'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free

'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,

And when we find ourselves in the place just right,

'Twill be in the valley of love and delight. - Shaker Hymn

The day before attending a conference in Dalton, Oh last week, Marie and I were blessed to drive the back roads of Amish country in Holmes County, Ohio.

We watched as school children left their small one room school houses for home, most removing their shoes before setting out along the road.  We observed six-horse teams pulling one or two bottom plows through quiet farm fields, tilling the earth as it was done in years past.  Just about every farmhouse along miles and miles of country roads had loads of laundry on the line drying in the warm sunshine and quite often we would see Amish women cleaning, mowing the yard with a reel mower, or tending to their children.

The work must be hard and long but their dedication to a lifestyle that focuses on God, family, and living life without the trappings of the modern world is one that I couldn't help but admire.  

As I've thought about the Amish this past week I was reminded of a verse in Micah that answers the question to what God requires of me.  He doesn't expect me to conquer new heights through technology, or to acquire more and more stuff in the pursuit of leisure or success.  No, he only asks that I live a humble, just life.

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. 
   And what does the LORD require of you?

To act justly and to love mercy
   and to walk humbly with your God.  Micah 6:8 (NIV)

Blessings,