Amish Country

Last week Daniel and I were in Waterloo, AL with some of his family at a lake house. We had not seen his sister Jenny and Shane and there 3 girls for three years because they've been in China working. We had a small family reunion and it was so much fun! It rained one of the days we were there so we decided to drive to Tennessee to visit the Amish. I have seen the Amish before, somewhere up north, it was a long time ago. But this time I was really able to observe and watch them and try to understand them the best I could. If you do not know anything about them, they live with out electricity, no cars, no lights, no bathrooms, no plumbing systems etc... This community was very big, spread out over acres and acres. As you start to drive down the roads you begin to see buggies pulled by horses and people w/ bonnets and hats and dark colored clothing on. You feel like you've stepped back in time.

The children are as fascinated w/ you as you are w/ them. They watch your every move, stare at your clothing, b/c for the most part it's so colorful and watch the way you talk. Our little nieces interacted with some of the Amish children a bit. It was so cute to watch them all, they stared at each other, but were very respectful, no one asked any questions. They just watched one another. One Amish boy pulled our nieces around in an old wagon. One Amish family was so kind that they let us use their outhouse, most of us were dying to go to the bathroom so we did and it was an experience (instead of toilet paper they use newspaper). Almost every Amish household sells furniture, produce and homemade jams, sweets and pies. The furniture is absolutely beautiful. We were able to see an old man making a big buggy and it was so well made.

As you really start to pay attention, the Amish do not wear any shoes for the most part. They work their fields barefoot, tend to the barns barefoot and anywhere they go they are barefoot. They live a very simple life, it seems as though they do not have a lot of stress and worry and get anxious about the things that most of us think about. Their lives consist of raising a family, tending their gardens, taking care of their animals and living life as simple as possible. We didn't get the chance to really speak to them a lot and ask them questions just out of respect. We do know that they do not have mirrors anywhere, so the only way they can see themselves is in a reflection of some sort. They do worship in their homes, assuming that they believe in God but not sure about all the details of their beliefs and why they've chosen this path. I would really like to live amongst them for a week or so and learn their way of life, learn why they do what they do and believe the things they believe. We were not able to take any pictures at all, they didn't allow it. I just thought it was really interesting, something you do not see very often and it just amazes me that the Amish live amongst us in this day in time.