Auntie Anne’s giant pretzels are an iconic staple of shopping malls. What may not be known, however, is the darkness the company’s founder, Anne Beiler, had to wade through to create the iconic brand. Beiler was born to an Old Order Amish family, meaning she grew up without electricity and modern conveniences. Her family would eventually become “black car Amish,” meaning they could have some modern conveniences. Spiritually, Beiler was absorbing her family’s motto: “Life is good, and God is harsh.” “I wanted to be a good girl and obey all the Ten Commandments. I lived with the fear that, if I did something bad, God would be displeased with me,” she told The Christian Post.

Her spiritual life took an especially dark turn after a tragic farming accident killed her 19-month-old daughter, Angela Joy. The event devastated Beiler’s marriage to her husband, Jonas, leading to a period of silence and inner darkness. As Anne floundered, she sought pastoral counsel. Little did she know, the “counseling” would only make things worse. When she informed the pastor of the distance between her and Jonas, she found he had ulterior motives. “The pastor said that Jonas and I would never be able to connect again because of the tragedy. But, he said, he could be what I needed. By the end of the session, I was feeling confused about everything,” she recalled on the “Overcome” podcast. “In my mind, ‘meeting my needs’ meant getting together, talking, and sharing. But at the end of the session, the pastor walked me to his office door, gave me a long and close hug, and then … kissed me.”

The pastor threatened her not to tell anyone. The abuse would continue for seven years, intensifying into rape. On the outside, Beiler continued to appear as the good housewife and mother, but inside she was dying. It wasn’t until rumors of her pastor abusing other women in their community, including her own sister, came to light that Beiler finally found the courage to leave. It took her six months, however, to tell her husband, thanks to reading James 5:16, which states, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” When she confessed, she didn’t find anger but concern. Her husband offered to let her leave the marriage but to take the kids since the children needed their mother. The couple chose to stay together and after seeking real counsel, Beiler was able to understand the full extent of the abuse and her role as a victim.

Five years after confessing to her husband, Anne and Jonas opened a pretzel stand in 1987. What started off as a modest way to make additional money, however, soon took off. “No capital, no business plan, no education beyond eighth grade. But God had a plan. He saw who I really was. He taught me and led me every step of the way,” Beiler recalled. That small stand would grow into the beloved pretzel chain that noses across the US, and globally, have come to love. Beiler sold the chain in 2005 but still travels around sharing her story and giving hope to others. “God gave me a pretzel,” she said. “And then He gave me a platform.”