Sarah's Orphans

Vannetta Chapman

Description

Orphaned...But Never Abandoned by God Sarah Yoder belongs to a Plain community in Oklahoma, but her days are far from simple. Life suddenly gets complicated when a series of tragic events unfold, leaving her in charge of the household. Alone with her younger siblings, Sarah is exhausted but finally at peace. Then she nearly runs over a small Hispanic boy with her buggy...and somehow finds herself sheltering two more orphans. Paul Byler moved to Cody's Creek to help his brother in a time of need. But now that Joseph has recovered from his heart attack, Paul's ready for a quiet place of his own. The only problem? His new property lands him next door to the orphaned Yoder familyand a calling from God he can't seem to ignore. A story of extraordinary grace and love in the face of desperate need, Sarah's Orphans is the third standalone novel in the Plain and Simple Miracles collection by Vannetta Chapman.

Informations

• Publié par: Harvest House Publishers
• Date de parution: 30 août 2016
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9780736956086
• Langue: English

Extrait

Books by Vannetta Chapman

P LAIN AND S IMPLE M IRACLES
Brian s Choice
(ebook-only novella prequel)
Anna s Healing
Joshua s Mission
Sarah s Orphans

T HE P EBBLE C REEK A MISH S ERIES
A Promise for Miriam
A Home for Lydia
A Wedding for Julia
Home to Pebble Creek (free short story e-romance)
Christmas at Pebble Creek (free short story e-romance)
HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS
EUGENE, OREGON
Scripture quotations are taken from
The Holy Bible, New International Version , NIV . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
The New King James Version . Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Cover by Koechel Peterson Associates
Cover photos Bas Meelker, ArtBitz, Plume Photography / Shutterstock
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
SARAH S ORPHANS
Copyright 2016 by Vannetta Chapman
Published by Harvest House Publishers
Eugene, Oregon 97402
www.harvesthousepublishers.com
ISBN 978-0-7369-5607-9 (pbk.)
ISBN 978-0-7369-5608-6 (eBook)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Chapman, Vannetta, author.
Title: Sarah s orphans / Vannetta Chapman.
Description: Eugene Oregon: Harvest House Publishers, [2016] | Series: Plain and simple miracles; book 3 | Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016009186 (print) | LCCN 2016006006 (ebook) | ISBN 9780736956086 () | ISBN 9780736956079 (softcover)
Subjects: LCSH: Amish-Fiction. | GSAFD: Christian fiction.
Classification: LCC PS3603.H3744 (print) | LCC PS3603.H3744 S27 2016 (ebook) | DDC 813/.6-dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016009186
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 means-electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any other-without 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.
Dedication
For my friends,
Bill and Connie Voigt
Contents
Books by Vannetta Chapman
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
Chapter 80
Chapter 81
Chapter 82
Chapter 83
Author s Note
Discussion Questions
Recipes
Glossary
About the Author
When Tragedy Arrives Forgiveness Brings Healing
When Disaster Strikes Hope and Love Rise to Meet It
When Loss Seems Overwhelming Grace Ushers in Peace
Fall in Love with the Amish of Pebble Creek!
Enjoy These Free Short Story E-Romances
Ready to Discover More?
About the Publisher
Acknowledgments
This book is dedicated to Bill and Connie Voigt. Both Bill and Connie have participated in mission work for many years. They have ministered to families in Honduras on six different occasions, Nicaragua on half a dozen trips, and an additional three trips to Mexico. They have also ministered to those here in our hometown. They are an inspiration and have helped me to understand what it means to be the hands and feet of Christ to others.
Thanks to my prereaders: Kristy and Janet. You both help me to write quality fiction, and you are such good friends. God blessed me richly with you two! I appreciate my family and friends who support me in this journey of sharing God s grace through fiction. I m grateful for the help of my agent, Steve Laube, as well as the wonderful staff at Harvest House for publishing this story. I d also like to thank Nelson Bynum for the use of his name. I think you d make a great sheriff.
Lastly, I would like to express my gratitude to the Amish communities in Oklahoma. This is the third and last novel in my Plain and Simple Miracles series, and I have enjoyed the time I spent with you-both in person and on the written page.
If you find yourself near Tulsa, drive east on US-412 for forty minutes until you reach the town of Chouteau. There you will find the Plain and quiet community I refer to as Cody s Creek. You ll be blessed by your journey.
And finally always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 5:20).
We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked, and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for is the greatest poverty.
M OTHER T ERESA

