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Hello, everyone.

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Before we jump into this episode,
a short introduction.

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So I'm interviewing Samantha again
and she came from non

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Anabaptist background and for myself,
I grew up in the Mennonite church,

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so this is going to be
a slightly different episode,

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maybe a little more lighthearted
about some of the cultural challenges

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coming from the outside
into the Anabaptist

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world and things that, you know,
maybe I would have grown up with that

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you just don't think about
because this is how I've always done it.

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So yeah, slightly different episode,
but I think it'll be very interesting

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and very valuable to try to identify
what some of those, I don't know

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if you want to call them blind spots,
but those parts of our cultures that

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sometimes we don't always see
because it's what we're so used to.

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So a little bit of context
before we jump in

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and hopefully you'll enjoy this episode.

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So. Samantha, welcome back
to the Anabaptist Perspectives podcast.

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Good to have you on again.

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So this will be the third
episode we've done with you.

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And for those listening,
if they haven't seen the others,

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they should go check this out first,
because

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that might give a little bit of context
for what we're doing here today.

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But you and I were emailing before hand

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and trying to figure out like, okay,
how do we want to frame this episode?

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And you came back with a really good

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chunk in an email and actually
just saved it and put it in my script

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because it was just really good,
and you were saying

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some of the challenges,

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or challenges or just interesting quirks
that Mennonite culture has.

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So I don't have a typical script
like I normally do.

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I think it’d

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just be fun to jump into what
some of those are and we’ll bounce off

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of what you had sent in that email
and and see where we end up.

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So as someone who came from not growing up
in the Anabaptist world

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or the Mennonite church
or however you want to say it,

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and seen some of these

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things from the outside, be
really interesting to hear what you have.

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So what are some of the quirks
you noticed?

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And yeah, let's just jump
in, see what we find.

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Okay, well.

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Disclaimer
this isn't to make fun of people.

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We're not laughing at people
because there's things that

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I've mentioned to people and they'll laugh
with me like, I didn't know we did that.

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Like we just We just do it.

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So this isn't really even

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talking about theological things.

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It's just like, yeah, just cultural quirks
or things that we do.

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So just, yeah, things
that as a seeker coming in, it's like oh,

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I didn't know you guys did
that. Like, that’s kinda weird.

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That's a surprise!

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So I guess I was going to open
with something that I’ve actually seen

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on Facebook from a lady,
and she was a Anabaptist writer

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and she was just kind of going on
about Amish Novels. And she

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was like, You know what?

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And not all Mennonite
girls can identify with this, but I can.

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But for those of us
who, like, do our hair up a certain way,

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or if we have a lot of it,
like your bun can get pretty big.

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And so she was like, you know what?

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I don't think these Amish novels
are accurate at all.

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She's like, I have never read
one where the Amish girl, or

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the mennonite girl, whatever, smashes her
bun against the wall to make it flatter.

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She's like, It's just not accurate.

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It's like, yes.

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That made me laugh so much.

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Because it’s like

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there’s a lot of us that do that.

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Just random stuff like that.

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It's like,
you start going to Bible school or things.

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And You get out and you just, like,
start seeing things and it's like, what?

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like, it’s just funny.

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Even just. Yeah.

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Something that really sticks out to me

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as being kind of quirky just because.

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Anabaptists, not even so much
because they're Anabaptist more

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because they're Germanic background
people.

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We tend to be,
I would be Germanic background too,

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but like anabaptist people
tend to be more mellow, like our worship

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services are more reverent, more chill,
not very emotional or expressive.

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And some people fault us for that.

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But that's just who we are as a people.

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So it just really tickles me that.

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I have never been in a mennonite choir

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where we didn't sing some kind

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of southern like, folk song.

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Or some kind of upbeat,
like in african, or

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Swahili, that’s the word I want.

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Yes, some kind of Swahili song.

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Why Is that?

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I've sung in a lot of mennonite choirs
back in the day

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with Bible schools and stuff
that is totally true.

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And we love it.

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We’re like yes,
we get to sing an African song.

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But why?

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I don't know.

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The only thing I can figure is like,
this is where we get emotional expression.

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We get to, like,
jam out with these african songs.

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It just cracks me up.

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That's just kind of,
there's nothing wrong with it, obviously.

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It's just kind of quirky, kind of bizarre.

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I don't know. Yeah. Yeah.

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We definitely sang Swahili songs and stuff
when I was in.

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Yeah.

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Because if you actually stop
and think about how obscure that is,

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actually,
I think that was some of the language

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you used in your email is like,
this is like kind of odd and very obscure.

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Like, why do we do this?

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I don't really know,

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but it's just kind of part
of the cultural expression, I suppose.

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I mean,
and I think that would be more Mennonite,

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than some other more conservative circles
of anabaptist because,

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like, your more Amish

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choirs and things would do more like,
more you’re typical hymns and stuff.

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But your mennonite choirs
like African music

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and they are so fun to sing
and typically audiences love it.

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And even

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I just had to think about like our friend
who was in a choir that got together

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a couple of times, toured around
and they sang almost strictly Moses Hogan,

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like just all these like Southern folk
songs and spirituals.

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And I mean, they were good at it.

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They had that southern slang,
it just was so fun.

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That's

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really interesting, That is really random.

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yeah.

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Wow. Now, I feel like I should ask some
people, like, where does that come from?

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Because that's totally a thing.

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And I can see how like growing up in it,
it literally never,

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ever crossed my mind
until I got your email last week

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and you were like,
Hey, have you thought about this?

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And just never crossed my mind.

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But you, having not necessarily
grown up with that initially,

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I can see how that would just be like,
That's kind of odd, right?

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You know, what's what's some others
that, you know, some other things?

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Well, some of them are just funny stories.

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Well, actually, one
I thought about along the lines of music

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and this isn't across the board,
but there are a fair number of,

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and I'm speaking more from Mennonite
circles because that's my experience.

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But there are a fair

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amount of Mennonites
who play accordions and harmonicas,

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And that was super random to me
the first time I saw it.

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Like, all these people know how to play
the accordion.

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And I’m like, what is with the accordion?

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I get the piano and the guitar,
especially the guitar and the harmonica.

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Cause like, they're portable, it's great.

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But how did the accordion become a thing?

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Yeah, okay,
so somebody listening to this knows, like,

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leave a comment down there because again,
I never thought about this

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til I got your email
and you said it in here somewhere.

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You call it
Mennonite Quirks and Little Known Tidbits.

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I think it was.

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And yeah, and you mentioned the accordion
and I had again, never thought of that.

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But as soon as you said it like, that
really resonates, that's totally a thing.

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So where does it come from, somebody,
somebody comment because we don't know.

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But, but I think it comes from,
you know, you just have

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like our groups, our churches,
you know, we've been together for a while

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and you have these little

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this whole network of of churches
and kind of develop these interesting

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trends and ideas, I don't know over that
just kind of happens, I guess.

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I mean I guess the accordion
would also be somewhat Germanic.

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So maybe it just came over and stayed?

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So that's an interesting point that you've
made about the Germanic influence side.

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I mentioned this on some other podcast,
but I was in Germany, southern Germany,

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which is where my ancestors would have
come from actually back in the day,

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and it felt like I was at home, like,
I don't know, German,

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I can't speak the language or anything,
but like the culture was so similar

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to my experience as a mennonite
that it actually really shocked me.

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I was really surprised.

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The food,
the way people acted, the way stores were,

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the way people interacted on the street,
like it was so familiar.

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And both my wife and I were like,
I mean, we could live here.

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This feels great, you know?

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And we couldn't
speak their language, neither of us. And

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it made me really appreciate that.

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There's a lot of culture that comes
from the fact that our people originally

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were immigrants, again,
my stripe of Mennonites at least.

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Were immigrants that came over fleeing
persecution or whatever in the 1700s.

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And that cultural influences
stayed with us.

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And so is this Germanic flavor, this
very German, maybe some Swiss Austrian.

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Yeah, that sector of of Europe
is still very, very strong in our circles,

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which is kind of.

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Nothing wrong. With that.

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It's a beautiful thing.
But it's interesting.

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Which explains the other thing
that I thought about.

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Just as you were talking
like talking about the Swiss.

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Because another thing that I’ve

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seen a fair amount, and I enjoy it,
but it’s also just super funny of how,

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we have so many mennonites
who know how to yodel.

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That is super random.

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No kidding. Yeah.

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But the Swiss influence
would make sense for that.

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That's a really good point.

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Why else would you?

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Yeah. See, and this is where I can see,

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you know, someone again
coming from the outside.

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And in the last episode we did

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was kind of this idea of seekers,
like those who want to join

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a mennonite church or an Anabaptist
minded church or something,

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and some of the cultural hurdles,
I guess I don't know

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if that may be too strong,
but some of these things

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I could see coming in, I'd be like,
These people are just different.

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I don't know how I fit in.

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And did you ever feel that where it's like
this is just different enough?

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I'm not sure I can fit into this?

202
00:09:29,735 --> 00:09:32,071
Or was it
never anything quite that extreme?

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Maybe in certain communities,
but not across the board.

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Okay.
And some of these things, like yodeling.

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It’s not like
we get together as groups and

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there's just these random people
who are really

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good at it.
And I know a number of people who do it.

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They just enjoy doing it,
and we enjoy listening.

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But yeah, it’s

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just one of those random things,
why do you yodel?

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I never thought of that.

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That is so good that's so, yeah.

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Again kind of bizarre kind of quirky,
you know like interesting.

214
00:10:01,475 --> 00:10:04,478
Okay Yeah. What's, what's a few others?

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00:10:04,562 --> 00:10:07,106
Yeah, I guess it isn't so much quirks,

216
00:10:07,106 --> 00:10:09,609
but it kind of comes back
to the integration thing.

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I just thought of some funny stories
and I asked my sister for permission

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to share this one.

