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There is salvation in on one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.

Rebekah

By Jill Eileen Smith

Bestselling author, Jill Eileen Smith, weaves together a story of heartache and the power of forgiveness in Rebekah, the second of the Wives of the Patriarchs series. Using in-depth research and creative storytelling, Smith tells the unique story of Rebekah and Isaac, and brings these biblical characters to life in a way that will transport the reader back to biblical times.

When her father dies and she is left in the care of her conniving brother Laban, Rebekah knows her life has changed forever. Her hope for the future is restored when she falls in love with her cousin Isaac, and their relationship starts strong. But marital bliss cannot last forever, and the birth of their twin sons marks the beginning of years of misunderstanding, disagreement, and betrayal. The rift between them grows wider and wider until it is surely too deep to be mended. And yet, with God all things are possible.

ISLAND BREEZES

Two people who love each other can still mess it up. Both Rebekah and Isaac have doubts and disagreements which threaten their happiness. Familiar story here. The marriage was great until the children came along’

In Rebekah’s case it was a two-in-one deal. Unfortunately each parent favored a different child. This definitely colored their marriage, and burdened the hearts of this couple.

Over time it got worse instead of better. There comes a time when it seems that the marriage is beyond repair. You’ll need to read this book for yourself.

It’s an old story made new. I have a deeper appreciation for Isaac and Rebekah now. Ms. Smith really knows how to bring life to the women of the Bible and their relevancy to us today.

***A special thank you to Donna Hausler for providing a review copy.*** 

Jill Eileen Smith is the author of the bestselling Michal, Abigail, and Bathsheba, all part of The Wives of King David series, and of Sarai, book 1 in the Wives of the Patriarchs series. Her writing has garnered acclaim in several contests. Her research into the lives of biblical women has taken her from the Bible to Israel, and she particularly enjoys learning how women lived in Old Testament times. Jill lives with her family in southeast Michigan

Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, offers practical books that bring the Christian faith to everyday life.? They publish resources from a variety of well-known brands and authors, including their partnership with MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) and Hungry Planet

Available February 2013 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old…or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Vannetta Chapman has published more than 100 articles in Christian family magazines. She discovered her love for the Amish while researching her grandfather’s birthplace in Albion, Pennsylvania. Vannetta is a multi-award-winning member of Romance Writers of America. She was a teacher for 15 years and currently resides in the Texas Hill country. Her first two inspirational novels—A Simple Amish Christmas and Falling to Pieces—were Christian Book Distributors bestsellers.

Visit the author’s website.

A Home for Lydia, the second book in a new romantic series from popular author Vannetta Chapman, centers again on the Plain community of Pebble Creek and the kind, caring people there. As they face challenges to their community from the English world, they come together to reach out to their non-Amish neighbors while still preserving their cherished Plain ways.

Aaron Troyer simply wants to farm like his father and grandfather before him. But instead he finds himself overseeing the family’s small group of guest cabins nestled along the banks of Pebble Creek. That also means he must work with the cabins’ housekeeper, Lydia Fisher.

Lydia is the most outspoken Amish woman Aaron has ever met, and she has strong opinions about how the guest cabins are to be run. She also desperately needs this job. Though sparks fly between boss and employee at first, when the cabins are robbed, nothing is more important to Aaron than making sure Lydia is safe.

Together they work to make the vacation property profitable, but can they find out the identity of the culprit before more damage is done? And is Lydia’s dream of a home of her own more than just a wish and a prayer?

Product Details:

List Price: $13.99

Paperback: 352 pages

Publisher: Harvest House Publishers (February 1, 2013)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0736946144

ISBN-13: 978-0736946148

ISLAND BREEZES

What a pain. Aaron is a farmer and loves it, but now he’s obligated to oversee his uncle’s Plain cabins.  Hopefully, he can soon get the business up to snuff so he can go back to his farm.

Lydia, with her sharp tongue, seems to be resigned to spinster hood.  She’s the housekeeper at the cabins. She knows how they’ve always been run and isn’t too happy with all the changes Aaron comes up with. Unfortunately, she needs this job and has to figure out how to keep her mouth shut in order to keep it.

Just when things seem to settle down and business starts to pick up, danger moves in. Just when Lydia lets her heart take over, Aaron heads out. It appears that heartbreak may be in for Lydia and her dreams of a home of her own are out the door.

 
AND NOW…THE FIRST CHAPTER:

Wisconsin

May

Lydia Fisher pulled her sweater around her shoulders and sank down on the top step of the last cabin as the sun set along?Pebble Creek. The waters had begun to recede from last week’s rains, but the creek still pushed at its banks—running swiftly past the Plain Cabins and not pausing to consider her worries.

Debris from the flooding reached to the bottom step of cabin twelve. She could have reached out and nudged it with the toe of her shoe. Fortunately, the water hadn’t made it into the small cottages.

Almost, though.

Only two days ago she’d stood at the office window and watched as the waters had crept closer to the picturesque buildings nestled along the creek—watched and prayed.

Now the sun was dropping, and she knew she should harness Tin Star to the buggy and head home. Her mother would be putting dinner on the table. Her brother and sisters would be needing help with schoolwork. Her father would be waiting.

Standing up with a weariness that was unnatural for her twenty-two years, Lydia trudged back toward the front of the property, checking each cabin as she went.

All were locked and secure.

All were vacant.

Perhaps this weekend the Englisch tourists would return and provide some income for the owner, Elizabeth Troyer. Guests would also ensure that Lydia kept her job. If the cabins were to close and she were to lose her employment, she wouldn’t be able to convince her brother to stay in school. Their last conversation on the matter had turned into an argument—one she’d nearly lost.

Pulling their old black gelding from the barn, she tied Tin Star’s lead rope to the hitching post, and then she began to work the collar up and over his ears.

“You’re a gut boy. Are you ready to go home? Ready for some oats? I imagine you are.”

He’d been their buggy horse since she was a child, and Lydia knew his days were numbered. What would her family do when he gave out on them? As she straightened his mane and made sure the collar pad protected his shoulders and neck, she paused to rest her cheek against his side. The horse’s sure steady breathing brought her a measure of comfort.

Reaching into the pocket of her jacket, she brought out a handful of raisins. Tin Star’s lips on her hand were soft and wet. Lydia rubbed his neck as she glanced back once more at the cluster of buildings which had become like a small community to her—a community she was responsible for maintaining.

Squaring her shoulders, she climbed into the buggy and turned toward home.

