Amish Paradise

Hey, everybody. This is Mrs. Def Dave, Kim, writing this post. We recently took a vacation to Lancaster County, PA. This is a trip that we have wanted to take for several years and we finally did it. I have always had a fascination of the Amish, but it wasn’t till I was older and noticed so many changes in our culture that I really have come to have a tremendous amount of respect for how they live. Our first night there we stayed on an Amish farm, in the guesthouse. It was a dairy farm and they sell their milk to Land O’Lakes. The boys showed us all around the farm. The whole family was very kind. They brought us the most delicious breakfast in the morning, everything made from scratch of course.

The next day we went for a buggy ride around some of the farms with an Amish driver. We had some questions for him, as did other people in the buggy, for instance we were all curious about their education. He explained that even though the children go to school through the 8th grade, it’s actually a 12th grade education; being done in 8 years (yes they learn trigonometry and all the other difficult subjects, ha ha). All of the Amish we came into contact with seemed very well educated. Yet what strikes you is their humbleness. And the children, they are so well-disciplined!(and none of them are drugged, which is a foreign concept to them). Amazing considering how many siblings each family has. They are like miniature adults. I noticed how happy they seemed to be. We saw several parents shopping with young children in the Amish stores and the children seemed so happy and obedient, although you could tell they were unsure of “us”, sticking really close to the parent when they would see us, and looking away from us. Not one child was screaming or crying or begging for candy. They have some of the most beautiful children we’ve ever seen too.

We stayed at a Mennonite Bed and Breakfast for 2 nights, and that was nice too. One night we had dinner with an Amish family. They raised crops and also had some dairy cows. They had 5 children. This is the family that we got to talk to the most and ask the most questions. I got some great child discipline and potty training tips from the wife, and while talking to her I found out that she is familiar with the book we are using to train Jackson. She also told us that divorce, violence, suicide and depression are unheard of in their culture. Wow. The men are very masculine and authority just emanates from them, whereas the women are very feminine, but gosh do they work hard. The women definitely are quiet and submit to let their husband do most of the talking when he’s around, but you can tell it’s out of an utmost respect for the husband as the leader in the home, not because he’s some evil tyrant. But the women will talk your ear off later, ha ha.

These people were very kind, welcoming, talkative, and funny. They are very social with each other too. They get together with neighbors and friends several times per week, and they write lots of letters. Even though they don’t have tv, they read the newspapers so they know what’s going on in the world, however they don’t approve of any outside wires coming into the home that could even possibly affect the family bond in a negative way. They weigh every decision on how it will impact their families. They do have gas lights that basically are equivalent to the lights in our homes, and they are plenty bright. They use gas-powered washing machines, but they line-dry their clothes. They have phones but not in the home, usually in the barn or guesthouse.

For these people family is the most important thing besides devotion to the Lord (they are Christians). Most married couples meet at church, which takes place at a different home in the community every week and lasts for 4 hours. Children sit quietly during church also. There is no such thing as a “nursery” or anything remotely similar in their culture. Dating usually starts at about 18, and is closely monitored (hmm…. That sounds like a familiar plan!) and the boys approach the girls’fathers for permission to see their daughters (another thing we plan to do). Everyone marries, there are no “singles” in the Amish! (unless you are widowed of course), That is good for any society, it is a stabilizer as they told us. They also do not believe in having insurance of any kind. We didn’t ask why, but we just assumed that it was because it means to them that you do not trust the Lord to provide for your needs.

We did some other things nearby also such as ride a steam train through the countryside, and we took a day trip to Philadelphia. On our last day, we spent the whole day touring the Gettysburg battlefield. One day isn't nearly enough time to take it all in, but we really enjoyed walking on such historical ground. We spent a lot of time just driving around looking at the country. It was a great trip and we hope to take Jackson there someday. We highly recommend it.

--Kim