My Review of “An Amish Home” & a Giveaway

Earlier this month, the new book, “An Amish Home”, was released.   This book contains four novellas by Amy Clipston, Beth Wiseman, Kathleen Fuller, and Ruth Reid with the basis of each novella revolving around an aspect of home.  When you hear the word home, what do you think of?  What comes to mind for me is the saying:

“A house is built with boards and beams,

A home is built with love and dreams.”

Author:  unknown

Here is a little synopsis of each novella taken from the back of the book:

A Cup Half Full by Beth Wiseman—Sarah Lantz always dreamed of the perfect home, the perfect husband, the perfect family. When she married Abram, she knew she was on her way to securing her perfect life. All of that changes in one moment when an accident leaves her unable to walk and confined to a wheelchair, dashing all of her dreams. As Abram starts to transform their home, Sarah begins a transformation in her spirit, and she begins, once again, to see her cup as half full.

Home Sweet Home by Amy Clipston—Down on their luck and desperate after they are evicted from their small apartment, Chace and Mia O’Conner reluctantly take Chace’s Amish boss up on his offer to rent them the daadihaus located on his property. They are certain they will never feel at home in the rustic cabin without any modern conveniences, and they start to blame each other for their seemingly hopeless situation. But with the help of their new Amish friends, Chace and Mia begin to enjoy their cozy cabin and realize that home really is where the heart is.

Building Faith by Kathleen Fuller—Faith Miller knows that carpentry is an unlikely hobby for a young Amish woman, but she loves the work and it keeps the memory of her grandfather alive. So when her cousin asks Faith to build the cabinets in her new home, Faith is only too happy to take on the job, even if it is the most ambitious project she has ever taken on. The only catch is that she has to work with her ex-fiance, Silas. As they work to build Martha’s kitchen, can they put the past behind them and start to build faith in one another again?

A Flicker of Hope by Ruth Reid—Fifteen years ago, Thomas and Noreen King were blissful newlyweds. Young, naive, and in love, life was rosy . . . for a while. Then trials and tribulations rocked their foundation, shattering them emotionally, and soon, their marriage was in shards. All hope for restoring their previously unshakable union seems lost. When a fire destroys their home, Thomas and Noreen are left to sift through the rubble. As uncovered items from the remains of the house shake loose memories of the past, Thomas and Noreen begin to draw closer and a flicker of hope—and love—is re-ignited.

Now onto my review of each novella…

In Beth Wiseman’s A Cup Half Full, you meet Abram and Sarah Lantz.  In one swoop, Sarah’s life changes, and she becomes confined to a wheelchair.  During this novella, you will see how Sarah’s cup is half empty where she dwells on her handicap and sees no future for her or Abram.  But then something changes inside of her and with her faith to show her that her cup is now half full, and she is full of life, and that her life can go on despite being in the wheelchair.  God is always with us no matter what the circumstances are…we just need to give Him the chance to show us where He is taking us.  Patience is the key (which I know I personally lack).

In Amy Clipston’s Home Sweet Home, the main couple, Chace and Mia, are English which isn’t usually the case in an Amish fiction story.  But in true Amy fashion, she does an awesome job of bringing this English couple’s involvement with the Allgyer family, Chance’s Amish boss, full and center, and grabs your attention from the first page.  I found this story fascinating on how the Allgyer family stepped up and helped Chace and Mia with just about everything they needed in their new home, and especially when they needed help getting items for their baby daughter.  And in this novella, you will see how the saying “blood is thicker than water” is definitely not true when it comes to the relationship with Mia’s parents.  The Amish are more family to Chace and Mia and show them that through their love and faith.  God gave Chace and Mia a wonderful set of guardian angels to watch over and protect them.

In Ruth Reid’s A Flicker of Hope, a married couple is having problems and then a fire destroys their home.  Down on their luck in love and home, Thomas and Noreen find the faith, hope, and prayer they need to rekindle their relationship and start anew with the help of the bishop and his wife and their extended families.  While living in the bishop’s daadihaus due to the fire, they start to reconnect again and see how God will get them through all their trials.  They have hope in their faith and family, and that is exactly where it needs to be.

In Kathleen Fuller’s Building Faith, Faith and Silas aren’t just building kitchen cabinets.  They are building faith – faith for each other since they had previously been engaged to each other and faith in each other’s work as carpenters.  They put their troubles aside and concentrate on doing a good job for their friend’s Martha and Melvin.  And in doing so, they learn how to have faith again in each other and in God.

I really enjoyed each novella in this book.  Each novella had its own moral that taught me something – patience, faith, hope, God’s plan.

If you haven’t gotten a copy of “An Amish Home” yet, here’s your chance to enter into my drawing to win a copy of this book .  I will throw in a couple bookmarks and a pen from Amy Clipston as well.

To enter for your chance to win, just leave a comment on this blog post telling me which novella you are looking forward to reading the most.  I will choose a winner on Sunday, March 5.  Good luck!

Blessings…