The Heart of the Amish - A Book Review

The Heart of the Amish - Life Lessons on Peacemaking and the Power of Forgiveness by Suzanne Woods Fisher is a compilation of short inspirational stories on forgiveness.  They are true stories that have been gathered from various Amish communities.  The Amish believe in forgiveness.  No matter how they are wronged they do not seek revenge, but instead release their pain by offering forgiveness and many times go the extra mile by showing kindness and goodwill to those that wrong them.  

We are human and we all have been wronged or hurt by others.  Sometimes it is very hard to let go of the hurt, anger and bitterness that we feel.  We may find it hard to extend forgiveness to the person who embarrassed us in front of a group of people or the person who betrayed our trust, but imagine forgiving someone who murdered your child or someone who took advantage of your daughter.  The Amish forgive.  Not just the things that are easy to forgive, but also the things that are unthinkable.

This book is very moving.  For me, I found myself sharing some of the stories with my family members.  Some of the stories really amazed me.  There is so much to be learned from this book.  There is freedom in forgiveness and this book will inspire you to live a life that is willing to extend grace to those who wrong you.  

There are also a lot of great quotes in this book.  At the beginning of each chapter/short story an Amish proverb is included and I absolutely loved these.  For example:

There is no love without forgiveness and no forgiveness without love.

At the end of each short story there is a small section called "Reflections on Peacemaking"  where the author asks questions that will help the reader examine their own life as well as words of encouragement.  Then there is also a section after that called "Plain Truth" where Amish facts are included.  I loved this section and enjoyed the little tidbits of information included.  

I would definitely recommend this book to others.  It is encouraging and inspirational and if you love reading about the Amish you will love getting a deeper look into their lives!

***This book was provided to me by Revell Reads in exchange for my honest review.