An Amish Miracle - A Book Review

An Amish Miracle is a book compiled of three Amish Novellas by three different Authors.  Included is Always In My Heart by Mary Ellis, Always His Providence by Ruth Reid and Always Beautiful by Beth Wisemen.  It was not until I began the second story that I realized that all three Novellas take place in the same Amish community and all the character's intertwine.  I absolutely loved that the authors worked together to do this and it added to the enjoyment of the stories.  Once I started reading these beautifully written stories it was hard to stop.  I love fiction books that portray a faith in God that is encouraging to read and deals with things that I can relate with and each one of these stories did exactly that.

Another thing that each short story has in common is that each main character needs and is praying for a miracle of some sort.  God provides for each of them in ways that was beyond (and better) than their thinking.

In the first story Always In My Heart, Hope Bowman believes that she is being punished by God for giving up her son for adoption when she was 16 years old.  She has kept a terrible secret from everyone including her husband.  She finally realizes she must make peace with herself, God and her family.  She tells her husband the truth of her past.  Her husband has desperately wanted a son, even though God has blessed them with 4 daughters.  He has a hard time dealing with it at first, but soon realizes that Hope was not to blame and was following her own fathers orders.  Hope has always prayed for the son she gave up, but she is also praying that God would bless her and her husband with a boy of their own.  Much to her surprise God answers her prayer when a 15 year old boy shows up on their doorstep...the son she gave up for adoption.  This is a story of faith, of forgiveness and of healing.  I enjoyed reading this novella so much and thought it was beautifully written.  The only complaint I have is that it was too short.  I felt that the end of the story was a little rushed and would of loved to have more details at the end.

Always His Providence is about Rosa Hostetler who is a widow.  Her husband died while saving his best friend Adam from a burning barn.  Before he died he asked Adam to take care of Rosa.  Rosa's late husband also left her in bad financial shape and she has one month to pay her delinquent taxes or she will lose her farm.  She is very proud and refuses to ask for help from the community or from Adam.  She depends on her income from selling eggs, but when an Englisher neighbor's dog begins to kill her chickens everything is put to the test.  The miracle that God provides for Rosa is so completely unexpected.  Such a great story about healing, learning to trust in God and not yourself or others and excepting love again.

Always Beautiful is about Becky Byler who is eighteen and overweight.  Her insecurities and low self esteem has brought her to the side of a fast flowing creek.  Becky is unable to swim and is considering taking her own life.  She prays and asks God for a miracle...to make her thin.  In just a few short months Becky loses the weight and the temptation that food had over her.  She no longer compares herself to the other girls and feels she is as good as they are, she is even dating Matt, the most handsome boy in the community.  Even though she is finally pleased with the way she looks she begins to realize that she does not like the person she has become.  Through it all she has even lost her best friend Elam, who has always been the one person who always stood by her side and truly loved her for who she was.  Is it too late for Becky to make things right?  This a great story about self-image, pride and the realization that sometimes we have to learn lessons the hard way, but God's way is always the best and if we stay true to Him he works everything out for our good.

If I could give this book more than 5 stars I would.  I truly enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading Amish fiction!

***This ebook was provided to me by the publisher through the booksneeze blogging for books program.

The Headmistress of Rosemere - A Book Review

I have been anxiously waiting for The Headmistress of Rosemere to be released ever since I finished Book One in the Whispers on Moors series.  I absolutely loved the first book and The Headmistress of Rosemere was equally as good.  The author Sarah E. Ladd is an amazing writer and has a way of writing the gives the reader such a clear picture of the story.  I feel as if I am transported to another time within the pages of her books.  There is a great combination of romance, suspense and a little bit of action.  I never considered myself a fan of the regency era, but these regency novels are the best!  I am already counting down the days till the 3'rd book in this series comes out and if it is anything like the other two I know I will love it as well!

You don't necessarily have to read these books in order.  It will not effect the story at all.  They are both so good though, that I do recommend reading both.  Just be prepared for lack of sleep, because you will not want to stop reading!

