory of God." So that's what I cling to regardless of what's going "out there".

As a child growing up we always celebrated Christmas. When I was very young my grandmother lived next door and we'd go to her house and she would give us small gifts. I remember getting a dainty hanky. Way back in those days (before kleenix was invented) using hankies was a daily part of life. To have a pretty hanky to use was special.

For several years my parents would give us an orange on our plates at the table. We'd set a plate on the table before we'd go to bed. Our parents would give us an orange. We'd receive one gift each and my dad would hide it. It was fun playing "hide and seek" looking for it. I soon learned to ask for things that would last and last. I enjoyed coloring books and treasured coloring the pages. Soon I started asking for chalk and a blackboard, that would last even longer than the coloring book.

Mom and my older sisters would bake cookies and make candy, yummy! I have always loved Christmas and having family get together.

Ed and I made some great family traditions which I love and hope to continue to celebrate for years to come. God has been good, we have 3 great children, with 2 married to wonderful people! We have a great family and I am grateful to God for all his blessings in my life!

Baking Bread

So how has retirement been so far? I am keeping busy as you can see. I have been baking all the bread we eat. I am cooking up a storm too. Today I baked rolls. Not how I started baking bread, but the new way is the best! After they came out with bread machines, I told my family I wasn't interested. Finally one year I said OK and started using the bread machine. We must have continued to gain weight because I got rid of it. :-) Now I started up again.

I bought this bread machine from the church rummage sale several years ago for two dollars and it didn't have the recipe book along so I have been going online to find recipes. I think I have finally fine tuned this one recipe. My husband wants more grain in the bread so I'll experiment with that too.

I am going back to my Amish days and cooking from "scratch". Fortunately my husband enjoys soups which is easy to make and have on hand. I made a pot of soup this week; Zesty Vegetable Soup. I didn't like it too much, it had a clear broth base and I prefer a tomato base for my soups.

Growing up we baked a batch of bread every week, or maybe every 5 days? I can't remember for sure. But with our large family a little bread machine wouldn't begin to make enough. We had this huge pan and I think we used at least a quart of water for starters. (I use 1 1/4 cup water). It would be an all day process! Summer and winter! I got sick and tired of kneading the dough! It was a big batch and my mom had me start baking early on, I could have been 7 or 8 years old. I was always interested in whatever they were cooking so I got put to work. It was fun when I started but after awhile it got pretty boring and repetitive! We baked at least 6 or 7 loaves of bread each week.

So what do I do as a mom? I didn't make my children help me in the kitchen. When Holly was growing up I told her she should never tell anyone that her mother grew up Amish! Because I didn't make her cook or sew. But the good daughter that she was told me that she had more important things to do with her life, like study and play the piano! She has turned out to be a good cook and she's a great mother too.

For lunch today I made Enchiladas. Yummy! Let me know if you want the recipe and I'll send it out.

Living a life that makes a difference

Ed and I took a trip to PA this month and I got to celebrate Thanksgiving with my sisters. (The Amish & English). They have their own families so they pick a date in the fall to get together. It so happened that I emailed Liz and ask her if they had a date picked out yet. Since I haven't been available to celebrate with them, she doesn't check with me. So this picture was taken several decades ago but to show you how mixed up we are. 8 out of 12 were at my sister Anna's house this fall. The day was interesting - my oldest sister said that since "the English" don't bring things to do with their hands, she decided to be like us and not do anything, just sit and visit. I have needle work I wanted to finish up but forgot to take it along. We had a nice quiet, interesting afternoon visiting with each other. Families are gifts from God!

Ed and I had a big surprise last Sunday, we had a lunch planned with the Sonnentag's and Kramers, but what they didn't tell us was that they invited Dennis & Joanne Willcott to lunch too. Dennis was a board member and Joanne helped me with Missionettes and Bible Studies. So we had a fun reunion. They moved to PA in the 90's job related and now are back in Wisconsin. Life has interesting turns of events. They moved back home to Wisconsin and we are planning to move home, back to PA. (I wish we would have taken a picture).

