Oh, you showed me

 

To all who made it a point to teach me a lesson and who “showed me” I say thank you. 

You showed me, those who wanted to punish or alienate me that I was stronger than my fears.  You taught me how to overcome and that feeling sorry for myself isn’t necessary.  You gave me the courage to face even greater challenges.

To those who showed me, unconditional love, thank you for showing me I am worthy of love and fellowship.  You taught me the value of acceptance and the joy of receiving grace.  I didn’t deserve your kindness and yet you blessed me anyway.

To those who somehow saw talent, ability, and strengthens within me, thank you for the courage to invest your time in me.  You taught me the importance of mentoring and the rewards of edification.  I could never have reached my potential without you.

Whether they wanted to hurt me or help many people have shown me truths about myself I would never have imagined possible myself.  People who sought to enrage me or encourage me have all played a vital role in shaping me into the person I am.  So, I say thank you to you who “showed” me.  

Spend time with Amish people

Tammy and I stopped at the Powell mountain overlook on the way to the Amish Fellowship 

 Over the last few years we have pumped concrete for Amish contractors in our region, and it has been a great blessing. In fact this year I pumped concrete for them at their community center, it happened to be on my birthday. Tammy told them it was my birthday, so they sang happy birthday to me, they had the little children sing hymns, and they made coffee and donuts for me. I cried.  It will forever be etched in my heart and my mind, that day was truly special.  

Tonight, Tammy and I were invited to that same community center for a fellowship meal. It was delicious.  They slaughtered two hogs yesterday, cooked them in the ground the old fashioned way, and had all the sides. Their apple Pie was the best we’ve ever had. 

I share all this to say, you really should spend time with Amish people. I’ve spent a good bit of time with them over the last few years working, and I believe you’d be enriched by knowing the Amish too. 

You probably think of their clothing and culture and think, Why? Why get to know them and why are they so different?

Here are some reasons I think it’s in our interest to mingle with the Amish:

They model modesty. Our over sexualized world could uses a dose of sensible sensory stimulation, or more accurately non-stimulation. Obviously they know about intimacy, they seem to have 6 to 8 children in each household. 

They are family centered people. Who you marry matters to them.  The children and their rearing are a priority.  They have established families and bonds that many of us could learn from.

The have great moral bearings. We live in a world where we lack trust in our government, schools, and scientists.  Ethics and morality seem to be neglected by and large, mostly ignored by nearly everyone it seems, and it’s good to be around a community of people like the Amish who value wholesomeness. 

They live simply. They make their own clothes, raise their own food. Educate their own children.  There’s something to be said for the independence they have, their self sufficient lifestyle. None of their kids had their noses glued to a screen. The 10 year olds carried on their hips the infants. The adolescent ones listened to adults in conversation.  The teens acted like young adults, mature and friendly and polite and respectful.  

They have traditions that ground them. Do I agree with them and long for the traditions they have, some yes others no. The tradition of their ancestors and culture isn’t the important reason or the draw, the tradition and their ability to pass on their heritage and traditions and the inter generational cohesion is admirable. You have to witness it for yourself perhaps to appreciate the beauty and impact.  

They are people of the earth, you could say the salt of the earth. They follow the seasonal pattern of planting and harvesting, they care for the livestock. They enjoy an abundance of blessings living an agricultural existence, one that most Americans have run away from. Less than 6% of us live on a farm anymore, we might have traded off more of the good life then we bargained for when we “advanced” our standard of living.  

They’ve also made a habit of centering their communities around worship.  The majority of people claim some sort of religious belief, but less than 40% of Americans attend church. The Amish have built their world around their faith, while many of us build our faith around the world. 

It’s pure escapism to fantasize about shirking our worldly responsibilities or living off the grid and getting back to nature. We are too addicted to technology and comfort. Which I’m part of. I’d be a hypocrite to say otherwise.  I’m not advocating that you ditch your job in the city and move into the Amish paradise nearest you. And yet. 

And yet, I believe it would do our souls, all of us, good to spend time with humbly-minded, loving, trustworthy people who champion a healthy lifestyle that deserves more respect and appreciation from us. I consider the Amish I know to be genuine friends. They make me laugh, have made me cry. They make me feel welcome. And I feel better about this world and my life whenever I’m around them. 

Appreciation for those who rescue us

On Friday the 13th it’s simply superstitious to be afraid of experiencing an unlucky tragedy.  As silly and spiritually-unhealthy as this sounds people seem to be more in tune to potential calamities, tending to worry more about their safety today than on other days.   But have you considered, saving others from danger is rarely safe?

Too often we take for granted the heroic people who serve our community, brave people who step in and save us from all sorts of dangers, our police, EMTs, and firefighters deserve our respect.  I’m reminded of John 15:13 whenever I think of people who risk their safety to rescue us: “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”

Saving others from danger is rarely safe, yet for some placing themselves in harm's way comes through a personal sacrifice.  There are people who actually relinquish their vacation time and days off to free up their time to serve Kingsport -- a group most of us mistakenly think are on the city’s payroll.  They not only volunteer their time to rescue us from every type of catastrophic incident imaginable, but astonishingly these folks actually raise the money themselves to purchase the expensive vehicles and lifesaving equipment that are required to rescue us.  (See their website here: Kingsport Lifesaving Crew)

Whether it’s a natural disaster or an industrial accident, from cave and trench rescues, to swift-water and remote rescues, to extracting victims from demolished vehicles, to many other dangerous scenarios (you have seen their heavy-crash truck which looks much like a fire department vehicle and their light rescue vehicle which looks like an ambulance) these highly trained folks with specialized skills are on call 24/7/365.  Not only do they donate their time, they completely depend on grants and charitable contributions to outfit the organization.  

Until recently, I had no idea the Kingsport Lifesaving crew operated as a volunteer organization, or that they raised their funding.  Just because this knowledge increases my appreciation for the folks on the Kingsport Lifesaving Crew, this doesn’t lessen my respect or appreciation for those on the city’s payroll who place themselves in danger to rescue us as well; it is simply a different type of appreciation.  

Both the paid professionals and the highly trained volunteers serve us in times of great need, and we would be in dire straits without these brave individuals.  I doubt our police and firefighters show up just for a paycheck, it is in a sense a ministry when you think about it -- when you combine their efforts with a volunteer organization dependent upon donations, our admiration naturally increases as well.  

Paul wrote in Romans 13:7, “Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.”  I hope as a community we honor and appreciate these brave folks who stare down danger and step in to save us.  Thank you to everyone who forfeits their comfort, risks their personal safety, and who stands in the way of danger to rescue us -- I don’t believe in luck, but I do believe in you.

Originally published in Kingsport Times News:

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