Amish: A Secret Life Page #2

I pray thee, Lord, my soul to keep

If I should die before I wake

I pray thee, Lord,

my soul to take.

O, they tell me of a home

far beyond the skies

O, they tell me

of a home far away

O, they tell me of a home

where no storm clouds rise

O, they tell me of an unclouded day

O, the land of cloudless day

O, the land of an unclouded sky

O, they tell me of a home

where no storm clouds rise

O, they tell me of an unclouded day

O, they tell me of a king

in his beauty there

And they tell me that

my eyes shall behold

Where he sits on his throne

that is whiter than snow

In the city that is made of gold

O, the land of cloudless day

O, the land of an unclouded sky

O, they tell me of a home

where no storm clouds rise

O, they tell me

of an unclouded day.

Goodnight.

Goodnight.

I love you.

Goodnight.

Sabbath today.

Yeah. What a beautiful day. It is.

You are welcome to come in

and worship with us.

"We have here..."

The Amish attend church

every other Sunday.

In between, they worship at home.

"..Of all time.

Thou shalt not kill

"and whosoever shall kill shall

be in danger of the judgement."

O, let it shine

Let it shine, let it shine

Hide it under a bushel, no

I'm gonna let it shine

Hide it under a bushel, no

I'm gonna let it shine,

let it shine, let it shine

Let it shine.

We don't work Sundays

more than necessary.

Um, I might go out to the garden

if I need an onion

that I didn't bring in Saturday,

and I decided I'll make

some soup and I need an onion.

Things like that, except, but, er...

We try to use the day totally for...

um...

spiritually renewing and, just

to spend time with our children.

Sunday before noon,

the children don't play outdoors.

And in the afternoon, it's a time

with us to play games with them.

Miriam and David have been married

for nearly 11 years.

How did you get together, then?

Why, you know,

in the traditional way,

you just, er... muster up

enough boldness and courage

to ask a girl if you can court her.

So that's what I did

at the age of 18.

So we had a year and a half of

courtship then we were married.

And that was a blessed

year and a half.

And I did not doubt

that relationship.

I clearly felt it was God

leading us together.

Miriam had a conviction

for a hands-off courtship,

so we had a hands-off courtship.

I mean... No touching at all,

or, what's the line?

A hands-off...

We didn't embrace each other.

We didn't hug each other,

we didn't kiss each other.

But we would sit together.

We sat beside each other

and enjoyed each other's warmth.

A squeeze of the hand sometimes.

This is my wedding dress...

that I had with a white...

We wear white cape aprons.

I feel it's very important

to make the dress in such a way

that it adorns our inner spirit

and not bring out our...

our bodily figure.

No, it-it should be,

men are attracted to the heart,

not to the figure.

As a woman, we can do a lot

to not bring a man to lust.

I feel us women don't quite realise

men's battle with, um...

it's just,

God made them with that nature.

They have this lustful nature.

The natural instinct is there

but if we encourage it,

it might make them stumble.

I never knew about it

before my husband told me.

You know, the battle that, um...

he had with women

that had a lot of leg exposed

or even lower necklines

and I had no idea

that he had that battle!

Good morning!

Good morning! Good morning!

Come on in!

It's 4:
30 in the morning.

Every day, Miriam gets up

to cook breakfast for Dave

before he goes to work at 5:00.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Good morning. Good morning, Steve.

Two eggs and a cornmeal mush.

It's my favourite.

Heavenly Father, I ask for a blessing

upon the hands

that prepared this food.

I ask for your protection

around my family today

as I go to work

and Jacob and Daniel go to school,

as Miriam and Benuel

and Kate are at home,

Father, I ask for your protection

around them all

and that you will keep them safe

and that it be your will that

we could be together tonight

at our supper table.

In Jesus' holy name we pray.

Amen. Amen.

Dave usually gets a lift to work

from one of his staff

who isn't Amish.

The rules forbid car ownership,

but there's nothing to stop people

from accepting a lift

or using a taxi.

Hey, good morning, Benuel.

Come.

Danny, Jacob? Let's eat!

Jacob, do the blessing for us?

Yeah. OK.

Amen.

Hey. Have a good day.

God bless you.

OK, see ya.

See ya, Jacob!

Goodbye!

You get up for Dave? Yes.

Every morning?

Yes.

Unless I'm not feeling well. He'll

get his own breakfast and lunch.

But he COULD get his breakfast

himself, couldn't he?

Yes, he could.

He's very... He's quite able.

So how comes he doesn't, then?

That's my job!

He has other things

that are more important and are...

I'm the...

I'm the queen of this house,

so I need to see

that everybody is well fed and...

What does the Bible say

about your role, then?

They call on us to be...

keepers at home...

submissive to our husbands...

and look well to the ways

of our household.

Mm-hm.

And how do you feel about that?

I feel it's perfect.

It's perfect, it's a perfect order.

50 years ago,

the majority of Amish were farmers,

but, in Pennsylvania,

high land prices

mean most now work

in Amish-owned small businesses.

Dave has his own

concrete construction firm,

employing Amish and non-Amish staff.

He makes a decent living

but is trying to get back to

the traditional model of Amish life.

He wants to buy his own farm.

Good morning!

This is a bit different from being

at home with the children.

It is, it's a lot different.

Something I always enjoyed.

But as my children get older,

my heart's not as much here any more.

I think about my children

waiting until I come home evenings.

Er, eight years ago,

I could have worked

from five in the morning

to six at night, not a problem.

But now, when school is out,

I'm like, "You know what?

"My children are at home.

I need to go home to my children."

So does being submissive work, then?

Can that work for a woman? Yes. Yes.

I do feel we need

to share our views.

We can't just quietly submit and not

share how we feel about some things.

He still can offend me,

which I want to overcome that.

I feel so privileged

that he does mention my weaknesses

and, er, I don't want

to be offended.

I just want to be thankful

that he points those out.

Obedient.

I believe it's important

that we're obedient to God's word.

So that our family can function in

the way he designed families to be.

Dave's asked Miriam

to pop to the bank today.

It's a three-mile buggy ride,

and most of Miriam's errands

are within an eight-mile radius

of her home in Lancaster County.

It takes at least five minutes to

get my horse out and the children.

But I like it.

I always like

to get out with my horse.

His love is a boundless love

And he reaches down and touches me

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