An Amish Family Christmas (16 page)

“And will they?” asked Micah.

The bishop finished a cookie, drank some coffee, and swallowed. “Perhaps not all. Every time the
Ordnung
is affected, people move on to another Amish church or start their own.”

“How many will leave?”

The bishop shook his head once. “I don’t know. We are praying all the time. There is anger in some, but who knows? The prayers may soften their hearts.” He reached to the center of the table and took another cookie. “You must understand, Micah Bachman, that we lost families years ago when I felt the Lord would have us put rubber tires on our buggy wheels—such a blessing for our elderly when it came to the rough spots in the road. But others didn’t care about the rough spots. Why could the rough spots not be endured for the sake of following the Amish way as closely as possible? So four families left us and began another Amish church a mile from here. What can we do? The other families stayed and thanked God for the decision.”

“How many will thank God for the decision that has favored me?” asked Micah.

“I don’t know. But this is not about you. This is about God and whether he reveals his will to his servants, regardless of what that will is, regardless if his will is hard or easy to take. Some say we have been led astray. Others say it is a mistake that must be corrected before Christmas or they will not attend the Christmas Eve service. By that they mean they will stop attending the church altogether.”

“And no one has told you what they’re going to do for sure?”

Bishop Fischer nodded as Rebecca poured him more coffee. “There are those who say they won’t stay unless the decision is reversed and repented of. Others aren’t sure but are leaning toward separating from us. What you must not do, young man, is take it upon your shoulders. It is upon God’s shoulders. Each member of the leadership is convinced of his word to us—can we go back on that even if all the people leave? Never. Either God speaks or he does not speak, either he leads or he does not lead. This is as basic to our faith as the
Ordnung
—ah, no, it is even more basic, like the earth the fence post is grounded in. We say that God speaks and makes himself clear and that he is not a muddled or wooly-headed God.”

The bishop took the cookie in his hand and rapped it on the tabletop. “The Lord reveals his will to his people. Never have I seen our ministers so united in their belief that the
Ordnung
must make room for healers like you, Micah Bachman. And there is no human reason they should be united. Even with his gratitude to you for saving his son’s life, Minister Yoder was by no means convinced the
Ordnung
should be altered or, as we say, corrected. No. He was dead set against it. But his testimony on Sunday made it clear how God has changed his heart and his mind and how he used a
military hospital to do it. No, this affair is not a matter of human will.”

He put the cookie down without biting into it. “You must not take this upon yourself, Micah. That is a sin. God is the one at work,
not you, my son. Who knows what he has in store? Perhaps he wishes to begin another Amish church a mile or two away or even next door to me. It may be he is pruning our own church to make it stronger. Suppose this is a test of our commitment to him? There are many possibilities. We can only move ahead in faith and trust our church and our future to God.”

He laid his hands palm down on the table. “We must pray. The Christmas Eve service will be held here in this home. We are not going to hide you away, Micah Bachman, or you, Naomi Bachman. It will be here and the people will come or the people will not come. The church will carry on as it is or it will carry on as a different church. May the Lord be praised in all things, in hard times as well as good times, in winter as well as in spring.”

The bishop stood and prayed and sat down. Then Micah stood and prayed. Then Luke. When Luke was done, the bishop got up to leave.

“Micah.” The bishop patted him on the shoulder. “We have not touched on the fact you are one of the ministers now. We agreed we would not ask you to visit the families with us. But Christmas Eve shall be your beginning. We will meet for prayer before the service, the ministers and myself, and we ask you to join us.”

“Of course. I haven’t said anything about it. I was waiting for today, when I knew you would visit, but it’s both a surprise and an honor to be a minister in the church. Thank you for including me.”

“Ah, it was not an invitation. We had nothing to do with it. No man chose you. It was not about your qualifications or your personality. The lot fell to you just as it fell to Matthias after our
Lord’s resurrection. Thank God, Micah, not us. It is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.”

Bishop Fischer put on his coat and hat and left. The buggy headed out to the main road, and the noon sun made the snow flash as it
sprayed up from the horse’s hooves. The four inside watched him go and then looked at each other.

“Now what?” asked Luke.

“Now we pray and read the Scriptures and seek God,” replied Rebecca. “And clean the house top to bottom to get ready for Christmas Eve.” She grinned at Luke. “Will you help me?”

“Of course I’ll help you.”

“So first I need a good amount of fresh wood cut and stacked by the woodstove in the parlor.”

Luke threw on his coat and was out the door. “I’ll have that for you in less than an hour.”

She followed him to the door and called after him. “Then I’ll need your help to move some furniture!”

“Of course!” Luke called back.

“I can help you with that, Becca,” Micah said.

She began to sweep the kitchen floor. “No need. Luke has it in hand. I’m sure Naomi can find something for you to do.”

“Oh, I can.” Naomi took Micah’s hand. “Come with me for a minute.”

She drew him into the parlor and shut the door.

“What’s all this about?” he asked.

“You can see something is up between my brother and your sister. Leave them alone to work it out. Meanwhile I want to ask you not to fret.”

“Who’s fretting?”