About The Headmistress of Rosemere:

Patience Creighton is the headmistress of Rosemere.  At the age of 25 she already considers herself a spinster and is content with running the all girls school that her father started.  Since her father's death a lot has changed for Patience.  Her mother  has withdrawn into a deep depression and spends her days in bed.  Her brother, Rowden disappeared after their father's funeral and they have not heard from him in months.  Despite the difficulties within her family, Patience runs the school with ease.

William Sterling owns Rosemere and is a man who has made poor choices throughout his life.  He has gotten himself into serious financial trouble and his creditors want their money now.  One night he is assaulted by those he is in debt to and he ends up on the doorsteps of his tenant, The Rosemere School for Young Ladies.  Patience tends to his wounds and thus begins a romantic interest between the two.  Patience is very hesitant of William because of the rumors she has heard, but his kindness and charm speaks louder.

The creditors soon target the school for girls and danger ensues.  On top of that a secret from William Sterling's past comes to light, a secret that William himself didn't even know about.  And if that is not enough Rowden, her brother returns out of the blue with a new wife and is taking charge of everything.
Patience finally turns to God for guidance and everything begins to fall into place.  Will William be able to get his life straightened out and be the man that Patience deserves or will he fall back into his drinking and gambling ways?

***This book was provided to me by the publisher through booksneeze.

Carolina Gold - A Book Review

Carolina Gold by Dorothy Love takes place right after the Civil War, but for Charlotte Fraser the battles are just beginning.  After her dad dies Charlotte returns to Fairhaven and is determined to save her families rice plantation.  She meets many obstacles along the way.  Lack of money, finding workers and supplies, not to mention, most people do not think that a woman should be doing the kind of work that she is doing, but Charlotte stays focused and determined to do whatever it takes to persevere.

To earn a little extra money Charlotte agrees to tutor the two young daughters of her neighbor, Nicholas Betancourt.  Nicholas is a widow and has his own problems of trying to save his plantation.  When Charlotte learns that Nicholas may have a claim on her land she becomes very distraught.  Being the time in history that it is, the correct paperwork has been misplaced so the proof she needs is no where to be found.  Once again, Charlotte becomes determined to uncover the facts that she needs to stay on her beloved plantation.

I love the determination of Charlotte and how she perseveres no matter what obstacles
come her way.  I did find the book a little slow and hard to muddle through at times, but it was worth it towards the end when everything started to come together.

I also really loved the fact that the author was inspired to write this novel by a real live historical figure Elizabeth Waties Allston Pringle who lived from 1845-1921.  I love when a historical fiction romance novel intertwines real life historical events within its pages and the author did a lovely job of this!

***This book was provided to me by the publisher through the booksneeze blog review program in exchange for my review.

Christmas Party Games

Every year my family and my sister's family comes together to decorate my mom's Christmas tree.  This has been a tradition of ours since the first year I moved away from home.  When our kids were little they loved it, but as they have gotten older their enthusiasm in it is not as great as it once was.  Last year we started a new tradition and turned the whole "Christmas Tree Trimming" night into a fun Christmas party and everyone loves it!!! We still have our usual party foods and decorate mam maw's tree, but now we have added fun Christmas games and end the night with Dirty Santa.  If you are not familiar with what Dirty Santa is, don't worry, it is nothing dirty.  Just a fun way to exchange Christmas gifts.  This does not take the place of the regular gifts we give to each other for Christmas, it's just an early fun gift giving game! 

Here are the games (and their descriptions) we played this year.

HUMDINGER

I love this game!  If you have ever played Cranium you know how much fun and laughter this game can bring.  A person hums and everyone else has to guess the song.  Of course for a Christmas party you need Christmas songs.  Here are the one's we used.  You can use your favorite holiday songs and make your own list!

