Doubting Thomas-Nurse Hal Among The Amish

by Risner, Fay

  Ruth was ready for a beautiful love affair with Boaz, because she was in love with her Lord. That love spilled out to others in her life.

  We all must remember the husband has the major responsibility of directing the home for the glory of Christ. He needs to have the proper relationship with Christ in submission and self denial to glorify his Head. His is the God delegated authority over the submissive woman and is responsible for her actions in the home and in society.

  Husbands love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.”

  Emma glanced behind her when she heard the rustle at the back of the tent. The kitchen helpers slipped along the wall to the doorway as quietly as they could. They knew when the bishop was almost through with the sermon. It would soon be time for the vows. This was the helpers cue to get back to work so the meal would be done in time.

  The sound of the bishop’s voice brought Emma back to his story. She tried to stay calm as the bishop looked down at Adam and her. She knew the service was about over. The next part was the wedding ceremony when Adam and she said their vows in front of everyone. All eyes would be on them. She clasped her trembling hands tightly together. As nervous as she was she hoped she didn't do or say anything wrong during her vows.

  Chapter 14

  “We have two people here before us who have agreed to enter into the state of matrimony, Adam Keim and Emma Lapp. If it is still your desire to be married, Bruder and Schwestern, in the name of the Lord come forth,” Bishop Bontrager commanded.

  The couple stood up, joined hands and went to stand in front of the bishop.

  Bishop Bontrager said, “Do you both still feel as you did earlier this morning when we talked about you getting married?”

  “Jah,” Emma said.

  Adam reached for his notepad and pen.

  The bishop said, “Adam, where it is proper you nod your head if you would like?”

  Adam nodded yes.

  “Fine, Adam. Now we have here two people who have agreed to enter the state of matrimony, Adam Keim and Emma Lapp. Those here to witness this wedding today speak now if you know of any scriptural reason why these two people cannot be married. You should let yourself be heard now or forever remain silent.”

  After a pause, the bishop said, “No one has any objection.” He opened his bible and quoted from the book of Ephesians 5:22-33. “Husbands love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and shall be joined unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh.”

  The bishop joined his hands over the top and bottom of Adam and Emma's hands. He asked both of them, “Can you both confess and believe that God has ordained marriage to be a union between one man and one wife, and do you also have confidence you are approaching marriage in accordance with the way you have been taught?”

  Emma answered, “Jah.”

  Adam nodded yes.

  “Adam Keim, do you have confidence, Bruder, that the Lord has proved this, our schwestern as a marriage partner for you?”

  Adam shook his head emphatically yes.

  “Gute, Adam. Emma Lapp, do you have the confidence, schwestern, that the Lord has provided this, our bruder, as a marriage partner for you?”

  “Jah.”

  “Adam, do you promise your wife that if she should in bodily weakness, sickness or any similar circumstances need your help that you will care for her as a fitting Christian husband?”

  Adam nodded yes.

  “Emma, do you promise your husband if he should in bodily weakness, sickness or any similar circumstances need your help, that you will care for him as is fitting for a Christian wife?”

  “Jah,” Emma said.

  Bishop Bontrager asked both of them, “Do you both promise together that you will with love, forbearance and patience live with each other, and not part from each other until God will separate you with death?”

  The couple nodded their heads, and Emma said, “Jah.”

  Bishop Bontrager let go of their hands. “Let's pray.”

  After the prayer, the bishop took Emma's hand and placed it in the hand of Adam. With his hands covering theirs for the blessing, he quoted from the book of Tobit. “And he takes the hand of the daughter and puts it in the hand of Tobias. The God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob be with you and help you together and give his blessings richly unto you.

  I wish you the blessings of God for a gute beginning and a steadfast middle time, and may you hold out until a blessed end. This all in and through Jesus Christ. Amen.”

  At the mention of Christ, all three bent their knees.

  Bishop Bontrager said, “Go forth in the name of the Lord. I say you are now man and wife, and may the Lord bless you with his everlasting love.”

