An Amish prayer for all of us

During twenty-five years in Indiana, I've made some dear Amish friends. Instead of building churches, Old Order Amish worship in each other's homes, or under a tent if weather permits. After hearing a sermon, the congregation sings German hymns without any instruments. An Amish man was at worship one Sunday when he saw a little girl singing. It inspired him so much that he wrote this poetic prayer.

It was just a usual Sunday, we were met with one accord, 

Gathered in the house of worship, singing praises to the Lord.

When my eye beheld a daughter of the great Eternal King

And my heart within grew tender as I watched that daughter sing.

Solemnly she held her hymnbook while she listened quite intent

To the preacher's earnest reading, line by line the old hymn went.

Then our voices rose together, lifting song into the air,

And she too was sweetly singing, gladly sending up her share,

Though the deepness of the meaning was beyond her childish mind;

And the number which was called for Mother dear had helped her find.

As I watched, my own heart smote me and I had to bow my head,

For I'd heard a mighty sermon, though not a word was said.

Many times I too can hardly understand God's how and why,

And deeper shades of meaning He has hidden from my eye.

Oh that I might go on singing like the little maiden here

Even though the way's perplexing and the next step isn't clear.

Oh, that I might pour my efforts into doing what I can,

Well content with my small portion of our Father's master plan!

Couple says "I do" in center court

Kari Bordner is a guidance counselor at Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis, Indiana. She's been dating social studies teacher Jeff Vest for about 15 years. Vest is retiring this year, so they decided to make their union official. In the school gym.

They decided to wed at center court on a day they knew the gym would be available, the last day of school this year. They didn't tell anyone until the night before, when they sent invitations. Kari wore a while dress, and Jeff appears to be wearing some sort of coaching uniform. Green shirt, shorts and sneakers. So definitely not too formal. There's a video of the ceremony, and it sounds like quite a few people were in the bleachers.

Teens: You can't live with them, and sometimes you can't live without them

Catherine Ritchie has lived in the same home in Sapulpa, Oklahoma, for 58 years. Recently she was getting ready for bed in the bathroom when she turned around and the head of her bed was burning. "It was covered with flames," she said. She tried to put the fire out, but quickly gave up and called 911, and also hit her emergency call button. Then things got worse. "The smoke was so bad I couldn't get out of my room. I felt along the wall and felt a door and walked into a closet by mistake. I finally did find the door.

Meanwhile, four teens a few houses away were "looking around for something to do." The boys, ages 14-17, went outside and smelled smoke. Then they heard a house alarm go off, and they jumped into action. They tried to break down the front door of Ritchie's home, but they couldn't. Then Nick Byrd, 14, managed to get through the back door. He ran inside and found Ritchie in the hall, lost in smoke. "The young man was right there," she said. "He picked me up and I said 'I can walk' but he said, 'We're getting out of here.'" Ritchie got outside safely, and so did the teens. Firefighters stopped the flames before they spread. Ritchie said she's very grateful, saying the boys "were just special, as young as they were."

We're never too old to dance

London-born Suzelle Poole, 78, who now lives in Dallas, Texas, has performed all over the world, but she's still trying to improve her technique. She made her professional debut when she was ten, and continued dancing for 68 years, so far.

"My chin can always be higher and my toes more pointed," she insists. She still practices six days a week, while teaching up-and-coming ballerinas. She also performs at nursing homes for people who are older than herself and unable to go out. She believes everyone would benefit from being taught ballet, adding, "I'm always practicing and striving to improve."

Dancing with the Principal at the senior prom

When Helen Danis, 97, told her granddaughter, Julie Huddon, that she never attended a prom, 48-year-old Julie decided seventy years was long enough to wait. Helen said she graduated during the Great Depression. Money was short and she could not afford to go to her prom. Julie's son Evan was a senior this year at Pilgrim High School in Warwick, Rhode Island. After checking with the principal to make sure Helen could attend, Julie invited her.

Helen and Julie joined Evan and his friends as they rode to the prom on a trolley.  Later in the evening, Helen was named honorary prom queen! All the seniors clapped and cheered for her. Then they named school principal Gerald Habershaw honorary prom king, and he danced with Helen. Remembering her grandmother, Julie says, "She had a smile that didn't leave her face."

Our first crumb from Ellettsville, Indiana

Megan Humphreys-Savell graduated from Bloomfield High School and has been taking classes at Ivy Tech Community College since 2017. In junior high, she was separated from her family and placed in foster care. She lived with two different families before her best friend's mom adopted her. When she got to high school, art teacher and painter Wyatt LeGrand inspired her to develop her hobby as an artist into something more. By her senior year, she was LeGrand's cadet teacher. She now works as a teacher's aide at University Elementary School in Bloomington and also at Taco Bell in Ellettsville.

Recently she was told she'd be in a training video. She stood behind the counter and took the order of a man pretending to be a customer. She then asked him if he wanted to "round his bill up to the nearest whole dollar and donate the difference to the Taco Bell Foundation scholarship fund. He agreed, but then changed his mind, asking, "Can I actually round that up to $25,000? Because that's actually how much we're awarding you today from the Taco Bell Foundation." Humphreys'Savell plans to use the award to pay tuition at Indiana University. She'll study art education, and plans to become an art teacher. She was one of only six Taco Bell employees in the United States to receive an award of that amount.

A "crummy" anniversary

This month, "Crumbs of Comfort" marks it's fifth anniversary. Since 2014, a crumb has been added to the blog almost every day. There are now 1,696 crumbs of comfort listed by date in the archive on the right side of this page. Feel free to search the list for titles that interest you. Over the years, Crumbs has received 128,487 page views from readers in the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Germany, Indonesia, Belgium, Portugal and Ukraine.
Back in a few days.