• Chapter 1 •

Downtown Cashton

Thursday afternoon, two weeks later

Aaron Troyer stepped off the bus, careful to avoid a large puddle of rainwater. Because no one else was exiting at Cashton, he didn’t have to wait long for the driver to remove his single piece of luggage from the storage compartment. He’d thanked the man and shouldered the duffel bag when the buggy coming in the opposite direction hit an even bigger puddle, soaking him.

The bus driver had managed to jump out of the way at the last second. “Good luck to you, son.”

With a nod the man was back on the bus, heading farther west. A part of Aaron wished he were riding with him. Another part longed to take the next bus back east, back where he’d come from, back to Indiana.

Neither was going to happen, so he repositioned his damp duffel bag and surveyed his surroundings.

Not much to Cashton.

According to his uncle and his dad, the town was about the same size as Monroe, but Aaron couldn’t tell it. He supposed new places never did measure up to expectations, especially when a fellow would rather not be there.

The ride had been interesting enough. They had crossed the northern part of Indiana, skirted the southern tip of Lake Michigan, traveled through Chicago and Rockford, and finally entered Wisconsin in the south central portion of the state. Aaron had seen more cities in the last twenty-four hours than he’d visited in his entire life. Those had been oddities to him. Something he would tell his family about once he was home, but nothing he would ever care to see again. But passing through the Hidden Valley region of southwestern Wisconsin—now that had caused him to sit up straighter and gaze out of the bus’s window.

There had been an older Englisch couple sitting behind him. They’d had tourist brochures that they read aloud to each other. He’d caught the highlights as he tried to sleep.

He heard them use the word “driftless.” The term apparently indicated a lack of glacial drift. His dat would laugh at that one. Not that he discounted all aspects of science, but he had his doubts regarding what was and wasn’t proven as far as the Ice Age.

According to the couple’s brochure, Wildcat Mountain to the east of Cashton was teeming with wildlife and good hiking. Any other time he might be interested in that piece of information, but he wasn’t staying, so it didn’t matter much to him.

He also learned that small towns in the Driftless Area were at risk of major flooding every fifty to one hundred years.

Staring down at his damp pants, he wondered how much rain they’d had. How much rain were they expecting? He hoped he wouldn’t be here long enough to find out.

Aaron glanced up and down the street. He saw a town hall, a tavern, a café, a general store, and a feed store. A larger building, probably three stories high, rose in the distance, but he had no desire to walk that far because it could be in the wrong direction. Already the sun was heading west, and he’d rather be at the cabins before dark.

Several streets branched off the main one, but they didn’t look any more promising. Pushing his hat down more firmly on his head, he cinched up the duffel bag and walked resolutely toward the feed store.

Instead of heading toward the front door, he moved down the side of the building to the loading docks, where two pickup trucks and a buggy were parked.

Fortunately, it wasn’t the buggy that had sprayed him with rainwater and mud. He would rather not ask information of that person, though in all likelihood the driver had no idea what he’d done. Folks seldom slowed down enough to look outside their own buggy window—even Amish folk. It appeared some things were the same whether you were in Wisconsin or Indiana.

He approached the loading docks, intending to find the owner of the parked buggy.

“That duffel looks heavy…?and wet.”

Turning in surprise, he saw a man leaning against the driver’s side of the buggy. Aaron could tell he was tall, even though he was half sitting, tall and thin. Somber brown eyes studied him, and a full dark beard indicated the man was married. Which was no surprise, because a basket with a baby in it sat on the buggy’s floor. The baby couldn’t have been more than a few months old, based on the size of the basket. He couldn’t see much except for a blanket and two small fists waving in the air.

“Duffel wouldn’t be wet if someone hadn’t been determined to break the speed limit with a sorrel mare.”

The man smiled, reached down, and slipped a pacifier into the baby’s mouth. “That would probably have been one of the Eicher boys. I’m sure he meant no harm, but both of them tend to drive on the far side of fast.”

He placed the walnut bowl he’d been sanding with a piece of fine wool on the seat, dusted his hands on his trousers, and then he stepped forward. “Name’s Gabe Miller.”

“Aaron Troyer.”

“Guess you’re new in town.”

“Ya. Just off the bus.”

“Explains the duffel.”

Aaron glanced again at the sun, headed west. Why did it seem to speed up once it was setting? “I was looking for the Plain Cabins on Pebble Creek. Have you heard of them?”

“If you’re needing a room for the night, we can either find you a place or take you to our bishop. No need for you to rent a cabin.”

Easing the duffel bag off his shoulder and onto the ground, Aaron rested his hands on top of it. “Actually I need to go to the cabins for personal reasons. Could you tell me where they are?”

“Ya. I’d be happy to give you directions, but it’s a fair piece from here if you’re planning on walking.”

Aaron pulled off his hat and ran his hand over his hair. Slowly he replaced it as he considered his options. He’d boarded the bus ten hours earlier. He was used to long days and hard work. Though he was only twenty-three, he’d been working in the fields for nine years—since he’d left the schoolhouse after eighth grade. It was work he enjoyed. What he didn’t like was ten hours on a bus, moving farther away from his home, on a trip that seemed to him like a fool’s mission.

“Sooner I start, sooner I’ll arrive.”

“Plain Cabins are on what we call the west side of Pebble Creek.”

“You mean the west side of Cashton?”

“Well, Cashton is the name of the town, but Plain folks mostly refer to Pebble Creek, the river.”

“The same river going through town?”

“Yes. There are two Plain communities here—one to the east side of town, and one to the west. I live on the east side. The cabins you’re looking for are on the west. The town’s sort of in the middle. You can walk to them from here, but as I said, it’s a good ways. Maybe five miles, and there are quite a few hills in between, not to mention that bag you’re carrying…?”

Instead of answering, Aaron hoisted the duffel to his shoulder.

Throughout the conversation, Gabe’s expression had been pleasant but serious. At the sound of voices, he glanced up and across the street, toward the general store. When he did, Aaron noticed a subtle change in the man, like light shifting across a room. Some of the seriousness left his eyes and contentment spread across his face.

Following his gaze, Aaron saw the reason why—a woman. She was beautiful and had the darkest hair he’d ever seen on an Amish woman. A small amount peeked out from the edges of her prayer kapp. She was holding the hand of a young girl, who was the spitting image of the man before him. Both the woman and the child were carrying shopping bags.

“I was waiting on my family. Looks like they’re done. We’d be happy to take you by the cabins.”

“I don’t want to be a bother,” Aaron mumbled.

Gabe smiled, and now the seriousness was completely gone, as if having his family draw close had vanquished it. As if having his family close had eased all of the places in his heart.

