Fellowshipping with the Saints

Brother Phillip and Sister Annette Deitz from Collinsville, AL, were here on vacation last week. They stayed with us for a week and we had such a blessed time of friendship and fun. Megan, their 11-year-old little girl came with them, excuse me, their 11-year-old "preteen". She instists on being referred to as a preteen, not a kid, so we try to remember to do so. :-)

We toured the Laura Ingalls Wilder home in Mansfield, MO, which is only 45 minutes from our house. We learned a lot about the rapid changes in that time period after Laura and Almanzo moved to Missouri. The Victorian period and the pioneer age seemed to clash some between mother and her daughter, Rose. The story is that Rose went to school in New Orleans and soon after wrote several books and used some of the earnings to have built a modern home for her mother and father. They actually had electricity more than a decade before anyone else in the area did! Laura and Almanzo lived there for about seven years, but after Rose began traveling again, they both promptly moved back to the farm house. They said they appreciated the gift, and it was beautiful, but it wasn't their speed. Funny how people have changed over the years, huh? Laura, who died in '50 something never owned a TV. Said she just didn't care for one.

We then had lunch at Seymour, MO, only a few miles west of Mansfield. This is part of Missouri Amish country. Our server at the restaurant told us how to find an Amish farm with an old-timey general store. After 30 minutes and way too much very expensive gas usage :-*, we found the farm and spent a while in the store. Megan found a cute Amish doll and Brother Phillip bought an Amish-style hat. The women, of course, were more frugal and didn't spend any money. (Do any of you other ladies have the struggle of being the more frugal of the marriage partnership? It can be rough.) Anyway, back to the story. Jackson became very fussy (probably because there wasn't any air conditioning in the store, of course), so I took him out to the car to wait for the Deitzes to finish. While sitting out there in my modern luxury, I looked around and noticed several fascinating things, but there was one that almost urked me enough to make an idiot of myself with uncalled-for comment--don't worry; I resisted. Anyway, three young ladies had returned from town in a buggy. First thing I noticed is that they weren't wearing shoes, which may be their perogative. That, actually, wasn't the problem. It was the horse. They unhitched this haggard-looking, worn-down, gaunt old stallion that was just heaving for breath. Its nostrils were flaring and its ribs were very visible. It was a pitiful sight. I thought at first that maybe they couldn't afford to have a good horse and felt sorry for them. But what I saw next was just nearly nauseating. I look over in the pen and saw five or six huge, beautiful, healthy steeds and an Amish guy throwing hay to them over the fence for their supper. They were probably Tennessee Walkers and they were just gorgeous. I want to know why those girls weren't allowed to take one of those horses instead. It's not like they carry a cell phone in case the prehistoric grandpa horse gave up the ghost on their way back from town. And, of course, they live way out in the boondocks if something ever did happen. Just pushed 2 or 3 of my buttons!

Anyway, what an experience! I did enjoy the day, though.

We also went to Eureka Springs, AR, last weekend to see the Passion Play there, which none of us had ever seen before. I'll have to tell all about that in another post. It was simply amazing. I encourage anyone who hasn't been to try to go to this one. I'm still gleaning off some of the presentations we saw. I mean, there were things shared there that would PREACH. And just to put it out there, anyone who receives ministerial income can see the play and take the New Holy Land Tour for free along with his/her spouse.