In all his 19 years, the furthest Harmon Stoltzfus III had ventured away from his Bird-in-Hand home was a trip to Virginia for the Amish Mennonite Fellowship Meetings of 2005. Since all his family and friends lived in Lancaster there was really no reason to travel anywhere else, and so he didn’t. That, however, was about to change. January brought its usual cold, wind, and snow. It also brought to Harmon the cold realization that Arvilla wasn’t going to break up with Karl. He spent many lonely nights waiting for her to call, but she didn’t. At church and youth activities, he looked at her again and again, waiting for her to look back, but she didn’t. All he needed was one look from her pale, hazel eyes, one smile from her rosy, red lips, or one word of acknowledgement from her mysterious tongue; but he never got it.

Winter was the slow season on the farm. The cows still needed to be milked, the barn needed to be cleaned, and the eggs needed to be gathered. But the fields lay empty and Harmon and his brothers didn’t have much to do. Pete did what he usually did: nothing. So in the last weekend in January Harmon crawled into a large van in Ronks and headed for NBC. Traveling with Harmon were Willard, Henry, Mandy, Mary, and a few other youth from the area. They would be gone for 4 weeks. NBC was the acronym for NazarethBibleCollege. It was an Amish Mennonite bible school in western Kentucky. Now it wasn’t really a college, but those who attended liked to think of it as one.

Amish Mennonite Youth from all over the country gathered at Nazereth for three four week terms in the first three months of every year. Some went to study the Bible, some went to get away from home, some went to meet new people, but the majority went to find a mate. Now Harmon wasn’t sure exactly why he was going. He was going to get away from Bird-in-Hand and the Millie drama that had so enveloped his life. He was going to learn about the Bible. He wanted to meet new people. But he wasn’t sure about the girlfriend part. Millie was over and Arvilla was pending. She was the one he loved, but lately she’d been giving him nothing in return.

“Maybe you’ll meet some pretty girl from Ohio and fall madly in love with her,” said a voice in Harmon’s head as the van rolled through the hills of western PA.

 “Don’t you think that,” said another voice inside of him.

“But she doesn’t like you. Anyone can see that,” said the first voice.

“She acts like she doesn’t, but she’s just trying to make you work,” replied the second voice.

Harmon knocked his head against the van window. He looked out at the bare forest. The trees were swaying in the wind, their branches waving to and fro, as if they were crying for help. A wave of nostalgia swept across Harmon as he looked at the trees. For the first time he was leaving home. He would only be gone for a month, but he already missed the old farmhouse in Bird-in-Hand. He missed the old barn with its smell of cows and hay and its creaking timbers. He missed his mom and her words of encouragement.

His mind went back to his first day of school. He thought about the little lunch box his mom had handed to him. It had a picture of a sheep on it. The sheep was standing beside a shepherd. He could plainly remember opening it that day at lunch. The sandwich had been so good, and the chips and candy bar were even better. He remembered looking around at the other children and thinking he had the best lunch in the whole school.

His thoughts drifted. He thought of a summer day sometime in the 90s. After a long day in the fields, his dad had taken Pete and him out to the pond. He remembered the cool sensation he felt as the water washed over his body. That day he had worn a life jacket, but by the end of the summer he was swimming like a fish. He smiled as he recalled the day he had beaten Pete in a race and how mad Pete had been. Then he thought of his 13^th year. Willard, Henry, and he and a few girls had gone to instruction class at the church. He could almost hear Pastor Riehl’s voice quoting some hidden Old Testament Bible verse. He remembered how much sense it had all made then. And how good it had felt when he knelt in front of the whole church and received the water on his head. The way it had dripped onto his nose. He wanted so badly to wipe it away, but he didn’t. And standing up and shaking Pastor Riehl’s hand and giving a holy kiss for the first time. The feeling of manliness he felt when his Dad gripped his hand and said, “I’m proud of you.”

Those memories of childhood gave way to memories of adolescence - when the innocence of childhood was taken away by the reality of growing up. He could almost feel the pain in his heart as the memory of his first big argument with his father passed by. Harmon II did not allow Harmon to attend high school and this caused him much anger and bitterness. Most of his friends went to high school, but Harmon II was steadfast. No matter how much his second son begged he would not budge. Harmon remembered taking out his anger on an old cow named Maggie. It was right after school started and he wanted so badly to go. Maggie tried to kick him when he was fastening her milker and he grabbed her tail and twisted it until he felt it break. After that he had felt bad, but poor old Maggie still had a broken tail. Harmon wondered if her tail was healed.