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But when we were in that community
with the rather conservative church

220
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with like, I don't know if you call them
black bumper,

221
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but like where they were all black cars
and like really conservative.

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So she had gone to church by herself
one day

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and she had made a dress to match them.

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And but it was like a bright green.

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And so she goes to service
and here it's communion Sunday.

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And everybody was in black, black

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across the board,
and she's in this bright green dress.

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And so she stayed.

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But it was really awkward.

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So it's one of those things
I had to think about even for

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yeah, for our church when we

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00:10:48,689 --> 00:10:52,902
would do VBS, like we did it for years
and we just all had our rhythm.

233
00:10:52,902 --> 00:10:56,989
We knew what we were doing and then we had
someone come in to help one time

234
00:10:57,073 --> 00:11:00,785
and we put them in charge of a group
because they were willing to do that.

235
00:11:00,868 --> 00:11:04,580
And at the end when we were debriefing,
he was like, okay,

236
00:11:04,580 --> 00:11:09,168
So I figured it out on the fly,
but I had no idea what I was doing.

237
00:11:09,168 --> 00:11:12,129
You just handed me a folder
and then expected me to just make it work.

238
00:11:12,129 --> 00:11:16,509
And we were all like, we are so sorry.

239
00:11:16,592 --> 00:11:16,676
Yeah.

240
00:11:16,676 --> 00:11:17,176
We’re all just used to knowing what to do.

241
00:11:17,176 --> 00:11:22,598
And we didn’t stop to think,
the newcomer doesn’t get it.

242
00:11:22,682 --> 00:11:26,018
So yeah, that's kind of a give
and take on both sides.

243
00:11:26,060 --> 00:11:29,522
Like Mennonite people, anabaptist people.

244
00:11:29,605 --> 00:11:32,692
It would be good for us
to try and be more aware

245
00:11:32,692 --> 00:11:36,862
of the things that the new person
isn't going to just know

246
00:11:36,946 --> 00:11:39,031
and then the new person needs to be okay

247
00:11:39,031 --> 00:11:42,952
with maybe feeling a little foolish
sometimes because they didn't know,

248
00:11:43,077 --> 00:11:46,747
because the lack of telling them
isn't intentional.

249
00:11:46,747 --> 00:11:49,709
It's just when something
is a part of your life, it's not.

250
00:11:49,709 --> 00:11:52,545
You don't think about it being different,
and so you don't always remember

251
00:11:52,545 --> 00:11:56,132
to communicate those things.

252
00:11:56,215 --> 00:11:57,466
So yeah, it's

253
00:11:57,466 --> 00:12:00,845
kind of a give and take on both sides.

254
00:12:00,928 --> 00:12:01,137
Yeah.

255
00:12:01,137 --> 00:12:04,140
This kind of graciousness,
I guess, is the word that came to mind.

256
00:12:04,306 --> 00:12:07,560
I guess that's the right word. Yeah, just.

257
00:12:07,643 --> 00:12:10,521
But isn't that what would happen
with trying to join

258
00:12:10,521 --> 00:12:13,858
essentially any group that's been together
for a long period of time?

259
00:12:13,858 --> 00:12:15,735
Because the mennonites
have been around a while.

260
00:12:15,735 --> 00:12:19,613
Like, you know, we kind of have
just developed a way of doing life

261
00:12:19,697 --> 00:12:20,906
right, wrong, indifferent, whatever.

262
00:12:20,906 --> 00:12:23,993
It's just kind of just this is a culture.

263
00:12:23,993 --> 00:12:24,618
Yeah, I don't know.

264
00:12:24,618 --> 00:12:27,621
It's kind of like whenever I do
a lot of traveling internationally

265
00:12:27,830 --> 00:12:30,499
and it's really fun
because every place I go,

266
00:12:30,499 --> 00:12:32,626
they just do things
a little bit differently

267
00:12:32,626 --> 00:12:35,087
and I find it really neat
and kind of interesting,

268
00:12:35,087 --> 00:12:38,215
but it makes me kind of appreciate
all the different church cultures

269
00:12:38,215 --> 00:12:40,134
that are out there,
not just within the Mennonites,

270
00:12:40,134 --> 00:12:41,635
but you would have that in,

271
00:12:41,635 --> 00:12:43,554
you know, different
forms of the Protestants

272
00:12:43,554 --> 00:12:45,765
and the evangelicals
and the Orthodox groups,

273
00:12:45,765 --> 00:12:48,893
and the whatever, take your pick,
they all have these interesting ways

274
00:12:48,893 --> 00:12:53,397
they developed over the years
of doing life, doing church.

275
00:12:53,481 --> 00:12:54,523
I don't see those things as

276
00:12:54,523 --> 00:12:57,568
wrong, you know, Of course,
they just kind of are, I suppose.

277
00:12:57,568 --> 00:12:59,069
But it makes it,

278
00:12:59,069 --> 00:13:02,072
yeah, a little interesting for people
joining, you know, from the outside.

279
00:13:02,114 --> 00:13:02,907
Yeah.

280
00:13:02,907 --> 00:13:05,451
Grace is a good word to use
because another story I thought of

281
00:13:05,451 --> 00:13:09,705
and this one I had to laugh at myself,
which is also a very valuable character

282
00:13:09,705 --> 00:13:13,292
trait to have when you're coming into,
like you said, any cultural setting.

283
00:13:13,292 --> 00:13:15,711
But we're talking about
like coming into Anabaptist churches

284
00:13:15,711 --> 00:13:18,714
where you're the odd man out
and that's okay.

285
00:13:18,839 --> 00:13:22,009
But there was one time same church
because I think of that one

286
00:13:22,009 --> 00:13:24,470
because that was the most drastic church
setting

287
00:13:24,470 --> 00:13:27,431
that I've experienced
as far as like really conservative.

288
00:13:27,431 --> 00:13:30,434
But we were at someone's house for lunch
and I was visiting

289
00:13:30,434 --> 00:13:32,728
with all the little children
and they spoke Dutch.

290
00:13:32,728 --> 00:13:33,646
I mean, the children spoke

291
00:13:33,646 --> 00:13:36,440
English and Dutch, but like at that church
they would have predominantly spoke

292
00:13:36,440 --> 00:13:38,317
Dutch or German, however you would say it.

293
00:13:38,317 --> 00:13:40,402
And I was sitting with them
and they're like,

294
00:13:40,402 --> 00:13:42,071
we want to teach you how to say colors.

295
00:13:42,071 --> 00:13:43,823
I was like, okay, sure.

296
00:13:43,823 --> 00:13:45,449
And so they started teaching me
some things.

297
00:13:45,449 --> 00:13:47,660
Then we got to yellow and they said lelow.

298
00:13:47,660 --> 00:13:50,079
And so I said it
and it just peels of giggles.

299
00:13:50,079 --> 00:13:51,580
And I was like,
well I must not have said it right.

300
00:13:51,580 --> 00:13:52,957
And so they're like, try again.

301
00:13:52,957 --> 00:13:55,167
So I said, lelow.
And they just laughed and laughed.

302
00:13:55,167 --> 00:13:57,211
I'm like, All right, you guys like,
What am I doing wrong?

303
00:13:57,211 --> 00:14:01,465
And they're like,
It’s yellow. We told you to say it wrong.

304
00:14:01,549 --> 00:14:02,132
Bunch of little kids.

305
00:14:02,132 --> 00:14:03,467
And like, you can take that really bad
and be like, that was so mean.

306
00:14:03,467 --> 00:14:07,096
But I’m like, ok, like...

307
00:14:07,179 --> 00:14:09,682
So you really got to learn to laugh

308
00:14:09,682 --> 00:14:13,769
at yourself.

309
00:14:13,853 --> 00:14:17,231
Like, don't take it too seriously
when you don’t always get it, it's okay.

310
00:14:17,314 --> 00:14:20,818
And even just another one
I thought about that I've heard seekers

311
00:14:20,818 --> 00:14:23,821
talk about before. Is...

312
00:14:23,904 --> 00:14:25,614
we'll just say mennonites
for the sake of simplicity.

313
00:14:25,614 --> 00:14:30,578
But we have memorized a lot of songs,
a lot of choruses,

314
00:14:30,661 --> 00:14:33,664
simple songs that we’ll sing,

315
00:14:33,831 --> 00:14:36,959
you know, at the end of service
or at communion

316
00:14:36,959 --> 00:14:39,587
or I'm thinking
specifically like fellowship meals.

317
00:14:39,587 --> 00:14:44,508
There's like three different chorus songs
that are sung at fellowship meals often.

318
00:14:44,592 --> 00:14:47,553
And so as you're coming in as a seeker,
it's like, okay, everybody's

319
00:14:47,553 --> 00:14:51,307
breaking out in song and I don't know
this, so, I'm just going to, you know.

320
00:14:51,348 --> 00:14:54,977
Try to mouth it or awkwardly
stand in the corner and it's like,

321
00:14:54,977 --> 00:14:56,937
you know, it's okay.

322
00:14:56,937 --> 00:14:59,356
They grew up singing these songs
and it took me

323
00:14:59,356 --> 00:15:02,359
a little while to learn them
because if you don't hear them often,

324
00:15:02,359 --> 00:15:03,569
but you can learn them.

325
00:15:03,569 --> 00:15:04,403
And so,

326
00:15:04,403 --> 00:15:06,363
yeah,
just the thing of not taking yourself too

327
00:15:06,363 --> 00:15:08,324
seriously
and just being real self-conscious

328
00:15:08,324 --> 00:15:11,827
and uptight, like, I just don't fit in
and I just don't get it.

329
00:15:11,869 --> 00:15:13,329
I mean, you can ask someone for help.

330
00:15:13,329 --> 00:15:15,539
You could have them like,
can you write out the words for me

331
00:15:15,539 --> 00:15:17,666
so I can at least know the words
and then learn the tune.

332
00:15:17,666 --> 00:15:20,669
Like if you want to quotes fit in.

