Many of you know that I was born into an Amish family. My maiden name is Byler which is a popular Amish last name. If you've seen the last name "Beiler" it is pronounced the same name but just slightly different spelling. Like "Tyler" with a "B."
Here are a few reasons I love my Amish heritage in no particular order:
5-THE FOOD! Yes, it's true. The food is awesome. I wish I knew how to bake and cook more of it!
4-Simplicity. There is something so simple when I visit my Amish family that is hard to explain. No dings and bings or googling even. The tick-tock of the clock is heard in the comfortable silence of a room or the sounds of the farm animals from the barn. I love how beautiful their gardens are and how hard they work for that beauty!
3-Furniture. The furniture is so sturdy and well-crafted...they will last for generations! I LOVE my hickory rocker!
2-Language. I love that the Amish have a completely different language! Pennsylvania Dutch is a dialect of German. It is my first language and I speak it daily with my children...even though they feel more comfortable speaking English back. I speak it with my parents, siblings, and extended family. It is in my blood and I hope never to forget this wonderful language!
1-Focus on Family. I love that the Amish have such a strong focus on the family. This is a God-given focus that I believe is lacking in so many typical American families. They are not "nuclear" families. They support and help each other in every way imaginable...and not just family...but their treat their entire community like family! I just love this and strive to provide the same hospitality to those people God has put in my path.
Your turn: What do you love about your heritage? I'd love to hear from you!
Cheers,
Elizabeth
2 comments:
I agree with with you on ALL of these!!
And here are a few of my own that I am always Thankful for being from the same Heritage. One is the work ethic that is instilled in you at a very young age, while many believe that you are put to work and helping in the home way too young as a little Amish child and that it is wrong that Amish Children are not able to go to School past the 8th grade, but the things that you have learned as a child and can do and accomplish in just every day life skills at a very young age are outstanding and most cannot and are not taught in Schools today.
I have been Thankful SO many times when clothes need mending or a crowd needs fed, how to plant a garden or something needs repaired or fixed, that I was taught these and many other too numerous to mention skills. I believe these are everyday life skills and you didnt have a class at home where these were taught to you, you were just helping alongside your Mom or Dad or an older sibling and so these things are learned.
I loved reading this! It's such fun to get to see this peek into your heritage.
This is somewhat of an expansion of your final point, but I am thankful for the heritage of honoring and respecting the older members of our family. Although my grandmother had to be in a nursing home, I remember the many times that they would bring her to a big family "reunion," even though it took several of my uncles to get her in her wheelchair and then up the steps into the house, and it was always a major undertaking for my aunts to take care of her personal needs. I was a "tween" and it spoke louder than words how to value and care of someone.
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