Another big event in my life this week was joining the modern age and signing up for Face Book. So I have all these friends out there. This should be more fun! Brent our son tries to keep Ed and I current with all that's going on out there in cyber space. :-) It takes time for me to adjust and change . . . but its coming along! From Amish with no modern gadgets to computers and online . . . .

So next week Ed and I get to travel to CA and enjoy a week of vacation with the Assistant Superintendents of the Assemblies of God. Ed has had this title for several years now which gives him meetings to attend in Waupaca monthly. Our life has slowed down considerably which is nice. We get to enjoy and experience life as it comes down the road. I am looking for a job, partime hopefully. While we are here in Wisconsin, I would be happy to work full time. Especially with the holidays that would be exciting to be in the excitement of things.

Things will be different this year. In years gone by we were serving the church and working with them and now whatever God brings into our lives. My devotional today give talked about how to make life meaningful 1) How to line up our priorities, 2) Lighten up your attitude, 3) Look up to God. This is what I am working on in my life - honoring God in everything that I do.

God's Promises

Years ago my father in law was visiting us in Sheboygan. We were having a conversation at our kitchen table, just him and I. He was trying to decide what to do with the family farm. He purchased this farm from his parents years ago. I never met his parents, just his brothers and sisters. Anyway, he asked if I wanted to live in Transfer when we retired. Well, I was only fifty that year and the "r" word was not in my vocabulary! I felt indignant thinking about retirement at that time. Realizing that retirement was something that I would need to think about in the future and make adjustments for.

God gave me Jeremiah 29:11 years ago; for I know the plans I have for you. . .plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. I go back from here and read verse 10 . . . when seventy years are completed . . . I will come to you . . .and bring you back to this place. We are waiting for our house to sell before we can go back. :-)

I am living out that life right now. My husband retired after 29 years of ministry here in Sheboygan. I am very thankful that God allowed us to stay put for these many years! Its not that usual for a pastor to only pastor 2 churches in his lifetime! (We still have many more years left?!) So I don't know if this will be the only churches . . .

I am finding life interesting. . . I need to find a job to pay for my health insurance. Its interesting that we bought into a life that spends money for "just in case" . . . but that is how we live life today. Its not that I am against it either. The Amish way is that when disaster strikes a family the community get together and either take an offering or have an auction.

Several years my oldest sister and her husband had an auction to sell their machinery they didn't use anymore and their children didn't want. The food service they used donated their profits to a local Amish family that had something tragic happen in their home. I don't remember the details anymore.

The community I grew up in Lawrence County PA has a very large group of Amish. They have taken families and moved from there to go and establish other communities in other states. I had uncles when I was still Amish move to Michigan. I don't remember any details anymore.

Anytime I want to remember things I ask my older sisters for information. I think my husband gets a kick out of having these Amish as relatives . . .

My parents have been gone for a long time now and I was never "shunned" so they can (are allowed) to do business with me.

In thinking about my parents, when they passed away in the early nineties. When a person is "shunned" by the Amish they aren't allowed to be buried in an Amish cemetary. When my dad passed away they let it be known to us that he could be buried inside the fence. I didn't realize I had such deep feelings but my answer back to them through my sister Emma; they shunned him since the early sixties, I did not want him buried in their cemetary! So both my parents are buried in a Mennonite cemetary. (Is this really better?) Anyway, that's what we did.

Canning . . .

Canning. I am canning tomatoes today. A friend gave us tomatoes to can. The only problem I had with canning today - I looked in my cupboard for canning jars . . . I took them to PA! I have been reading about freezing tomatoes; so that's what I decided to do with them today. I'll let you know if I like to use frozen tomatoes in our soup.

My growing up years, this was a very important part of life. Canning. We spent hours picking and preparing both fruit and vegetables. We had a huge garden. My mom always said that we would never go hungry. We might not enjoy what was served but something tasty was on the table. Mom would stew tomatoes and we would put it on potatoes. We would make a gravy with the tomatoes. I have never made it again after I left home. I don't ever want to taste it again either. :-) Now I love stewed tomatoes, sometimes I have a real craving for them.

We would have rows and rows of canned product. I grumbled in those days! When I got married I told my mother that I had no intentions of canning. Soon after we got married she brought tomatoes to our apartment with some jars to help me get started. I did can what she brought to me that day but that's all I canned that summer.

