Cindy Woodsmall - Plain Wisdom: An Invitation Into an Amish Home and the Hearts of Two Women

A treasure chest, for sure The wisdom in these stories is time-tested and trueplain and simple.

K AREN K INGSBURY , New York Times best-selling author of Unlocked and Shades of Blue

A fascinating comparison between two starkly different ways of life.

D ONALD B. K RAYBILL , author of The Riddle of Amish Culture

A beautiful weaving of the lives of two very different women drawn together through their bond of faith and love of family. Their intertwining stories offer both timeless wisdom and sincere encouragement to inspire all women to learn from one anothers experiences. You will enjoy their honesty, their humor, and their life lessons as well as some of their delicious recipes! Cindy and Miriam bring us back to the place where our hearts long to goa place of simplicity and truth.

K AROL L ADD , author of The Power of a Positive Woman

Plain Wisdom provides a beautiful glimpse into the lives of my longtime friend Cindy Woodsmall and her Amish friend Miriam Flaud. Though separated by the modern world and Old Order Amish customs, they have a living faith that bonds them and invites us to embrace our experiences with greater hope, delight, and laughter.

D R . A LAN W EATHERLY , senior pastor of Asbury United Methodist Church, Madison, Alabama

Cindy Woodsmall and Miriam Flaud have the unique ability to marry two very different lifestyles in a masterful way by focusing on their similarities in faith and in daily life. Their chapters are easily digested in short pages designed for busy womenbe they Amish or English. I loved savoring the wisdom in this book as well as the mouth-watering recipes. Written with the true insight of women who have been there, Plain Wisdom is a serious guide to life that doesnt take itself too seriously and offers something for every woman.

E LLIE K AY , author of The 60-Minute Money Workout

O THER B OOKS BY C INDY W OODSMALL

A DAS H OUSE SERIES

The Hope of Refuge

The Bridge of Peace

(The Harvest of Grace, coming in fall 2011)

The Sound of Sleigh Bells

S ISTERS OF THE Q UILT SERIES

When the Heart Cries

When the Morning Comes

When the Soul Mends

P LAIN W ISDOM
P UBLISHED BY W ATER B ROOK P RESS
12265 Oracle Boulevard, Suite 200
Colorado Springs, Colorado 80921

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the King James Version. Scripture quotations marked ( NASB ) are taken from the New American Standard Bible. Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org). Scripture quotations marked ( NIV ) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com.

Copyright 2011 by Cindy Woodsmall

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Published in the United States by WaterBrook Multnomah, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House Inc., New York.

W ATER B ROOK and its deer colophon are registered trademarks of Random House Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Woodsmall, Cindy.
Plain wisdom: an invitation into an Amish home and the hearts of two women / Cindy Woodsmall and Miriam Flaud. 1st ed.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-0-307-45935-0
1. Christian womenReligious life. 2. Amish womenReligious life. I. Flaud, Miriam.
II. Title.
BV4527.W6235 2011
277.3083082dc22

2010044303

v3.1

F ROM M IRIAM:

To my awesome family: my husband, Daniel, and my children, David, Jacob, Mervin, Michael, Amanda, and Mark. To my wonderful daughters-in-law: Martha, Naomi, and Miriam. To my precious grandchildren: Jolaine, Michael, Timothy, Mervin, and J. R.

My love for all of you knows no bounds.

To my sisters, whom I love, and to my friendsboth Amish and English alikeI cherish each of you.

F ROM C INDY:

To Dad, Kathy, Leston, and Mark. If wed known then what we know now, wed have cherished each other more.

Our yesterdays are gone. Our tomorrows may never be.

But your indelible fingerprints are all over my heart, at least until I reach eternity.

To my agent, Steve Laube.

I came to you with a hearts desire and you heard me.

You counseled, cautioned, and encouragedevery word wise and helpful.

Youve poured years of support into helping Miriam and me bring Plain Wisdom to fruition.

From the books title, writing style, pacing, and voice to the idea for the cover, your creative and technical guidance is in every part of this work.

I n 2001 Miriam and I lived seven hundred miles apart geographicallybut a century apart by customs. Miriam is an Old Order Amish woman trying to keep the Old Ways and avoid modernization. I am a typical American woman trying to keep up with the constant changes in technology while meeting the expectations of society, church, parents, and peers. We didnt know each other, but we had a mutual friend, and because of her, Miriam and I talked on the phone occasionally and shared letters regularly.

When Miriam invited me to visit her in 2002, I had no way of knowing how much wed have in common. As our friendship grew, we began to realize that weve had many of the same life experiences, and we have approached them in faith and with some trepidation. Between us, weve given birth to nine babiesfive weve ushered into adulthood; the others are now older teens or preteens. And both of us are still standing. Our cultural differences are vast; the more time I spend with Miriam, the more I realize just how different. Yet our methods for emotionally and spiritually dealing with life and work are remarkably similar.

In the visits since 2002, as we sat together, hedged in by her lilac bushes and sipping on coffee, a dream began to grow inside us. We wanted to share with other women our victories and defeats, what had and hadnt worked for us, and to encourage them by being real and vulnerable. Our friendship has shown us that whatever culture we live in, successes are possible and failures are inevitable, but theyre never final when placed in His hands.

As women we easily believe in the worth of a newborn, who can give nothing and takes much. We hold fast to hope for our childrens future, even for those teens who fight us every step of the way. We can see our friends lives through the eyes of faith. Yet when we think of ourselves, we often wallow in unforgiveness, self-loathing, and feelings of inadequacy.

Our desire is to help you embrace the beauty of the life God has given you. We wrote Plain Wisdom to encourage you to accept yourself, forgive yourself, challenge yourself, laugh at yourself, and, most important, see yourself through Gods eyes of love. For when you do, you will find the freedom to truly enjoy your life.