Aaron wondered what that felt like. He wanted to be back with his own parents, brothers, and sisters in Indiana, but even there he felt an itching, a restlessness no amount of work could satisfy.

From what he’d seen of Wisconsin so far, he could tell he wasn’t going to be any happier here. He’d arrived less than thirty minutes ago, and he couldn’t wait to get back home.

Gabe was already moving toward his wife, waving away his protest.

“If it were a bother, I wouldn’t have offered.”

Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.”

And he testified with many other arguments and exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.”

So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added.

Acts 2:38-42

Five Days to Live Happily Organized-Ever-After

Professional Organizer & Time-Management Expert Create Plan to De-clutter the Messiest House

No matter how cluttered and disordered your house, professional organizer Sandra Felton and time management expert Marsha Sims encourage readers to transform their homes from chronic disorder to beautiful and organized. In 5 Days to a Clutter Free House: Quick and Easy Ways to Clear Up Your Space, Felton and Sims share their systematic, team-based approach so even the most overwhelming de-cluttering job becomes doable. The “toe-to-head” approach cuts decision-making to a minimum so readers can transform their home in only five days.

“You can have a home that refreshes and inspires you,” write Felton and Sims. “Real, long-term change will come only when the heart and mind passionately embraces the dream of an organized way of life, which fills our lives with what we really love – beauty.”

The authors’ enthusiasm and energy keep readers pushing forward to the goal, and their time-tested tips and habits help readers preserve their newfound clutter-free space. Felton and Sims detail their proven five-day method that begins by assembling a de-cluttering team, clearing surfaces and sorting everything that doesn’t belong into labeled boxes.

Each day the team tackles a new level, beginning with everything below the knee on Monday. By Thursday, the house should see a U-turn as open space emerges. Then it’s time to tackle the inside of drawers, cabinets before turning to the attic, utility room and garage. By Friday, surfaces should be clear, and readers can begin to have the organized home they always wanted but could never achieve.

Once readers conquer the five-day plan, Felton and Sims give practical insights on living happily organized-ever-after including the ten minute tidy challenge and clutter-buster habits. The authors show how to deal with common obstacles to maintaining a clutter-free house including storage needs, health issues, space restrictions and even family sabotage.

ISLAND BREEZES

These ladies say that disorganized people can recover. They’re both recovered disorganized people. Glory, Hallelujah! There’s hope for me yet.

I’m wondering how on earth they expect me to do all this in just five days. They don’t. You make this a team effort.

You could make it a super team effort if you’d like. You know other people who live cluttered lives. Use these friends and family members to create a team who will go from five days in one house, the next five days in another, and keep it going until you all have clutter free homes.

Don’t squabble about whose home gets done first. Draw straws, pick a number, roll the dice. Whatever floats your boat.

Just remember, it doesn’t end after five days. The second half of the book will guide you through maintenance so that you can keep the clutter away.

Done is better than perfect. That little motto along with prayer will help you during your five days of major decluttering. BTW, don’t forget to smile.

***A special thank you to Donna Hausler for providing a review copy.*** 

Sandra Felton,?The Organizer Lady, is a pioneer in the field of organizing. She is the founder and president of Messies Anonymous and the author of many books including?Organizing Magic. Sandra lives in Florida.

Marsha Sims?is a national speaker who has taught seminars on time management and organization, managing the front desk, and projects and priorities. She has been a professional organizer for fifteen years as the founder and president of her Miami-based company, Sort-It-Out, Inc.

Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, offers practical books for everyday life.? For more information, visit www.RevellBooks.com.

Available February 2013 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group

A New Home for Lily

By Suzanne Woods Fisher & Mary Ann Kinsinger

***A special thanks to Donna Hausler for providing a review copy.*** 

Mary Ann Kinsinger?was raised Old Order Amish in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. She met and married her husband, whom she knew from school days and started a family. After they chose to leave the Amish church, Mary Ann began a blog,?A Joyful Chaos, as a way to capture her warm memories of her childhood for her own children. From the start, this blog found a ready audience and even captured the attention of key media players, such as the influential blog AmishAmerica?and The?New York Times. She lives in Pennsylvania.

Suzanne Woods Fisher is the bestselling author of?The Choice,?The Waiting,?The Search,?The Keeper and?The Haven, as well as nonfiction books about the Amish, including?Amish Peace. Her interest in the Anabaptist cultures can be directly traced to her grandfather, who was raised in the Old Order German Baptist Brethren Church in Franklin County, Pennsylvania. Suzanne is a Christy Award finalist and a Carol Award finalist. She is the host of internet radio show Amish Wisdom and a columnist for?Christian Post?and?Cooking & Such?magazines. She lives in California. For more information, please visit www.suzannewoodsfisher.com and connect with her on Twitter @suzannewfisher.

Available February 2013 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.”

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old…or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Harold J. Sala is founder and president of Guidelines International, Inc., a ministry communicating the message of Jesus Christ so that people come to faith in the Lord and believers are discipled and strengthened. Sala has written dozens of books and is the featured speaker on “Guidelines: A Five-Minute Commentary on Living,” a daily radio program broadcast on 1,000+ radio stations worldwide and translated into more than 15 languages.

Visit the author’s website.

Combining careful research, biblical narratives, and personal stories of physical and spiritual healing, internationally known Bible teacher and counselor Dr. Harold Sala points to how trusting God yields lasting and eternal rewards in What You Need to Know About Healing. While no one is promised tomorrow, you will receive true encouragement for whatever circumstance may be yours, and you will better understand the compassionate nature of our Heavenly Father and how to find healing His way.

Chapters include “Is the Great Physician Still Practicing?” “Jehovah Rapha (the God Who Heals) in the Old Testament,” “Healings that Defy Rationale,” and “Redemptive Healing–Transforming Pain into a Life Purpose.”

This dynamic resource is suitable for those who need physical or spiritual healing as well as for their family members, friends, caregivers, and other health or ministry professionals.

Product Details:

List Price: $14.99

Paperback: 256 pages

Publisher: B&H Books (January 1, 2013)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1433678896

ISBN-13: 978-1433678899

ISLAND BREEZES

Many need and want healing. This book will give you Biblical background into God’s healing through the ages.

Healing can come through God’s touch, through the hands of the doctors and from medical science. Often His healing comes through a combination of these ways.

Included are testimonials and examples of both integrative and redemptive healing.

If you are in need of healing, the last chapter tells you what to do.

this book can be a blessing to you and your family. Read and believe.