333
00:15:20,669 --> 00:15:22,671
Like if you want to be involved,

334
00:15:22,671 --> 00:15:25,549
take steps to learn
and give yourself time to learn.

335
00:15:25,549 --> 00:15:28,761
Like nobody's laughing at you
because you don't know

336
00:15:28,844 --> 00:15:33,265
Because they know
you don't know and it's okay.

337
00:15:33,349 --> 00:15:34,600
But yeah, that was definitely one
I thought about

338
00:15:34,600 --> 00:15:36,226
because even when we get together
for small groups

339
00:15:36,226 --> 00:15:40,981
we’ll often have a chorus book
that has no sheet music with it.

340
00:15:40,981 --> 00:15:42,483
It's just the words

341
00:15:42,483 --> 00:15:46,737
and people just know the music from
it being passed down and just from memory.

342
00:15:46,737 --> 00:15:48,322
And so you have to give yourself time

343
00:15:48,322 --> 00:15:51,492
to learn those things
without being all self-conscious about it.

344
00:15:51,492 --> 00:15:54,662
And just like,
you know, they're so different than me.

345
00:15:54,662 --> 00:15:56,121
So I think our perspective

346
00:15:56,121 --> 00:16:00,209
really helps a lot with that
and just being willing to ask for help.

347
00:16:00,292 --> 00:16:01,752
There's

348
00:16:01,752 --> 00:16:04,713
as you're saying that I immediately
thought of an essay that C.S.

349
00:16:04,713 --> 00:16:05,631
Lewis wrote called the,

350
00:16:05,631 --> 00:16:07,716
I think it's called The Inner Ring
or something like that.

351
00:16:07,716 --> 00:16:11,387
And it's writing about this,
how each person has this innate

352
00:16:11,470 --> 00:16:14,765
desire to belong to a group of some kind.

353
00:16:14,848 --> 00:16:19,436
You could use terms like community,
a religious group of some kind, like why?

354
00:16:19,520 --> 00:16:22,439
Why is religion so big in the world,
You know, not just Christianity.

355
00:16:22,439 --> 00:16:23,983
Take your pick of any major religion.

356
00:16:23,983 --> 00:16:27,361
It's because it's
a place to belong and fit in.

357
00:16:27,444 --> 00:16:30,197
On the flip side,
if you feel like you're not fitting in

358
00:16:30,197 --> 00:16:32,950
or you're missing a critical piece
to fit into

359
00:16:32,950 --> 00:16:37,287
whatever that group might be,
it's like a cognitive dissonance.

360
00:16:37,287 --> 00:16:40,499
Something's off, you don't feel right.

361
00:16:40,582 --> 00:16:43,669
And that can really, really be hard

362
00:16:43,669 --> 00:16:46,672
for a person
and that's kind of how we're hardwired.

363
00:16:46,672 --> 00:16:49,341
I don't know why God made it entirely
that way.

364
00:16:49,341 --> 00:16:51,468
I think it's
because they're not designed to do life

365
00:16:51,468 --> 00:16:52,886
by ourselves in isolation, you know?

366
00:16:52,886 --> 00:16:54,888
But it can be really difficult.

367
00:16:54,888 --> 00:16:58,100
It can feel like I don't fit
in, I don't belong.

368
00:16:58,183 --> 00:17:01,562
And that's unfortunate
because I don't think that

369
00:17:01,562 --> 00:17:03,230
would be the intention of anybody.

370
00:17:03,230 --> 00:17:05,024
You know, in that case, of

371
00:17:05,024 --> 00:17:07,401
they have the songs memorized
and you don't or whatever.

372
00:17:07,401 --> 00:17:10,863
It's not like, we're trying to
isolate you from the group.

373
00:17:10,946 --> 00:17:13,782
But I can see how that could be very

374
00:17:13,782 --> 00:17:18,203
painful over time,
especially if it is an ongoing situation.

375
00:17:18,203 --> 00:17:22,791
Like for you, How long did it feel,
How much time did it feel like

376
00:17:22,791 --> 00:17:27,087
you needed to start saying,
Hey, I actually feel like I belong here?

377
00:17:27,171 --> 00:17:29,173
I feel like I know how things work now.

378
00:17:29,173 --> 00:17:33,802
Was that a pretty long process
or did did it come fairly naturally?

379
00:17:33,886 --> 00:17:38,557
I honestly don't remember,
because we would have

380
00:17:38,599 --> 00:17:40,476
been in a couple of different churches

381
00:17:40,476 --> 00:17:44,271
over that initial period
for different reasons.

382
00:17:44,354 --> 00:17:46,148
And again, like I was a young person,

383
00:17:46,148 --> 00:17:49,818
like we talked about in the previous
episode here,

384
00:17:49,902 --> 00:17:51,987
So it was easier for me to assimilate.

385
00:17:51,987 --> 00:17:56,200
So I didn't feel as much of that,
because I was learning faster.

386
00:17:56,325 --> 00:17:58,786
I could see how age
could be a factor in that,

387
00:17:58,786 --> 00:18:02,414
you know that the cultural hurdles again
I do a lot of traveling

388
00:18:02,414 --> 00:18:04,374
internationally with different ministries
and things.

389
00:18:04,374 --> 00:18:05,125
That's incredible.

390
00:18:05,125 --> 00:18:07,252
When a family moves to a foreign culture

391
00:18:07,252 --> 00:18:11,256
to do missions or whatever,
the children are just a wonder to watch.

392
00:18:11,298 --> 00:18:14,802
They assimilate so well,
like before you know it, you turn around

393
00:18:14,802 --> 00:18:15,969
and they're like speaking the language

394
00:18:15,969 --> 00:18:18,555
and hanging out with their local friends
and it's like no big deal.

395
00:18:18,555 --> 00:18:23,185
And the parents are struggling to fit in
to whatever culture it might be.

396
00:18:23,268 --> 00:18:24,728
It's just the way it is. It's really hard.

397
00:18:24,728 --> 00:18:27,773
So age, I think, may have something
to do with it, or it may depend

398
00:18:27,773 --> 00:18:30,776
on how big the cultural gap
is that you're leaping to.

399
00:18:30,776 --> 00:18:31,443
I don't know.

400
00:18:31,443 --> 00:18:35,948
Or maybe that's
what we're trying to do with this

401
00:18:36,031 --> 00:18:38,158
episode is just that awareness of,

402
00:18:38,158 --> 00:18:41,703
you know,
there is going to be some cultural

403
00:18:41,787 --> 00:18:43,705
a learning curve, I suppose.

404
00:18:43,705 --> 00:18:45,582
Right? I don't know what's a few others.

405
00:18:45,582 --> 00:18:48,210
Did you have any others
you wanted to mention?

406
00:18:48,210 --> 00:18:51,046
For one other cultural thing,
and I saw this

407
00:18:51,046 --> 00:18:54,049
more at Bible school
and it just really tickled me.

408
00:18:54,216 --> 00:18:59,263
But even looking back
at like mennonite pictures from like,

409
00:18:59,263 --> 00:19:02,182
you know, the sixties and seventies
and eighties, it's like, well,

410
00:19:02,182 --> 00:19:03,183
the worldly culture

411
00:19:03,183 --> 00:19:07,062
was having all of their hairstyles
and all of their crazy clothes

412
00:19:07,062 --> 00:19:10,065
and like all their stuff,
like Mennonites over that period.

413
00:19:10,232 --> 00:19:13,694
And even then the Amish too,
like they had their trends, like,

414
00:19:13,777 --> 00:19:16,738
you know, you might have a season
where all the women wore elastic

415
00:19:16,738 --> 00:19:18,073
in the waist of their cape dresses.

416
00:19:18,073 --> 00:19:20,534
Well, now we're to belts or now
we're to fitted waist.

417
00:19:20,534 --> 00:19:24,997
And you know how they wear their covering
or how, we can't do a whole lot

418
00:19:24,997 --> 00:19:26,498
with our hairstyle under our cap.

419
00:19:26,498 --> 00:19:28,417
Or over our veil or whatever.

420
00:19:28,417 --> 00:19:29,501
But, you know,
you might have your hair down

421
00:19:29,501 --> 00:19:32,796
over your ears or like kind of a trend
with young people now,

422
00:19:32,796 --> 00:19:36,717
like the generation after me is to, like,
have a little loose hair around your ear.

423
00:19:36,800 --> 00:19:40,679
We can find ways to be a little trendy,

424
00:19:40,762 --> 00:19:41,346
so it's like

425
00:19:41,346 --> 00:19:45,434
Mennonites and Anabaptist
people are not immune to that.

426
00:19:45,517 --> 00:19:46,643
And if you're in it,

427
00:19:46,643 --> 00:19:50,898
you see those little subtleties,
and I just like it cracks me up right now.

428
00:19:50,939 --> 00:19:55,527
Certain Mennonite communities,
the guys are really,

429
00:19:55,611 --> 00:19:58,488
have really trendy hairstyles
and some of them are pretty elaborate.

430
00:19:58,488 --> 00:20:00,157
And it just cracks me up.

431
00:20:00,157 --> 00:20:00,240
And I just ask them sometimes, I’m like,

432
00:20:00,240 --> 00:20:04,328
you know when you’re 80
and you look back at these pictures,

433
00:20:04,411 --> 00:20:05,412
are you going to feel like

434
00:20:05,412 --> 00:20:08,707
people from the 1970s who’re like,
why did I do that?

435
00:20:08,790 --> 00:20:09,958
Why did I have a mullet?

436
00:20:09,958 --> 00:20:15,380
So it’s like, mennonites are not immune
to fashion trends.

437
00:20:15,380 --> 00:20:17,549
But they just look a little different.

438
00:20:17,549 --> 00:20:20,677
And they're, it's
like a whole rocket science too.

