Tuesday's Treasure

Today’s treasure is my little Amish boy and girl and it’s kind of a two-part treasure at that. Quite a few years ago I received for Christmas a book I had wanted to read for sometime titled Plain and Simple by Sue Bender. It is a book about a journalist who lived with an Amish family to learn about their way of life…something that has always extensively intrigued me. The book captures the routine simplicity and unfolds the charm of their community through quilt making. To quote the author, “I who worked hard at being special, fell in love with a people who value being ordinary”. After I finished reading the book I had in my heart that I needed to hold in my hand a piece of that simplicity she was talking about, so I ordered these beautiful faceless Amish dolls directly from Pennsylvania (after much exploration). My conversations with the Amish woman, leading up to my order, were delightful and inspirational. She was as intrigued by me as I was by her. If I had the chance to live and work side-by-side with this culture of people I would do it in a heartbeat. The dolls did not bring me simplicity as I studied the careful stitching as back then I had hoped they would, but now that I am older I know that we bring simplicity to ourselves. So my little dolls sit high up on a shelf and serve as a gentle reminder that “plain and simple” can really be quite beautiful, if not preferred…we just need to know where to look and when to let it surface.