The Scent of Cherry Blossoms by Cindy Woodsmall

The Scent of Cherry Blossoms by Cindy Woodsmall is about a young Mennonite woman (Annie) and a young Amish man (Aden) and their families. To the outsider looking in the Amish and Mennonite communities may look virtually the same, and they often make very good neighbors. However, some lines are drawn deep and are not meant to be crossed. Annie and Aden begin to discover just how hard it can be to navigate the dangerous waters between their faiths when they start to fall in love. Will their faith, love and families be able to weather the storm brought on by this forbidden love?

All I can say is that Cindy Woodsmall has done it again! She takes you into the lives of the Plain people and lets you see God from their perspective. The Scent of Cherry Blossoms is well written and will keep your interest until the very end. I also love that she brings in a couple of her characters from The Christmas Singing novella to make small appearances in the community. It makes life in Apple Ridge more real since Aden and Roman made an appearance in that book as well.

I highly recommend the Scent of Cherry Blossoms to all of Cindy Woodsmall's fans and to anyone else who is intrigued by the Amish and Mennonite faiths and communities. It is a wonderful addition to her other books, and a great short read (just under 200 pages). I am glad to add this book to my collection and I look forward to reading it again sometime.

Read Chapter One

I received this book free of charge from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing for review purposes.

Valentines Day Special: Part One

Obviously everyone is talking about Valentine's Day because it is just around the corner. Yesterday I was reading She Seeks--another awesome blog geared toward women--and the post was all about being Committed. Just so you know, She Seeks is a blog written by a community of female authors. Committed is this weeks post by Lisa Whittle.

The post itself was awesome but as I was reading the comments I was hit smack in the face with all the problems facing our marriages. Woman after woman talked about their struggles in their marriage. Sometimes they were the problem, sometimes it was their spouse, and your heart just breaks.

That's when I decided that my next few posts will be my Valentine's Day specials and will deal exclusively with love, dating, and marriage. It all starts today.



This song I have included here is called "Dancing in the Minefield" by Andrew Peterson. This first time I heard the title of this song I didn't have a clue what it was about. So take a good listen before you write it off. It's an awesome song about marriage. In a lot of ways, I think the chorus really sums up what marriage should be.

We went dancing in the minefields
We went sailing in the storm
And it was harder than we dreamed
But I believe that’s what the promise is for

No matter whether you find yourself in the good times, the bad times, or the in between times don't give up. You are not alone! Cling to Jesus. Cling to your spouse. Be committed! Live by the promise you made to each other on your wedding day. Seek prayer and support. Your marriage is worth it.

More to come...