 
AND NOW…THE FIRST CHAPTER:

When Larry and Alice Parker visit a nondescript cemetery in Barstow, California, and stand beside the grave of their son, their eyes mist with tears. They undoubtedly think, If only we had known. You see, their eleven-year-old son, Wesley, tragically died in their home on the warm morning of August 22, 1973, three days after a traveling evangelist, at a Sunday service, had pronounced him healed. In my file is a yellowing article from The Los Angeles Times telling about the family’s ordeal.
Having struggled with diabetes for five years, Wesley and his parents had believed that God could heal him. When the evangelist prayed for the boy and asked, “Wes, do you believe you are healed?” he replied, “Yes.” “I believe that you are, too,” said the evangelist. Then the parents decided to fast and pray for their son and do what proved to be a tragic mistake—no longer give him insulin. They reasoned that if God had indeed healed him, there was no longer any need to continue with the medication.
When Wes died, the world of his parents collapsed. Not only did Larry and Alice deeply grieve the loss of their son, but they were

also deeply confused and heartbroken. Their friends severely criticized and abandoned them. Then the district attorney filed charges of involuntary manslaughter against them. The police came and took them to jail. Anticipating this turn of events, the Parkers had arranged for friends to care for their remaining children. The child protection authorities, however, came to their home, took the children, and sent them to juvenile hall with hardened delinquents.
Imprisoned separately in the San Bernardino jail, Larry and Alice wondered if they would ever see each other again. The guards taunted them, saying, “There’s no way they’re going to let you guys out.” The court found them guilty as charged, and they were placed on probation for five years.
Before you get overly critical, realize that at the time of Wesley’s death, Larry, then age thirty-nine, had already served three years in the armed forces as an electronics technician. Larry was an electronics engineer with Bendix Field Engineering and was praised by his superiors as “an excellent employee.” The Parkers were a typical middle-class family, taking their children to church and living the California dream.
Did Larry and Alice realize at that time that Wesley’s dependence on insulin was so severe? No! Would they have withheld insulin had they known of the consequences? Absolutely not! So what, then, had truly caused Wesley’s death? Unsound theological teaching and misconceptions about God and healing—convictions about biblical teaching that were sincere but misaligned, convictions held and sincerely believed by many, even today, who teach that because God wants you healed, you should trust Him exclusively and avoid medicine because it is of the devil.
The Parkers eventually authored a book entitled We Let Our Son Die, where they admitted that they had made a “tragic error” in with- holding insulin from their son.
The Parkers are not alone in wreaking unintentional suffering and even death on minors. John O’Connor, writing for The New York Times, says, “Over the last 15 years, at least 125 children in the United States have died because their parents belong to Christian Science churches or fundamentalist sects that believed prayer alone could cure illness.” What Jesus told the religious leaders of His day aptly applies to these groups: “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God” (Matt. 22:29 NIV).
W here is t he Truth of Scripture?
C. S. Lewis said that when Satan sends errors into the world, he sends them in pairs—extremes. Christians today are confronted with t wo positions regarding healing that stand in juxtaposition to each other. On the one hand, dispensationalists teach that the miracles of healing wrought by Christ, those we read about in the Gospels, were only temporal displays of His might and power, certifying His divinity, calling attention to His message, but they gradually lessened during the era of the early church. Dispensationalism teaches that after the work of redemption had been completed, after Jesus ascended to heaven and God’s Word was recorded in the Bible, to give us a full understanding of His purpose and plan, miracles gradually ceased.
On the other hand, there are segments of Christendom—extreme charismatics and Pentecostals (such as the evangelist who insisted that Wesley Parker had been healed)—who believe that it is God’s will that every Christian be healed because healing is part of the atonement. To validate their belief, they point to Isaiah 53:5 that states, “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed” (NIV). These words were affirmed by Peter in 1 Peter

2:24: “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.” Those who hold to this belief assert that, if you as a Christian are not healed, it is because you have unconfessed sin in your life or you simply do not have enough faith.
In her book A Place of Healing, Joni Eareckson Tada, a quadriplegic as the result of a diving accident, tells of one incident after a church service when she was wheeling herself across the parking lot toward her van. A young man stopped her and asked, “Are you Joni?” He explained that he was visiting her church and was hoping that he could personally pray for her healing. “I can’t tell you how many people I’ve met over the years who’ve done the same thing,” she told him. Assuring him that she never refused a prayer for healing, she listened as the young man brought up an obviously scripted statement:
Have you ever considered that it might be sin standing in the way of your healing,” he began, quickly adding, “or that you’ve disobeyed in some way?” Before Joni could answer, he opened his Bible to Mark 2, to the story of the paralytic brought to Jesus by four men. The four companions had broken through the roof and lowered the paralyzed man into the room where Jesus was.

After reading the brief passage, the stranger pointed out that if Joni would only confess her sin and have faith, then she, too, like the paralytic, would be healed. Clearly he was putting the blame on the one who was in need of healing. He said, “Joni, you must have a lack of faith. I mean, look at you. You’re still in your wheelchair.” Explaining that it was not the faith of the paralyzed man but the faith of the four companions that Jesus honored, Joni bounced the ball back in his court, suggesting that if he had

