The Amish Cook - Gloria's Best Valentine's Day Ever!

THE AMISH COOK

BY GLORIA YODER

I want to thank readers for your good wishes, prayers, and cards as we adjust to having a newborn baby again in the Yoder household!

 Yes. our bundle has actually arrived. Little Elijah really does top off our family like icing on a cake! We are doing well with so many things to thank God for. I marvel again and again at the miracle and gift of life. We have done nothing to deserve this precious young life that God has blessed our hearts and home with!
Daniel has really been spoiling me these days. I spend lots of time just relaxing and cuddling our brand new baby. My mother, sisters, and Daniel's sister Mary have done an amazing job in helping with cleaning, cooking, laundry, and the likes. In fact, Mary is staying at our house for two weeks before going back home to Ohio. She has been a tremendous blessing. We will all miss her once she goes back again. The children love all the extra attention they get from her. On our visits to Ohio they always have to share their aunt with everyone else.

A buggy cart leaves the school in Flat Rock, Ill, where Gloria lives.

   Julia (6), Austin (3), and Rayni (1) are all absolutely awed over this tiny bundle. When Rayni first saw Elijah she crooned affectionately, gently touching him saying, "Jesse, Jesse!"  (she was confusing him for her brother) Austin had been quite convinced that it would be a boy even before he was born. He certainly was delighted to have a brand new brother that we could keep! Julia was all smiles when she was ushered into our bedroom to meet the little one whom she had been waiting on for such a long time. She is totally thrilled with Elijah, even though she was hoping for a girl. Jesse (5 months) is of course too young to understand what is going on. It really is quite special to have two little boys in spite of the responsibilities it presents!

Again and again, I stand in absolute awe of the amazing gift of this young life! He arrived a week early which really tickled us, and right on Valentine's day, at that! The evening before he was born Daniel and I had taken Jesse to the health department for vaccinations, did some shopping, and simply had a relaxing time together. After coming home we ate supper, put groceries away, then I went on my walk. Just before bedtime, I started labor. This worked out well, as Dawdy's came and picked up the children and tucked them to bed at their house. "The baby will probably be born sometime tomorrow," we explained to them. You can only imagine how Julia's excitement escalated by this time!

As soon as the children had left we called our midwife, only to find out that there was another lady who was going to have a baby soon. We were unsure what to do. We weighed our options, prayed about it, and finally decided that we will just have our baby at home with the two of us. We felt a deep assurance that God would be with us, even though we did feel like we were stepping way out of our comfort zones. Hats off to the dear hubby of mine, in my opinion, he really was the best doctor in the control.  Looking back I can't help but just shake my head in awe and wonder, by 12:14 our healthy baby boy arrived, everything had gone well! Truly we have done nothing to deserve this amazing gift, straight from the Father's hand!

Since then our days are filled with caring for babies and little ones. We do enjoy it a lot, yet we do have our share of challenges as well. Elijah has been quite content, though he does prefer to be held a lot. But then I think Daniel is correct, he does also deserve to be cuddled a lot as he adjusts to this new world! Jesse is a little lad full of smiles! He has had a bit of a problem with being fussy off and on, though that does seem to be improving.  After caring for him since birth, one just can't help but become super attached to him! But it is how Daniel keeps reminding me, they really are not our children and we are loving them totally for their good, not ours. It does take constant surrender, trusting God with everything and every detail of their lives.

This is the time of year when maple syrup making is full swing, so I wanted to share this recipe that is really popular in our home and it’s about as easy as you can get, but so flavorful!