A Simpler Time...

I am fascinated with the Amish. I have been since I was an early teenager. My Mom always used to tell me I was born about a hundred years too late, because since early childhood I have been enthralled with the simplicity of a life without clutter-physical, emotional and spiritual. As a young girl, I adored Little House on the Prairie. I could not get enough of the books, show or movies.

I was probably twelve when I read my first Beverley Lewis Series, Summerhill Secrets, featuring an 'Englisher' living in the heart of Pennsylvania Amish country. I was addicted. Now, nine years later, I still devour books about the Amish.

I am Roman Catholic. My parent's brought me up this way, and I have found everything to be absolute truth regarding Catholicism. I pray God will continue to bless me with my gift of faith. Nothing in the world could change my heart about being Catholic, so I am not saying I am heading to Pennsylvania to join the Amish or anything! Just that their way of life fascinates me.

I think we all, to some degree, crave simplicity in our lives. And, I think the Amish have hit the nail on the head in this department. Now, I am not saying I am heading out to get rid of every modern convenience, because many of them are great blessings in my life. But, I am talking about de-cluttering.

We are all guilty of over indulgence. In what we eat, in what we buy, in what we wear. I don't know about you, but I can be quite impulsive. Out picking up some things at Wal-Mart...cute shirt for $20 distracts me and somehow winds up on the counter as I check out. Sigh... I always feel guilty by the time I get home, thinking I did not need that shirt. Of course I didn't need the shirt. I have about 25 jammed into my dresser drawer already. Heaven knows I don't need this one!

I'll admit, my will power to walk away is fairly pathetic. The Amish do without things all the time. It's like constant Lent. Their will power to do this floors me! I so pray that I can be disciplined in the small things as they are in the big things.

Mark 10:25
'It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God.'

Because, at the end of the day, does it matter if we had all the money in the world or if we learned discipline and self sacrifice for the glory of God, and as penance on Earth to bring us closer to our ultimate goal- Heaven?

-Emily xo