part of the Mennonite Community... their families moved
from Kansas to Colorado when they were young.
They left their Grandparents, many Aunts & Uncles,
cousins, friends, church, traditions.
After arriving in Colorado, the ladies/girls worn only dark dresses
with little prayer caps and the men had beards and dark pants.
Over timethe dark dresses turned into cheerful skirts with not caps and
eventually they dressed like all the rest of us "Englishers."
Some of these girls were among my closest friends and I
have a few memories of their conversations about rarely
getting to see their Grandparents...
and when they did see them they weren't allowed to eat at
the same table as them because they'd left the church long ago.
It's so sad because they all loved Jesus... but there was so much
hurt, sorrow and tradition that separated them.
I recently read a book I received for FREE that was along
the same topic. Although the book is fiction and deals with
the Amish community, not Mennonite, it portrays the hurt
and pain that family, traditions and "religion" can inflict.
And shows the beauty of God's grace, forgiveness and mender
of torn relationships.
The cool thing for all of YOU is this...
the publishers that gave me the book also gave me copies
to give away!
This book, WHEN THE SOUL MENDS, by Cindy Woodsmall,
is the third book in a series called Sisters of the Quilt. I hadn't read
the first two books, so when I got a little confused I just referred to
the list of characters in the front of the book. No biggy. I enjoyed
reading it and couldn't wait to get to the end to see what choice
she would make.
If you'd like to have a FREE copy of this book, please briefly tell me
how you're planning to express love to your family this Christmas
Season.
4 comments:
im gonna show my family my love by just being w. them. i'm 18 and moved out in June so we don't see each other a lot. being w. them all will be the best.
that sounds like a pretty cool book. there were a lot of amish people in illinois that would travel to Walmart to do shopping. it's strange...out of all the things you associate with them, jesus isn't really of them. and out of all the things i know about them, their faith is one area I can't really say I know much about. I suppose the same goes for other groups like that. hmm.
My girl LOVES Amish stories. She has just about read all there is out there... except this one.
Expressing love to my family this Christmas is being there... loving them for who they are and not what I expect them to be... showing CHRIST through our immediate family to the extended family who do not know HIM.
Netta - I miss you! I'm online for the first time in days...just read Chilly's blog about your engagement night (so wonderful) and just read this post. I hope to do more catching up during the football game tonight, sitting next to my man. :) One of the ways I want to express love to my family this Christmas season is with a spirit of celebration in all things (including the planning and preparing). Even if it's just me in the kitchen or wrapping gifts, I want to be in prayer for those I am preparing to bless. I want to avoid the all-to-easy- spirits of hurridness, stress, business, small-mindedness and remain focused on Jesus and his people, with a spirit of celebration. I want to celebrate the way Jesus wants his birthday celebrated. Help me, Lord!
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