Amy Rice

My year, spiritually, has been characterized by two different things: struggle and discipline.

A friend of mine did me a giant favor recently. She talked someone out of giving me the gift of an eHarmony membership. The gifter in question is one of those people who think the state of matrimony is the ultimate ideal. Occasionally, I am privy to comments such as, “You’ll make someone a good wife someday because you can cook well,” or “I believe you’ll get married someday...."

It seems like an archaic term, "keeping Christmas." I remember it well from Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. And it does have a Dickensian quality to it.

When I was a child, I felt so honored to be the person who walks down the aisle to light the Advent candles during the church service. I still have a fondness for the Advent wreath, and I have one at home.

Breaking Amish premiered on TLC on Sept. 9. It follows four Amish and one Mennonite as they venture out into the world of the English (non-Amish). In Amish culture, teenagers are allowed to participate in a rumspringa, a period of time before their baptism as a full member of the Amish in which they explore the outside world.