Then he thought of the day he turned 16 and joined the youth group. He remembered how young and innocent he was then. He remembered when he first started noticing girls, and then the he recalled the night he had first seen Arvilla. He remembered the lights of the IntercoursePark, the smell of the grass, and the sound of the bat hitting the ball. He could almost feel the feeling of young love sweeping over him once again as he saw Arvilla sitting on the bleachers, talking to her friends. He had looked at her once, twice and by the third time, he was in love with her. Henry had told him that Arvilla attended another Beachy church in the area. And then one day Arvilla’s family started coming to Bird-in-HandAmishMennoniteChurch and Harmon could still feel the joy he had felt on the day she’d become a member there.    

Harmon sighed as he looked out the window. The trees and mountains gave way to the fields and bare hills of Ohio. I guess my life hasn’t been all that bad, thought Harmon. I had a good home. I’ve got a few good friends, and now I’m headed to NBC. I’m going to make the next 4 weeks the best weeks of my life. Who cares about Arvilla.

Harmon enjoyed the rest of the trip to Nazareth. Willard and he played Rook with two girls from GapAmishMennoniteChurch. Harmon had never met the girls before. Their names were Martha Stoltzfus and Karen Esh. Harmon and Martha soon figured out they were second cousins. “Whatever,” said Karen, “I have so many relatives I don’t know most of my second cousins.”

“Yeah,” Harmon replied, “I think I’m related to like everyone in LancasterCounty.”

“It’s kinda hard to find a girlfriend isn’t it,” joked Willard.

“Yeah,” said Harmon, “chuckling.”

Karen looked at Harmon. Finally she said, “Didn’t you have a girlfriend or was that just a rumor.”

Harmon returned her look. It was the first time he’d noticed her and she was kinda cute. She had brown hair and brown eyes and wore glasses. She wasn’t really pretty but not sore to the eyes either. Where have you been all my life, thought Harmon. “Uh, yes I had a girlfriend but we broke up.” I don’t really like to talk about it,’ said Harmon.

“Oh,” Karen replied, “Sorry.”

Harmon looked as sad as he possibly could. He had read somewhere women try to comfort men with broken hearts. He decided he would play that card at Nazareth.

The children played rook until they were well into the state of Indiana. Then darkness overtook them and they took naps or chatted with each other. Harmon and his friends became better acquainted with the girls from Gap. Willard was falling for Martha and Henry was falling for Karen. Harmon grinned as he watched his two friends. He leaned back in his seat and a smile crept across his face. What young and innocent lads they are, he thought. Neither of them knows a thing about love.

After awhile Karen turned to Harmon and looked at him. He was sitting there with his eyes closed. He opened them just in time to see her looking away. Ahah, he thought, I’m not even at Bible school yet and there’s already a girl after me. He fell into a doze thinking of the unlimited possibilities Bible school Thoughts of Arvilla were far from his mind.

The next morning the youth from LancasterCounty arrived at Nazereth. It was about 10 miles from the town of Beulah, Kentucky. Beulah was a small town in the hills of western Kentucky. The major attractions in the town were a Wal-Mart, a Sonic, and a Texaco. It was Saturday morning, beginning of second term. Throughout the day youth from Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Georgia, Virginia, and a few other states showed up. By evening there were close to a hundred youth gathered at the little school.

The boys stayed in the boys’ dorm and the girls stayed in the girls’ dorm. Harmon was in a small room with 5 other boys. There were 3 bunk beds, a bathroom, and not much else. Harmon was angry because Willard and Henry weren’t in his room. His bunkmates were Allan Miller from Ohio, John Yoder from Illinois, Matt Nisley from Arkansas, and two other weird boys who looked like they just got off the farm. John and Allan seemed pretty cool, but Harmon wasn’t sure. They sat and chatted in the dorm for awhile and then they went to the chapel for introductions.

The chapel was full of potential. Young Amish Mennonites from all over the country. The next great generation of the Beachy church. Harmon sat there and looked around. He was glad he knew Willard and Henry and the other people from LancasterCounty. He looked around some more and his hopes of meeting a lot of nice young ladies began to fade. Most of the women looked like they didn’t care much about their looks. They wore huge coverings and long-sleeved dresses. Harmon thought a few should be introduced to Clearasil. I doubt if they shave their legs, he thought to himself.

Willard whispered to Harmon, “Wow, talk about low chick selection.”

