The Standard

As parents, we all want the best for our kids. Nothing at all wrong with that. But, think for a moment about who has set the bar for what is “the best” in your home. There are only 2 sources for setting that standard. The WORLD or The WORD.  Often the two are at odds with each other.

Last week we had the pleasure of spending a day with an Amish family I had come to know on one of Dana’s hospital stays. There is something about their lifestyle that has always intrigued me and I wasn’t afraid to ask a lot of questions and began to learn how their standard for family life differed from ours, such as…

Several of the teen children were absent because they were at a volleyball tournament. I had shared with them that our grandson had recently competed at the state level in swimming and we had gone to watch him. They shared with me that, for them, sports are important for the children as a source of exercise and recreation, but the parents are never involved in that. Drivers are hired and parents tend to their daily responsibilities so there isn’t the strain on the home. Then when the children grow up they have adult responsibilities and the sports are all left behind.  

At mealtime they all sat around the table (not the television) – there were 3 generations present- and they silently bowed and asked God’s blessing on the food at the direction of the patriarch of the family, who ended the time of prayer with an “amen.” During the meal, there was laughter and conversation and a great deal of joy (and delicious food, of course). There were 17 of us around their ample table from age 3 to 73 and all remained seated until the grandfather said, “Let’s thank God for what we have eaten.”  And all bowed and silently thanked God and quietly left the table as they finished.

For entertainment, of course there was no TV or video games, but we listened to the children sing and do their rhythmic hand clap routines, while the older boys went out to shoot baskets. The sound of their harmony, at age 11, gave me goosebumps. It was beautiful. They showed us their home, which other than the gas lights, was more modern and lovely than our home, by far! They spoke of the children and their church families and how they take care of one another. When we told them how our church had gathered and prepared the food and roofed our home last fall, they were amazed. They didn’t know that the English  did things like that. We were thrilled to tell them about the great people of Mill Creek Church.

There was some discussion about the upcoming presidential election. A great deal of concern was expressed because of what they had read about the front-runners in the paper, but that concern was punctuated with the comment, “God is our president and we answer to Him.” 

We English may look upon the Amish as backward and stubborn, refusing to accept “progress.”  However, I quickly learned they have progressed when I noted the indoor plumbing and hot water and all the furnishings and pictures on the walls of their warm and comfortable home, heated with hot water under their ceramic tiled floors. The difference is that the church leaders are the ones to guide them in that progress… not society.  They determine what will be best for the families they serve based on their interpretation of Scripture and time spent in prayer.

I just keep thinking about that. At what point do we take a stand, as they have, and say we will not conform to society, but will look to God’s Word for the direction we will take with our children in our homes?

I hope I never have to make all the clothing for my family members or live through a summer with gas lights and no central air, but I am ready to take good look at ways in which I have conformed to the standards of a very sick society and get back to placing my hope and faith in the Lord and the Truth I find in His Word.