The Roundtable | Amish Insights on: Restoration | Pt 1

By: Jerry D, Plain Values

This Month’s Question:

What does restoration look like in your community?

Answered by: Jerry D Miller, a minister in his local Amish church

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Restoration. The word has a ring to it—something restored to its former luster and shine. When we think about restoring or rebuilding an old car, tractor, or worn-out piece of equipment and bringing it back to its former state, seeing the finished product is exciting. Still, as with many things in life, we fail to see the work, the mind-numbing amount of elbow grease that went into making the old new again.

Restoration usually takes a lot of time, regardless of what we are restoring. Is it not so with life; are not our churches full of restored sinners? Yes, we do well to use our Bible as a roadmap, and first and foremost restoration needs to be personal. In Matthew, Jesus taught so well the lesson involving the mote and the beam.¹ And in Galatians, “Brethren, if a brother be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness…”² The Christian life is a continual struggle, and we need to be surrounded with fellow believers who will help us as we travel along.

Allow me to tell you a little story about my mother. We will pick up her story in 1965 when she buried a child. My mom’s life involved many difficult times. She had 12 children in 16 years, so there were many days of not feeling well. In February of 1971, my dad passed away under tragic circumstances—he lost his grip of reality and died under his own hand, leaving 11 children, a farm, and debt. The load for Mom was very heavy at times—more than she thought she could bear.

In January of 1978, the famous blizzard took down the barn. This was the old eight-corner barn, a landmark that stood for many years along County Road 172. With the help of neighbors, church people, and complete strangers, that barn was rebuilt. Ten years later, tragedy struck again—this time, a barn fire. I was still living at home, being the youngest in the family, and I well remember Mom sitting on the front steps of the old farmhouse lamenting the fact that it was her again. Could it not have been someone else? Why, oh why, do I have to drink this cup again?

Deeply moved by her plight, a neighbor man of few words stepped up to Mom. He laid his hand on her shoulder and said these timely words: “Ach Verna, we will just build another one.” Yes, twelve days later, another barn stood erected once again with the aid of the community. Such is restoration, done quietly without great cheers, without great publicity, just a monument to the human spirit.

In meekness, not one of the people who worked or helped wanted to be singled out as the one who “did it,” truly not letting the left hand know what the right hand gives. As it says in the Bible, “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God… casting all your care upon him; for He careth for you.”³ So many times in the restoration process, we like to cast our cares upon Him, and we forget the humbling part.

As the years passed and Mom’s health declined, my wife and I had the opportunity to sit by her bedside; when it became obvious that Jesus would soon take her home, we still had the time to ask her a few questions. I remember the dark days, the days when Mom’s tears mingled with the dishwater, when she saw almost no light at the end of the tunnel, when she came to the supper table with a small dish of cottage cheese and smiled so slightly and said, “I am just not hungry.” When grief and cares of this life almost overcame her… yet, she plugged on for her children, yes, always for her children. I understand this now. It was in the last days of her life when we sat at her bedside, and I asked her, “Mom, your life, was it a long time?” She answered, “Ach Jerry, it was a few days, and I had such a good life.” I know of no better example of restoration.

Yes, God’s grace is sufficient for all circumstances. So, as we continue to seek to live a life of restoration—be it spiritually, physically, or healing of the land—remember it takes a lifetime.

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FOOTNOTES:

1) Matthew 7:3-5     2) Galatians 6:1a     3) 1 Peter 5:6a, 7

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This article was published in the March 2023 issue of Plain Values Magazine. If you want the latest Q&A’s every month (including two panelist answers), subscribe to the magazine at plainvalues.com. As a special thanks, get 10% off your subscription with the code “GAB23”!

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