Book Review: Love Finds You in Sugarcreek, Ohio

Love Finds You in Sugarcreek, Ohio

by Serena Miller
Minneapolis: Summerside Press, 2010

This book is a few years old, and was even made into a movie so I am coming late to the party, but "Love Finds You in Sugarcreek, Ohio" by Serena Miller was an enjoyable Amish mystery/romance based on the passage from Hebrews: "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers; for thereby some have entertained angels unawares."

Policewoman Rachel Troyer has just about convinced her elderly Amish aunts to close up the inn that they have run for years. She fears it is too much for them and she has the money to support them. They reluctantly agree, but tell her that if they feel God has sent someone, they will not turn him or her away. Rachel reluctantly agrees, but doesn't expect them to take in a down-on-his-luck man from out of town with no ID who has a young son and is clearly on the run. All of her police training goes into high alert. Convinced that he is up to no good, she is determined to find out who he is and what threat he poses to her family.

This story has some surprising twists and turns which will keep you turning pages. It also has a middle-aged woman with Down Syndrome playing a supporting, but important role. Overall, it was a very enjoyable story which fans of Amish fiction will relish.

Book Review: The Second Sister

The Second Sister

by Marie Bostwick
New York: Kensington Books

I recently read and reviewed the Cobbled Court Quilts Series by Marie Bostwick and was thrilled to discover that she recently published a new book, "The Second Sister." Lucy Toomey is a workaholic political campaigner whose hard work has just paid off - her boss is about to enter the White House, which means that Lucy has a job waiting for her on Pennsylvania Avenue. But when her disabled sister Alice dies unexpectedly, she is forced to return home to small-town Wisconsin in order to settle the estate and meet the eccentric terms of Alice's will. There she will be forced to face some of her old demons as well as learn about a sister she only thought she knew. She'll learn some important things about herself as well.

This book invites readers to think about their priorities and the role of siblings in our lives. Fans of quilting novels will be happy to know that quilting plays a prominent part in this story as well. 

Bostwick wrote this as a stand-alone, but admits she might be open to starting a new series focusing on the individuals in this book. If she does, I'll be happy to read it.

Sunflower Quilt is Done!

Here was my plan for my sunflower quilt:

I

And here is the finished product:

I gave it to my sister for her 50th birthday!

Book Review: The Catholic Guide to Dating after Divorce

The Catholic Guide to Dating After Divorce: Cultivating the Five Qualities That Free You to Love

by Lisa Duffy
Notre Dame: Ave Maria Press, 2015

Lisa Duffy, an author and speaker for the CatholicMatch institute, overcame a painful divorce and annulment, remarried in the Church, and has spent the past twenty years ministering to those who have been wounded by divorce.

In "The Catholic Guide to Dating after Divorce," Duffy provides authentic Church teaching on divorce, annulment (including the benefits of going through the process), remarriage and receiving the Eucharist. Sharing her first-hand experience, she understands the pain of going through a divorce. "Rebuilding after divorce is hard work and it requires patience and persistence . . . It is easy to lose sight of the fact that we are lovable, valuable, and God still has great plans for us."

Soon after her divorce, co-workers and other well-meaning individuals wanted to fix her up on dates, but Duffy cautions that one must "take the time to properly heal from your own divorce before entering into a serious dating relationship."

How does one do that? Duffy offers five attraction factors that help an individual become a better version of themselves. These "five factors will help you become the best, most attractive version of yourself, and pave the way for you to experience greater satisfaction in your relationship, and to improve your ability to give and receive love." These five factors include being available, being affectionate, being a communicator, being faithful, and being magnanimous.

Duffy has extremely high standards for individuals to meet before being ready to date after a divorce (or to date in the first place). If everyone met them, no doubt the world would have many more happy marriages. However, we live in a world of imperfection. Perhaps it would be more practical to aim for the high standard, but be willing to accept an 80% success rate in both oneself and potential partners.

Duffy offers concrete advice and areas for individuals to work on to heal from divorce and prepare for dating. "The Catholic Guide to Dating After Divorce" is a book many divorced Catholics can benefit from. It also might make for good reading for parish priests and pastoral ministers to help in their role as counselors to the faithful.

Stay-At-Home Motherhood as a Feminist Act

I recently picked up the Sept.-Oct. 2014 issue of Home Education Magazine. In it, Kate Fridkis writes about giving up her full-time career to take on part-time work and be a stay-at-home mom to her young daughter. She struggled with the type of role-model she would be to her daughter and how this decision related to her being a feminist.

Being available to your child is a big, radical deal, especially in a time when people dismiss its importance. It requires huge bravery and enormous dedication and oceans of patience and a galloping sense of humor . . . it's up to me, in the end, as it's always up to each of us to take charge of the conversation and educate my career-oriented friends about my choices and what they really look like. . . .Instead of saying, 'I have to keep up my career, if only for my daughter's sake,' I'm experimenting with saying, 'I have to be proud of my choices, if only for my daughter's sake.' Because that is how you model feminism. That is how it works.

