Are you looking for a way to simplify your life this New Year? The Amish live a simple life. They call themselves "plain people", not cluttered with fancy clothes, automobiles, radios, TVs or electricity.

Beverly Lewis has written several books about the Amish of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.Her latest book is October Song. The story of this book started with The Shunning and shows how severe the punishment is in their culture when people do not follow their strict rules. Other books in the series are The Postcard and The Redemption of Sarah Cain.

The books explain about these hard-working people who help each other with barn raisings, planting and harvesting. They believe God judges them by their good works. Even thouth they try to live their lives by the Bible and quote Scripture about everything, they do not teach about God's grace. The book October Song brings that out more than any of the other books about the amish Community.

Beverly Lewis writes with knowledge because she grew up in the farmland of Pennsylvania Dutch country and her mother had a "plain family" legacy. Reading about people who do not understand or know about God's grace makes me thankful that our church teaches about it and helps us to understand how much God loves us even when we fall short.