439
00:20:20,677 --> 00:20:22,137
Like trying to figure it all out

440
00:20:22,137 --> 00:20:25,140
because it'll depend on like,
which mennonite group and, where they are

441
00:20:25,224 --> 00:20:28,227
in North America and like who
they're trying to associate with.

442
00:20:28,393 --> 00:20:29,228
And then, you know,

443
00:20:29,228 --> 00:20:30,562
I mean, for the most part,
it's kind of like,

444
00:20:30,562 --> 00:20:33,732
okay, whatever, you know, that really
whatever it is, it just is.

445
00:20:33,732 --> 00:20:37,236
But I do find it
kind of hilarious in its own unique way.

446
00:20:37,236 --> 00:20:39,613
I don't know. It
just it's such a human thing.

447
00:20:39,613 --> 00:20:43,325
Right, that’s what I was going to say,
it's just humanity.

448
00:20:43,408 --> 00:20:45,202
Like, how can you have self-expression?

449
00:20:45,202 --> 00:20:48,372
that's kind of cool.
I like that. I’m gonna do that too.

450
00:20:48,455 --> 00:20:51,166
Well, okay, so before we started,
just before we hit

451
00:20:51,166 --> 00:20:54,294
the record button, another one
that your husband sitting here off camera.

452
00:20:54,294 --> 00:20:55,879
I think it was you who said it.

453
00:20:55,879 --> 00:20:58,715
Was it volleyball
or you mentioned volleyball?

454
00:20:58,715 --> 00:21:00,884
Or maybe that was our camera guy
said something about like,

455
00:21:00,884 --> 00:21:04,012
volleyball is like the thing for,
you know, especially men

456
00:21:04,012 --> 00:21:06,265
and our young men,
you know, like in their teens.

457
00:21:06,265 --> 00:21:07,849
Volleyball and softball, now spikeball.

458
00:21:07,849 --> 00:21:09,518
Now softball.

459
00:21:09,518 --> 00:21:11,812
Well,
the softball is very much of a southern

460
00:21:11,812 --> 00:21:13,438
in the southern Mennonite churches.

461
00:21:13,438 --> 00:21:15,065
Yeah. Goodness.

462
00:21:15,065 --> 00:21:17,734
It's a thing. Such a thing.

463
00:21:17,734 --> 00:21:20,696
And I never thought about that
until it's like,

464
00:21:20,696 --> 00:21:23,407
yeah, we just get together
and play softball, like, all the time.

465
00:21:23,407 --> 00:21:27,577
Like we have, we will cross the nation
for a volleyball tournament.

466
00:21:27,661 --> 00:21:30,247
I mean some churches
are staunchly against tournament.

467
00:21:30,247 --> 00:21:33,667
Because they're not okay
with organized competition.

468
00:21:33,750 --> 00:21:35,711
They’re not okay with that.

469
00:21:35,711 --> 00:21:39,423
Well, but this is one way that mennonite
young people can kind of get around

470
00:21:39,631 --> 00:21:42,551
not playing in, say, leagues or

471
00:21:42,551 --> 00:21:44,594
in a public school
setting or something like that.

472
00:21:44,594 --> 00:21:45,637
And okay, again, whatever.

473
00:21:45,637 --> 00:21:47,472
Each church kind of has to figure out
where they fall on that.

474
00:21:47,472 --> 00:21:48,390
But yeah, absolutely.

475
00:21:48,390 --> 00:21:51,184
Some of these young guys are literally,
you know, on weekends,

476
00:21:51,184 --> 00:21:54,062
they're incredibly good
and they're driving, you know, 6 hours.

477
00:21:54,062 --> 00:21:56,189
one way to go play a tournament,

478
00:21:56,189 --> 00:22:02,779
you know, it just is like it's
just a thing that we do, apparently.

479
00:22:02,863 --> 00:22:03,238
It's a way

480
00:22:03,238 --> 00:22:07,117
we play, but it's a way
we build relationship.

481
00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:07,492
Yeah.

482
00:22:07,492 --> 00:22:09,286
Like you said,
you go to these volleyball tournaments,

483
00:22:09,286 --> 00:22:12,039
or you go to Bible school,
and you'll play volleyball.

484
00:22:12,039 --> 00:22:13,498
Ceaselessly. Yeah.

485
00:22:13,498 --> 00:22:13,832
Oh my.

486
00:22:13,832 --> 00:22:15,208
See, I'm not much of a volleyball guy.

487
00:22:15,208 --> 00:22:18,211
I look like a giraffe out there.

488
00:22:18,211 --> 00:22:19,087
But, you know.

489
00:22:19,087 --> 00:22:20,756
But, yeah, it was actually I.

490
00:22:20,756 --> 00:22:22,174
So I actually thought about that one

491
00:22:22,174 --> 00:22:24,843
because that one was one
I didn't really fit in like, as well.

492
00:22:24,843 --> 00:22:28,221
Like, it's, it's okay,
but it wasn't like my thing.

493
00:22:28,221 --> 00:22:31,058
But for some guys at Bible school like,
it was their thing.

494
00:22:31,058 --> 00:22:32,434
It was a big deal.

495
00:22:32,434 --> 00:22:34,269
And I always kind of wondered about that.

496
00:22:34,269 --> 00:22:38,148
It's like,
if you don't fit in to that, It can feel,

497
00:22:38,231 --> 00:22:41,735
yeah, I can feel a little odd, you know,
it can feel and that comes back to that

498
00:22:41,735 --> 00:22:45,989
whole like all of us want to fit
in, you know, And, this this can be hard.

499
00:22:45,989 --> 00:22:47,616
It can be a challenge.

500
00:22:47,616 --> 00:22:52,704
But I think you'd said something like,
don't take it too seriously or don't...

501
00:22:52,788 --> 00:22:53,997
It's okay to be different.

502
00:22:53,997 --> 00:22:55,624
Yeah. There you go. Yeah. Yeah.

503
00:22:55,624 --> 00:22:58,377
I think that's, I think
there's some truth to that. You know.

504
00:22:58,377 --> 00:23:01,296
And kind of bunny trailing off of that.

505
00:23:01,380 --> 00:23:01,797
Maybe on

506
00:23:01,797 --> 00:23:05,634
a little bit more serious note,
but thinking about

507
00:23:05,717 --> 00:23:09,513
I guess I want to find a balance here
between like the way Mennonites are as a

508
00:23:09,513 --> 00:23:12,724
culture is okay
because it's who we are as a people,

509
00:23:12,808 --> 00:23:15,936
just like any other culture has their
quirks, has their ways of doing things

510
00:23:15,936 --> 00:23:19,731
like it doesn't mean it's bad
just because it's unique to them.

511
00:23:19,815 --> 00:23:21,733
But as a seeker coming

512
00:23:21,733 --> 00:23:24,778
in, you're going to have
a fresh perspective on it.

513
00:23:24,778 --> 00:23:28,532
You're going to be looking at things
and being like, That's unusual,

514
00:23:28,657 --> 00:23:32,202
or that doesn't make sense
because you didn't grow up with that.

515
00:23:32,202 --> 00:23:35,539
It's not normal for you,
and that can be really valuable.

516
00:23:35,539 --> 00:23:39,835
Not in a I want to change
you and challenge everything kind of way.

517
00:23:39,835 --> 00:23:42,671
I don't think that's the right way
to approach that.

518
00:23:42,671 --> 00:23:46,508
But just like curiosity and wanting to
learn and that kind of thing.

519
00:23:46,550 --> 00:23:48,093
But something I definitely thought about

520
00:23:48,093 --> 00:23:52,055
as far as what you were talking about
was like kind of peer pressure.

521
00:23:52,139 --> 00:23:53,807
And we both know like there's

522
00:23:53,807 --> 00:23:56,726
some communities
that are worse about this than others,

523
00:23:56,726 --> 00:24:00,355
but there is definitely really strong

524
00:24:00,355 --> 00:24:04,276
peer pressure and the pressure to perform

525
00:24:04,359 --> 00:24:06,445
in a lot of our communities,

526
00:24:06,445 --> 00:24:12,492
partly because a lot of our principals
show up in externals,

527
00:24:12,576 --> 00:24:15,454
which isn't a bad thing, like,
you know, the principle of modesty

528
00:24:15,454 --> 00:24:18,915
or the principle of cleanliness
or orderliness, because those are

529
00:24:18,999 --> 00:24:22,377
traits of God, like God is a God of order
and, you know, those kinds of things.

530
00:24:22,377 --> 00:24:25,338
And that we reflect
that in our external lives.

531
00:24:25,338 --> 00:24:26,506
So that's not bad.

532
00:24:26,506 --> 00:24:29,468
But then those can turn into

533
00:24:29,468 --> 00:24:32,262
you're not good enough if

534
00:24:32,345 --> 00:24:34,347
or you need to measure up.

535
00:24:34,347 --> 00:24:38,351
And I think as seekers coming in,

536
00:24:38,435 --> 00:24:41,771
I guess striking that balance between

537
00:24:41,813 --> 00:24:44,316
there will be ways you need to assimilate

538
00:24:44,316 --> 00:24:46,943
just because it is a culture,

539
00:24:46,943 --> 00:24:50,530
but at the same time
coming in as a seeker, someone different,

540
00:24:50,614 --> 00:24:54,075
you can come in and say,
I don't like to bake

541
00:24:54,159 --> 00:24:58,455
or I don't own my own business
or I hate volleyball.

542
00:24:58,455 --> 00:25:00,540
Like, and that's okay.

543
00:25:00,540 --> 00:25:05,545
If you can come in as a seeker
willing to learn, but also being,

544
00:25:05,629 --> 00:25:08,757
learning to be completely comfortable
with who you are and not feeling like

545
00:25:08,882 --> 00:25:14,554
you have to be Mennonite, like all these
other things that we do that aren't really

546
00:25:14,638 --> 00:25:16,348
necessary, you know what I mean?