  Adam looked relieved. Emma's face radiated a blissful glow. The couple joined hands and returned to their seats. The bishop asked Preacher Yoder and Deacon Yutzy to express their thoughts on the wedding ceremony. They each took a few minutes to wish the couple God’s blessings. After the two men finished, the bishop asked the bride’s father, John Lapp, to say a few words.

  John stood. “This is a very special occasion to now have a new member in our family. Hal and I have looked forward to this day for a long time. We sometimes thought it would never come. Now we look forward to being a part of this couple's life.” He paused to glance at Hal, and she winked at him.

  “Thanks to all who helped work so hard to get prepared for the wedding. The Lapp family appreciated their work. It has been a blessing to have Hal's mother, father and aunt here to help us during this busy time. We have enjoyed their company, appreciated their help and feel blessed that they could be here to witness this joyous occasion with us.

  Hal and I sincerely wish our daughter, Emma, and her new family a blessed and happy life.”

  John sat down, and Bishop Bontrager stood. “Amos Keim, Adam's uncle, will now say a few words in place of Bobby and Adam's late father, Elmo Keim.”

  Amos stood. “The Keim family is blessed to have Emma as part of it. We will ever be thankful to God for bringing Emma and Adam together to enrich our family.”

  Next the bishop asked the congregation to kneel in prayer. Everyone stood, turned to face their bench and knelt.

  The bishop read the prayer out of the Christenpflicht prayer book as it is done at the close of Amish worship services. The prayer was a little long. The bishop chose the prayer, because he expected the ceremony to be somewhat shorter than it turned out. Since he picked the prayer before hand, the bishop didn't want to exchange it now for a shorter one at the last minute.

  The congregation rose but remained facing backward for the benediction. Then they turned around for one more hymn, and the wedding ceremony ended at midday. Time for people to leave the house and get in line to be ushered into the tent. There was still a lot more celebration to go.

  Several of the young people left the house before the bridal party to help with the preparations for dinner by being waitresses and waiters. With a good size crowd like this one, it took two waiters and eight waitresses for the tent.

  Three young married couples, the eck leit or corner people, were assigned just to wait on the bridal party seated in the corner.

  The cooks didn’t get to see much of the wedding service. Four married couples were assigned as cooks. Most of the morning, they stayed with the food they were preparing. Three married couples were in charge of cooking the potatoes and warming other dishes.

  Once she was outside, Tootie stood off to the side and watched as people filed out of the house. Somehow she had gotten separated from Nora and Hal. With so many people coming out of the house single file, it was going to take awhile. It didn't take her long to decide she needed a place to sit down. She might as well go inside the tent and get out of the sun. She'd catch up with her sister and Hal later.

  Tootie blinked a few times, trying to get her eyes adjusted to the dim lighti
ng. Plenty of benches to sit on. She headed along the wall to the corner at the front of the tent. She sat on the end of the last bench before the corner. That should put her out of the way when everyone else came in for the meal.

  The tables already had plates, silverware and coffee cups at each seating place. Tootie tapped the plate in front of her. A real one. That surprised her. She expected to eat off paper plates with this many people to feed. She hoped there was plenty of assigned dishwashers. She'd hate to have to hide out after lunch to keep from doing dishes.

  A cake or pie set every three feet apart on the tables. Tootie was impressed. What work the bakers went to, baking this many pies and cakes. She studied the crust covered pie three plate settings down from her and hoped it one she could eat. Raspberries were too seedy for her dentures, and gooseberries had too much acid in them for her delicate stomach. She'd hate to make the Amish guests sitting near her mad by turning down a dessert. It might be the very woman who baked the pie.

  Suddenly, Adam's Uncle Amos Keim, taking the place of the groom's father, came in and was followed by a continuous line of men. They followed along the wall, headed right for Tootie.

