Sewn with Joy
Authors: Tricia Goyer
HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS
EUGENE, OREGON
Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version.
Cover by Garborg Design Works
Tricia Goyer is published in association with Books & Such Management, 52 Mission Circle, Suite 122, PMB 170, Santa Rosa, CA 95409-5370,
www.booksandsuch.com
.
Sherry Gore is published in association with the Steve Laube Agency, LLC, 5025 N. Central Ave., #635, Phoenix, Arizona, 85012.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
SEWN WITH JOY
Copyright © 2016 Tricia Goyer and Sherry Gore
Published by Harvest House Publishers
Eugene, Oregon 97402
www.harvesthousepublishers.com
ISBN 978-0-7369-6134-9 (pbk.)
ISBN 978-0-7369-6135-6 (eBook)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Goyer, Tricia, author. | Gore, Sherry, 1965- author.
Title: Sewn with joy / Tricia Goyer and Sherry Gore.
Description: Eugene Oregon: Harvest House Publisher, [2016] | Series: Pinecraft Pie Shop; 3
Identifiers: LCCN 2016012427 (print) | LCCN 2016019673 (ebook) | ISBN 9780736961349 (softcover) | ISBN 9780736961356 ()
Subjects: LCSH: AmishâFiction. | Man-woman relationshipsâFiction. | GSAFD: Christian fiction. | Love stories.
Classification: LCC PS3607.O94 S49 2016 (print) | LCC PS3607.O94 (ebook) | DDC 813/.6âdc23
LC record available at
https://lccn.loc.gov/2016012427
All rights reserved.
No part of this electronic publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any meansâelectronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any otherâwithout the prior written permission of the publisher. The authorized purchaser has been granted a nontransferable, nonexclusive, and noncommercial right to access and view this electronic publication, and purchaser agrees to do so only in accordance with the terms of use under which it was purchased or transmitted. Participation in or encouragement of piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of author's and publisher's rights is strictly prohibited.
To my new daughters
Arianna, Lauren, Jordan, and Florentina
God has planted you in our lives, and I'm thankful!
â
TRICIA
â
Contents
Sewing Enhances One's Character
Healthy Chocolate Chip Granola
Connect with Tricia Goyer and Sherry Gore online!
Pray not to have easy lives; pray to have stronger backs.
A
MISH PROVERB
J
oy Miller gingerly folded one white curtain panel and slipped it into a large paper bag. “I finished these up, Elizabeth. I thought I'd head over to Jeanette Slagel's house and hang them for her. She might want to have them up for tomorrow's sewing frolic.”
The sound of a car's horn interrupted the otherwise peaceful scene outside the window of Pinecraft Fabric and Quilts, owned by her older friend Elizabeth and set in the quaint Amish community of Pinecraft within the city limits of Sarasota, Florida. Joy's hands smoothed the white cotton fabric of another panel before slipping in into the bag on top of the first.
A yawn attempted to overtake her, and Joy took another sip of her coffee. She'd stayed up late sewing while the hum of her machine lulled
Dat
,
Mem
, and two of her four sisters to sleep. Still living at home, her oldest sister, Lovina, managed her pie shop, and her younger sister Faith worked at Yoder's Restaurant and painted landscapes at every opportunity.
Their youngest sister, Grace, who wrote for the
Budget
, still
lived at home as well, but she was currently visiting a cousin in Ohio who had just had her first baby. And Hope, her second-oldest sister, was living in Kentucky with her fiancé Jonas's sister. She was also planning her weddingâwhich reminded Joy that once these curtains were hung, she would have to start on wedding dresses next, for both Hope and Lovina. And then she had to get working on the order of aprons and dish towels for her sister's pie shop, Me, Myself, and Pie.
Would she be the next to be married? Joy released a soft breath. She hoped so.
The double wedding was to be held in Hope's garden at Christmas, just two months away. Joy couldn't think of anything lovelier. Well, except for the fact that someday it might be
her
wedding she was sewing for. Matthew Slagel's handsome face filled her mind.
Is he the one?
A small smile turned her lips upward as she thought of Matthew's light hair, his face tan from working in the Florida sun. Mostly she thought of his blue, blue eyes whose color changed according to his mood: light blue when he smiled and a darker greenish-blue when he had work worries on his mind. Her favorite was when they were more of a sea-foam green. They lightened and softened whenever she sat and talked with him, as if his soul were a warm ocean inviting her in.
Elizabeth Bieler leaned heavily on her cane as she exited the back storage room. “I'd say you got those curtains done in record time, and a fine job too.” Elizabeth slid onto the stool behind the sales counter. “I just wonder what got into the bishop's wife. It's as if she had a bee in her bonnet, ordering new curtains for the whole house.” Elizabeth glanced up at Joy. The older woman's light-colored eyes twinkled with mischief, and Joy guessed her next words. “Of course, I heard it was her son who thought new
curtains would be a lovely birthday present for her. That wouldn't have anything to do with his interest in one beautiful and talented seamstress, would it?”
Heat filled Joy's cheeks. “Oh, Elizabeth, I'm sure it had everything to do with it.”
“So I guessed right,
ja
?” Elizabeth chuckled. “I can see by the way your face just turned as red as a crab.” She settled herself onto the stool at the front counter and grinned. “I don't know. Maybe you're even an official couple now,” she said with a teasing tone.
Joy finished putting the third panel into the bag and then placed her hands on her hips. Behind her the air-conditioning unit buzzed, causing cool air to blow over the colorful bolts of red, green, blue, and yellow fabric. Since she'd moved to Pinecraft, Florida, two years ago with her parents and sisters, this small store had become her favorite place, and seventy-year-old Elizabeth her special friend. She tilted her head toward the older lady and chuckled.