Angels We Have Heard on High

Frosty the Snowman

Joy to the World

Grandma Got Ran Over by a Reindeer

Baby It's Cold Outside

Deck the Halls

Go Tell It on the Mountain

I'll be Home for Christmas

Silent Night

Carol of the Bells

Jingle Bell Rock

Winter Wonderland

The First Noel

O Come all ye Faithful

We Wish you a Merry Christmas

Feliz Navidad

Hark the Harold Angels Sing

Away in the Manger

The 12 Days of Christmas

I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus

O Little Town of Bethlehem

Here Comes Santa Claus

Mary Did You Know

Do You Hear What I Hear

CHRISTMAS CATCHPHRASE

If you are familiar with Heads Up, the super fun tablet app, then you will know how to play this game.  A person has a phrase and has to try to get the players to guess the phrase by either acting it out or giving clues.  For example, if your phrase is Three Wise Men your clue could be:  "more than two really smart dudes".  Here is the list of phrases that we used.

Three Wise Men

Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer

The Grinch

Elf

Wrapping Presents

Caroling

Snow Angels

Mary and Joseph

Sleigh

Christmas Lights

Jingle Bells

Christmas Shopping

Little Drummer Boy

It's a Wonderful Life

Christmas with the Kranks

Frosty the Snowman

Ornaments

Partridge in a Pear Tree

Silver Bells

White Christmas

Gold, Myrrh and Frankincense

String Popcorn

CHRISTMAS ARTIST

See who is the most artistic in your family by giving them this fun drawing challenge.  I gave each person a sturdy piece of cardboard and a pen.  Each person then put the cardboard on top of their head and followed my directions.  

1.   Draw a line for the floor

2.  Draw a Christmas tree

3.  Add decorations

4.  Draw a star on top of the tree

5.  Draw a fireplace with a mantel next to the tree

6.  Draw a stocking hanging from the mantel

7.  Draw a present below the tree

Then we graded them

2 points if tree touches the floor

2 points if stocking is touching the mantel

1 point if star touches the tree

1 point if the star is above the tree

1 point for every ornament on the tree

1 point if your fireplace does not touch the tree because that would be a fire hazard. ;)

2 points if present is under the tree

There are several variations of this game as well and last year we played it a little differently.  We closed our eyes and did not do it on top of our head and we drew snowmen instead.  Just use your imagination!

HUMAN CHRISTMAS TREE

We got a lot of laughs out of this game.  We split up into two groups and each group was given a roll of green crepe paper, a package of red garland, candy canes, various colors of constructions paper, scissors and tape.  Each team had to choose one team member to be "the tree" and the other team members trimmed the tree!  Check out the pictures below to see how this turned out!

STOCKING SUPRISE

All you need for this one is a stocking and stocking stuffers.  After I put the objects in the stocking I pinned it closed and each person had to feel and try to guess what was in the stocking.  Here are the items I used, but you can use anything you have around the house.

ornament

coaster

pinecone

candy cane

jingle bell

pencil sharpener

spool of thread

yo-yo

Christmas bow

snowman figurine

bag of marbles

DIRTY SANTA

There are several variations of this game, but for our family we set a $5.00 price limit.  We all purchase and wrap our gift, but we do not include a name tag.  Then we put the gifts in the middle of the room and each person draws a number.  The first person picks a gift from the pile, the person with the second number can either pick a gift from the pile or take person #1's gift, and that goes on until every number has gone and we keep stealing until the last gift is finally chosen.   After that we go back to the person with number 1 and they open their gift and the person who purchased it lets them know it is from them....so forth and so on.  The only rules we have is that you cannot choose your own gift and you cannot have a tug of war with a gift. example - same two people taking back and forth from each other, you can however get the same gift back, but you can't take it back immediately.   I know some people choose to open the gifts and then steal them, but for our family we decided to wait until the end to open.  I have played it both ways and it is equally as fun!  

Here are a few pictures from our night of Christmas fun!

The Governess of Highland Hall - A Book Review

The Governess of Highland Hall by Carrie Turansky takes place in London, England in the early 1900's and is about Missionary Julia Foster.  Julia has worked along side her parents as a missionary in India for years, but when her father gets sick they are forced to return to England.  Julia gets a job as a governess at Highland Hall to help her family financially.  Julia has been hurt deeply in the past by a former fiance and has no intention of falling for someone again.