  Amos nodded at her as he sat beside her. When the benches on that side were filled, men sat down on the opposite side of the table across from Tootie and on to the end of that row of tables.

  John Lapp and Emma's brother, Daniel, were among the group of men seated at the first table along the wall. Across from them several older Amish men, the church elders, sat. Men continued coming in single file and filled up seats on the right side of the other tables.

  After the men were seated at those tables, the women came in single file and sat across from the men. There was no specific order. The women didn't sit with their spouse or family. They took whatever seat was next.

  Tootie noticed the tables along the wall was the only row of tables that had just men sitting at it. She was embarrassed to see she picked the wrong place to sit, an English woman among all those Amish men. She'd been so busy she hadn't had time to read the chapter on wedding receptions in the special occasions Amish book she brought with her. Clearly, she should have made time. Oh, well, too late now. She was trapped in place.

  After relatives and guests were seated, the bride and groom and their attendants came in. The eck corner was where Adam and Emma headed with the other couples in the bridal party. The couple sat across the corner from each other, with Emma on Adam’s left.

  On that table was a beautiful wedding cake made by the Weber sisters, with golden honeysuckles on it but not any other decorations. There was a lovely glass pitcher filled with water and hand painted glasses on display near the cake.

  There were tables for Amish boys but only a few Amish girls joined them since most of the girls were servers. Smaller children like Redbird and Beth were in the kitchen with the helpers.

  Shortly after everyone was seated, the clock chimed noon. Everyone bowed their head in silent prayer. It seemed like that prayer was a long one. Tootie's stomach growled. Embarrassed, she pressed her arm tightly to her stomach, sure the white haired man, sitting so close to her, must have heard the rumble. She wished for the prayer to end. All of a sudden, everyone lifted up their head and started talking.

  At this point, the waitresses came in with bowls of coleslaw, and creamed peas. They all brought in the same item to serve at the same time. After the slaw and peas came chicken gravy, mashed potatoes, fried chicken, fresh bread, butter and jelly.

  Amos Keim gave Tootie a friendly smile. “Are you enjoying the wedding?”

  “Very much,” Tootie replied.

  Soon Tootie's plate was full. A waitress came around with coffee. Tootie said, “I hate to be a bother, but could you just put water in my cup? I usually drink water for lunch.”

  “Sure, you can have water,” said the waitress. She brought Tootie a glass of water.

  As soon as one bowl of food was empty another one was carried in to take its place.

  Amos Keim noticed how fast Tootie was eating the food on her plate. “Are you enjoying the food?”

  “Everything is delicious. Best mashed potatoes, gravy and fried chicken I've ever eaten. The potatoes are so creamy and fluffy,” Tootie told him. “When do they bring in the creamed celery?”

  Amos thought about that a second. “I never see creamed celery at a wedding.”

  “I was sure I read in my Amish book celery was used as part of the wedding menu,” Tootie said, thinking this friendly fellow had pretty blue eyes.

  “Maybe somewhere else,” he said. “Celery does not grows gute here in Iowa.”

  Hal and her mother sat together, and Tootie should have been with them. Nora looked down the line of women seated at their table. “I can't pick out Tootie. Have you seen her?”

  Hal glanced around. “I haven't. Uh oh.”

  “What?” Nora asked.

  “Mom, she's at the first table with the men up next to the eck.”

  “Now why on earth would she sit there with the men?” hissed Nora.

  “Don't get upset, Mom. No one cares. They understand that Tootie isn't used to how we sit at a wedding.”

  Nora grinned. “Here we go again. She seems to be having a friendly conversation with Adam's uncle. I just hope she doesn't try to talk him into going for a ride in the courting buggy with her.”

  Hal whispered behind her hand, “She does seem to have developed an attraction for Amish men, doesn't she?”

  “Funny isn't it? For a woman who thinks she is an expert on Amish customs, she sure flubbed this one up.”

  “Maybe not, Mom. Aunt Tootie may have sat there on purpose with all those men,” Hal said, smiling.

