“If we tell Him our sins, He is faithful and we can depend on Him to forgive us of our sins. He will make our lives clean from all sin.”
~ 1 John 1:9, NLV
If you live near a Plain community, you may know that the process begins at the tip-top of each room, moving down, much as the preparation for hosting house church takes place. Even ceilings and walls are cleaned, then windows—inside and out—as well as window shades (and curtains if they are permitted), which are taken down and washed, then hung out to dry. All the furniture is cleaned, and so are the interiors of kitchen cupboards and cabinets, and pantry shelves. Imagine removing 1,000 canning jars for thistask!
People often remark that the windows in Amish homes are always sparkling clean. Well, just mix equal parts white vinegar and water, and voila!—you, too, can have the best window cleaner, with a little added elbow grease, of course. Being thrifty, as the Amish are, doesn’t this make perfect sense?
But without workers, there can be no harvesting. Amish families and communities gather willingly, even eagerly, to help. In the same way, those who know and walk with our Savior, Jesus, gladly offer time and energy for the spiritual harvest by sharing about His grace and unfailing love, daily living in a way that demonstrates that truth and love to our corner of the world. A well-kept house, neat and tidy, isn’t the only important thing in this life, however. Nothing compares to the importance of having a clean heart.
When I was a little girl, my father often reminded my sister, Barbara, and me that it was important to ask the Lord to forgive the things we did wrong at the end of each day. So, when we were ready for bedtime prayers, Barbara and I always first forgave each other for whatever we may have said or done. (We weren't always the perfect little preacher’s daughters, however!) And once that was done, sometimes with tears, we bowed our heads and asked our heavenly Father to wash our hearts white and clean.
During this shining month of October, as we revel in watching nature’s pallet change from green to gold, red, and orange, may we open our hearts for divine cleaning by the simple act of confession and asking for God’s merciful grace and forgiveness.
Blessings for autumn and always,
—Beverly Lewis
1) My beautiful, updated cookbook releases today! And the Facebook Launch Party takes place this evening at 7:00 CT on my Facebook page. I hope you'll join in all the celebration and fun. And if you don't have a copy yet, you can find it anywhere books are sold, including these locations:
Baker Book House (30% Off + Free Shipping)
2) My review/edit of The Christmas House pre-galleys is complete and soon the copy editor will take a look. It won't be too long before I see Final Pages. So, I cannot wait for you to hear more about this sweet and enlightening Christmas tale set in Hickory Hollow Amish country, with Ella Mae Zook making several appearances, as well.
3) My brand new Pastor's Appreciation card is now available. "Path of Light" is truly ideal for this special month to honor our church leaders and can be ordered at: www.amishcheer.com
4) Thanks very much for your continued interest in my writing life and Amish tidbits, as well as my exciting Amish cookbook and next year's Christmas book...and the handcrafted Amish-themed cards my sister, Barbara, and I enjoy making to bless others and spread cheer.
“As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.”
~ Genesis 8:22
While most of us are busy making plans for Labor Day fun and fellowship with family and friends, with some getting our children and/or grandchildren ready for a new school year or settled into college dorms, Amish farmers are busy with the fall harvest. It’s also that wondrous time to visit the local orchard for fruit to make applesauce and apple butter, and to bake delicious Dutch apple pies and apple strudel. Grapes are ripe for the picking, soon to be crushed into sweet grape juice to be canned and stored in the cold cellar for the winter. My jovial Amish lady friends say, “Yous can never have enough grape juice on hand.”
Meanwhile, the corn harvest is in full swing, clearing the fields and creating a sense of vast openness beneath the sapphire September skies. And over near Ella Mae Zook’s Dawdi Haus, marigolds and zinnias bloom brightly, oblivious to any potential frost. This time of year in Amish country, a few farm auctions are also taking place, and silos are being filled with grain. And die Youngie (the youth) gather for potato-picking contests in the evenings, making the work of the spud harvest oodles of fun.
The annual harvest is a wonderful-good reminder of the predictability of the changing seasons and the God-given blessing of abundance, both physical and spiritual. “The LORD will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest,” Psalm 85:12 assures us.
But without workers, there can be no harvesting. Amish families and communities gather willingly, even eagerly, to help. In the same way, those who know and walk with our Savior, Jesus, gladly offer time and energy for the spiritual harvest by sharing about His grace and unfailing love, daily living in a way that demonstrates that truth and love to our corner of the world.
Blessings for autumn and always,
—Beverly Lewis
1) In just ONE month, The Beverly Lewis Amish Heritage Cookbook, 20th Anniversary edition will release on October 1. You can still preorder for a 40% discount and FREE shipping prior to the release date (US orders only) from my friends at Baker Book House. (What a great time to cash in on this terrific price for birthday and Christmas gift giving!)
2) I'm happily reviewing the edit for my next fiction project, coming fall 2025. The Christmas Houseis set in Hickory Hollow, the heart of Amish farmland, with Ella Mae Zook giving wise advice to twenty-two-year old Liz Lantz—who owns a bustling buggy tour business—as Christmas nears. Old Order Amish Christmas traditions abound, and to Liz’s surprise, a sweet love story begins to unfold. And a bit of chaos, too, when an Englisher family decorates their farmhouse to the hilt for the holidays right in the middle of the small Amish village. More about all of that soon!
3) "Teacup of Cheer" is our brand new Amish Cheer encouragement card, friends. Place your order at my secure website here: www.amishcheer.com.
The kind remarks I receive from you via my website (www.beverlylewis.com) and on Facebook are true blessings to me. Thank you, thank you for reading the books of my heart for all these 30+ years, dear friends!
"He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak."
~ Isaiah 40:29
It was a beastly hot afternoon, and I was busy answering cyber fan mail from my readers when Boom! With a sick feeling, I recognized the sound of a bird hitting our living room window.
