Called to be Amish: My Journey from Head Majorette to the Old Order by Marlene C. Miller

Disclosure of material connection- I received a copy of the book from the publisher via Litfuse Group in exchange for my honest thoughts. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions stated are 100% my own.

About the book: 

Fewer than one hundred outsiders have joined the Old-Order Amish---and stayed---since 1950. Marlene C. Miller is one of them.

In this rare memoir, Marlene recounts her unhappy and abusive childhood, how she throws herself into cheerleading and marching band, and how she falls in love with Johnny, the gentle young Amish man who helps her lace her ice skates.

Against the wishes of both sets of parents, Marlene and Johnny get married and begin a family. Follow the author on this unusual journey to find out how God's love called her out of bitterness and depression and into the warm embrace of her new Amish community.

Accompany her as she dons an Amish dress and prayer covering and gets baptized. Learn how she endures the strain of ten children, a hundred-acre farm, and accidents and tragedy, and find out how she comes close to walking away from it all. Turning Amish has proven to be anything but plain and simple for this former majorette. But nearly fifty years later, Marlene is still living out God's call as an Old Order Amish woman.

My thoughts-

I have probably said on this blog countless times how fascinating I find the Amish people. I have read countless books in the Amish fiction genre, but I know that most of those can not be 100% accurate to how their daily lives are because they are written mainly by non-Amish people. It is difficult to get a glimpse into Amish life unless you happen to live somewhere like Lancaster County Pennsylvania where there is a ton of Amish land and people. It is rare that you see a book written by someone of the Amish faith, and even rarer still, to come across a book written by someone who chose the Amish faith from the outside. Just the sheer fact that Marlene C. Miller came from a traditional family drew me to this book. Called to be Amish is divided into three sections. The first section is devoted to Marelene's time before she was married, the second section is dedicated to her earlier years of marriage and committing to the Amish way of life and the last section is about her daily life on the farm and with her family. I enjoyed how neatly the book was laid out in the sections and found Marlene's story to be fascinating. I loved reading about her marriage, her kids, her faith and her life on the farm. There are several sad moments throughout the book as well that broke my heart for Marlene (specifically a very troubled relationship with her mother), but overall I found the book to be uplifting and insightful.  Bonus- Marlene has included some of her favorite Amish recipes at the end of the book! I would recommend Called to be Amish: My Journey from Head Majorette to the Old Order to anyone who is interested in the Amish way of life and of learning about one woman's journey to join the church.

Purchase a copy: http://bit.ly/1ESK6eR

About the author:

Marlene C. Miller joined the Amish as an adult and has been a member of the Old Order Amish for almost 50 years. She and her husband of 48 years live on a farm in Ohio surrounded by their nine children, more than 40 grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.