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Lancaster County Christmas, A (2011)

by Suzanne Woods Fisher(Favorite Author)

4.15 of 5 Votes: 1

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Revell

review 1: This is a light, fluffy yet cozy tale of Christmas eve happenings when an Amish family encounters unexpected house guests as the result of a mishap with an automobile. The underlying themes of faith, love, and family are obvious in the writing, but the story lacks true depth. The characters are likeable and interesting, but over the course of the story there is just not time to develop them like a full-blown novel might. It did bother me that some of the story-line was left unresolved and made me wonder if a sequel were planned or if that were just part of the story.A cute story. It was a free download for my kindle and I do not regret the time reading. I stop just short of recommending it, but it's a feel-good story and you won't feel like you wasted your ... moretime.
review 2: I really enjoyed this Christmas book also. Not really about Christmas but a story that takes place around Christmastime. A story with real characters. A story that touched my soul and caused me to think about how I am responding to the circumstances in my own life. How I have lost hope and resorted to worrying. “'It can be hard to say important things to the person in our life who matters the most.'” (location 1110)So true. “'Poor communication doesn't disconnect souls,' Mattie said. 'It's the disconnected souls who poorly communicate.'” (location 1115)Oh, man. That is so me. Definitely a poor communicator. Really struggling with that these days. Especially with my husband and children as we are all living through this challenging time and it affects us all. We have trouble talking to each other because we don't want to add to the struggles anyone is having. “'I believe God reveals his loving nature in all kinds of wondrous ways.... But if you shut your eyes to all the light he has given you, you can't see the evidence of his love.' '...if you believe that God is really out there, truly watching over everyone, that he's a good and loving God like the Bible says... then why are you so anxious about everything? Why do you seem to live as if you're expecting a catastrophe at every turn? So if you pray, why worry? And if you worry, why pray?'” (location 2497)Lord, why do I doubt? Why do I worry? If I believe you are in control then why can't I trust you will and your plan... in your time. Help me Lord, help me to pray and trust you. “The mystery of prayer! The ability to commune with the Lord God! It never ceased to astound Mattie that God would want to know her every thought. To think she had tried to hide her dark thoughts from God, to stuff them down, to pretend they didn't exist. It shamed her to think she could.” (location 2592)Yeah, God knows. He knows the dark thoughts I have. The doubts. The fear. The lack of hope about our future. I can't hide from him. He already knows whether I pray the words out loud or not. “She remembered a sermon her grandfather Caleb Zook had given once from the book of Job, how he pointed out that Job and his friends assumed the trials of his life meant he had lost favor with God. 'Not true!' her grandfather had said. 'God's favor doesn't suddenly disappear. He is kind and trustworthy from generation to generation. But our faith in God should never be fastened to circumstances. God promises to never leave us, nor forsake us—whatever our circumstances.'” (location 2605)To often my faith in God wavers when circumstances are really hard. Job is one of the books of the Bible we have studied during this hard financial time. God was not punishing Job. His friends had it wrong. Some of my 'friends' have assumed things about my husband and I because of the financial troubles we have had, and decisions we made, but I am closer to God today than I was a year ago... closer than 3 1/2 years ago when this financial trouble started. God has not abandoned us. He has paid every bill for 3 1/2 years although my husband has not worked a day. God is faithful. I don't know what our future holds... but I know who holds my future. Everything comes from the Lord... things good and things hard. There is relationship stuff in this book, of course, but not really any romance since it is more about family struggles rather than dating/courtship. It does discuss childbearing troubles but not in icky detail that would bother a young woman/teen; more the emotional side of things.The book also has discussion questions at the end. The questions were good. Twelve very good questions to help you think about the book and it's message. less

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