Not Of This World......

First of all, Thank you for all my birthday wishes....you made this ol' 30 year old feel special on her day:)
(from now on if you ask a question in the comment section, I'll answer it by twitter which will show up on my sidebar if you don't follow me you can still see it.) If you have a personal question just send it to my email. I will get back to you as soon as I can:) Promise!
I had no idea my husband high jacked my blog......I didn't know he knew how to even post. (He said it took him awhile to figure it out. ha!)
But it was sweet....it was also sweet of him to take us out to eat (so I didn't have the normal mommy chores) Then we stayed in a Hilton for 2 nights...(for free, thanks to our Hilton Honor program) in Philadelphia. I enjoyed loooooooooong showers and hot baths! It was a perfect birthday. (I'll post on it later)
But for now...let's catch up on Lancaster, PA.


I say ALL the time that I feel like a stranger in this land ! So I LOVE this quote! ....

"I'd rather be known for being too conservative than too liberal. I'd rather be known for preaching Jesus too much than not enough! I'd rather be thought of as 'weird' rather than 'normal'. We are strangers. We are aliens. We...... are not of this world.." ~ Amanda Patrick Clark(thanks for sharing Shelly)

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Last year we read Hero Tales as a family. It was part of our curriculum. We use My Fathers World along with many other books and curriculum I've picked up the last 3 years. It made a great family devotion.

We read about the story of Menno Simmons and the persecuted church. I think it's important to read these stories to understand the church and what they had to go through for religious freedom.



We started our visit in Lancaster, PA by visiting the Mennonite Center. We watched a video on ,"Who Are the Amish?"
It was very interesting! I have always had a heart for the Amish. I remember when the poor school shooting happened a couple years ago, my heart broke. I remember talking to my mom about the Amish and how much I admired them. I really didn't understand what they believed and why.

After our visit the other day, I admire them even more because I understand who they are.

We met a man who invited us to an Amish minister's house. We stopped by his house and talked to him and his wife for awhile. I got all teary eyed (I'm sure they thought these crazy Californians!)I got to share my heart with his wife. We talked about our trip and homeschooling our kids. To the world they may "look" and "act" weird but they were very nice and normal to talk to.
They invited us into their barn to watch how they milked the cows.

Faith said,"I wouldn't mind moving here and becoming an Amish girl." I love her heart! She is very sensitive to things of this world. For example if she hears someone say, "Oh my God." She almost cries! Her exact words were, "Why do they just throw His name around like that?" Gosh, I love her!




Go ahead and laugh, but I could see myself raising my kids like them. (I don't agree with everything) but I love their take on putting God first and their take on"family". They believe that salvation is living for God daily. Not just coming to him "once in your life." Which I understand. I think people sometimes think that just because they have asked God into their hearts they are good with God and can go to heaven. Or they go to church on Sunday=salvation. But you have to pick up your cross daily and live SOLD OUT for Him! Surrender your life to Him and be willing to to whatever he calls you to do.


I love how they are NOT of this World AT ALL. When you understand their history, and the persecution of the Church it makes sense. I am very touched by them and pray for them. I believe God looks down on them and smiles. They take the bible literally and I love that!





Like the Amish minister said, "we can all say we are Christians, but to find out if I'm really a Christian just ask my neighbor and see what they say! "


We all have our own convictions, the Amish have theirs and we have ours.
I know we are free in Christ and he doesn't care if we wear make-up or not (Thank God!)

I'm just sayin' I love how they live simple and have "time" to put into their families and to God.

If my husband were on board, I might just move to Lancaster and become Amish! ha! But he's not going for it.

Wouldn't Landen look cute in that little hat?

I'd even let Justin grow his beard (maybe) ha!......

A Journey Home...could you see yourself doing this?