Amish story full of history and suspense -- The Amish Nanny

The Amish Nanny by Mindy Starns Clark and Leslie Gould picks up where The Amish Midwife left off, continuing the story of the sister of the previous book's main character.  Mindy and Leslie have done a great job once again!

Ada Rupp's health has improved dramatically with the help of information provided by her recently discovered sister Lexie.  But the condition of Ada's heart is not so great as it appears that her plan to enjoy her long-held desire for teaching and her dream of love and marriage with Will Gundy are both hitting seemingly impenetrable obstacles.  Ada begins to wonder if she might need the rumpspringa she never really experienced -- but in a different way -- an opportunity to break free from a sheltered life and see new places.

The chance for adventure comes when Ada, Alice, and Christy are called upon to make a trip to Switzerland to handle some family business.  Ada is excited about the possibility of finally meeting her birth mother who gave her up as an infant.  Along the way Ada meets Daniel Hart, a handsome young Mennonite with a deep interest in history, and discovers there might be a chance for a different kind of future than she had imagined. 

In addition to the fictional account of the adventures of Ada and friends, this book is full of historical information about the Amish and other Anabaptist groups.  That history is intriguing in itself but does not in the least take away from the enjoyment of a great Amish story.  I hope this is not the last we'll hear of  the interesting people in The Women of Lancaster County series.

Love & War

"Marriage is fabulously hard."  Not exactly the most romantic or fairy-tale description of marriage!  But that is the premise from which John & Stasi Eldredge begin their book,  Love & War: Find Your Way to Something Beautiful in Your Marriage.  John and Stasi share very honestly (often painfully so) passages in their own twenty-five year marriage as they describe this important relationship as "a great love story, set in the midst of war."

At some points, the message of the book seems discouraging and depressing, as the authors paint the picture that the difficulties and disappointments of marriage are inevitable, that they are common to all marriages.  The Eldredges describe marriage as a love story that God is telling, but a story fiercely opposed by the Enemy.  They remind couples, though, that fighting together in God's strength against the Enemy rather than against each other is the way to win the war.  At some times, John and Stasi blend their thoughts and experiences, and at others they share from their individual male and female perspectives to give a more well-rounded view of marriage.

While it seemed that in some ways this book presented more problems than solutions, I believe it contains useful guidance and direction for married couples -- whether newly married or many years down the road. 

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(I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah's Blogging for Books program for my honest review.)

LEARNING

I had the opportunity to be one of the Karen Kingsbury fans chosen to receive and review an advance copy of the latest Bailey Flanigan book -- LEARNING.  Here's the review I submitted:

Learning . . .

Love well . . . laugh often . . . live for Christ.

When you can’t take another step, God will carry you.

When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and

armies bigger than yours do not be afraid.  For the Lord your God who brought

you up out of Egypt will be with you. 

Such important lessons for Bailey Flanigan and friends . . . and for all of us who have the privilege of reading this, another great story by Karen Kingsbury.

How do you shine for Christ in a place where He is not welcome?  How do you go on when health concerns threaten to destroy your family?  How do you know when you’ve found the one you’ll share a forever kind of love with?  Bailey, Cody, Brandon, and even some of the Baxters, struggle to learn answers to questions like these.

One of the things that make a KK book so special is the way the lessons come alive off the pages of fiction and hit you right where you are.  I barely had time to read this book and get my review in on time because when the book arrived I was out of state for the birth of my first grandchild.  The lessons of God’s faithfulness that Bailey and her friends learned are some of the very things I pray for my newborn grandson. 

Without giving away details, I can’t say much more – but I’ll warn you that we’ll have to keep reading to find the answer to the Cody/Brandon question.  I’m still pulling toward the Team Cody camp . . . but only time (and a couple more books) will tell!  Longing to read Longing (the next installment in this series).