Wisdom I Learned from The Sound of Music

When I was growing up, one of my mother's favorite movies of all time was The Sound of Music. She loved it so much that she actually named my baby sister Gretel after the youngest VanTrapp child. Needless to say, I have seen Sound of Music over and over and over.

A little over a week ago, Jimmy found out he was being let go from his position at the church. It was very short notice and definitely unexpected (since it had more to do with church politics than job performance). Since then I have been praying about what we should do and the direction God may be leading us in now. Which brings me back to--you guessed it--The Sound of Music.

More than once in this musical classic, Maria says, "When God closes a door somewhere He opens a window." That's where I feel like we are right now. God has closed the door on our ministry at McCarthy (for whatever reason) and now He is directing us to find the window He has opened.

So please pray for us as we seek God's direction. It is a very stressful time, but also an exciting time. I know, right now you are giving me a bewildered look and saying "Exciting? Are you completely off your rocker!" But I assure you it is.

Since Jimmy had the weight loss surgery in October he has lost 190+ pounds and we are able to consider more ministry options than ever before. We are even praying about whether or not God may be leading us to bigger and more adventurous things.

I will be sure to keep you informed as we see where God is directing us. Until then I simply want to say thank you in advance for all of your prayers and support!

Grace and peace,

Christiana

The Harvest of Grace by Cindy Woodsmall

The Harvest of Grace is the third book in the Ada's House Series by Cindy Woodsmall. Although the primary story line in this book revolves around Sylvia and Aaron, Harvest of Grace also bring closure to the beloved characters from the previous two books.

Harvest of Grace is the story of Sylvia, a young Amish woman, who flees her family farm after making a mistake which she might never be able to forgive herself for. She seeks a new start and refuge on the failing dairy farm of Michael Blank. Michael desperately needs Sylvia's help and expertise to try to save his farm after his son, Aaron, left and his daughter died in a tragic accident.

Aaron has been gone from the homestead for many months. He was driven away by his hatred of farming, his drinking, and blaming himself for playing a role in his sister's death. Now that he has found new hope in being sober, he returns to make amends with his family and to offer them a fresh beginning in town.

The road before both Aaron and Sylvia is rough. They each fight their won struggles and battles with accepting grace and forgiveness--not to mention their competing goals for the farm. In the end they are able to show each other what God's grace is really all about.

The Harvest of Grace is excellently written and a perfect conclusion to the Ada's House Series. If you are a Cindy Woodsmall fan or just love reading about the Amish culture you won't be disappointed.

I received a free review copy of this book from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing.