Simple Pleasures: Stories from My Life as an Amish Mother by Marianne Jantzi

Young Amish homemaker Marianne Jantzi invites readers into her family s life and Amish community. The mother of four young children, Jantzi writes about her daily routines and heartfelt faith with equal measures of wit and warmth. Sewing, cleaning, cooking, gardening, and helping to manage the family store take up most hours in her day, but Jantzi finds time to pen columns for the Connection, a magazine beloved by Amish and Mennonite readers. Never sugarcoating the frustrations of motherhood, Jantzi tells it like it is, broken washing machine and bickering children and all. But through her busy days, Jantzi finds strength in simple pleasures of family, fellowship with her Amish community, and quiet time with God.


About The Author

Marianne Jantzi is an Amish writer and homemaker in Ontario, Canada. Formerly a teacher in an Amish school, Jantzi now educates and inspires through her “Northern Reflections” column for The Connection, a magazine directed mainly to Amish and plain communities across the U.S. and Canada. She and her husband have four young children and run a shoe store among the Milverton Amish settlement of Ontario.




My Review

Marianne Jantzi gives a wonderful opportunity to look into the home and life of a young Amish woman, and her family. The book takes us with her and her daily life, and a very busy one at that.
We are given a chance to see through Marianne’s eyes what she does each day, and you will need to come up for air, she seems to be the energizer bunny. Of course, life is not always easy, as with everyone, and she has had her struggles, and times of rushing her son with asthma to the hospital. Loved how honest she is with sharing, like a lot of Mom’s his medicine with her younger son. She suspected that Karl with his barking cough has developed the same aliment as Eric, and she used his puffer, in the end she has to take Karl to the hospital and finds he has croup, so like the rest of us.
You are given a rare opportunity to be privy to this busy woman’s life, and although sometime it is a bit rambling, I enjoyed my time with her.
Life isn’t just riding around in buggy, especially when you have four you children, and a shoe business to tend. Loved her thoughts when she admitted as a school girl she loved going back to school, and leaving the endless work behind, but in the end as an adult she enjoyed doing all the cooking, cleaning, gardening, canning, etc.
If you have an interest in Amish family life, don’t miss this chance to really be absorbed into their home.
I received this book thought Liftuse Publicity Book Tours, and was not required to give a positive review.