Love’s Journey Home (46 page)

“That doesn’t mean I won’t…” She struggled for the right words. “You’ve been a good
friend. You’ve been…family.”

“You also.” He raised his hand as if he would touch her arm, then let it drop. “To
me and to my fraa and to her sister. I would ask a favor of you.”

“Anything.”

“Stay close to Annie. It grieves Emma so to leave her sister behind.”

“Annie is like a sister to me. Emma needn’t worry about that. And Annie will have
Miriam and there’s always Charisma. Although I’m not always sure if that is a good
thing or a bad thing.” Helen couldn’t help but smile. “Anyway, I think Annie will
be too busy to moon over the people she misses.”

Thomas’s gaze went to Isaac, who leaned against his buggy. The young man watched Annie
as she tried to hold a squirming Noah on her hip and hug Mary and Lillie at the same
time. “I reckon you’re right about that.” Thomas smiled back at Helen. “I reckon you’ll
be busy yourself.”

Heat washed over Helen, but the joy that rushed through her couldn’t be denied. She
no longer felt clumsy or awkward or nervous. “Jah, very busy. I hope y’all will make
it back for a visit, maybe in November.”

“November it is.” Thomas’s normally taciturn face creased with a grin. “I’ll mark
the calendar when we get settled in our new home.”

“And again at Christmas,” she added, feeling she’d said too much. “We’ll have much
to visit about.”

“I’ll make sure of that.” Gabriel strode toward them. He extended a hand to Thomas.
“Blessed be all our new beginnings.”

Blessed be. Helen repeated the words silently. Thank Gott for new beginnings.

1. As his mother, Helen feels responsible for Edmond’s actions at the Fourth of July
parade. Many times parents do all the right things and say all the right things, and
yet their children still do bad things. Is Helen responsible for Edmond’s behavior?
Do you believe she was lacking as a parent? Does Edmond’s behavior say more about
him or about Helen? Have you ever felt guilty or responsible for someone else’s failings?

2. When Catherine returns to Bliss Creek, she is met with silence from Luke, who insists
that the
meidung
, or shunning, should be observed. The Amish believe shunning shows a person who has
broken the Ordnung the consequences of their disobedience. It also keeps the family
from being drawn into that worldly life. How would you feel about not being able to
talk to a family member who breaks a church or community rule?

3. Is there a conflict between shunning and the Amish community’s belief in absolute
forgiveness? How can the two be practiced side-by-side? What is the Scriptural basis
for the practice?

4. Do you think Catherine was right to agree to Edmond’s request that she take him
with her back to Wichita? Why or why not?

5. Annie and David chose to marry, knowing his illness might result in his death.
Annie took her marriage vows as a leap of faith. Then her husband died. Were they
wrong? How do you explain the fact that they had faith and yet their prayers were
not answered in the way they had hoped? Have you ever had a prayer that wasn’t answered
the way you’d hoped? How did that affect your faith? Would you be afraid to take that
leap of faith again if the opportunity presented itself?

6. Do you believe, as the Amish do, that God has a plan for you? How do the bad things
that happen to you fit into that plan?

7. Gabriel, Helen, and Annie each are in different stages of dealing with their grief
at the loss of a spouse. All three loved their spouses very much. The Amish expect
members of their community who have lost a spouse to find a new one so that their
families can be complete and flourish. How do you feel about the push for them to
marry again in light of the vows they took with their first spouses? The vows say
“until death do us part.” How do you feel about taking that literally?

8. Aenti Louise is looking forward to tasting the earth on the tip of her tongue and
putting her arms around warm earth, a very different view from the one most people
have of cold dirt and death. Do you share the Amish view that death is simply the
next step toward being closer to God? What does that view say about their faith and
yours? Is being afraid to die a lack of faith?

9. Romans 5:3-5 urges us to glory in our suffering because it allows us to grow our
character and our perseverance and our hope. Do you feel like that might be too much
to ask? When you’ve faced difficult situations in your life, have you been angry with
God? How did you reconcile those difficulties with the knowledge that God loves you
and is with you in your suffering?

Kelly Irvin is a Kansas native and has been writing professionally for twenty-five
years. She and her husband, Tim, make their home in Texas. They have two children,
three cats, and a tankful of fish. A public relations professional, Kelly is also
the author of two romantic suspense novels and writes short stories in her spare time.

To learn more about her work, visit
www.kellyirvin.com

 
The Bliss Creek Amish
 

An Interview with Author Kelly Irvin

How did you come up with the concept for the Bliss Creek Amish?