“You are. About being at the center of the controversy. About causing a windstorm in Amish country. About being asked to serve as minister for life with a church that may split in two before
the year is out. Bishop Fischer is right. It’s not on your shoulders. It’s on God’s shoulders and his shoulders are very broad.”

“Aren’t you concerned about what could happen between now and Christmas?”

The smile left Naomi’s face. “
Ja
. I know terrible things could take place. People could fight with one another, people who have been friends for decades. So you and I will pray about that together. We can start right now. But you can’t think it’s your fault. You can’t think you’re responsible for what happens to our Amish community here.”

Micah put his hands in his pockets, his face dark and cut with the sharp lines of his frown. “It’s not a light thing, Naomi. The community could not only split over all this. It could come to an end.”

“I know that.” She leaned her head against his chest, and he pulled his hands from his pockets and held her. “Believe me, Micah Bachman, I know that very well. We pray,
ja
, we pray. But what will happen? I can’t guess.”

Fifteen

I
t was Christmas Eve.

Naomi lit a final candle while Rebecca put a kettle on to boil water for tea. Luke was arranging benches and chairs in the kitchen and parlor.

Arms went around Naomi’s waist from behind, and lips kissed her neck.

“Merry Christmas, my beauty,” murmured Micah.

She smiled and leaned back against him. “We may be able to speak and touch now, but we’re not alone in the house.”

“My sister is playing with the teakettle. And your brother is arranging furniture.”

“For people who may never come.”

Micah released her. “We’ve prayed about all that. There’s nothing more we can do but hope for the best.”

“What did Bishop Fischer say to you this afternoon? I saw him talking to you by the barn.”

“He said the leadership would be coming early to pray. Minister Yoder will be bringing his son in a wheelchair.”

“
Ja
? He is home now?”

Micah nodded. “It will be good to see him. I haven’t laid eyes on Timothy since the accident.”

Naomi folded her arms over her chest. “That will be very nice. But what else did the bishop say?”

Micah hesitated. “They’ve been talking with people all week. The church could lose as many as twelve or fifteen families.”

“Twelve or fifteen? But that’s half the church—more than half!”

“I know. He said that I’ll be included in the leadership and officially a minister from this night on. So I will do my best to help.”

“Oh, my. Such news to receive on the night we celebrate our Savior’s birth. What else did he tell you?”

“Not much.”

“What?”

“Only that...it’s time to start growing my beard back since I’m a married man and now a minister.”

“Oh.” Naomi couldn’t stop herself from making a face. “I wish you wouldn’t. I like your face the way it is.”

“So should we ask them to change the
Ordnung
on this too?”

“Oh, no. I already told you one
Ordnung
change was enough.” She took his hand and squeezed it. “I’ll put up with it. All good Amish women do.”

“Hey, you two,” announced Rebecca as she headed to the door. “No more lovebirding.”

Naomi let go of Micah’s hand. “Who’s lovebirding?”

“Why do you think I’ve been hiding in the kitchen and Luke is still moving benches and chairs around?” She opened the door to Minister Yoder and his son Timothy in his wheelchair. “Tim! It’s so good to see you! Welcome! Merry Christmas!” She leaned down and hugged him. “God bless you!”

An awkward smile came and went on Timothy’s face. “
Ein gesegnetes Weihnachtsfest.
”

Rebecca laughed in delight. “What? Talking again are we? A blessed Christmas to you too, young man.” She hugged him a second time.

Minister Yoder’s smile was bigger than Rebecca had ever seen it. “
Ja
, every day he says more and more. We cannot thank God enough. As soon as we brought him home and he saw his dog, that was it, boom, all the words began to tumble out.”

“It’s wonderful, just wonderful—and at Christmas too.”

“Ja, ja.
It’s the only gift we need.” He wheeled his son into the house. “You knew we were coming a bit early,
ja
?”

“The bishop told us,
ja.
Why not put yourselves by the fire in the parlor?”

“
Velkommen
,” greeted Luke.

“
Velkommen
,” greeted Naomi and Micah at almost the same time.

Timothy looked hard and long at Micah’s face. He whispered, “I saw you when I thought I was dead.”

Lamplight and candlelight flickered over the faces of everyone in the house.

“Your father would have told you I worked on you after the accident,” Micah responded.

“
Ja.
But now I see you, and you’re the person who is bandaging my leg and telling others where to press down to stop my bleeding, you’re the one looking for the big wound in my back. I watched everything you did. I thought I dreamed it. Somehow God let me see with my own eyes everything. Or was it a dream?”

Micah knelt by the wheelchair. “I don’t know what it was, Tim. But one thing you need to realize—God was watching over you, God was taking care of you. That’s why we’re blessed to have you with us tonight.”

Timothy stared at him. Then he put out his hand. “Thank you for letting God work through you. Thank you for saving me.”

Micah smiled and shook the boy’s hand. “It was an honor.”

Naomi and Rebecca could see the tears gathering in Minister Yoder’s eyes.

“So it is when God has his way with us,” he said. “So it is when we turn the things that are impossible and the things we cannot understand over to him.” He blinked and looked at the two women. “It doesn’t matter what else happens tonight, whether there are ten of us or two hundred. I am blessed.”