When I was young, I dreamed of having a little girl. I wanted someone to like the same stories I had enjoyed growing up and to share my love of dolls. These were silly reasons, of course, but I simply couldn't imagine life with sons. What would I possibly do with them? What would we have in common?

Then, of course, God gave me two sons, and I loved them with all of my heart, and they've broadened my horizons as I have broadened theirs. And as time went on, I was thankful that I had boys and not a girl because I could encourage them to be whatever they wanted. They would never have to struggle, as I did, with the pain of giving up a career for motherhood.

I have always tried to stay out of the mommy wars. I firmly believe every mother does the best she can and that God calls us to different lives, that these paths are revealed through prayer and our individual circumstances. God called me to be a stay-at-home mom, and then a homeschooling mom, and I try every day to be the best mom I can be. Mind you, some days are definitely better than others.

Thanks to the internet, I've had the opportunity to work part-time for which I am incredibly thankful. Yet, there are still days, especially ones in which no paid work is to be found, that being a stay at home mom hurts. Even though I can't imagine turning over the primary care of my children to someone else and am extremely thankful that I am able to be with them, it is hard to sacrifice my dreams, intellect, and gifts for my children. It is a sacrifice God has asked me to make. Fourteen years into the process, I'm still working on gracefully making that sacrifice, on using my gifts the way He sees fit, in the opportunities that He gives me. No doubt many mothers who work outside the home struggle with sacrificing spending time with their children. No matter what anyone might say, mothers cannot have it all. In the years in which we are raising our children, something always has to give.

And then, a little over four years ago, God gave me a little girl, and I wondered how I would ever be a good mother to her. How could I be a good role model?  What would she learn from me about how to be a woman? Could I encourage her to pursue her dreams, knowing in the end, if God calls her to motherhood, she might have to give them up?

I truly struggled with this, but then, in time, I realized that deep down, I wanted the same thing for my little girl that I wanted for my sons - I want them all to be the people God made them to be. I pray for that every day. I don't know what the future holds for any of them, but I can encourage all of them to pray and discern and explore. I can do the best I can with this day to give them the best lives I can provide. I can trust that God has a plan for them and that His plan is infinitely better than my plan. I can trust that if they live the lives God calls them to, they will be successful in the only eyes that truly matter.

Book Review: Seeking Surrender

Seeking Surrender: How My Friendship with a Trappist Monk Taught Me to Trust and Embrace Life

by Colette Lafia
Notre Dame: Sorin Books, 2015

Colette Lafia, spiritual director, writer, retreat facilitator and part-time school librarian, knows something about having dreams not come true. She and her husband are infertile and all their prayers and efforts to conceive a child came to naught. In addition, her sister died of breast cancer, her husband's business failed, and she suffered from chronic insomnia.

Such was Lafia's life in October 2002 when she traveled to the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky searching for some peace. There she would meet Brother Rene, "an elderly monk with a warm and down-to-earth disposition . . .[who] would become [her] spiritual companion, teacher, and a source of inspiration for seven years." The two bonded quickly and begin an epistolary relationship in which Brother Rene would help Lafia to learn the value of surrender.

"Surrender is the spiritual aspect of acceptance, inviting and allowing us to hold our experiences and lives with grace in every moment." When we have embraced surrender, "we stop wanting our lives to be something other than what they are and begin to recognize what is right in front of us, the life that is truly our own."

It was an important lesson that Lafia would need even more as she cared for her father who was dying of Parkinson's disease. He, too, had to accept the gift of surrender as he needed to release control and let others care for him.

Lafia writes in beautiful and honest prose, sharing her weakness and struggle as she comes to terms with the life that she lives and the new opportunities that God provides. An attitude of surrender can be beneficial at any age, but is perhaps most suited to those who have experienced some great loss in life, be it of family members or a long hoped for dream.

After life has dealt some fierce, painful blows, one must dig deep for the ability to go on. A spirit of surrender can only serve to help that process, and "Seeking Surrender" offers a gentle roadmap to letting go. 

Book Review: Arriving at Amen

Arriving at Amen: Seven Catholic Prayers That Even I Can Offer

by Leah Libresco
Notre Dame: Ave Maria Press, 2015

It is evident from the very first pages of "Arriving at Amen" that Leah Libresco is a highly intelligent woman. A former atheist, she came to believe in God through a logical process, a proof by contradiction.

She describes seven types of prayer: petition, confession, the examen, the rosary, the divine office, lectio divina, and the Mass, and shares how she came to understand and utilize these forms of prayer in her own life.

Unlike many of us who have embraced the Catholic faith since birth, Libresco has a constant spirit of questioning. She comes to these prayers from a radically different perspective. As an example, she attempts to explain transubstantiation via algebraic formulas. While such an explanation was beyond the intellectual capabilities of this reader, one has to give Libresco credit for originality and a fresh look at traditional prayers and rituals.

Libresco holds St. Peter in high esteem, describing him as having "a loud faith" - always bold, always questioning, always trusting in God, and always moving forward. It is this faith that she wishes to emulate and she invites her readers to go along for the journey.