547
00:25:16,348 --> 00:25:20,101
Like playing volleyball, whatever,

548
00:25:20,185 --> 00:25:22,562
learning how to sew
and those kinds of things.

549
00:25:22,562 --> 00:25:23,897
Like,

550
00:25:23,980 --> 00:25:25,732
Yeah, I know a lady just recently told me

551
00:25:25,732 --> 00:25:29,027
she's like, when I told her
I was doing this interview, she's like.

552
00:25:29,110 --> 00:25:29,945
Well, I just,

553
00:25:29,945 --> 00:25:31,488
I don't want people coming in thinking,
well,

554
00:25:31,488 --> 00:25:33,949
they just have to know how to make bread.

555
00:25:33,949 --> 00:25:36,701
It's like, you don't have to. It's okay.

556
00:25:36,701 --> 00:25:41,456
So I think as seekers coming
in, we can maybe help,

557
00:25:41,456 --> 00:25:44,459
bring perspective
to that pressure to perform

558
00:25:44,501 --> 00:25:49,673
if we can learn how to assimilate,
but also be comfortable with who we are

559
00:25:49,756 --> 00:25:53,927
and saying no
to that unhealthy peer pressure,

560
00:25:54,010 --> 00:25:56,096
if you know what I mean.

561
00:25:56,096 --> 00:25:56,429
Yeah.

562
00:25:56,429 --> 00:25:58,473
Like, well, again, this was something

563
00:25:58,473 --> 00:26:01,685
before we hit record we were you're
talking about all of us here.

564
00:26:01,768 --> 00:26:07,232
And one of them was to be, okay,
let me back up a little bit.

565
00:26:07,232 --> 00:26:10,443
One of the Mennonite culture things,

566
00:26:10,527 --> 00:26:12,904
I think it comes from a kind of German
Swiss background.

567
00:26:12,904 --> 00:26:15,615
But we do things right.
We are super productive.

568
00:26:15,615 --> 00:26:20,495
We're like, we get things done, again,
good things, you know,

569
00:26:20,579 --> 00:26:26,167
but that can push into you need to be
very economically prosperous.

570
00:26:26,167 --> 00:26:28,295
You know, you need to work hard.

571
00:26:28,295 --> 00:26:31,047
And other one is
you should have a business that's like

572
00:26:31,047 --> 00:26:34,009
super common, you know, for Mennonite

573
00:26:34,009 --> 00:26:36,511
guys especially to have their own business

574
00:26:36,511 --> 00:26:39,764
and those things
I think can very quickly again,

575
00:26:39,764 --> 00:26:42,809
those are not wrong,
but that could push into some things

576
00:26:42,809 --> 00:26:44,769
that aren't so good
because that can put some

577
00:26:44,769 --> 00:26:48,565
some serious pressure on someone coming in
to feel like, well, to fit in.

578
00:26:48,565 --> 00:26:50,191
I mean, this is
this is how I'm supposed to do it.

579
00:26:50,191 --> 00:26:51,526
So I need to start a business, too.

580
00:26:51,526 --> 00:26:52,652
Well, hold on.

581
00:26:52,652 --> 00:26:54,654
You know, you don't have to do that.

582
00:26:54,654 --> 00:26:57,949
But that is pretty deep
in our culture, actually,

583
00:26:58,033 --> 00:27:01,745
which is kind of a quirky thing, I guess.

584
00:27:01,745 --> 00:27:02,454
I mean, that's a,

585
00:27:02,454 --> 00:27:05,665
it's a lot of work, you know,
but it's just how we are, I suppose.

586
00:27:05,749 --> 00:27:09,002
So I see some of these things
can just be kind of whatever,

587
00:27:09,085 --> 00:27:10,003
you know, that they are.

588
00:27:10,003 --> 00:27:12,964
You like volleyball,
you don't, whatever. But

589
00:27:13,048 --> 00:27:16,051
if it's something where you feel
a lot of pressure of,

590
00:27:16,051 --> 00:27:19,512
man, I need to be working
really, really hard and have my own

591
00:27:19,512 --> 00:27:22,515
business and blah, blah, blah,
like the whole list, I don't know.

592
00:27:22,682 --> 00:27:26,019
And this will vary from mennonite
community to mennonite community, but

593
00:27:26,102 --> 00:27:27,062
some of those things, I don't know.

594
00:27:27,062 --> 00:27:29,564
It feels like that
could be a lot of unnecessary pressure.

595
00:27:29,564 --> 00:27:30,774
Not intentionally.

596
00:27:30,774 --> 00:27:34,861
I don't think the seekers coming in
or whatever are being pressured.

597
00:27:34,861 --> 00:27:38,156
You have to do it this way, but
just by osmosis you feel like you should.

598
00:27:38,239 --> 00:27:38,531
I don't know.

599
00:27:38,531 --> 00:27:41,117
Do want to speak into that
where these things aren't wrong things,

600
00:27:41,117 --> 00:27:44,287
but it could put a unhealthy
push on people

601
00:27:44,371 --> 00:27:47,999
to be something
maybe they shouldn't I think that's where

602
00:27:48,083 --> 00:27:49,709
some of that conflict

603
00:27:49,709 --> 00:27:52,545
that comes for people looking out,
even if they're not interested

604
00:27:52,545 --> 00:27:53,421
in becoming anabaptist.

605
00:27:53,421 --> 00:27:57,342
So like, well, they're just
everything they do is on the outside

606
00:27:57,384 --> 00:28:00,804
because there's
so much pressure to perform.

607
00:28:00,804 --> 00:28:06,434
And like we're known for our work ethic
which comes out of like Godly principles.

608
00:28:06,434 --> 00:28:09,354
But then that becomes, can become
not always,

609
00:28:09,354 --> 00:28:11,731
but it can become an overriding thing.

610
00:28:11,731 --> 00:28:15,568
So then like, you know, if you have moms
that are in a really busy state of littles

611
00:28:15,568 --> 00:28:19,864
and just like their house is a wreck
and so they can just feel like,

612
00:28:19,906 --> 00:28:23,743
well, I can't host anybody until I get
all tidied up and then you just can't.

613
00:28:23,743 --> 00:28:26,746
And then you never host like,

614
00:28:26,746 --> 00:28:28,373
And even just that like something like

615
00:28:28,373 --> 00:28:31,584
hosting, is a bunny trail a little bit
from what we were just talking about.

616
00:28:31,584 --> 00:28:34,546
But I know that's something
that I've heard

617
00:28:34,546 --> 00:28:37,006
from people who've hosted a seeker

618
00:28:37,006 --> 00:28:40,301
visiting their church for the first time
or whatever, regardless of.

619
00:28:40,301 --> 00:28:41,845
Well, yeah,

620
00:28:41,845 --> 00:28:46,516
kind of regardless of their background,
but often it's a non churched background.

621
00:28:46,599 --> 00:28:48,476
It's not uncommon

622
00:28:48,476 --> 00:28:52,063
at all to have someone set up to host
every Sunday,

623
00:28:52,272 --> 00:28:56,025
like just have a schedule of
someone in the church is going to host,

624
00:28:56,025 --> 00:28:59,529
if there's visitors,
whether it's, you know, out of town

625
00:28:59,529 --> 00:29:02,991
mennonites or a local visitor,
whatever, like to have someone in place

626
00:29:02,991 --> 00:29:06,536
to have like a meal ready for visitors.

627
00:29:06,619 --> 00:29:08,413
And I love that about our churches.

628
00:29:08,413 --> 00:29:11,374
I love that we are involved in that way.

629
00:29:11,374 --> 00:29:15,253
But there's been so many times that it,
and I guess I would say specifically

630
00:29:15,253 --> 00:29:18,047
an unchurched person,
because like, we're in the Bible Belt,

631
00:29:18,047 --> 00:29:19,424
we have lots of Baptists.

632
00:29:19,424 --> 00:29:22,761
They do potlucks, like, there’s
a lot of fellowshipping around food

633
00:29:22,761 --> 00:29:25,764
that happens
in some other denominations as well.

634
00:29:25,847 --> 00:29:29,476
But so I'll say specifically unchurched
people,

635
00:29:29,559 --> 00:29:33,521
they'll get invited to someone's
home for lunch and it feels really weird,

636
00:29:33,605 --> 00:29:36,524
It feels really awkward,
and it's like, I'm

637
00:29:36,524 --> 00:29:39,861
in your home, I'm at your table,
This is your personal space.

638
00:29:39,861 --> 00:29:41,863
And it's like, What do I do with myself?

639
00:29:41,863 --> 00:29:43,156
This feels weird.

640
00:29:43,156 --> 00:29:45,450
And for us, it's
just like it's normal because.

641
00:29:45,450 --> 00:29:47,243
I literally don't think a thing of it.

642
00:29:47,243 --> 00:29:50,747
Yeah, that's so interesting, because
I have some local friends that I’ve like,

643
00:29:50,830 --> 00:29:53,374
the one had helped to,
like with this house

644
00:29:53,374 --> 00:29:55,752
that we built, and it's like, Hey,
come on over sometime.

645
00:29:55,752 --> 00:29:57,378
I'll show you the finished product
and like,

646
00:29:57,378 --> 00:29:58,797
we'll hang out
and I'll make you a smoothie or something.

647
00:29:58,797 --> 00:30:03,176
I mean, nothing crazy at all. Like, and,

648
00:30:03,259 --> 00:30:04,594
you know, that's, just hard

649
00:30:04,594 --> 00:30:08,056
for some people to do because it feels,
but this is your, your space.

650
00:30:08,056 --> 00:30:10,934
Whereas we're just like,
oh no, we just kind of do this.

651
00:30:10,934 --> 00:30:13,228
Yeah. It's a very...

652
00:30:13,228 --> 00:30:14,646
I'm not really sure
where that comes from, actually.

653
00:30:14,646 --> 00:30:17,232
Now that I think about it,
I wonder where we get that.

654
00:30:17,315 --> 00:30:17,857
I don't know.