the faith he thought she should have, then God would heal her.
Then Joni writes, “Does He always heal? Does He heal everyone who comes to Him in faith? Does He miraculously intervene in the lives of all who pray for release from migraine headaches . . . multiple sclerosis . . . prostate cancer . . . a bad case of the flu . . . or in my case, chronic pain? And if not, then why not? And why does He heal some and not others?
These questions echo the heart cries of many people who also ask: “Is the Great Physician still in business? Does He keep office hours? Is Jesus Christ really the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow? If Jesus healed when He walked the earth two thousand years ago, can He not do the same thing today?”
We are confronted with an issue: If the dispensationalists expect too little of God and the charismatics expect too much, where is God in relation to my need, my pain, and my need for healing in my broken life?
Let God Be God
What you believe about God profoundly affects your life, your marriage, your morality, your purpose in life, your worldview, and certainly your view as to whether or not you can count on God to walk with you through the dark valleys of life, take you out of the pit when you fall, and be your Healer in the time of need.
While nature, history, science, or philosophy tell us little about God—who He is, what He does, how much He cares about us—there is a trustworthy source of knowledge about Him: the Bible. In my book Why You Can Have Confidence in the Bible, I make the case for its authenticity, credibility, and trustworthiness. I cited the abundance of manuscript evidence, the fulfilled prophecies that defy human explanation, the compelling testimony of archeology, the collation of what the Bible says with the facts of science, and the remarkable manner in which this book changes the lives of people.
I, therefore, accept at face value what the Bible tells us about God, about ourselves, and about Jesus. He walked the shores of Galilee, teaching as no other person has ever done, healing the sick, the lame, the suffering, even raising the dead on three occasions, among many other acts of love and power. I believe the four biographers—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—who wrote about how Jesus Christ was crucified at the hands of roman soldiers, placed in a tomb for three days, but rose again and showed Himself alive beyond reasonable doubt.
Accepting the fact that God is God puts Him in a category above humankind, above time and space, and certainly above all the human logic that defines what He can do and what He cannot do. If God is God, then you and I can accept the fact that He is supernatural— period!
I also acknowledge that this book, the Bible, which countless numbers of individuals have died for rather than repudiate, tells us much about God that has been borne out by human experience down through the centuries. If God is God, then you can accept the fact that He is supernatural—period! What He does cannot always be defined in terms that I can either understand or explain; otherwise, God would simply be a ref lection of ourselves—not the divine Creator who placed the stars in the firmament, the planets in orbit, and created Earth and those who live on it.
The supernatural, of course, embraces miracles, something many scientists and even a few theologians deny. What is a miracle? If you need a definition, you haven’t seen one; if you have seen one, you don’t need a definition.
Nonetheless, I like Lewis Smedes’s definition. He wrote:
In the biblical view a miracle is a signal that God is, for a moment and for a special purpose, walking down paths he does not usually walk. A miracle is

not a sign that a God who is usually absent is, for the moment, present. It is only a sign that God who is always present in creative power is working here and now in an unfamiliar style.4
A miracle is the suspension of the laws of cause and effect—not a denial of them. And, yes, miracles defy human explanation. If, however, God is supernatural, on occasion He may choose to do that which is entirely outside your experience and even history itself. Never forget that the greatest miracle is that God—He who is from everlasting to everlasting—should become human flesh, born of the virgin Mary, should live a sinless life, be crucified and rise from the dead the third day. From the act of creation to the closing chapters of the book of revelation, the Bible asserts the miraculous simply because God is God, and, furthermore, the writers of Scripture assert that God is sovereign in what He does and chooses not to do.
W hat Does t he Sovereignty of God Mean in t he

Context of Life in t he Twenty-first Century?
Over the centuries theologians have attempted to explain what God is like, defining the attributes of God. Thus we say God is eternal, unchangeable, all-knowing, wholly good, completely and absolutely just, all-powerful, faithful, compassionate, holy, among many. Yet if there is one attribute or observation about God that you need to remember especially when your body needs physical healing, it is that God is sovereign!
The first known use of the English adjective sovereign was in the fourteenth century. This Anglo-French word was used in the Vulgate and means “over,” “above,” or “supreme.” The Greek word usually translated as sovereign is despota, which gave us the English word despot. It was used in the first century to refer to a slave owner or the master of a household. It was found in ancient manuscripts known as papyri, referring to someone who owned a ship.
Today some forty-four countries in the world are ruled by monarchs, and in these countries royalty, in various and different capacities, are considered sovereigns. Kings and queens are esteemed and enjoy rights of succession usually based on descendancy. Countries where royalty is acknowledged are considered to be kingdoms as opposed to republics, which are governed by democracy and the votes of citizens.
In order to marry the love of his life, King Edward V II of Britain abdicated the throne to marry a divorced woman, Mrs. Wallis Simpson; but normally kings and queens are there for life, unlike politicians who sometimes think the same but in reality are elected officials who can be voted out of office in the same manner they were initially elected. It is generally understood that while royalty are keenly aware of the political ramifications of what they do, they are not accountable to any save the Almighty in the same way that other government officials are.
But what of God, who has neither beginning nor end, who is the uncreated Creator, the one described as eternal God? To whom is He accountable? Have we any right to blame Him or make any demands when we don’t like what He does?
Should you have the privilege of ever being invited to have an audience with Queen Elizabeth of Britain, you would be advised of protocol—how you should approach her majesty, the proper manner in which you should bow or curtsy, the fact that you should not touch even her hand unless she first offers it to you, and how you should make your exit. You wouldn’t expect to give her a bear hug like you would a friend or indulge in trivial nonsense as you might with an old classmate you had not seen for some time. You do not sit down and negotiate with someone who is a sovereign, suggesting, “Let’s make a deal!” as many people do with God.
In the days of the patriarchs—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—there were two kinds of covenants, or legal contracts as we would think of them today. One kind reflected an agreement between two equals— say, neighbors resolving a dispute over property boundaries, or merchants agreeing on the terms of doing business together—stipulations and consequences of failure. The other kind of covenant was that of a sovereign who blesses his subjects, giving them what they neither deserve nor could purchase. This latter kind comprises the covenants God made with Israel.
There is, however, one significant difference between your relationship with the Triune God, who sent His Son to Earth, and how you would approach a king or queen who is sovereign of an earthly kingdom. If you have been adopted into the family of God, you are God’s child. You are a new person. Your sins have been forgiven. Your past is covered with the blood of Christ; and, according to Hebrews 4, you can come boldly, unannounced, and enter into His presence any- time, anywhere. In his book Miraculous Healings, Henry Frost writes, “There are two words which would bring to me the assurance that God, from time to time, will give healing to His children, even if there was not another word in the Bible concerning the matter. I refer to the Lord’s Prayer and the words, ‘Our Father’ (Matt. 6:9).”6
An incident I watched on TV in 1962 well illustrates the privilege of God’s children in relation to our Father. The United States was then engrossed in a ferocious struggle with the USSR over the issue of Russian missiles being planted in Cuba, within easy reach of cities on the eastern seaboard. President John F. Kennedy was in the Oval Office meeting with key advisors when a side door opened and four- year-old John-John, the president’s son, came in. The president, seeing the little boy, walked over and picked him up. He sat him on his knee for a few minutes, then put the lad down, who exited as he came in, and the discussion of the serious affairs of the state continued. So, too, can we who are His children have access at any time to our Father’s presence.
But even going beyond the warmth of the term “father,” the apostle Paul uses an expression for God as Father, the Aramaic word Abba. Aramaic was the Hebrew dialect spoken in Jesus’ day. With no direct English equivalent of the word Abba, the closest term for Abba is what little children often use for their father—Daddy or Papa.
If God is your heavenly Father, then you can come into His presence as Jesus taught, praying, “Our Father in heaven.” However, does this mean you can demand of the Sovereign God, ordering Him to do your will, holding Him accountable when you ask for something— perhaps healing—and you don’t get what you want? Do you hold Him accountable for all sickness, suffering, and injustice in the world? Are you then entitled to think of Him as being indifferent, impotent, or far removed from your need?
Benefits of Acknowledging t hat God Is Sovereign
“Dear Teacher,” read the message on a get-well-soon card a teacher received from her class. “We wish you a speedy recovery by a vote of

