Amish Family

Fix dinner, Ella. Clean the house, Ella. Get the shoes fixed, Ella. Ella is different than most young women in town. She would rather read than watch television. She values kindness over popularity, and she secretly wishes for a family who actually wants her around. Ella has faced loss and tragedy, and yet she keeps a sweet, brave face, no matter how difficult life becomes. Chris has entertained an unrequited love for Aida Mast for years, but when he sees her at a shopping mall in the city, dressed strangely, he goes in search of an explanation. What is she hiding?

Anna Miller has her whole life ahead of her and everything to look forward to this Christmas. She’s always dreamed of being a wife and mother on an Amish farm, and her dreams are about to come true. She’s certain that this Christmas, after three long years, Jed Graber is finally going to propose. When Jed asks her out on a special Christmas date, Anna knows the moment has come. But instead of proposing, Jed tells her he’s moving hundreds of miles away, and Anna’s world comes crashing down. Later, Jed’s brother, Dale, tries to comfort her, but she draws away from everyone.

Every weekend, 10-year-old Josie would walk the two miles out of town to the local Amish community, where she would spend all day until sunset getting to know everyone there and helping out as best she could. She was enthralled with their way of life, their customs, their language, and the devout ways they held. What she most loved about them was their fairness in everything and how all they did revolved around their faith in God.

A young Amish woman, Karen Helmuth, is torn between God’s commandment to honor her parents and her own heart’s desire. How can she obey her mother’s final request to care for her three brothers and the family farm when her heart is pulling her in a different direction? Karen is floundering when an older widower offers her a way out. An older wealthy widower. If she accepts his offer of marriage, she can save her brothers and the farm, but she will have to deny her growing feelings for Nicodemus Imhoff. She is at a crossroads, never dreaming that God has a plan that could fix everything.

What would happen if an average American homeschooling family decided to visit a church from the Quiet of the Land? Jae never guessed that as soon as she stepped into that strange church service the first Sunday, where the people droned on like bumblebees and the preacher pulled at his beard showing his bottom teeth, that she had just entered the Life She Never Lived. They are so quiet...home-loving people, who keep to themselves.