"Growing Up Amish" is a memoir by Ira Wagler of his own struggle to find freedom...not just freedom from the rules of the Amish life, but freedom to believe in a God of love and grace.
This book can teach us all an important lesson. We need to be so careful in our child training to not make Christianity a mere set of rules for acceptable behavior. I was struck by the lack of a real relationship with Christ in the lives of those with whom Ira grew up. It is no wonder he sought to break all those rules, suffered immense guilt and fear of damnation, and continued to return in an attempt to "earn" his salvation by following the rules. Yes, there is a healthy fear of God. But grace and "adoption as sons" and the reconciliation and relationship we have with God through Jesus Christ was just not part of the equation.
This is a good book and was a pretty quick read for me, but offered some opportunities for contemplation, too.
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