655
00:30:17,857 --> 00:30:21,110
Maybe because we typically be, since

656
00:30:21,110 --> 00:30:24,113
we're more community minded, we're just

657
00:30:24,113 --> 00:30:27,575
more open in that way because, like,
we view people outside of our family

658
00:30:27,575 --> 00:30:31,746
as part of our family, like,
we just kind of welcome people in.

659
00:30:31,788 --> 00:30:35,166
And, I mean, it's again, it comes back
to those biblical principles of, like,

660
00:30:35,166 --> 00:30:38,711
you know, show hospitality to strangers
and like those kinds of things.

661
00:30:38,711 --> 00:30:42,465
So, like, hospitality is something
I feel like Anabaptists do really well.

662
00:30:42,549 --> 00:30:46,553
And I'm really thankful for that
because there's been so many times

663
00:30:46,636 --> 00:30:50,598
when it's just left
an incredible testimony of like,

664
00:30:50,598 --> 00:30:54,686
it is significant and I don't really
understand it because I'm used to it now.

665
00:30:54,686 --> 00:30:58,523
So I'm like, It's
not weird for me to go to someone's home,

666
00:30:58,606 --> 00:31:00,525
especially someone that I know
fairly well, just like,

667
00:31:00,525 --> 00:31:02,652
you know, if people come to my house,
I'm just like,

668
00:31:02,652 --> 00:31:05,530
I can't hear the door,
just come in like, it's fine.

669
00:31:05,530 --> 00:31:07,448
And I have friends that, you know,
if they come over at lunch,

670
00:31:07,448 --> 00:31:09,826
I'm like, just raid the fridge
and they know they can raid the fridge

671
00:31:09,826 --> 00:31:11,119
and like, yeah.

672
00:31:11,119 --> 00:31:14,330
So I think it is unique

673
00:31:14,414 --> 00:31:17,166
in our American culture to do that.

674
00:31:17,166 --> 00:31:19,002
And that's one of the things
I really love.

675
00:31:19,002 --> 00:31:21,254
Like,
I love that about Anabaptist culture.

676
00:31:21,254 --> 00:31:24,924
So maybe that's a bit of a quirk,
but that's like a really positive quirk.

677
00:31:25,008 --> 00:31:27,635
I would very much agree with you on that.

678
00:31:27,635 --> 00:31:31,472
That is a very positive thing.

679
00:31:31,556 --> 00:31:32,807
I guess it's not a quirk,

680
00:31:32,807 --> 00:31:37,145
but it's something we've held on to
is just the thing of gender roles.

681
00:31:37,145 --> 00:31:42,734
And I think one of the things that makes
it easier for us to do that is because

682
00:31:42,817 --> 00:31:43,568
our women

683
00:31:43,568 --> 00:31:47,322
are fulfilling those roles
of like homemaker,

684
00:31:47,405 --> 00:31:50,575
which I know is going to be
super controversial for people.

685
00:31:50,658 --> 00:31:52,660
Right, I know the comments
are just going to come pouring in.

686
00:31:52,660 --> 00:31:54,495
I know
that's just going to come pouring in.

687
00:31:54,495 --> 00:31:55,997
It's like I'm not opposed.

688
00:31:55,997 --> 00:31:59,792
Like we have so many women
who do part time jobs or they're doing,

689
00:31:59,959 --> 00:32:00,877
you know, work from home.

690
00:32:00,877 --> 00:32:03,004
Oh my goodness,
the Norwex and the Lemongrass.

691
00:32:03,004 --> 00:32:07,175
Oh, that’s
very mennonite cultural phenomenon.

692
00:32:07,175 --> 00:32:09,844
We won’t get into that one.

693
00:32:09,844 --> 00:32:12,013
If you’re curious
what that is. You can leave a comment.

694
00:32:12,013 --> 00:32:13,222
If you haven’t heard of it yet.

695
00:32:13,222 --> 00:32:14,807
We have so many like, Norwex

696
00:32:14,807 --> 00:32:19,020
and lemongrass and Tupperware reps,
like it's something they can do from home.

697
00:32:19,103 --> 00:32:20,271
Yeah, but it works.

698
00:32:20,271 --> 00:32:20,688
Yeah.

699
00:32:20,688 --> 00:32:21,731
So, like,

700
00:32:21,731 --> 00:32:24,901
I'm not saying women can't work at all
or that our women don't go to school

701
00:32:24,901 --> 00:32:25,902
because, like,

702
00:32:25,902 --> 00:32:29,238
I know some women who have, like,
pulled a load because they wanted a degree

703
00:32:29,238 --> 00:32:33,576
or for nursing whatever
but I do think that is probably

704
00:32:33,576 --> 00:32:37,997
what helps us be able to host
well because our ladies

705
00:32:37,997 --> 00:32:41,709
are embracing that

706
00:32:41,793 --> 00:32:45,797
scriptural role of women being keepers
at home and caring for the home.

707
00:32:45,797 --> 00:32:50,301
So then we can
you know, prepare meals that are pleasant.

708
00:32:50,301 --> 00:32:54,639
Doesn't have to be complicated, but,
you know, we have the time

709
00:32:54,639 --> 00:32:59,060
to be home
to prepare our home to receive people.

710
00:32:59,143 --> 00:33:01,020
And so if we're never home,

711
00:33:01,020 --> 00:33:03,898
it's always going to look stressful,
like it can be stressful

712
00:33:03,898 --> 00:33:06,067
sometimes even when you are home
and you have lots of children.

713
00:33:06,067 --> 00:33:07,735
We have things going on, whatever.

714
00:33:07,735 --> 00:33:10,780
But I think that makes us unique as well.

715
00:33:10,780 --> 00:33:15,159
Just how we have embraced gender roles
the way God intended

716
00:33:15,243 --> 00:33:21,374
so that we can serve in those ways,
makes us unique.

717
00:33:21,457 --> 00:33:23,167
Yeah.

718
00:33:23,167 --> 00:33:26,963
There's very much this. This

719
00:33:27,046 --> 00:33:28,423
style of way of,

720
00:33:28,423 --> 00:33:32,260
like, communal, family oriented things

721
00:33:32,260 --> 00:33:35,680
like that, and like, fairly strong around,
centered around those things.

722
00:33:35,847 --> 00:33:38,266
And again, I don't know entirely
where that comes from.

723
00:33:38,266 --> 00:33:38,933
Obviously, there's,

724
00:33:38,933 --> 00:33:42,687
there's biblical principles for that,
but we have it extra strong

725
00:33:42,770 --> 00:33:44,063
as opposed to some other church groups.

726
00:33:44,063 --> 00:33:45,982
And I don't know if there's some history
there,

727
00:33:45,982 --> 00:33:49,360
maybe because of the extreme persecution
the Mennonites went through in history

728
00:33:49,360 --> 00:33:54,449
and they had to work together really
careful like really closely to survive,

729
00:33:54,532 --> 00:33:56,367
who knows? But is part of who we are.

730
00:33:56,367 --> 00:33:59,162
And that yeah, can
definitely throw a curveball.

731
00:33:59,162 --> 00:34:00,913
Like I have a friend

732
00:34:00,913 --> 00:34:04,667
who, you know, just works at a business
here in town and I'm like, Hey, come over.

733
00:34:04,667 --> 00:34:06,461
We got a place for hammocks.

734
00:34:06,461 --> 00:34:09,172
If you ever want to just come chill
like you can do that.

735
00:34:09,172 --> 00:34:11,507
And she's, you know, keep saying,
I'd love to do that. I'd love to do that.

736
00:34:11,507 --> 00:34:14,343
But, you know, it doesn't happen
because it it feels kind of weird.

737
00:34:14,343 --> 00:34:16,929
It's like, well,
that's your your space, you know?

738
00:34:16,929 --> 00:34:21,517
So as an American in a mainstream American
culture, that's like really weird.

739
00:34:21,517 --> 00:34:26,314
And for me, that's like not, it's
nothing I don't really think about that.

740
00:34:26,397 --> 00:34:28,441
And it's just what it is, you know?

741
00:34:28,441 --> 00:34:30,359
But these things can really kind of throw
you a curveball.

742
00:34:30,359 --> 00:34:33,154
Like when you're coming in fresh,

743
00:34:33,154 --> 00:34:36,824
you know, and not part of having grown up
in this culture and so forth.

744
00:34:36,908 --> 00:34:39,368
There was a mennonite group.

745
00:34:39,368 --> 00:34:42,747
I say group because it was a number
of local people they got together for...

746
00:34:42,830 --> 00:34:45,583
I think it was Christmas
or New Years or something.

747
00:34:45,583 --> 00:34:47,418
And so were Mennonites. We do food.

748
00:34:47,418 --> 00:34:49,670
If we're together,
there will be food. It's just what we do.

749
00:34:49,670 --> 00:34:51,756
Another quirk.

750
00:34:51,756 --> 00:34:54,342
We can't get together, not have food.
I mean, we are sitting here with chai.

751
00:34:54,342 --> 00:34:57,845
We have to have some kind of beverage
or something.

752
00:34:57,929 --> 00:34:59,180
It's just how we fellowship.

753
00:34:59,180 --> 00:35:04,852
But so yeah, there was this local lady
from the community who was kind of alone.

754
00:35:04,852 --> 00:35:08,272
She didn't really have a lot of friends
or family, and this Mennonite family

755
00:35:08,272 --> 00:35:11,692
had made friends with her
and they're like, hey, come over.

756
00:35:11,692 --> 00:35:12,735
You can join our party.

757
00:35:12,735 --> 00:35:15,571
Like they were having
a number of friends over.

758
00:35:15,571 --> 00:35:17,240
I think it was New Year's.

759
00:35:17,240 --> 00:35:21,244
And this lady was like,
at the end of the evening,

760
00:35:21,327 --> 00:35:24,372
she's like, Was there
like, was the punch spiked or anything?

