but she eventually gave in and ultimately ended up doing a C-section. This was a very difficult thing for her as she comes from an Amish Mennonite heritage and has always been very leery of modern drugs and painkillers. Early in our marriage, she had a tooth filled without any local anesthesia. She has always refused to take OTC pain relievers like ibuprofen and acetaminophen. She strongly prefers herbal remedies.

On a mostly unrelated note, we had a big argument early in our marriage when I wanted to invest some of my earnings in the stock market (specifically, in a stock mutual fund). She viewed investing as gambling. If her family ever had any excess money growing up, they always used it to purchase tangible assets or to assist someone in need.

My wife wasn't raised in an orthodox Amish heritage, such as what is portrayed in the movie "Witness", but she was nonetheless raised with a very agrarian-communal value system with the accompanying strong work ethic (many aspects of this can be seen in that movie, such as the community barn-raising, etc.). Along those lines, her parents never thought about saving for retirement.

While my wife has never expressed this, I honestly believe she instinctively feels that saving for retirement is somewhat analogous to the children of Israel trying to collect excess manna. A greedy and worldy endeavor that is disapproved of by the Lord, especially if that retirement is spent in mostly recreational pursuits (she is more comfortable with the idea of achieving financial independence if the money enables church service, such as a full-time senior couple mission).

In contrast, my father taught financial planning for a living. So I grew up hearing about the virtues of investing (and the "miracle of compounding"). My wife eventually acquiesced on my investing but, to this day, she hates it when I dwell too much on it or when I watch business/investing channels & shows (CNBC, Bloomberg, Fox Business, etc.). To her, these are the embodiment of modern day greed (and putting too much trust in the arm of flesh).