[Amish of Lancaster County 01] • Faith and Hope in Lancaster

(Part

One of the Amish of Lancaster County serial.

Please note that while Shelfari calls this a series, it is actually a serial.

This novella-length section is the first third of the novel. If you want to read the entire story at once, please click on my author name and look for the complete megabook, titled The Amish of Lancaster County, or feel free to enjoy the installments one by one.)

Plain

Amish Hannah Stoltzfus of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, has her hands full!

Her youngest daughter is about to go onrumspringa in New York City, her middle

daughter has to choose between the two men vying for her hand in marriage, and

her son brings home an English girl. What's a mother and wife to do? Turn to

God's guidance and her own belief in hope, trust, and love to get her family

through, of course. But will it be enough?

Read an excerpt below and find out what happens when the simple life gets

complicated.

Stephen gazed out into the night, and a few minutes passed before he spoke.

Then he squeezed her hand and smiled. "I'm so glad you came home, Annie.

God brought you back to me, to us. In fact, there's a question I've been

meaning to ask you for a while now, and now is the perfect time."

Annie gasped. She'd known this was coming, but she hadn't thought it would be

today . . . Her heart thudded in her chest, and her belly twisted nervously.

"You do?"

"Annie Stoltzfus, don't answer before you pray about it, but once you

have, will you be my wife?"

"Yes," Annie said, her heart glowing and her cheeks splitting into a

huge smile, "yes, of course I will!"

"You weren't supposed to answer until you prayed about it!" Stephen

said, laughing.

"Fine," Annie said. She bowed her head and put her hands together

before her face. Dear God, tell me, is

this the step I should be taking? Is Stephen the man for me?

A thought flashed in her head, a memory she'd thought long buried. Jacob, her

older brother Aaron's best friend. Before she'd gone on her rumspringa, Jacob had occasionally walked her home from meetings. Aaron was

always nearby, but somehow Jacob still found opportunities to tell Annie how

beautiful and smart and kind she was. Her sewing and quilting were the best

he'd ever seen, he whispered shyly, and maybe one day, she would make something

for him.

Annie had daydreamed about him, little fantasies in which they ran away

together and explored New York City. They left her flushed and curious. It was

a good feeling. So one afternoon, when the sun was bright and the fields in

full bloom, she pulled him under a tree and put her arms around him. It was

only meant to be a hug, but somehow their lips met, and neither pulled away.

If they hadn't heard rustling in the fields, thought Annie, who knew how far it

might have gone?

Shame filled her, and she ran away, ignoring Jacob's calls after her.

By feigning illness, she managed to avoid Jacob as much as possible for the two

months left before her rumspringa. Then she packed her bags for New York,

determined to put everything behind her and become an actress.

Annie's cheeks burned, remembering how foolish she'd been. But it was all in

the past now. Surely God thought so, too.

So why did she still feel a little nervous at the thought of marrying Stephen?

She looked at the man before her now, solid, stable, loyal. She couldn't do

better than Stephen, and surely God thought so, too.

"Yes," she told Stephen, beaming, "I'll marry you!"