The Simple Life

Ok I have a confession to make... I am O-B-S-E-S-S-E-D with the Amish. I have read many books about them. My husband laughs at me because he knows I could NEVER be Amish. But I do think a lot about the simplicity of thier lives. (Yes, I know they have problems!) They hold marriage and family in such high regard. It must be nice to know that when/if you get married as an Amish girl your husband will have been raised with the same beliefs you have. He will be a hard worker and good provider for your family. I would love to have been raised with the hard work ethic the Amish women have. Up before sunlight to start their day. Me? Im doing good if I can get up right after sun light. And breakfast... well I shuffle around throwing stuff in bowls and hoping it taste like breakfast! :) But I digress. The Amish people live much like the early church. Relying on thier hard work and each other. And of course God. There are some Amish I have read about who follow tradition more that God but I have read of others who are very heaven bound. Of course I dont believe everything I read but I do enjoy studying Amish culture and history. I think had I been born Amish I would be ok BUT I dont think I could convert to being Amish. I love my washer and dryer, my dishwasher, my AIR CONDITIONING! But as I studied the Amish culture something one man said really made me stop and think. He said you dont have to be Amish to enjoy the simplicity of the Amish lifestyle. You can lead a simple life wherever you are. Of course thats true.
Hubby and I have been discussing end times lately. There are many signs pointing to the end so be alert always! I am not saying what I am about to say to start a debate. Its our view of scripture. I know there are many. We believe that the Bible is a bit mysterious about a Christian's place during the end times. Our motto is "we hope for pre-trib rapture but are prepared for anything." From what we have read in the Bible and studied we see a Pre-Trib rapture BUT we do concede that there are many verses that could point another way. Yes, I read the Left Behind books. I even enjoyed them. They are not my Bible though. I have a reason for bringing end times into this.
If we are wrong and we are not raptured out before the Tribulation we as Christians may be called to live a "simple" life style. We may have to figure out how to get by without electricity. I have a friend who does reenactments and she has told about the tent they have to set up and the stove she has to cook on and so forth and so on. Read here about her reenacting lfe. One day the electricty went out at her house before she was getting ready to start dinner... so she just went into reenactor mode and made dinner without electricty. I was so impressed with this. If my electricity goes out (as it did many times last year during hurrican season! Welcome to Florida) the first thing I think is.... WOW it sure is hot! Then of course we go into.. "what are we gonna eat" mode. Looks like cold Beanie Weanies... MMM! :( Maybe I should study the Amish lifestyle a bit more. It probably could not hurt to be prepared to live without electricity during hurricane season or during the tribulation. I will ponder this some and make a list of some things I would like to learn to do myself and then blog about my experiences.


Around the House:
Tada!! The table has been moved! I repeat the table has been moved! It looks a little cramped... hmmm.... I mean COZY in our great room now but at least I can move in the kitchen! The bad news is the bench I had two children sitting on is broken. The leg fell off. *SIGH* now we are back to having to eat in shirft. I guess I need to get garage selling or post a want on freecycle. I dont know what to do. When we visited friends in Tampa we went to thier Pastor's house and he had a big long conference table as his dining room table. He said he got it free from the local college giving away office furniture. Im thinking this would be just the thing for my growing family. BUT I could really use some more chairs at this point. Please pray with me over this. I really enjoy family togetherness at dinner and we just dont have enough chairs to do it right now.
The rest of the house is a disaster as I had to rearrange a few more things to get the table moved. I better get in there and fix it.
All fixed. I was able to add another bookshelf to my expanding library but now I have to figure out where to put the stereo.
The dishes are all done. Every last stinking one of them! I dont remember the last time all the dishes were done. Im so happy!
Im back to the drudge I mean joy of laundry. It seems everytime I get to a good point I turn around and it has piled up again! I dont mind the washing and drying but my goodness the folding and putting away is driving me nuts. I guess what I really need to do is weed out some of the children's clothing. Maybe they just have too many clothes.
I still have not made the Moravian Sugar cake yet. I need to get on that.
Hubby and I were laughing last night. He was able to sit down and do the taxes finally. When it asked for his occupation I said we could put down fully time procrastinator for both of us. He laughed and considered it. I love making him laugh. He is such a funny guy that when I get to make him laugh it just makes me so happy.