I’m not sure I actually came up with it at all! I was fascinated with the Amish folks’
commitment to forgiveness. They practice what they preach, something I’ve found hard
to do when it comes to forgiveness. That fascination grew into the story
To Love and to Cherish
. The second book,
A Heart Made New
, grew out of the first book as I wanted to see what happened to Josiah and his sister
Annie. Again, the spiritual theme of learning to take on faith God’s plan for our
lives drove the story. Not knowing how our lives will turn out isn’t important as
long as we believe God will be there in the end—no matter when or how that end comes.
The third book really came about because I felt bad for Helen—she’s a widow who has
a little crush on Thomas in
To Love and to Cherish
. She deserves her own true love. So that’s how
Love’s Journey Home
began.

Is any part of Bliss Creek Amish series true?

The characters are fictitious and so is the setting, but the challenges faced by Emma,
Thomas, Annie, Josiah, David, Helen, and the other characters are drawn from real
life. They’re challenges we all face as human beings trying to deal with a broken
world as Christians. As Plain folks, they work even harder than most of us because
they choose to do it without modern technology and “basic necessities” like electricity.
They face disease, the deaths of loved ones, broken hearts, and disagreements with
family members…just as we do. I also drew some of these challenges from newspaper
articles and media coverage about Plain folks dealing with disagreements with city
officials over permitting, the fallout of finding oil on their land, the rising cost
of farmland, and the difficulties of making small family farms profitable in today’s
economy.

Is Bliss Creek a real place?

No, it’s totally a figment of my imagination, but it comes from having grown up in
a small rural town in Kansas where farming is a mainstay. Bliss Creek is smaller than
my hometown of Abilene, Kansas, which has about eight thousand residents, but it has
many similarities. Small towns are wonderful because everyone knows everyone. They’re
great places to raise families. Small towns can also be painful places to live because
everyone knows everyone—and their business!

Did you include any of your life experiences in the Bliss Creek Series?

I find that everything I write draws from the sum total of my experiences as a human
being. My husband and I lost our first child before he was born, so when I wrote about
Emma’s miscarriage in
A Heart Made New
I called upon those memories and feelings and that sense of loss. Writing can be
a painful, yet cathartic process, but I do believe those experiences contribute to
the authenticity of an author’s work. (Not that you have to experience the loss of
a loved one to write about it—I have a good imagination and a copious amount of empathy
when it comes to these things.) I just finished writing the first book in a new series
for Harvest House in which I had to revisit the horrifying, unexpected death of a
loved one in a boating accident. I found myself wondering how long it takes for a
writer to incorporate these kinds of painful experiences into his or her writing without
reliving them. Or if that’s even possible.

Do you have a favorite character in the series? Why?

That is a tough question. I love them all. As I wrote each book, I became better acquainted
with each character. Still, I’d have to say it’s a tie between Josiah and Annie. Josiah,
because he reminds me of myself with his rebelliousness and his desire to be his own
person, even though it goes against everything he learned growing up. Annie, because
she’s the character I most want to emulate. She’s so loving and so willing to put
herself out there for the people she loves and the things she believes in. In
A Heart Made New
, she holds out for the man she loves even when he struggles to walk by faith. She
takes a homeless woman and child into her home and helps Charisma get back on her
feet. Annie puts her faith into action. I so admire her. Her struggles are not over,
but she faces them with a lovely grace.

How much research did the series take?

Quite a bit. I’m still learning. The challenge is compounded by the fact that each
Amish community has its own set of rules, or Ordnung. I want to be very careful and
respectful of how I present their lives while constructing an interesting story that
will hold readers’ attention and make them think about their own faith and lives.
I spent a great deal of time reading books and researching online before I began to
write the first book. I’m still doing that, as well as reading
The Budget
newspaper to learn more about the rhythm of their daily lives, the little details
that make the stories seem more real and authentic. This summer I had the opportunity
to visit an Amish community in Missouri, which was really helpful in terms of the
next series I’ll be writing.

What was the most interesting fact that you learned while writing the Bliss Creek
Amish?

I don’t think there’s one specific fact. It’s all been enlightening and thought-provoking.
Learning about the Amish way of life has forced me to examine my life, my priorities,
and my faith. It’s given me a renewed desire to simplify and to prioritize. I’m still
learning and still struggling, but writing about the Amish has opened up that interior
dialogue, where before I was too busy rushing around to make myself stop and think
about it.

What are some of the challenges you face as an author?

Mostly, it’s time. Time is a valuable commodity in my life. I work full-time in public
relations. I’m married. My two children are adults now, but we’re very close. Finding
time to write is always a challenge. I write in the early morning before work, at
lunch, and on the weekends. I also have to admit to a certain amount of envy when
I see others spending their entire days writing. We all make choices and I’m blessed
to have a great job that helps support my family. Balancing the two is critical.

What aspects of being a writer do you enjoy the most?