14 to 13.” Yes, indeed. That’s a democracy, where the majority decides what happens. But with God no votes are taken. Public opinion doesn’t cause Him to change His mind or thinking. His kingdom has no elected officials. Because God is sovereign, what He wills is absolute.
Since God is sovereign and I am His child, what are the benefits of believing that He—not fate or chance—rules the day? Allow me to focus on several benefits for you:
Benefit 1: The burden of bearing the responsibility for running the world—even the circumstances of your own personal life—has been lifted from your shoulders. A pundit once said if you want to get along with the king, stay off his throne. The day you resign from being the CEO of the universe will be the best day of your life. That good news is exactly what Paul was driving at when he wrote, “And we know

that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (rom. 8:28 NIV). Underline the words “we know.” Notice that the verse does not say “we hope,” not “we think,” or even “we believe.” Also underline the phrase, “God works.” The outcome isn’t dependent on your clever manipulation of the circumstances. You are not the one who has to make it happen; God is! And you can trust the Father.
This also means that the circumstances that confront you are a matter of God’s sovereign will—not His failure, weakness, or indifference—and they have been allowed in order to accomplish what may never be fully understood. The British-born evangelist and Bible teacher Allan Redpath knew both illness and deep depression. Understanding that nothing happens to us apart from the Father’s hand, he wrote, “There is no circumstance, no trouble, no testing, that can ever touch me until, first of all, it has gone past God and past Christ, right through to me. If it has come that far, it has come with a great purpose.”
Benefit 2: You will receive a sense of wholeness and peace as your inheritance. You may not understand everything God does. Whether or not you understand everything isn’t important because God has not given you the burden of understanding but the yoke of simple obedience. When we think, as we sometimes do, that nothing is happening, something of which you may be totally unaware is happening as God is quietly working in ways you cannot see. Knowing that He’s sovereign and in charge allows you to rest in the confidence that because He is in control, you can turn off the light at night and say, “God, You take over the night shift. I’m going to sleep.” I take great heart in the phrase that God neither slumbers nor sleeps (see Ps. 121:4).
The daughter of an engineer, who works in a power plant in one of Norway’s fjords, used to ride an open cable car up the steep incline of the face of the fjord to get to school. One day a visiting stranger, having been to the power plant on business, rode up with the little girl. He clutched his seat tightly. The little girl, on the other hand, appeared nonchalant. “Aren’t you afraid?” he asked her. “Oh, not at all,” she replied, adding, “Father is at the controls; and when he’s in charge, I know that everything will be all right.”
Accepting the truth that God is sovereign gives you confidence that our world is not under the control of mad men, no matter what the media tell us.
Benefit 3: A sense of security both spiritually and emotionally. Jesus told His disciples that they did not choose Him; rather, He chose them. How does that translate? If you are a believer, this means drawing from Ephesians 1—God chose you before the foundation of the world. You are no chance of fate, no accident of your parents. You are a unique person made in the image of God, and He chose you to be His son or daughter.
Benefit 4: You will have confidence that God listens to you when you pray. Because you are God’s child, you can come boldly into the presence of the Father. He sorts out the foolish things you and I ask for and gives us what we really need. He does this because of His great love for us as His children. Take time to read romans 8, especially the last portion where Paul so beautifully says that nothing can separate us from the love of this sovereign, caring God, neither now nor for all eternity.
Benefit 5: You will have the potential of becoming the person God intended you to be. As His child you are a unique individual who can discover that your weakness can become God’s strength. Consider George Washington Carver (1864 –1943), the son of slave parents, and an American botanist who became famous for discovering more than three hundred uses for the lowly peanut. The story goes that Carver once asked God, “Lord, what is the universe?” God said, “George, that’s too big for your little head. Suppose you let me take care of the universe.” Greatly humbled, the scientist asked, “Then, Lord, if the universe is too big for me to understand, please tell me, what is a pea- nut?” And then the Lord answered, “Now George, you’ve got some- thing your own size. A peanut can understand a peanut; go to work on the peanut while I run the universe.”7
Carver was a gifted and unique individual who overcame tremendous obstacles—race, prejudice, and environmental and physical challenges. Like him each of us is confronted with different challenges, yet knowing that you are God’s child and nothing is beyond His power—no person, no situation, no disease, no evil—allows you then to concentrate on fulfilling His purpose for your life.
Carver discovered that if farmers would grow peanuts on the soil that had been depleted of nutrients by years and years of growing cot- ton, indispensable nitrogen would be put back into the soil. Then he went to work finding uses for the crop in order to make the growing of peanuts financially rewarding. From peanuts Carver made cheese, milk, butter, flour, ink, dyes, soap, stains, and many other substances.
Ethel Waters was right when she said, “God don’t make no junk!” As His child you are a unique individual who can discover that your weakness can become God’s strength
Benefit 6: You will have increased faith that God will honor the promises of His Word and bring healing and wholeness to your brokenness. God wills healing and restoration for your broken life—emotionally, spiritually, and physically.
The will of the Father was lived out in the life of the Son of whom John wrote, “In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:4 –5). Satan, God’s archenemy, is described as a destroyer; but God is always associated with life and healing. In John 10:10, Jesus says, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” He also tells us, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” ( John 14:6).
It is God’s nature to bring healing to our brokenness, whether it is emotional, spiritual, or physical. A crimson thread of healing is woven throughout Scripture, beginning with the skins of animals that were slain by God Himself in the garden to provide a covering for our first parents’ nakedness, to the closing chapters of revelation—all of which reveal that healing is reflective of God’s nature and character. He stands in marked contrast to Satan, described throughout Scripture as apollyon or the destroyer.

Jesus Christ— God in t he Flesh—Is A lso Sovereign

In his seminal book Life in the Trinity, Don Fairbairn, a Ph.D. from

Cambridge, points out that what is true of the Father is true of the Son,

And what is true of the Father and the Son is true of the Holy Spirit as the third person of the trinity. We do not worship three gods but one, and the life that was lived by Jesus for some thirty-three years on Earth was a ref lection of the Father’s heart and character. “Whoever has seen me,” Jesus told Philip, “has seen the Father” ( John 14:9).
Christ’s sovereignty in healing was expressed in various ways, such as the following:
1. He chose whom He healed. No, Jesus did not heal everyone who was sick during His brief ministry of thirty-six to forty-two months, yet several times we are told that He healed everyone who came to Him. More about this in subsequent chapters.