William is the Baronet of Highland Hall and is a widow left with two young children.  His wife, though now has passed on, was not faithful to him and he is very leery of women.  He is now consumed with saving his deceased cousin's home (Highland Hall) and raising his own children and the two ill-behaved teenage girls of his deceased cousin's.

Even though both of them are guarding their hearts they both are determined to help their families and join forces and become fast friends and confidants.  William is very strict on following the rules of society and will not allow anyone in his home to court below their station, so what will he do when he has to make a choice between Julia and Highland Hall.

I love Julia's character and as her strong faith and gentle spirit begins to rub off on those around her was an encouragement to me as a reader.  I did have a little bit of a hard time getting into the book at the beginning, but after I the first couple chapters I could hardly put it down.   If you love Regency type stories then you will be sure to love this book.

***This book was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for my review.

BE SURE TO CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE BOOK!

Plain Peace - A Book Review

Plain Peace by Beth Wiseman is the sixth book in The Daughters of the Promise Series.  I did not realize it was a series when I got the book and you certainly don't need to read the whole series to enjoy this book, however I do think it would make it more interesting.  There were several times that I was a little lost with the characters and wished I had a little more background.  About half way through the book I realized that I had read one other book in this series and I started refreshing my memory and now I would really like to read the whole series from start to finish.  Sometimes I do feel that Beth Wiseman's portrayal of the Amish is a little far fetched and unbelievable, but overall her books are enjoyable.

More about the book:

Anna has been raised by her grandparents.  Her grandfather is the Bishop and is very strict.  Due to his rules and sternness all the available suitors are afraid to court Anna.  Then Jacob Hostetler moves to town and decides that Anna is worth the challenge.  His family has suffered a great loss and are all still morning the loss of Jacob's sister.

When Anna's grandfather finds out that Jacob and Anna did not go to a singing as they said they would, he forbids them to see each other and refuses to hear the reason behind the change of plans.  Anna chooses deception and continues to see Jacob.  Will she continue to lie so she can have her dream of a family or will she realize that honesty is always best and that her faith is most important.

***This book was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for my review.

The Jesus Story - A Book Review

The story of Jesus Christ is the most remarkable story ever told.  Whether you are a new Christian or a seasoned Christian, reading the 4 gospels in the New Testament is something that never grows old.  There is so much to glean from God's Word.

In The Jesus Story - Everything that Happens in the New Testament in Plain English, Dr. William H. Marty tells the story of Jesus in an easy to read chronological account.  It is very easy to understand and would be great for someone who is just learning about the Lord.  However, I do feel that for older Christians it may not capture their attention as well.  I found it a little "hum-drum" at times and I would much rather read the accounts straight from the Bible.  I do think that new Christians and those who are not familiar with The Word of God might benefit from this book, but I would still encourage those same people to pick up The Bible and read the stories straight from the source.

I did like how the stories are biblically accurate and did not sway from the truth.  The author truly has just taken the accounts, put them in order and wrote it in plain English.  I think it would be a great gift idea along with a Bible for a new Christian or for someone that you are trying to win to Christ.

***This book was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for my review.

Seeking Christmas - A Book Review

As the holiday season is fast approaching I find my self once again looking for a good devotional book that will help our family focus on the True Meaning of Christmas.

Seeking Christmas - Finding the True Meaning Through Family Traditions by Renee Robinson is a great book that will fulfill this purpose for me.  I was given the chance to review it through the Book Crash blog review program and I am so pleased with what I found within the pages.

The book is arranged to be used over a 7 day period.  You can arrange this to fit your schedule.  Whether that be every day the week before Christmas, maybe even 2 weeks before Christmas or maybe you would prefer to spread the 7 sections out through the weeks leading up to Christmas.  The great thing about it is that you can adjust it to what works best for you.

Each day is separated into sections.  The first sections is REMEMBER.  This is for adults, I found this section to a great way to "set the mood" and to help the parent get their juices flowing and ready to share and make new "things to remember" as a family.

The second section is READ.  Each day includes a Bible scripture to be read as a family.  If you have older children there are extra scriptures for further study.

