Grace Given

If you understand the Amish people at all, you know that they don't like conflict and will avoid all acts of vengeance or involving the police to deal with any issues they have. They are a peaceful people and prefer to let God deal out the judgements if laws are broken. However when a group of Amish people settle in Texas, a group of English teens are about to make sure they get the message that they are not wanted. Knowing that the Amish will not retaliate, they first come across Elsie and her sister Katie Yoder, walking home one day. They begin to verbally assault them with all kinds of derogatory comments and proceed to leer at them. Katie and Elsie both run for their farm and agree not to tell anyone about what just happened.

Yet once a lie begins it becomes harder and harder to keep it a secret. Now that Katie has left her family along with Jake, the boy Elsie had believed had feelings for her to live among the English. Elsie is left not only to deal with her hurt feelings of being betrayed by her sister and Jake and now has to face continued harassment from the group of English teens that have found an easy mark with Elsie. She finds solace in studying the Martyrs Mirror, an old book that takes about the persecution of the Amish people with her friend Gideon Lapp. Only Gideon wishes his friendship with Elsie may in fact turn into love at some point. However dealing with her heartache with Jake, puts those plans on the back burner and creates a door for Jake's brother Mose to enter with Elsie as they have a common ground for conversation.

In the second book of the Touch of Grace series by Beth Shriver, Grace Given teaches us all how to deal with situations in life that prove difficult. Whether it's a broken heart, a betrayal from a family member or even being harassed, the grace God provides never comes back empty handed. This was such a different Amish novel to read, in that dealing with the harassment from the English teens was something you often wonder about when the Amish community moves into a new location and can create animosity among the residents that live there especially when the Amish start new business opportunities that create a need for their products and services over the English ones. A well written novel that completely captivated me from start to finish and can't wait to read the next one, Healing Grace which the reader is given a glimpse into at the conclusion of this novel.

I received Grace Given by Beth Shriver compliments of Christian Fiction Blog Alliance and Realm Publishers for my honest review and have to rate this one a 5 out of 5 stars. The story was a lot different that your typical Amish novels and dealt with a lot of issues facing the world today in our own communities. It just shows how the Amish would likely have handled it with a touch of grace instead of retaliation like most would. For more information about Grace Given, Beth Shriver or where to pick up a copy of this book today, please click on the links below:

Grace Given by Beth Shriver

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