Acknowledgments

It’s truly unfair that only one person’s name is on the cover of this book, because so many more have contributed. Listing them here, at the very back, hardly makes up for the injustice, but it’s all I’ve got to work with, so here goes.

Thank you to my husband, Don, for never doubting the dream. For helping me laugh at the rejections and tears, and for patiently explaining my characters’ motivations when I couldn’t figure them out on my own. How do you do that? But more than anything, thank you for being stubbornly determined to keep me home with our children and not minding that I wrote a book while I was there.

Thank you to my daughters, Jessica, Jillian, and Janae, for your suggestions about what should happen next, and how it should happen, and whether or not Dodd needs muscles after all. And thank you to my sons, Drew and Dene, for recognizing I was writing … something … and being proud of me. And to all five of you for allowing me to ignore you for long stretches of time—you seem to have turned out all right regardless. And to Colton and Kelsea, who joined us after the madness began—thank you for marrying into our family anyway. I promise I won’t always have a deadline … maybe.

Thank you to Marci for reading, rereading, and re-rereading. And for showing me the spots where “something’s just not working here.” Those words are a treasure map for a writer to follow.

Thank you to all the friends and family who supported and encouraged me the past five years. Especially those who read my original manuscript and refrained from telling me it was terrible (when it clearly was)—D’arci, Teddy, Anna, Mom, Jackie, Jill, Paula, Lance, Hannah, Kelsey, Karla (and the girls at her office who passed around a notebook copy). Your graciousness gave me courage to keep going.

To Sudona, Paula, Kathy, and Connie for propping me up during the frenzy of publication and for praying me through several bouts of temporary insanity.

Thank you to Mary and the Storytellers, for being a gentle source of praise.

Thank you to Anne Mateer and Candace Calvert, two of the most gracious, knowledgeable, and encouraging mentors a new writer could ask for. And to Nicole Deese and Amy Matayo for their empathy, their brainstorming sessions, their laughter and tears.

Thank you to Jamie Chavez and Julie Gwinn for your patience as I learned to work with professional editors. I appreciate you butchering my manuscript, teaching me the craft in the process, and inviting me to the full-on party happening in the margin notes.

Thank you to Jessica Kirkland, not only my agent but my cheerleader, adviser, spokesman, therapist, editor, fellow plotter, nutrition consultant, and sweet friend. I don’t know where you find the time to do all that you do, but I’m certainly glad that you do it. By now, I owe you a truckload of gluten-free cupcakes.

And a huge thank-you to all the folks at David C Cook who took a chance on a debut author and brought Ruthie Turner to life. Thank you to John Blase for finding Ruthie and me. To Ingrid Beck for answering what I’m sure were the most remedial publishing questions ever asked. To Amy Konyndyk for going the extra mile for the perfect cover. To Jennifer Lonas for polishing the manuscript until I could see my reflection in it. And to the entire team at David C Cook, including Nick Lee, Helen Macdonald, and Karen Athen, for the care you have shown to Ruthie, Dodd, and the Trapp congregation.

And last but not least, thank you to Chris for loaning me ten minutes of your life story and allowing me to twist it beyond recognition. This book is for you, and for me, and for others who wish the church was just a little bit different.