The third section is REFLECT.   This is a time to talk about the scriptures you just read.  There are also questions divided up by age group.  That is another great thing about this book!  It is great for kids of all ages!

The fourth section is RESEARCH.  In this section you learn some neat historical facts about Christmas.  For instance, you can read about the history of holly, the poinsettia and the candy cane to name a few.  I really loved this section and thought it added a little spice to the book.

The last section is REJOICE.  Here the evenings activity is summarized.  The author recommend keeping a Christmas Journal and during the section of REJOICE there are journal prompts as to what to write in the journal.  I love to keep a journal and a Christmas journal incorporated into the family devotion is a great idea.  I can't wait to get our started this year and how great it will be to look back each year and see what God has and is doing in our lives!

One more great thing about this book is that when you purchase this book you are helping orphans.   The author donates 10% to organizations that reach out to change an orphan's life.

For more information on this book and the author you can visit www.renee-robinson.com.

The Dawn of Christmas - A Book Review

Cindy Woodsmall is one of my most favorite Amish author's and I always love her short Christmas novellas.  Once again she has won me over with The Dawn of Christmas.  If you have read  any of her previous Christmas stories you are sure to recognize a few of the characters in this book as well since all the Christmas stories take place in Apple Ridge.

The story begins the day before Sadie is to be married and she finds her soon-to-be husband in the barn with her cousin Aquilla.  Sadie is devastated and to make matters worse no one seems to believe what she saw and Daniel and Aquilla are denying everything.  Sadie knows that she cannot marry a man that she can never trust and her father is the only one who stands by her side in her decision.

Levi lives with his brother Andy and is helping him raise his son.  Andy's wife ran out on him and it seems that Levi was left with a poor impression of woman.  He has no intention of ever marrying and is content with his life of training horses.  If only his family would stop pestering him to find a wife.

Levi gets thrown from his horse and Sadie finds him and stays with him until help arrives.  A friendship blossoms and soon they decide to "pretend" to court so their families will stop pressuring them.  Soon their feelings grow deeper even though they both are fighting it, but then everything comes crashing down and it seems that both of them feel that their feelings about the opposite gender were correct all along.

This is a great story for a cold day.  Grab a cup of tea or coffee, a warm cozy blanket and curl up and read!

***This book was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for my review.

What Once Was Lost - A Book Review

What Once Was Lost by Kim Vogel Sawyer is a heartwarming historical romance that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Christina Willems has been running the Brambleville Asylum for the Poor ever since her father died a year ago.  When tragedy strikes and a fire leaves the house uninhabitable, Christina has to find shelter for all the people in her care.  They are all like family to her and having them all scattered about town soon becomes the least of her worries.

When Christina approaches the towns people she has no problem fining places for those in her care to stay, all that is except for poor little Tommy, the eleven year old blind boy.  Christina only has one other option and she knows she must approach Levi, the reclusive mill owner.  Levi has lived as a hermit and has no desire to let anyone into his life.  He reluctantly agrees to take Tommy in on a temporary basis and soon forms a strong bond with the boy.

As the weeks go by it seems like one catastrophe after another takes place that hinder the rebuilding of the mission home.  Christina begins to wonder if she will ever be able to fulfill her desire to rebuild the mission and to resume the job that she has dedicated her whole life to.

There are so many things I love about this book.  I love the character of Christina.  She has a servants heart and she wants so much to help others and is trying to do things like her father would do.  Tommy's character pulled on my heart strings and it was at times heart wrenching to read how he deals with the rejection he has experienced due to his blindness.  Then there is Cora, a young lady that has made many mistakes and fears rejection herself if anyone finds out the secret she is hiding.  I can't forget Levi, he is so good with Tommy and gives him the independence that the boy has needed.  Although most of the book is about rebuilding the mission home there are glimpses of romance that melted my heart.  I love reading a book that I can feel uplifted from and this book did exactly that for me.  I was interested from the first page to the last.  I would definitely recommend the book to anyone who enjoys historical romance novels.  

***This book was provided to my by the publisher in exchange for my review.