Brenda L. Yoder has found that the uncomplicated life of living in a rural Amish/Mennonite community has appeal for many people, due to the slower lifestyle and values that come with living this way.
Brenda L. Yoder is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, school counselor, speaker and the author of “Uncomplicated: Simple Secrets for a Compelling Life, and Fledge: Launching Your Kids Without Losing Your Mind.” She’s a writer for the Every Woman’s Bible, Guidepost’s Mornings with Jesus devotional, and has been featured in “Chicken Soup for the Soul” books, as well as the Washington Post. She hosts the “Life Beyond the Picket Fence” and “Midlife Moms” podcasts. She and her husband, Ron, are parents to four adult children, two daughters-in-law and three young grandsons. They live on a farm in Shipshewana, Indiana, where they also host an Airbnb suite. They love camping, and spending time on their front porch rockers. Brenda is a member of Emma Church: An Anabaptist Fellowship in Emma, Indiana, and has been a workshop presenter at several Mennonite Church USA conferences. You can connect with Brenda at brendayoder.com and on Instagram.
“Uncomplicated” was published by Herald Press, an imprint of MennoMedia, the publishing agency of Mennonite Church USA.
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“I know all about your town of Shipshewana. I read those Amish books,” a sweet older woman said to me at a speaking event. “Your last name is Yoder. Are you Amish?”
I often get this question when I travel outside of our Amish and Mennonite community of Shipshewana, Indiana, or from Airbnb guests, who are staying in our home.
I offered her the consolation prize — “I’m not Amish, but I am Mennonite!” I, then, explained the script I often share when people ask about the differences between Old Order Amish and Mennonites. I described short snippets about lifestyle differences, how our local groups differ from one another and basic Anabaptist theology. It’s a dialogue I’ve mastered since I went away to a state university decades ago, which is when people first questioned me about our well-known tourist area in northeast Indiana.
My husband, Ron, and I were some of the few people in our age group who went far away to college and came back to live in the area as adults. In high school, most of my classmates thought compelling lives could best be found away from rural Lagrange County. I believed this, too, but my high school sweetheart was a local dairy farmer who wasn’t keen on moving away. We married and, for 25 years, have lived a few yards from the simple farmhouse where he grew up. It’s a life I didn’t quite dream of as a youth.
But now that we’ve raised four children here, and they have “fledged” to bigger cities and different states, I’ve learned to value a less complicated lifestyle that I may have taken for granted when I was younger.
“You’re rich,” some of our guests said, as they left our residence recently. They weren’t referring to the modest modern farmhouse that the high school building trades class built. They were referring to “that something” tourists seek when they visit Shipshewana or escape into Amish novels.
They long for practical skills and more peaceful, simpler lifestyles, like their grandparents had, which they can still experience among the Amish or in rural cultures. They desire to escape their chaotic, relenting, demanding lifestyles but don’t want to give up the modern amenities we’ve adapted to in the 21st century. Could the rural Amish and Mennonite communities have something valuable to offer today’s materialistic, self-centered, frenzied and contentious culture? I believe we do.
Several conversations like these, as well as others that I’ve had in my counseling office, have shown me that we, Anabaptists, have something to offer the broader culture. It’s a mix of theology and lifestyle practices that have been handed down from generation to generation, even off the farm. The values of stewardship, interdependence, humility and practicality are just a few from the Anabaptist faith culture I’ve included in the new book “Uncomplicated: Simple Secrets for a Compelling Life.”
Though the book highlights the virtues, mindsets and skills lived out in our Amish and Mennonite farming community, my experience as a therapist and school counselor informs me that these timeless qualities are desperately needed everywhere. It’s as if we’ve lost the art of being human in our world of virtual reality, artificial intelligence and social media influencers.
We lack role models to show us how to problem solve, persevere, be resourceful and leave a heritage for the next generation that is more than just the number of Facebook followers.
“Uncomplicated” helps the reader identify the “secrets” lived out in past generations and among the Amish that our families and communities still need. These virtues include contentment, fidelity, resourcefulness, practicality, forbearance and equanimity, stewardship, interdependence, humility and grounded-ness, foresight, heritage, and legacy. These forgotten skills and qualities aren’t necessarily missing from modern life —we just see them modeled less frequently. Each chapter guides the reader to identify an ordinary person in their life who emulates the virtue, equipping each reader to picture what the quality looks like lived out. Then, each chapter has a section of “next steps” with practical ideas for how to live out the virtue, no matter where you live or your season of life.
We all know the people who have impacted our lives with their quiet wisdom and humble integrity — the backbones of most Anabaptist families, churches and communities. These are not the messages we receive from social media or the evening news. Yet they are the voices that ground us and permit us to live what we know in our hearts are the values and lifestyle we long for. I share several stories of individuals who have lived such lives and made an impression on me — including many older Mennonite church and family members who have died long ago. Yet their compelling lives are a touching point that gives me courage when I need it.
“[‘Uncomplicated’] calms the nerves,” one reader said. It made me smile because that’s what Amish fiction does for the reader and what our slower-paced community does for those who visit. I tried to write a book that would be a timeless resource that helps the readers breathe and orient themselves to a grounded life they can see and touch. By revisiting and living out these “secrets,” their compelling lives will cause others to breathe and be grounded. And just like our Anabaptist forbearers, we will impact our communities and culture by simply bearing the image of Jesus Christ in our ordinary yet complicated lives.
The views and opinions expressed in this blog belong to the author and are not intended to represent the views of the MC USA Executive Board or staff.
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