2. He chose the manner in which the healings took place and the conditions attached to them. “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam,” He told the blind man ( John 9:7). He healed this man by applying mud on his eyes but healed another by spitting on his eyes and laying His hands on them. Why? Most responses to that question are simply conjectures. Because Jesus did nothing without reasons, what He did not reveal cannot always be explained.
3. He healed sicknesses physicians of the first century could not cure. (Yes, there were doctors in Jesus’ day, including Luke the physician, the author of the Gospel that bears his name as well as the book of Acts.) There are no records of Jesus healing illnesses such as a cold or the flu, toothaches, bruises, or upset stomachs. It wasn’t that He could not, but the writers of Scripture focused on His bringing healing to ailments for which there were no human cures, thus demonstrating that He cured what only God could cure.
4. He chose a total of eighty-four individuals—twelve disciples and the seventy-two who were empowered to heal the sick and cast out demons. Then in the book of Acts we find four more who were thus empowered—Stephen, Barnabas, Philip, and Paul.9 Mark tells us that when Jesus began His ministry, He “called to him those whom he desired” (Mark 3:13). The Greek text is even more emphatic, stating that “he called unto himself those whom he himself wanted.” Then again in the Upper room, immediately before His crucifixion Jesus reiterated, “You did not choose me, but I chose you” ( John 15:16).
So W ho Is Really In Charge—You or God?
Ask yourself a question: “Which of us, Lord, shall really be sovereign—You or me?” I seriously doubt that you will ever hear someone voice that line in his prayers, yet this issue has confronted almost everyone at some point in his or her spiritual walk. It is the issue of control, the question of who really is in charge—God or you?
Jesus, praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, sweating as it were great drops of blood, struggled with this tremendous issue. Never before had He been separated from the presence of the Father. Seeing the black cloud overshadowing the cross, He prayed, “Let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not My will but Yours be done!”

Some contend, mistakenly I believe, that because God is sovereign, He is going to do exactly what He pleases. To pray, therefore, about a situation would be an exercise in futility. They believe that even before the world was created, God had decreed that certain things would happen and those things will happen regardless of my prayers or my human will. This thinking can have a chilling effect on my health and happiness, especially when I am on the receiving end of illness.
Others believe that by pleading and even demanding, they can get their way. Both beliefs are incorrect. Do you want to be like Jesus? Then pray as though everything depends on God, and live as though everything depends on you. Understand that God is a good God and He wills His best for you as His child. remember that Jesus asked, “What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?” (Luke 11:11–12). When you understand God’s nature and His design and plan for your life, the issue of “which of us is going to be in control—you or me?” dissipates in the light of His love and care.
Prayer doesn’t change God’s mind, but it changes our minds, bringing our stubborn, rebellious, sometimes selfish wills into harmony with the will of a sovereign Father so that we can pray with faith and fervency: “Lord, may Your will be done.”
W hat You Need to K now
• Acknowledge that God is God, but along with that an understanding of what His Word says is vital. Sincerity is not the issue—truth is! Today Larry and Alice Parker, the couple described at the beginning of this chapter, would surely acknowledge that if they had not been influenced by erroneous teaching, they would have handled their son’s physical need differently.
• Accepting the fact that God is sovereign is not implying that He is disinterested, impotent, or out of touch with the needs of your life. The compassion of the Father was lived out in the life of the Son who touched the untouchables, who lifted up the fallen, who treated the down-and-out with dignity and respect. The fact that He is sovereign means He is greater than any need you shall ever experience.
• Because God is sovereign, you do not order Him to do your will; rather you yield your will to His, understanding that doing the will of God is the highest form of faith.
• Keep in mind that supernatural miracles, while they may be rare, reflect the consistency of an all-knowing, loving, and compassionate God. Supernatural miracles go far beyond the lame walking or the deaf hearing but also extend to the orderly process by which our world and our bodies function.

Don’t Tell a Soul

By Tiffany L. Warren

In this powerful new novel, the trio of faithful friends from Tiffany L. Warren’s inspirational bestseller What a Sista Should Do are older-but are they wiser?…

Once successful, Pam Lyon’s husband, Troy, has blown their fortune. Now he’s hustling to make a comeback. But his partner, Logan, is more interested in connecting with Pam-and soon he crosses a line that will challenge Pam’s marriage…

Taylor Oldman’s ex, Luke, is finally out of prison and wants a relationship with their eleven-year-old son. But newly remarried Taylor doesn’t want Luke in her life. The problem is, the boy is acting out-and Luke is the only one who can reach him. Can Taylor forgive Luke for the sake of their child?…

Recently divorced, Yvonne Hastings is lonely for the first time in years. She finds solace by befriending new church member Eva Logan. Eva is trying to leave behind her scandalous past, but it seems she can’t let go of everything. And when her behavior starts to affect Yvonne, she’ll have to reflect on what it means to be a good friend in and out of church…

As their personal lives test them like never before, can these three women find a way to keep the faith-and their friendship?…

ISLAND BREEZES

Okay. We’ve got some ladies with issues here. Big time issues. We’ve also got three sub-plots working with these three friends.

Pam’s husband has gone through their money like water while chasing his dream. Throw in a gorgeous songbird and a handsome hunk, and watch this marriage deteriorate.

Taylor has recently remarried and now has to deal with her ex who just got out of prison and is now in her face. He wants to have a relationship with their eleven-year-old son. That’s a not so pleasant triangle of one angry woman and two macho men.

Then there’s divorced and lonely Yvonne and her friendship with Eva. Eva’s past shocks the devil out of Yvonne and tests the faith of both.

It’s a good stand alone read, but now I’m not only anxious to read Ms Warren’s next book, but also to read What a Sista Should Do which introduced these three friends.

***A special thank you to Adeola Saul for providing a review copy.***

Tiffany L. Warren is an author, playwright, songwriter, mother and wife. Her debut novel What a Sista Should Do, was released in June of 2005. Her second book, Farther than I Meant to Go, Longer than I Meant to Stay was a national bestseller. She is also the author of The Bishop’s Daughter and In The Midst of It All. In 2006, Tiffany and her husband, Brent, founded Warren Productions and released gospel musicals, What a Sista Should Do and The Replacement Wife. Tiffany is the visionary behind the Faith and Fiction Retreat. Tiffany resides in northern Texas with her husband, Brent, and their five children.

