Guest Post

Guest Post “Amish Values for Your Family” By Suzanne Woods Fisher

Five Things I’ve Learned from the Amish that Have Nothing to Do with being Amish and Have Everything to Do with being a Christian:

• Being Amish is not a lifestyle. Life among the Amish has to do with faith. Faith can’t be squeezed to an hour or two on Sunday morning; it infuses their entire life like a teabag in hot water. What they do and how they do it is rooted in the spiritual question: What is pleasing to God?

Amish proverb: “Letting go of earthly possessions enables us to take hold of heavenly treasures.”

The Lesson: To pray about my day’s activities and offer them to God, first, for Hispurposes. And then trusting interruptions (seeing a friend in the grocery store, forexample) or de-railings (those days when everything goes wrong!) to be God-managed.

• Cherish your family. A family that works together, grows together. Amish families spend a lot of time together and try to keep their work close to home. Children are valued as gifts from God, wanted and enjoyed. They’re included in all of Amish life—from barnraisings to three-hour church services. An Amish bishop once said, "We don't prepare ourchildren for the future, we prepare our children for eternity."

Amish proverb: “Tomorrow’s world will be shaped by what we teach our childrentoday.”

The Lesson: Involving children in chores and activities may not be the most convenientor efficient way to accomplish a task, but the benefits are long lasting. Look for waysto get everybody involved—cook together, sweep out the garage together, set the tabletogether. And have fun while you’re doing it!

• Draw a land in the sand. The Amish want to be good stewards of God’s resources—time, money, material goods. They know that convenience comes with a cost. They don’t want to be dependent on outside sources (such as electricity or gas!). Convenience means loss of something valuable. For example, fast food means less nutrition. More stuff means more maintenance. They’re willing to say no.

Amish proverb: “Things that steal our time are usually the easiest to do.”

The Lesson: Technology has its limits. And technology isn’t all good. Evaluate purchasesmore thoughtfully. Think of where a purchase or an added expense will lead your family.More time together or less? More stress or less? Reframe your view of time and moneyand goods as God’s resources.

• Watch Your Words. The Amish continually stress the importance of filtering their speech.

Amish proverb: “Words break no bones, but they can break hearts” and “Mincing yourwords makes it easier if you have to eat them later.”

The Lesson: Say less. Prayer more.

• Nothing replaces face-to-face visits. Back in the day when telephones emerged on the scene, the Amish bishops made a deliberate decision to keep the telephone out of the house. They didn’t want to interrupt family life. But they drop everything for a face-to-face visit.

Amish proverb: “Use friendship as a drawing account, but don’t forget to make adeposit.”

The Lesson: Nurture relationships by investing face-to-face time in them. No technologycan substitute for the real thing.

• Honor the Sabbath. An Amish person would never think of working on a Sunday. Butit’s more than that—they truly cherish their Sabbath. They spend time on Saturday tomake Sunday a smooth and easy day.

Amish proverb: “Many things I have tried to grasp and have lost. That which I haveplaced in God’s hands I still have.”

The Lesson: Strive to make Sunday a different day than other days. A day of rest isimportant on so many levels—time to worship, time to reflect, time to re-energize. A re-charge your battery day.

Suzanne Woods Fisher is a bestselling author of Amish fiction and non-fiction and thehost of a weekly radio program called Amish Wisdom. Her most recent book, AmishValues for Your Family released in August. The Waiting is a finalist for a 2011 Christy Award. Amish Peace: Simple and Amish Proverbs were both finalists for the ECPA Bookof the Year (2010, 2011). Her interest in the Amish began with her grandfather, W.D.Benedict, who was raised Plain. Suzanne has a great admiration for the Plain people and believes they provide wonderful examples to the world. When Suzanne isn't writingor bragging to her friends about her first new grandbaby (!), she is raising puppiesfor Guide Dogs for the Blind. To Suzanne's way of thinking, you just can't take life too seriously when a puppy is tearing through your house with someone's underwear in its mouth. Keep up on Suzanne's latest news on Facebook, Twitter and on her blog!