  Nora frowned at her daughter. “Hallie, I don't find that one bit funny.” She focused on Tootie giving the elderly man a sweet smile. “Is Adam's uncle married?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good, that takes care of that problem, I hope,” Nora said, sounding relieved. “Who is that man about four seats down from John that looks so much like him?”

  “That's Marvin, John's brother. You will have to meet Marvin's five year old twin sons. They look just like Marvin and John. After lunch, I will introduce you to all the relatives.”

  After the meal, the Ausbund hymn books were passed around for singing. These books have no musical notes but are strictly words written in old German. One of the young men started singing a song then the others joined in. This went on for some time.

  Tootie listened, but she had no idea what they were singing so she couldn't sing along. The singing was peaceful and lovely, and Tootie had a full stomach. She'd ate more than she usually did and still made room for the pie. She was delighted to find out it was pumpkin, one of her favorites.

  The music made Tootie really mellow. She liked this feeling that she was part of the Amish world. As she concentrated on the music, Tootie's head nodded. She jerked back up and blinked her heavy eye lids. She nodded off again.

  All of a sudden, everyone stopped singing. The tent was quiet for a moment. Then the only sounds in the room were small cooking pots rattling with coins in them and Tootie loud rumbling snores.

  Adam's smaller cousins jingled their pans at the far end of Tootie's table expecting donations.

  Nora was beside herself as she hissed, “Oh, Hallie, how embarrassing. Can't John or your father wake Tootie up right quick?”

  “They are both too far away, and Adam's Uncle Amos isn't going to be any help. Look at him grin at her. He thinks this is funny.”

  Emma was looking around the room as was everyone else to see where the snoring came from. Adam grinned as he elbowed Emma and nodded toward Tootie.

  Emma giggled as she put her hand over her mouth. She whispered, “Poor Aendi Tootie. She has worked hard the last few days and getting up early has gotten the best of her. I hope she goes to bed earlier tonight. She needs to take care of herself and get plenty of rest.”

  Adam grinned at Emma and wiggled a finger between the two of them.
He was trying to say they should be in bed early, too. The thought was enough to make her blush.

  The two boys jingled their pans noisily. One of the boys finally stood next to Tootie. The tinny sounds woke Tootie up. She rubbed her eyes and stared at the boy a minute. Then she turned to Amos. “What does the boy want?”

  “He is taking up a collection to share among the women who helped in the kitchen. Everyone only puts a few coins in. That's all.”

  Tootie said, “I didn't bring any money out here with me.” She whispered to the boy, “I'll catch up with you later.”

  Once the collection ended, the men stood up and started out the door single file, followed by the women. The young girls that served the food came to the tables. They reached underneath and pulled out two dish pans, soap, dish towels and dish cloths. The girls set everything up at the end of the table to do the dishes.

  Time for me to get out of here before they find out I'm Emma's Aunt and ask me to help do dishes. I don't remember exactly, but that might be one of the duties of the aunt, Tootie thought. She skipped over into the line of women and followed the last of the men out as she watched the dish washers getting organized.

  Once outside, Tootie turned and looked back into the tent. A girl stacked the dishes. One washed, and one rinsed. Another one towel dried. Others wiped the tables and set the clean dishes back in place for the evening meal. Tootie was impressed at how fast they worked. With all that help, they had the routine of dish washing down pat. They didn't needed her after all.

  Women passed by Tootie with more cakes and pies to replace the ones eaten for dessert. They were placed on the tables for the evening meal.

  Nora slipped up behind Tootie, peeking in the tent. “What are you doing?”

  “Watching the workers. It takes a lot of women working together to cook and clean up for a large wedding. They just set the tables again for the evening meal with clean dishes. I sure hope most of those women stick around afterwords. Otherwise, according to my book, The Amish Wedding and other special occasions of the Old Order Communities, you and I are in charge. If they leave too early, you and I might get stuck with washing a ton of dishes.”