761
00:35:24,372 --> 00:35:26,541
Because like, I feel really good.

762
00:35:26,541 --> 00:35:31,462
And they're like, No, it was just normal
punch, Like there was no alcohol anywhere.

763
00:35:31,462 --> 00:35:33,714
And she's like,
But I almost feel that way.

764
00:35:33,714 --> 00:35:37,552
She's like, I just feel like relaxed
and peaceful and just like,

765
00:35:37,760 --> 00:35:40,054
like she had a really good time
and she was just sure

766
00:35:40,054 --> 00:35:43,683
there had to be alcohol somewhere to feel
so rest like relaxed and whatever.

767
00:35:43,683 --> 00:35:47,520
And they're like, no, like it's just

768
00:35:47,603 --> 00:35:48,437
it's,

769
00:35:48,437 --> 00:35:51,107
just probably,
you know, the presence of God

770
00:35:51,107 --> 00:35:55,403
and just the peace of fellowship and like,
we don't need the extra stuff for that.

771
00:35:55,403 --> 00:35:58,698
That is something.

772
00:35:58,781 --> 00:36:00,283
Wow. So even things like that, like

773
00:36:00,283 --> 00:36:04,745
if you go to mennonite parties,
there will not be alcohol.

774
00:36:04,829 --> 00:36:07,248
If you're used to that, you will not see.

775
00:36:07,248 --> 00:36:09,208
Like at our weddings.

776
00:36:09,208 --> 00:36:11,294
Like our weddings
are definitely not going to be

777
00:36:11,294 --> 00:36:13,212
what you're used to
in your typical American weddings.

778
00:36:13,212 --> 00:36:16,716
But yeah, just different things like that.

779
00:36:16,757 --> 00:36:20,469
It depends on which part of life
you intersect with the mennonites.

780
00:36:20,678 --> 00:36:25,474
But the cultural learning curve is very,
very, very steep in some areas.

781
00:36:25,474 --> 00:36:29,604
In another ways, maybe not so much like,
you know, yeah, you get in all those but

782
00:36:29,687 --> 00:36:33,566
and again, some of them are really
positive, like hospitality and so forth.

783
00:36:33,566 --> 00:36:35,026
And some of them I would view as,

784
00:36:35,026 --> 00:36:37,486
you know, maybe not so good,
like maybe some of the pressure of

785
00:36:37,486 --> 00:36:38,362
you should have your own business.

786
00:36:38,362 --> 00:36:38,863
You should,

787
00:36:38,863 --> 00:36:41,240
I think another one we mentioned
before we started recording, you should,

788
00:36:41,240 --> 00:36:43,034
you shouldn't rent,
you should buy a house.

789
00:36:43,034 --> 00:36:44,368
That's a big one.

790
00:36:44,368 --> 00:36:46,913
I think that one is slowly
changing actually.

791
00:36:46,913 --> 00:36:50,917
But you know, that could be a lot of undue
unnecessary pressure on someone.

792
00:36:50,958 --> 00:36:53,461
Just again,
not because someone's like you should,

793
00:36:53,461 --> 00:36:55,588
you know, but it's just that's
what everybody else is doing.

794
00:36:55,588 --> 00:37:00,301
So you feel this pressure to do that and
maybe you shouldn't, you know, or whatever

795
00:37:00,384 --> 00:37:00,801
you could

796
00:37:00,801 --> 00:37:03,804
argue that from all kinds of directions.

797
00:37:03,846 --> 00:37:04,180
Yeah.

798
00:37:04,180 --> 00:37:08,476
I think maybe all we're doing here with
this episode is just like

799
00:37:08,559 --> 00:37:11,103
the awareness that these things are there

800
00:37:11,103 --> 00:37:16,567
because it is so easy for us that are in
that environment to completely forget.

801
00:37:16,776 --> 00:37:19,362
It's like the fish in water,
like you don't even know the water exists

802
00:37:19,362 --> 00:37:22,240
because it's just your culture
and that's not wrong.

803
00:37:22,240 --> 00:37:25,701
But be at least aware of it

804
00:37:25,785 --> 00:37:26,285
for people.

805
00:37:26,285 --> 00:37:29,872
And I think people like yourself have been
really good for me to help me see that,

806
00:37:29,872 --> 00:37:31,332
because you maybe mentioned

807
00:37:31,332 --> 00:37:33,042
that that's a little different,
you know, or whatever,

808
00:37:33,042 --> 00:37:35,544
because you're coming
from a different background

809
00:37:35,544 --> 00:37:39,507
and that's healthy
and that's good for us to see that.

810
00:37:39,590 --> 00:37:42,551
Okay Yeah. What's, what's a few others?

811
00:37:42,635 --> 00:37:43,928
Now, something

812
00:37:43,928 --> 00:37:45,680
even just in the community,

813
00:37:45,680 --> 00:37:48,432
probably especially in the community
that my husband I live in, because we both

814
00:37:48,432 --> 00:37:52,937
would have grown up in like small
southern church plants

815
00:37:53,020 --> 00:37:55,982
where there wasn't
a lot of community connections.

816
00:37:55,982 --> 00:37:57,817
As far as your bloodlines.

817
00:37:57,817 --> 00:38:01,487
And so the community we're living in now,
he has a lot of family history there.

818
00:38:01,612 --> 00:38:04,657
And yeah, just the way his family

819
00:38:04,657 --> 00:38:08,202
looks, he's easily
identified as being part of that family.

820
00:38:08,286 --> 00:38:11,622
And that's true for some other bloodlines
as well within the anabaptist Church.

821
00:38:11,622 --> 00:38:12,957
But anyways,

822
00:38:12,957 --> 00:38:16,711
so we'll be walking through our small town
and it's typically an Amish person.

823
00:38:16,711 --> 00:38:18,337
This random
Amish person will come up to us

824
00:38:18,337 --> 00:38:20,006
and they never introduce themselves.

825
00:38:20,006 --> 00:38:22,842
So we never know who they are

826
00:38:22,842 --> 00:38:25,594
because everybody already knows who
they are, But we don't because

827
00:38:25,594 --> 00:38:26,679
we're new to the community.

828
00:38:26,679 --> 00:38:28,973
And he'll just be like,
you're a so-and-so.

829
00:38:28,973 --> 00:38:31,726
And we're like, Yeah,
we can't hide it. And he's like, So!

830
00:38:31,726 --> 00:38:32,977
And then he'll just go, like,

831
00:38:32,977 --> 00:38:35,646
talk about things in the community,
or he'll try to, like,

832
00:38:35,646 --> 00:38:38,441
just really pick apart
the generational lines and like,

833
00:38:38,441 --> 00:38:42,611
so what part of this family you come from
and all this stuff, but something that

834
00:38:42,611 --> 00:38:47,867
it would be good for seekers to know
and not be weirded out by, especially if

835
00:38:47,950 --> 00:38:50,161
you're in a larger

836
00:38:50,161 --> 00:38:53,080
conservative community like that
where they do talk about bloodlines

837
00:38:53,080 --> 00:38:56,709
a lot in
like your generational backgrounds,

838
00:38:56,792 --> 00:38:59,795
it can feel really sketchy
when like an Amish,

839
00:38:59,962 --> 00:39:01,922
I'm going to say Amish specifically
because that's our experience

840
00:39:01,922 --> 00:39:04,842
with people who do this the most,
when they will come out to be like,

841
00:39:04,842 --> 00:39:05,926
So who are you?

842
00:39:05,926 --> 00:39:06,886
Who is your family?

843
00:39:06,886 --> 00:39:09,555
Where are you from? Where do you live?
Where do you work? And all these things.

844
00:39:09,555 --> 00:39:12,558
And I have threatened so many times
to just make up a business card

845
00:39:12,558 --> 00:39:15,770
and just be like, Here, this is who I am.

846
00:39:15,811 --> 00:39:19,065
And in the broader world
that feels really sketchy.

847
00:39:19,065 --> 00:39:22,693
It's like, why do you want
all this personal information about me?

848
00:39:22,777 --> 00:39:24,987
And if it was anyone
other than an anabaptist person,

849
00:39:24,987 --> 00:39:28,574
it would feel really weird and I would
totally not give them my information.

850
00:39:28,657 --> 00:39:31,786
But in Anabaptist circle's
like bloodlines are really important

851
00:39:31,786 --> 00:39:35,122
because community is important
and family is important.

852
00:39:35,122 --> 00:39:41,337
So it's important for us
to know who you are from And that's like

853
00:39:41,337 --> 00:39:44,423
that's a blessing because we can trace it
like it's not a problem.

854
00:39:44,423 --> 00:39:48,719
But like for a seeker coming
in, it can feel really weird for people to

855
00:39:48,719 --> 00:39:54,141
start asking a lot of personal questions
about you and be like, Okay, who are you?

856
00:39:54,225 --> 00:39:57,895
There's a name for it,
you know, called the Mennonite game, Yes,

857
00:39:57,895 --> 00:39:59,021
and some people really like to play
the mennonite game.

858
00:39:59,021 --> 00:40:02,983
The Mennonite game is real.

859
00:40:03,067 --> 00:40:03,359
Yeah.

860
00:40:03,359 --> 00:40:05,444
Because like
you go to Bible school say or something

861
00:40:05,444 --> 00:40:09,156
and it's, that's practically part
of the introduction process.

862
00:40:09,240 --> 00:40:11,784
Oh you're so-and-so, I'm so-and-so.

863
00:40:11,784 --> 00:40:12,743
Where are you from?

864
00:40:12,743 --> 00:40:14,829
Who's your, boom? And you just try to.

865
00:40:14,829 --> 00:40:15,204
Yeah.

866
00:40:15,204 --> 00:40:17,456
Do you know so-and-so well,
do you know this person?

867
00:40:17,456 --> 00:40:19,417
Oh that church, I visited that church.

