An Amish Christmas: December in Lancaster County
Author:
Genre: Religion & Spirituality
Book Type: Hardcover
Author:
Genre: Religion & Spirituality
Book Type: Hardcover
3 Amish Christmas stories. The 3 stories link together. The first 2 may be read in either order as their timeframes overlap. The third story is the conclusion to the book--its story is mentioned in the other 2 a number of times.
A Miracle for Miriam by Kathleen Fuller
3 1/2 stars
Miriam is plain and thinks of herself as an ugly duckling. She wants to get married and have a family, but she doesn't think anyone will ever find her attractive enough to marry.
Seth was Miriam's school crush. He broke her heart by laughing at her and making fun of her when he found out. He was arrogant and selfish in his youth. Now he is older and after spending time in the Englisch world and getting into a car accident that leaves him scarred, he wants to change.
Lesson: Inner beauty, Humility
A nice story about inner beauty. A little too overdone on the "ugly duckling" part, though. A slight bit preachy on the humility side, too.
A Choice to Forgive by Beth Wiseman
3 stars
Daniel left the Amish life 18 years ago. He devastated Lydia whom he had promised to marry. She went on to marry his brother and have 3 wonderful children. She is now a widow and Daniel has chosen to return to the Amish life. He not only want forgiveness, but needs it from Lydia.
Lesson: Forgiveness
This one was okay to me. Daniel seemed a little too forgiving to me while Lydia was very unforgiving when she thought she was forgiving. This one also seemed to be a bit more preachy than I expected.
One Child by Barbara Cameron
2 1/2 stars
As Sarah and David celebrate Christmas they are also remembering her miscarriage one year earlier. They have yet to have any children and Sarah is saddened by the loss and anxious to be pregnant again.
On Christmas night and Englischer couple arrives at their home stranded in the snowstorm. Sarah and David take them in and are surprised to find the woman, Kate, very pregnant. They are both concerned for the couple, but also about each other and their own feelings about the pregnant woman.
Lessons: Acceptance, Faith
My least favorite of the book. For personal reasons (I am very familiar with miscarriage, infant loss, and infertility), I felt the story was just too overdone. Grieving a miscarriage is one thing, but Sarah and David handled it terribly. The "holier than thou" attitude they had made it seem like they should have handled it much better.
A lot of this story annoyed me. It just doesn't seem like it was written by someone who understands infertility or loss. The last paragraph was decent, but it didn't make up for the failings of the rest of the story. I admit I didn't like it for mostly personal reasons, but if you have dealt with issues like me, you probably won't like it either.
A Miracle for Miriam by Kathleen Fuller
3 1/2 stars
Miriam is plain and thinks of herself as an ugly duckling. She wants to get married and have a family, but she doesn't think anyone will ever find her attractive enough to marry.
Seth was Miriam's school crush. He broke her heart by laughing at her and making fun of her when he found out. He was arrogant and selfish in his youth. Now he is older and after spending time in the Englisch world and getting into a car accident that leaves him scarred, he wants to change.
Lesson: Inner beauty, Humility
A nice story about inner beauty. A little too overdone on the "ugly duckling" part, though. A slight bit preachy on the humility side, too.
A Choice to Forgive by Beth Wiseman
3 stars
Daniel left the Amish life 18 years ago. He devastated Lydia whom he had promised to marry. She went on to marry his brother and have 3 wonderful children. She is now a widow and Daniel has chosen to return to the Amish life. He not only want forgiveness, but needs it from Lydia.
Lesson: Forgiveness
This one was okay to me. Daniel seemed a little too forgiving to me while Lydia was very unforgiving when she thought she was forgiving. This one also seemed to be a bit more preachy than I expected.
One Child by Barbara Cameron
2 1/2 stars
As Sarah and David celebrate Christmas they are also remembering her miscarriage one year earlier. They have yet to have any children and Sarah is saddened by the loss and anxious to be pregnant again.
On Christmas night and Englischer couple arrives at their home stranded in the snowstorm. Sarah and David take them in and are surprised to find the woman, Kate, very pregnant. They are both concerned for the couple, but also about each other and their own feelings about the pregnant woman.
Lessons: Acceptance, Faith
My least favorite of the book. For personal reasons (I am very familiar with miscarriage, infant loss, and infertility), I felt the story was just too overdone. Grieving a miscarriage is one thing, but Sarah and David handled it terribly. The "holier than thou" attitude they had made it seem like they should have handled it much better.
A lot of this story annoyed me. It just doesn't seem like it was written by someone who understands infertility or loss. The last paragraph was decent, but it didn't make up for the failings of the rest of the story. I admit I didn't like it for mostly personal reasons, but if you have dealt with issues like me, you probably won't like it either.