Sadly, this has happened before, and we’ve lost two large robins over the years.
Promptly, I stood up to look, and lying there on the deck was a beautiful male hummingbird, stunned from the blow, its limp right wing splayed out from its trembling body. My heart fell at the sight, and I began to whisper a prayer for its recovery.
Ten or more minutes passed, and while I was beseeching God to let this helpless bird survive, I noticed what looked like white tears coming from its tiny eyes. Quickly, I headed outdoors and stood between the wounded hummingbird and the scorching sun, creating some shade with my own shadow.
After a time, I tiptoed over to the little creature and whispered a bit of encouragement—“You’re all right, little guy,” I said softly. “God sees you.” Faith-filled words like a mother might say to her little child.
Then, reaching out my pointer finger, I ever so delicately stroked the iridescent blue and green back feathers, still praying softly, surprised I could get so close. And as I did, I remembered the year my dear dad came to live with us, and how fond he was of the hummingbirds at our feeder . . . even giving them names. Dad liked to wear his bright-colored shirts to attract them, and they did, coming right up to his outstretched hand at times.
What would Dad do? I wondered as I peered closer at the suffering bird.
After a moment, I returned inside the house to find my husband, Dave, searching online to see how to care for a hummingbird’s broken wing. “Do we have a small box where it can recover?” he asked.
“We’ll find something,” I replied.
Turning back to the window, I checked again on the little bird and noticed his tiny, thin beak was moving rapidly. “I think he needs sugar water,” I told Dave. And quickly, we created a little feeder, which Dave carried outside and held near the quivering beak. I hovered near, holding my breath and watching.
Would the poor thing accept it? Would it help?
The first sip was miniscule. I wasn’t sure I’d seen a swallow just maybe.
Then came another sip, slowly, almost painstakingly so. And a second wee swallow.
“Please help this bird,” I whispered, believing with all my heart that God cared as much as we did. “He has a growing family nearby over in that bush,” I told the Lord, as if He didn’t know all things.
The bird’s third swallow was more obvious, and Dave and I waited, eyes locked on the tiny bird’s body, our hearts filled with hope.
“Flutter,” I whispered. “Just a little.”
More waiting.
Then it happened. What I’d thought was a broken wing moved slightly, and next, a single flutter. Then . . . miraculously, the once vulnerable, stunned hummingbird flew away . . . straight toward the feeder on the other side of the deck.
Thinking back on the incident now, a kind of sweetness lingers in my mind. My faith had certainly swelled with the end result—God’s answer to prayer for one of His tiniest creatures.
I do realize, of course, that the verse in Isaiah above was meant for people, not necessarily for hummingbirds. But I know that our heavenly Father also cares about His entire creation, fragile and delicate though it may be.
I pray this glimpse from one very special afternoon this summer will also give you hope, friend, and even an eagerness to cling to faith in any given situation.
August blessings,
—Beverly Lewis
1) Only two months until my beautiful, updated Amish cookbook The Beverly Lewis Amish Heritage Cookbook, 20th Anniversary edition is released. You can preorder from the following retailers.
2) I'm delighted to share that my handcrafted "Butterfly Blessings" cards (6-pack) are available to order at www.amishcheer.com. These are so pretty, I keep them at the ready to send out as encouragements to friends and family all year long. Your recipients will love them, too!
3) Thanks for your many sweet comments to me on social media and for posting reviews at www.amazon.com, friends. You are truly appreciated!
". . . So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other. If one suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad."
~ 1 Corinthians 12:24-26
As a young girl growing up near Amish farmland, I loved to ride my bike down long, narrow Weaver Road in midsummer past tall cornfields and grain. I remember seeing for the first time a crop of oats being threshed the old way. I was fascinated, watching as the tan shocks were handfed into a large, heavy cylinder--the thresher (Amish often call it the “thrasher”)--separating the grain from the seed heads or chaff, leaving the seed coverings and stalks. The July day was miserably hot and sultry, but the Amish men continued, rarely pausing to rest.
My pastor father had often referred to the biblical accounts of separating the wheat from the chaff, but seeing this labor-intensive process with my own eyes made those sermons all the more vivid.
The threshing crew itself also captured my attention: the threshing “ring” where Amish men, and sometimes women, took turns threshing each other’s fields. I learned more about this later in life, that the workers were really like a close-knit club as year after year they shared the task and the responsibility of the grain harvest for their particular community.
Just think of having this kind of strong camaraderie between your family members and the people in your own neighborhood. “Many hands make light work,” my mother used to say. Who wants to attempt a monumental task such as harvesting and threshing grain alone, right? Especially with antiquated equipment!
Thinking of community reminds me of our city mayor’s recent initiative, 1000 Neighborhood Gatherings This Summer. “Leave the pollen, politics, and yardwork behind to enjoy a day at the park with your neighbors,” he suggested. Yes, what a good way to reaffirm relationships after the quiet COVID years and even make new friends!
The Amish have been enjoying such gatherings—often in the form of work frolics—for more than three hundred years now, and yet again this summer in Lancaster County, the few Amish farmers who do still grow small grain will benefit greatly from the community of threshing rings/crews working together in harmony.
May you cherish the warmth and closeness of community, as well.
Happy Fourth!
—Beverly Lewis
1) The Beverly Lewis Amish Heritage Cookbook, 20th Anniversary edition is available for preorder at:
2) I've completed my revisions for The Christmas House, and waiting for the edit in September. More about the book cover, synopsis, etc. coming soon.
3) The "Quilt Sale at the Barn" greeting card from www.Amishcheer.com is still available in the online shop, friends. It's so whimsical and authentic to Amish culture, and perfect for any occasion. Thanks very much for your amazing response to our Amish-themed cards with my sister, Barbara.