My family would can our meat too. I must not have helped with this because I was in school. The Amish can meat in the winter because they don't have refrigeration. I only remember butchering a pig once. I know we must have butchered cows too but I don't remember anything about it.

Ed and I went off to Rhode Island a year after we were married; Ed attended Zion Bible Institute and I got a job. We were allowed to eat in the Bible School's cafeteria whenever we wanted too. (Or needed too). After the first year in Rhode Island, we went back to Transfer for the summer; Ed had taken a leave of absence from his job so he had a good job that summer. I started canning and canned whatever anyone would let me can and took it back to RI! We loved and ate everything we took back with us. We ate hamburgers and hot dogs so I would can hot peppers to help spice up the sandwiches. One batch I didn't wear gloves, I burned my hands badly! Yikes.

Retirement

Retirement. Interesting word. I have been BUSY! I attended pastor's wives retreat in Waupaca. Came home to Sheboygan for the weekend. On Monday my husband and I drove back to Waupaca for what the Assemblies call Keenager Kamp at Spencer Lake. They asked my husband to teach a workshop on Tuesday titled "Grandparenting". I couldn't imagine what the retreat would be like but I actually enjoyed myself. The people weren't all really old. I got to connect with some old friends of ours. We did come home Tuesday night to get ready for our weekend.

We had a garage sale today, its been years since we did a garage sale. We met some interesting people. Sunday we are having an open house with an ad in the Press. So hopefully someone will choose to buy this house!

One comment on Amish retirement . . . the dad sells his farm to someone in the family that chooses to be a farmer. They build a doty house and the parent can help out on the farm whenever they want. We are planning to build a doty house in Transfer on my husbands family farm. Does that count?

My Story about Dolls

When I was growing up I loved to play dolls. For some reason I don't remember ever owning a doll of my own. Wierd! It doesn't make sense to me at all. From what I do remember . . . my mother decided to make dolls for Christmas one year. I must have already been in school? Martha, one of my older sisters made the dolls, they were pretty modern with movable arms and legs. Up to that time the dolls must have had the arms sticking out wide. Hard to dress and play with.

Anyway, Amish dolls don't have any facial features or hair. They are made out of cloth. These dolls were made out of white muslin type of cotton material. I loved to play dolls, somehow I must have talked my younger sisters out of allowing me to use one of their dolls. I loved playing with them. (Didn't I already mention that several times?)

I do remember being a favorite to an English couple that lived in Pulaski. They were friends of my parents. My dad might have built a house for them too. For some reason I can't remember their names. But they must have felt sorry for us because our dolls didn't have faces, so they brought a modern, plastic doll for me to play with. My mother must have been wise, she let me play with that doll for the day, but after I went to bed, I never saw the doll again.

I started "giving my testimony" to churches in the area and sometimes I would tell my doll story, so I now have several sets of dolls. One type of doll we never had as children were boy dolls, so now I have boy dolls too.

A really funny story about Amish dolls; (not really funny at all) my husband started selling them on the internet. We went to my sister Anna's house and we bought some to sell on our drive to NYC to help our youngest son, Josh move there for graduate school at Columbia University. Anyway, somehow it worked out the entire time we were moving his stuff into his apartment someone stayed at the van at all times. We kept the box of dolls in the van, we might even have placed them on the drivers seat? We left my bag of sheets and maybe some other odd stuff. Holly was living in Delaware and had come along for the trip.

Josh's roommates hadn't arrived yet so we spent at least a day touring the city. Anyway, I went out to the van to get our sheets when it got to be bedtime, I found the sheets strewn all over the floor of the van and my cutesy polka dotted bag was gone! I was really upset thinking that one of us had done it. But after awhile we realized that we were robbed. So someone (Josh?) made jokes that they heard people walking the streets trying to sell Amish dolls. You needed to be there to enjoy the joke.

Anyway, I think that this will be interesting moving back to PA. When Ed and I got married, our first apartment was in Hubbard Ohio. After Bible School and our first church we lived in Transfer around a year. So this will be another adventure!