This is the map you get at the Amish welcome center in Ethridge, TN.

This map comes with a short description of what you could purchase at each Amish family farm along the trail of homes open for business in the area. I wish I had paid more attention to the information provided on this paper but I was so drawn in by the farms and people that I didn’t use the map as I should have. Instead of going to specific places, we drove around reading signs and admiring the view. I may not have used it in the truck, but I sat down with this paper and read over it front and back once I got home. It gave me a ton of information that will arm me when I go back. Notice I did not say “if I go back”.

1. I made three columns on a page. One for food items, one for craft goods, and one for the larger items mostly made by the men like furniture, leather works, and other things.
2. I wrote down most all of the food items and reviewed it to see which ones I make already, ones I’ve never made, and checked to see what ingredients I have/need for those items.
3. I looked through the craft section to see what I can do already and what skills I could learn.
4. I thought about setting up a small wood working area out in the shop.
5. I started trying to talk myself out of opening a small store on wheels with all this stuff in it.

Most of us southern girls older than 40 know how to make many of these things. Making preserves, jellies, and basic sewing crafts were all part of “home training”. My mother canned and could sew anything. She could arrange flowers and decorate. I watched her and learned what I could. I worked with wood in my dad’s shop making picture frames and things too. If I’m being honest, there’s not much on that paper I wouldn’t confidently attempt. I’ve not worked with leather before but I am curious to try. Who knows what I could end up with if I decided to dismantle a saddle and make a purse? Why not? Look out LV here I come! Well…Maybe later lol.

As I read through the paper for a second time the thought occurred to me: Our lives are very similar to the Amish in some ways. In my home we have homemade baked goods, jars of goodies waiting for a biscuit, and hand sewn quilts just as fine as anything you’ve seen. What is it then that has me so captivated by these people? I don’t need to buy their canned goods, I can do all of that. What is it then that makes me want to go back? It’s not the shopping at their farms. And then it hit me.

It’s the simplicity that I see all around me. I genuinely crave it. I don’t want to drive through Amish country. I want to walk. I want to sit with the horses and laugh with women in long skirts who fear God and keep their vows to Him close at heart. I may not agree with them on why they live like they do but their commitment to honoring their faith brings me back to look at myself closer in the mirror. I’m not quite sure I’m ready for the truth in the reflection but sometimes it’s necessary. Where is my sacrifice? These people gave up comfort, ease, and fashion. What have I given up? I may not be walking around dressed like a Quaker but am I giving the appearance of someone separated from the greed of this world?

I was gifted a book titled The Way of Abundance by Ann Viskamp and I recently started reading it. If I’m being honest, some of her writing seems disjointed to me but I realized later that she probably isn’t working with English as her first language. Her theme comes through clearly, however. Brokenness can bring abundance when you realize how much you already have. It’s not about what you can get in this world, it’s about being thankful for what you have; even when life is hard. Wow. Ok, point taken.

I’m guilty of wishing. Wishing by itself is not a bad thing at all! But when wishing overrides gratitude then there’s a problem. Our culture has created the one up problem that our young people are now facing. Life in competition with others. It’s a miserable life when all you see is what you perceive to be as the accomplishments of others measured against what you don’t think you have. I often tell people “Fish don’t climb trees. Stop measuring people by what they aren’t built for or good at.” I read once that if we measured fish by their ability to climb a tree then we would see them as failures and it really stuck with me. How do we stop that? How do we un-program ourselves and our kids from this? It goes back to what God said in Deuteronomy 6:7, “…and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down and when thou risest up.”

You are good.

You are wonderful.

You are talented.

You are loved.

What you are, what you have, is enough.

I don’t mean to squash ambition. People without ambition become lazy and that’s a whole different matter. I’m talking about stepping back from a world of want and realizing what you have. Learning to be grateful. Letting your heart let go of need so it can be full of thankfulness. Even in chaos and hardship. We (me/I) need to make sure that the lesson of gratitude gets taught in word and deed in my home.

There are those who are hungry and cold, obviously I am not judging them for wanting something they don’t have. People who are sick and in pain wanting to be healed have all the right in the world to ask for that. Those of us who have our needs met may need to ask ourselves when the last time we sat back and took inventory and truly said “Thank you”. I’m in that category. Yes, Chris has cancer and a few other conditions that make life hard, but he’s up and moving and he holds my hand with a smile most days. That’s definitely something I’m thankful for. Yes, I want him healed and whole, but I’m so thankful he’s still here and not in worse shape. Mama is still with me and her spirit is there when I need her despite the damage dementia has done. I’m so thankful for her.

We all have something going on. Cancer, sickness, lack of something; in this world it’s always going to be SOMETHING but let’s remember to be thankful for what we have. It’s so easy to get caught up in what we see others doing and having and waste our gifts instead of being thankful. I’m trying to do that today- to just be thankful.

The windows on my house are open to the cool morning breeze. I’ve fed the animals. The men are off to work. I think I’ll go hang some sheets on the line and listen to the birds outside for a while and thank God for what we have. I hope you find a quiet moment to enjoy some gratitude too. Don’t forget, I’m thankful for you too. Thanks for stopping by. I hope you’ll visit again soon.

Y’all be sweet,

Bena ❤️🐝