The Amish Cowboy by Adina Senft

Author:Adina Senft [Senft, Adina]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781950854165
Publisher: Moonshell Books, Inc.

14

Sunday morning, Lovina and Joel were early risers in order to help the Miller family get breakfast on the table and get the buggies ready to go to worship.

Today’s service would revolve around the third chapter of John and the sixth chapter of Romans, the word of the Lord on the subject of new birth. Since the service two weeks from now would include Council Meeting, and the one after that would be Communion, it was tradition that, in the weeks before taking the body and blood of Christ, the Gmee would cleanse themselves in spirit in order to be as ready as an imperfect human being could be.

“One of the ways to cleanse the soul before Communion,” Lovina said to Joel as they made their beds, “is to ask forgiveness of anyone we have wronged. Even if we haven’t joined church yet, it’s good practice for when we do.”

“Everyone?” From the look on her boy’s face, his list had far too many people on it to count.

She tried not to laugh, though in the lamplight she was certain he would be able to see her dancing eyes. “Everyone we can.”

“But what kinds of wrongs, Mamm?” They went down the stairs together and into the kitchen, where Naomi was just taking a tray of pecan and maple buns out of the oven.

“Well, if a young man had an argument with his best friend, for instance, he would make it up before he took communion. Ain’t so, Naomi?” She appealed to the experienced mother of six.

“Ja.” Naomi took off her oven mitts as the rich scent of maple syrup filled the kitchen. “Or if one of the boys had backtalked their father and hadn’t asked forgiveness, now would be a good time to do it. Or if Reuben had promised someone something and forgotten to do it, he would make sure that thing got done before Communion.”

“We must all learn to ask forgiveness no matter how old we are,” Lovina told him, and Naomi nodded briskly to back her up.

“Adam and Joshua have joined church, but we haven’t yet,” Malena said from the stove, where she was frying eggs. “We still make sure and certain we have nothing bad in our hearts to take forward into a new year.”

“Oh.” Joel’s brow furrowed as the men came into the mud room from milking, pulling off boots and shrugging out of their coats. “I don’t think I have anything bad in my heart. Except for calling Elijah Peachy a dunderhead when he made me lose that trout in the summer.”

“Did you say you were sorry?” Lovina asked.

“Neh. He got his line all tangled up with mine and I had to cut it. And I had a really big fish!”

“Are you sorry now?” she persisted.

Joel looked thoughtful. “I s’pose. He didn’t mean to get tangled up. He was pretty excited. It was the Grossdaadi fish.”

“Then maybe sometime this week you might write him a letter,” Rebecca suggested, offering him a crispy potato slice from the big cast-iron frying pan.

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