Gathering of Sisters

I recently read and adored Gathering of Sisters, Old Order Mennonite Darla Weaver's account of Tuesdays spent with her sisters and mother.

My brother barely talks to me and lives far away and I don't have any sisters. This life Darla Weaver lives is very far removed from the life I live in that way, in the way that she spends every Tuesday with her mother, four sisters, and many nieces and nephews. But it's only the communal aspect that differs. Outside of that, this Old Order Mennonite way of life is very similar to my own and I am utterly fascinated by that.

She reads, writes, colors in adult coloring books, has lots of kitchen flops, marvels over the things her little boy says. We're not so different, she and I.

Although I definitely enjoyed seeing a snippet of her family life, I even more enjoyed reading her prosey thoughts on life.

In March, she was guiding her son his bike and telling him to keep moving, pay attention to the road, don't turn around when you hear this car coming up behind us... Then she likened that moment to the way God shepherds us through life and I actually laughed outloud. I can just picture that. "No, no, Sara. Put that down. Focus on the path."

In November I adored this one- "The seasons keep swinging, and the years keep passing, and time is like a relentless tide that never hurries, never waits, never stops. It takes us all along, whether we notice or not, whether we like it or not."

If you're at all interested in Amish fiction, I definitely recommend this offering as a nonfiction counterpart... and if you're interested in essays on family and life, I do think you'll enjoy this book.

*I received a free copy of Gather of Sisters from the I Read with Audra program in exchange for a completely honest review.