This Time We Gave Them a Pie

Day 37--Before we left Matt and Pam's house, our friends Ed and Carol suggested that we take a little side trip on our way to their place near Pittsburgh. As a result, we ambled through Holmes County, Ohio, which has more Amish people than any other county in the country. 

Our destination in Holmes County was Berlin (pronounced BER-lin). We stopped at an Amish cafe for lunch, which was prepared and served by Amish young women. We also bought a Dutch apple pie. More about that later.

We were told to see the Amish and Mennonite Heritage Museum, especially the "Behalt," a 10' x 265' cyclorama (mural-in-the-round) that depicts the history of the Amish and Mennonite communities, first in Europe, then in the States as well as other countries. 

The painting is an amazing wonder. The artist, who never had an art lesson, painted hundreds of people in order to share the history of the Anabaptist movement. A half-hour guided tour helped us to understand the painting and the origins of the Mennonite, Amish, and Hutterite movements. The artist named the cyclorama "Behalt," which means to remember and not forget.

(Photo courtesy of the Behalt website)

After leaving Berlin, we continued to amble through Maple Creek, Sugar Creek, and other Amish and Mennonite towns. We shared the road with horse-drawn buggies. We even saw "the world's largest cuckoo clock" in Sugar Creek.

When we arrived at Ed and Carol's house, Ed came out to greet us in a very familiar Oregon Ducks T-shirt. 

We have known Ed and Carol for at least 15 years. We attended the same church in the Portland area, and Ed and Lynn worked together on many books. Ed was on the writing team for several popular authors whose books Lynn edited for Tyndale House Publishers.

The four of us had a leisurely dinner, all the while catching up on family news and talking about books and church and death and travels. It was so good to be with these friends. We laughed hard and celebrated God's goodness and faithfulness. 

And now about the pie. 

But first a back story.

When the four of us attended the same church, we often went out after church for a slice of pie at a local restaurant. During the week of a special conference at our church, we had planned for such a get-together. However, Ed was sick and couldn't attend the conference. First we thought we might buy a pie from the restaurant and take it to Ed and Carol's house. But then we decided to buy a copy of the conference speaker's book, which he signed for Ed. 

An innocent enough gesture.

However, the book triggered a discussion that led Ed and Carol to move from Portland to the Pittsburgh area so that they could live near their children and grandchildren.

Not fair. We gave them a book, and they moved away. 

We kept muttering, "We should have given them a pie."

And this time we did not risk it. 

This time we gave them a pie.