868
00:40:19,417 --> 00:40:22,211
It's like totally a thing. The network.

869
00:40:22,211 --> 00:40:22,628
Goodness.

870
00:40:22,628 --> 00:40:25,756
Mennonites are like the best
at networking.

871
00:40:25,840 --> 00:40:29,844
Because of the, community side is so tight
and it's very easy, you could go to

872
00:40:30,052 --> 00:40:32,972
about any Mennonite in North America
and find a direct connection to them in

873
00:40:32,972 --> 00:40:35,057
no time flat. Somehow,
even if it's obscure.

874
00:40:35,057 --> 00:40:37,017
It won't matter.

875
00:40:37,017 --> 00:40:38,436
They will work until they find it.

876
00:40:38,436 --> 00:40:42,273
And no matter how secure, you know,
and some people

877
00:40:42,273 --> 00:40:46,277
get terribly annoyed at that
and just find it incredibly frustrating.

878
00:40:46,277 --> 00:40:47,862
Some People think it's amazing.

879
00:40:47,862 --> 00:40:49,113
It's just, you know, it just is.

880
00:40:49,113 --> 00:40:51,615
It's just it just is.

881
00:40:51,615 --> 00:40:53,784
Which there's
a lot of cultures in other countries

882
00:40:53,784 --> 00:40:56,787
where that would be very normal,
you know, very typical.

883
00:40:56,871 --> 00:40:58,497
You're known by, you know, your father.

884
00:40:58,497 --> 00:41:01,375
Or your father’s family or whatever.
Yeah, exactly.

885
00:41:01,375 --> 00:41:04,462
And what, village
you're from or what, country, what

886
00:41:04,587 --> 00:41:07,465
you know, region
what all that stuff, what ethnic group.

887
00:41:07,465 --> 00:41:09,091
And that's a simply what's going on here.

888
00:41:09,091 --> 00:41:10,009
And it can be. Yeah.

889
00:41:10,009 --> 00:41:13,471
Very disorienting for a new person
coming in and experiencing that.

890
00:41:13,512 --> 00:41:16,432
And for a seeker coming in, it can be

891
00:41:16,432 --> 00:41:18,851
it can make you feel like an outsider
because it's like, well,

892
00:41:18,851 --> 00:41:22,313
I don't especially as a new seeker,
like the longer

893
00:41:22,313 --> 00:41:25,441
you're there, the more people get to know,
like, I have a lot of connections now.

894
00:41:25,441 --> 00:41:28,777
So it's really from going to Bible school
or, you know, being involved

895
00:41:28,777 --> 00:41:29,778
with different ministries.

896
00:41:29,778 --> 00:41:33,115
Like I have a lot of connections
now, so now I can, I can play the game

897
00:41:33,115 --> 00:41:35,576
like I can play. the Mennonite game.

898
00:41:35,576 --> 00:41:39,413
But initially it's like,
no, I don't know that person.

899
00:41:39,413 --> 00:41:40,873
And no, I'm not related to them.

900
00:41:40,873 --> 00:41:44,585
Like I'm not related to anybody. Because,

901
00:41:44,668 --> 00:41:46,253
they'll go by last names for example.

902
00:41:46,253 --> 00:41:49,340
And you didn't really have
a mennonite last name at that point so.

903
00:41:49,340 --> 00:41:52,343
I mean it’s at least german, but
they still struggled with that one like,

904
00:41:52,343 --> 00:41:53,844
Okay.

905
00:41:53,844 --> 00:41:57,097
Yeah, I remember some of that
being with your brother sometimes.

906
00:41:57,097 --> 00:42:00,643
And like, they're like, wow, You know,
I can't place where.

907
00:42:00,726 --> 00:42:03,812
Yeah,
I can’t place you in the Mennonite world,

908
00:42:03,812 --> 00:42:07,525
you know, and again,
they can come across or feel very weird.

909
00:42:07,608 --> 00:42:10,611
It can feel isolating. Yeah, Yeah.

910
00:42:10,611 --> 00:42:12,571
Well I just don’t belong
because I don't have those connections.

911
00:42:12,571 --> 00:42:14,782
But you don’t have to to fit in.

912
00:42:14,782 --> 00:42:17,785
Like, it's
okay to not have those connections.

913
00:42:17,785 --> 00:42:22,039
It's nice when you do it really is,
because then you can feel more connected.

914
00:42:22,039 --> 00:42:26,710
But I guess that's another thing of like,
Don't let it intimidate you or discourage

915
00:42:26,710 --> 00:42:29,964
you, that you don't have those connections
because you simply don't.

916
00:42:29,964 --> 00:42:31,173
And that's okay.

917
00:42:31,173 --> 00:42:33,050
Like it's
just another place where you just, like,

918
00:42:33,050 --> 00:42:37,221
accept those difference, need
to be willing to accept those differences

919
00:42:37,304 --> 00:42:41,559
and not let it go to you
and just be like, I just don't fit in.

920
00:42:41,642 --> 00:42:42,685
Yeah,

921
00:42:42,768 --> 00:42:43,060
Yeah.

922
00:42:43,060 --> 00:42:45,688
I think the takeaways
I would have for this episode,

923
00:42:45,688 --> 00:42:49,858
which has been a little more lighthearted,
some challenges in their challenges

924
00:42:49,858 --> 00:42:52,861
as far as like ways to challenge

925
00:42:52,945 --> 00:42:55,698
Mennonite background people and ways
the challenge seekers

926
00:42:55,698 --> 00:42:59,285
would be to just be, like I said,
just be willing to laugh at yourselves,

927
00:42:59,285 --> 00:43:02,454
whether you're a mennonite or seeker,
Like there's going to be seekers

928
00:43:02,454 --> 00:43:06,750
who are like not doing things
the way that culture says they should

929
00:43:06,750 --> 00:43:10,296
and just like being able to laugh
at each other like you're really quirky.

930
00:43:10,296 --> 00:43:13,549
Well, that didn't make sense and just
laugh at each other and it's okay.

931
00:43:13,549 --> 00:43:14,967
Like,

932
00:43:14,967 --> 00:43:17,636
yeah, to just not take ourselves too
seriously.

933
00:43:17,636 --> 00:43:22,224
We need to give, ourselves time to learn,
to know each other and learn how things

934
00:43:22,224 --> 00:43:28,856
are and just giving a lot of grace to each
other will go a long way.

935
00:43:28,939 --> 00:43:29,273
Yeah.

936
00:43:29,273 --> 00:43:31,233
Graciousness, humility.

937
00:43:31,233 --> 00:43:35,154
I think these are some pretty foundational
things that we should always have,

938
00:43:35,195 --> 00:43:38,657
especially in these cases, because it's
easy to think our culture is the best.

939
00:43:38,782 --> 00:43:40,951
You know, everybody should be like us.

940
00:43:40,951 --> 00:43:42,286
That's that's really easy

941
00:43:42,286 --> 00:43:44,580
if you find fault with it,
then that just really offends me.

942
00:43:44,580 --> 00:43:48,208
And it's like, Well,
what if I'm just genuinely wondering why?

943
00:43:48,250 --> 00:43:51,045
Or confused. Yes, exactly.

944
00:43:51,045 --> 00:43:52,838
Yeah.
Those are some really good takeaways.

945
00:43:52,838 --> 00:43:56,884
And yeah, I think this is a lot
for all of us to think about whether,

946
00:43:56,967 --> 00:44:00,304
you know, whoever is listening to this,
whether you're part of a mennonite church

947
00:44:00,304 --> 00:44:02,598
or you're not,
but you're interested in kind of like,

948
00:44:02,598 --> 00:44:04,350
what's it like on that side of things?

949
00:44:04,350 --> 00:44:08,437
And wherever people fall in the spectrum
there is,

950
00:44:08,520 --> 00:44:09,897
always going to be a cultural element.

951
00:44:09,897 --> 00:44:15,069
Like every church group, Mennonite or not,
has their certain ways of doing things,

952
00:44:15,152 --> 00:44:17,905
and yet
it's definitely there and it's a thing.

953
00:44:17,905 --> 00:44:18,656
And at least the awareness of it
goes a long ways in again,

954
00:44:18,656 --> 00:44:22,368
And at least the awareness of it
goes a long ways in again,

955
00:44:22,409 --> 00:44:25,537
being gracious with each other
and learning from each other to.

956
00:44:25,537 --> 00:44:27,039
I think is really important.

957
00:44:27,039 --> 00:44:31,168
I think the Mennonite churches have a lot
to learn from those that join from.

958
00:44:31,210 --> 00:44:33,337
Having grown up in that and have joined,

959
00:44:33,337 --> 00:44:34,880
I think we have a lot to learn
from those people.

960
00:44:34,880 --> 00:44:38,175
So yeah, I just
thanks for taking the time to share this.

961
00:44:38,258 --> 00:44:43,764
I will never think about yodeling
and accordions the same way ever again, so

962
00:44:43,847 --> 00:44:45,265
I appreciate that.

963
00:44:45,265 --> 00:44:48,769
Is there anything else you would like to
to add as we wrap this episode up?

964
00:44:48,852 --> 00:44:51,105
All right. Well,
thanks again for coming on the podcast.

965
00:44:51,105 --> 00:44:52,981
I appreciate it
Samantha!
Yep, it’s been fun.

966
00:44:54,233 --> 00:44:56,819
Thanks for listening to this episode
with Samantha.

967
00:44:56,819 --> 00:44:59,154
If you enjoyed this,
we did two other episodes with her

968
00:44:59,154 --> 00:45:01,699
that you can find
linked in the description below.

969
00:45:01,699 --> 00:45:06,370
You can find all our content over on
our website at anabaptistperspectives.org.

970
00:45:06,495 --> 00:45:10,624
We also have a monthly newsletter
that you can subscribe to there as well.

971
00:45:10,708 --> 00:45:14,002
Thanks so much for listening
and we'll catch you in the next episode.