Brenda Nixon's Blog, page 12

Amish Pucker UP

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Amish Push the Envelop

Amish Tanker?
They have their rules. Infinite rules. Rules that don't make sense. Tradition.

But the Amish creatively push the envelop to see what they can get away with before the line is crossed and the Bishop or Preacher comes calling.

Mosie chuckled when he told me of homes where the no household electricity rule didn't include the barn, where Amish enjoyed lights and power tools. Harvey smiled when he told of the time he invented a buggy windshield by encasing it with clear plastic wrap.

I'...

Are You Smarter than a Book Cover?

“I was brought up to believe that the only thing worth doing was to add to the sum of accurate information in the world,” said anthropologist, writer, and speaker Margaret Mead. Her quote resounds in my soul; guess that's why I blog about Amish - and those who leave - giving accurate information.

One screaming inaccuracy I see on fiction book covers is the well-groomed, attractive, side-glancing or provocative looking Amish gal with a wispy tuft of hair dangling from her white kapp.

Why wrong y...

Josh's Birthday

Harvey making a face & JoshGrowing up in a Swartzentruber Order Amish home, with 12 siblings, Jonas' family never acknowledged nor celebrated his birthday. Those days were just another work day.

When Jonas left his Amish life, he didn't have his birth certificate. It wasn't that he couldn't find it; nothing existed! Home births are typical in his settlement, and his parents, expecting him to live and die Amish, never put anything on record for the outside world.
My family except for Laura &...

New Order Christian Fellowship Amish

Paul, me, Noah"Our church is having a dinner and concert. You wanna come?" invited Noah.

"What's if for?" I asked.

"A fundraiser for a mission trip."

"We'll be there."

Noah grew up Old Order in a small Ohio town. At age 18 he left against the wishes of his parents. His father was angry and didn't want Noah to return.
Noah's delightful, friendly, and has definite opinions. We love when he calls or stops by for a visit. Last Christmas we invited Noah to go with us to a community's Christmas Walk whe...

Road Trip to North Carolina

Paul, Mosie, me at dinner SaturdayLast month we drove North Carolina. The draw? Well, it is a beautiful, southern, charming state. We often drive through parts of North Carolina on our way to vacation on the Outer Banks. But this trip had a particular attraction - our "son" Mosie. He'd moved down there 10 months ago.
Thought you'd like to see some road trip pix. We arrived on a Friday evening to comfortably warm weather. Mosie met us a couple hours later at our motel; he'd been work...

"Free" Book for Helping

"Brenda, how can I help ex-Amish adjust?"

I'm asked about the needs of ex-Amish or ways to help them adjust to life on the outside. Some people think ex-Amish are like anyone else yet nothing is farther from the truth. Most people have few clues to the myriad and primal needs of these precious young adults.

In my experience, there are one of three reasons an Amish person leaves; to escape the rigid, oppressive rules; to explore religious freedom and a faith-based life; or simply to shed the Ami...

"Mosie's Mom"

"Mosie's Mom" p. 65Imagine my surprise. Truthfully, I'd forgotten about it. Then the book arrived. There, on page 65, was a brief version of my life with Mosie who joined our family after he left the Amish.

Last year, my colleague Nancy B. Kennedy had asked me to contribute a story of motherhood to her new book Miracles & Moments of Grace (Leafwood). I remember us talking about Leafwood because one of my other books is published via this terrific publisher. I'm honored to be among Nancy's...

"Mosie's Mom""Mosie's Mom" p. 65Imagine my surprise. Trut...

"Mosie's Mom"
"Mosie's Mom" p. 65Imagine my surprise. Truthfully, I'd forgotten about it. Then the book arrived. There, on page 65, was a brief version of my life with Mosie who joined our family after he left the Amish.

Last year, my colleague Nancy B. Kennedy had asked me to contribute a story of motherhood to her new book Miracles & Moments of Grace (Leafwood). I remember us talking about Leafwood because one of my other books is published via this terrific publisher. I'm honored to be...

Amish Sex Education

To some this post is a sensitive subject.  
I was reading an Amish fiction book. The author wrote her characters talking about "pregnancy." Maybe in some Orders but not across the board, I thought and emailed the author. She assured me she vetted some Amish and they spoke about such things. So I asked Josh, "When you were growing up, did you ever hear the word pregnancy?"
"No," he answered. "If we saw a woman with a big belly we tried to figure it out." 
I asked our son-in-la...