“Yeah,” Harmon whispered back, “It’s pretty bad.” Look at that girl there.” He pointed to a big girl with a rag of a dress on and a face covered with pimples. “If I met her in a dark alley, I’d run.”

Willard snickered. “And I thought I’d find a woman here.”

There were a few cute girls, however, and somehow they soon managed to form an impenetrable clique. Sara and Susan from HolmesCounty, Rebecca from Goshen, and Charity from Iowa were established as the cool girls to be around. Karen and Martha from Gap were also in the group.

That night after the introduction/church in the chapel, the students ate a snack and played volleyball until 9:30. Then they gathered in their respective dorms for a sharing time and then they went to bed.

Harmon lay in his bed thinking for a long time. He couldn’t sleep. He couldn’t listen to music. He couldn’t turn on a light to read a book. So he just lay their and thought. How am I going to make it here for four weeks, he thought. The rules are so strict. The schedules are so set, and all we are going to do is go to church. All the girls are either ugly or snobbish. Well I guess I kinda know Karen and Martha already. Maybe it’ll go better. Harmon wished he could drive his escort up and down 340, roll the windows down, and listen to the Gospel Express. He wished he could text Arvilla. He even wished he could take Millie on a date. One of his room mates broke into a steady snore. Harmon sighed and pulled the covers up over his head. Tomorrow, he thought, it will be fun. He fell into a fitfull sleep.

Back in Bird-in-Hand things were going quite well for Arvilla. Since her blowup everything had gone exactly as any young Amish Mennonite girl could wish. Karl was a changed man. He no longer spent all their dates talking about himself. Instead, he asked Arvilla about her life, encouraged her, and seemed generally interested in her. Arvilla was happy and hardly ever thought about Harmon.

By the time Valentines Day rolled around, Arvilla was envisioning a two bedroom house on the corner of Creek Hill and Horseshoe. She constantly thought about her wedding day and who would be in the bridal party and what color everyone would wear and where the flowers would be located. She fantasized about a honeymoon in a tropical island and wondered incessantly when Karl would pop the question.

However, on Valentines Day, Arvilla woke up thinking about the one and only, Richard Mast. She didn’t know why and she didn’t want to, but that’s how it was. Some may say she was still in love with him, others may say she was simply having a flash back, and others may say one never fully gets over that first love. When one is free of the shackles of heartbreak and unfettered by the knowledge lost love, he or she dives wildly into a relationship. And then one day, when it’s all over, the person looks desperately about, not knowing where it went wrong. Arvilla had pushed her memories of Richard into the back recesses of her brain. She no longer loved or wanted him, but sometimes it came back and she didn’t know what to do.

So on the morning of Valentines Day she was thinking about Richard as she waited tables at the Kling House restaurant in Intercourse. She thought about Karl a few times and was glad he was her boyfriend, but she wished with all her heart that she could talk to Richard and tell him how she felt.

As morning turned to noon, her day only got worse. An old tourist couple grumbled about their poached eggs and didn’t leave any tip and Arvilla felt like running after them and giving them a piece of her mind. “I did everything I could,” she mumbled to herself as she cleared their table. “And I didn’t even make their food.” I even offered to bring them other eggs.” How stupid.”

That’s when one of her coworkers came running through the restaurant. She had a smile on her face. “Arvilla,” she said, “come quickly.” There’s something up here that I’m sure you’ll want to see.”

Arvilla quickly wiped her hands on a towel and ran after her friend. When she got to the door she stopped in awe. There in a vase were a dozen red roses. She quickly ran over to them and held them to her face, taking in their sweet fragrance. Attached was a note that said, “Arvilla, Happy Valentines Day. See you tonight. Love Karl.”

Arvilla’s mood suddenly went from melancholy to one of intense happiness. She was so happy to be dating Karl. Although he hadn’t yet verbally said it, Karl loved her and she loved him. And why wouldn’t she, since he was goodlooking, smart, spiritual, funny, and the coolest guy in Bird-in-Hand.

Eight Hundred miles away, Harmon spent his day thinking about Arvilla. It was Valentines Day and he had no one to give his love to. He went to his classes and he enjoyed them, but the love he had in his heart was just aching to come out, and he had no one to give it to. He made a few new friends and he had an argument with a teacher about the true meaning of the word, “Faith,” but the rest of his day was too boring to detail in the short pages of our story. Little did Harmon know, that his life was about to take a drastic change for the better. (by iw 7/21/07 to be continued).

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Read Our Hero Harmon next week to see what happens to Harmon. Plus an update on Millie.