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old…or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Patrick E. Craig is a lifelong writer and musician who left a successful songwriting and performance career in the music industry to follow Christ in 1984. He spent the next 26 years as a worship leader, seminar speaker, and pastor in churches, and at retreats, seminars and conferences all across the western United States. After ministering for a number of years in music and worship to a circuit of small churches, he is now concentrating on writing and publishing both fiction and non-fiction books. Patrick and his wife Judy make their home in northern California and are the parents of two adult children and have five grandchildren.

Visit the author’s website.

Amish + Quilts = readers delight! And in this first book in Patrick Craig’s Apple Creek Dreams series, readers will follow master quilter Jerusha Springer’s journey out of tragic circumstances to a new life of hope. A beautiful story of loss…and redemption.

Product Details:

List Price: $13.99

Paperback: 304 pages

Publisher: Harvest House Publishers (February 1, 2013)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0736951059

ISBN-13: 978-0736951050

ISLAND BREEZES

This is a beautiful, heartbreaking  story. You are definitely going to need that box of tissues.

You’ll cry because of the love and fear, the pain and joy, and the agony and horror of war.

You’ll cry because of the misunderstandings and the separations, the going away and the coming home, the loss of faith and the heartrending sadness.

And there will be times you’ll cry because of the peace that settles on hearts.

Don’t tell me a man doesn’t know how to touch a woman’s heart with his stories. I’m looking forward to the second book in this series.

 
AND NOW…THE FIRST CHAPTER:

Finished at last. She leaned back and let out a sigh of satisfaction. It had taken months to complete, but here it was—the finest quilt she had ever made.

Thousands of stitches had gone into the work, seventy every ten inches, and now the work was finished. It had been worth it. The quilt was a masterpiece. Her masterpiece…and Jenna’s.

She grabbed a tissue and quickly wiped away an unexpected tear.

If only Jenna were here with me, I could bear this somehow.

But Jenna wasn’t there. Jenna was gone forever.

Jerusha glanced out the window as the November sun shone weakly through a gray overcast of clouds. The pale light made the fabric in the quilt shimmer and glow. A fitful wind shook the bare branches of the maple trees, and the few remaining leaves whirled away into the light snow that drifted down from the gunmetal sky.

Winter had come unannounced to Apple Creek, and Jerusha hadn’t noticed. Her life had been bound up in this quilt for so many months—since Jenna’s death, really—that everything else in her life seemed like a shadow. She stared at the finished quilt on the frame, but there was no joy in her heart, only a dull ache and the knowledge that soon she would be free.

She had searched without success for several months to find just the right fabric to make this quilt, and then she stumbled upon it quite by accident. A neighbor told her of an estate sale at an antique store in Wooster, and she asked Henry, the neighbor boy, to drive her over to see what she could find. The Englisch had access to many things from the outside world, and she had often looked in their stores and catalogs to find just the right materials for her quilting.

On that day in Wooster she had been poking through the piles of clothing and knickknacks scattered around the store when she came upon an old cedar chest. The lid was carved with ornate filigree, and several shipping tags were still attached. The trunk was locked, so she called the proprietor over, and when he opened it, she drew in her breath with a little gasp. There, folded neatly, were two large pieces of fabric. One was blue—the kind of blue that kings might wear—and as she lifted it to the light, she could see that it seemed to change from blue to purple, depending on how she held it. The other piece was deep red…like the blood of Christ or perhaps a rose.

The fabric was light but strong, smooth to the touch and tightly woven.

“I believe that’s genuine silk, ma’am,” the owner said. “I’m afraid it’s going to be expensive.”

Jerusha didn’t argue the price. It was exactly what she was looking for, and she didn’t dare let it slip through her fingers. Normally, the quilts that she and the other women in her community made were from plainer fabric, cotton or sometimes synthetics, but lately she didn’t really care about what the ordnung said.

So, pushing down her fear of the critical comments she knew she would hear from the other women about pride and worldliness, she purchased it and left the store. As she rode home, the design for the quilt began to take form in her mind, and for the first time since Jenna’s death, she felt her spirits lift.

When she arrived home, she searched through her fabric box for the cream-colored cotton backing piece she had reserved for this quilt. She then sketched out a rough design and in the following days cut the hundreds of pieces to make the pattern for the top layer. She sorted and ironed them and then pinned and stitched all the parts into a rectangle measuring approximately eight and a half feet by nine feet. After that she laid the finished top layer out on the floor and traced the entire quilting design on the fabric with tailor’s chalk. The design had unfolded before her eyes as if someone else were directing her hand. This quilt was the easiest she had ever pieced together.

The royal blue pieces made a dark, iridescent backdrop to a beautiful deep red rose-shaped piece in the center. The rose had hundreds of parts, all cut into the flowing shapes of petals instead of the traditional square or diamond-shaped patterns of Amish quilts. Though the pattern was the most complicated she had ever done, she found herself grateful that it served as a way to keep thoughts of Jenna’s absence from overwhelming her.

Next she laid out the cream-colored backing, placed a double layer of batting over it, and added the ironed patchwork piece she had developed over the past month.

On her hands and knees she carefully basted the layers together, starting from the center and working out to the edges. Once she was finished, she called Henry for help. He held the material while she carefully attached one end to the quilting frame, and then they slowly turned the pole until she could attach the other end. After drawing the quilt tight until it was stable enough to stitch on, she started to quilt. Delicate tracks of quilting stitches began to make their trails through the surface of the quilt as Jerusha labored day after day at her work. The quilt was consuming her, and her despair and grief and the anger she felt toward God for taking Jenna were all poured into the fabric spread before her.

Often as she worked she stopped and lifted her face to the sky.

“I hate You,” she would say quietly, “and I’m placing all my hatred into this quilt so I will never forget that when I needed You most, You failed me.” Then she would go back to her work with a fierce determination and a deep and abiding anger in her heart.

And now at last the quilt was finished—her ticket out of her awful life.

“I will take this quilt to the Dalton Fair, and I will win the prize,” she said aloud. “Then I will leave Apple Creek, and I will leave this religion, and I will leave this God who has turned His back on me. I will make a new life among the Englisch, and I will never return to Apple Creek.”

She stared at the quilt. I will call this quilt the Rose of Sharon. Not for You, but for her, my precious girl, my Jenna. The quilt shone in the soft light from the window, and Jerusha felt a great surge of triumph.

I don’t need You—not now, not ever again.

And Jerusha turned off the lamp and went alone to her cold bed.