Love your neighbor as yourself.
M ATTHEW 22:39
PROLOGUE
Cody s Creek, Oklahoma
October
D on t worry. I ll find him. Andy paused long enough to touch her shoulder, and then he too was swallowed up by the stormy night.
Sarah Yoder watched her brother disappear as the wind tore through the stand of elm trees to the south of the house. Lightning streaked across the sky, revealing a deluge of water.
Is he going to be all right?
She hadn t heard her youngest brother step out onto the porch. Was he asking about Andy or their father? She supposed it didn t matter, as she didn t know the answer to either. Instead of waiting for her response, Isaac sat on the floor, scooting until his back pressed against the house. Sarah remained where she was, staring into the blackness and wondering how her life had come to this.
She heard her brother sniffle, a small, broken sound, so she stepped back under the roof hang, shook the water from her dress, and sat beside him.
Ya , of course he will.
But it s so co-co-cold. Isaac swiped at his nose with the back of his hand.
The child was shivering. She should insist that he go inside, but inside was worse than the storm. Instead, she put her arm around him.
Looks like we ll be having an early winter. You ll be able to sled down the hill before Thanksgiving.
Isaac shrugged, as if that wasn t his favorite thing to do from first snow until spring. The child could turn anything into a sled-a trash can lid, a discarded box, even feed sacks. There was no distracting him tonight, though. Not after what had occurred at the dinner table.
What s Mamm doing? she asked.
Still crying.
Henry and Luke?
Gone to the barn.
Her brothers often fled to the safety and peace of the hayloft during one of their father s episodes. Not Isaac. He was one to stay near Sarah and share her burden of worry. Perhaps that was a blessing.
What had the bishop said on Sunday? Very few burdens are heavy if everyone lifts.
In his own way, little Isaac was helping her lift the burden of their father-an impossible weight for either of them to carry.
Lightning once again split the sky, followed immediately by a deep, continuous rumbling that seemed to rattle the very boards of the porch. The storm was upon them. The temperature had dropped more than twenty degrees in the last two hours. Sarah wouldn t be surprised if frost covered the fields in the morning.
As the thunder faded, a crash came from inside the house. A dish thrown against a cabinet, if she were to guess.
Isaac tucked in closer to her side.
Sarah stared out into the night.
Together they waited for the return of their father.
CHAPTER 1
Tuesday morning, three months later
S arah glanced out the kitchen window. Snow covered the yard, the clothesline, even the trampoline under the red oak tree. January s accumulation had broken the single month snowfall record in Cody s Creek. It was quite a sight, but it wasn t enough to close school.
Are you sure, Sarah? Maybe you just haven t heard that the school is closed. Isaac had come downstairs in his oldest pants, which were a good inch too short, and three layers of his brothers outgrown shirts-his version of sledding clothes.
I m sure. Now hurry upstairs and change before your bruders are back.
Her mother sat clutching a mug of coffee, neither participating in the conversation nor taking note of it. Deborah Yoder was forty-two years old with dull brown hair pulled haphazardly into her kapp . Her face was gaunt, and dark circles rimmed her blue eyes, but then her mother had always seemed unhealthy in some way. She d changed considerably in the three months since her husband died, but it wasn t that she looked older or younger. No, the difference between now and before was that she gave the impression of being barely present. To Sarah it seemed that she drifted a little further from them each day.
Isaac began pleading his case for a snow day. Sarah marched him upstairs and returned to find Luke sitting at the kitchen table, sopping wet, a trail of water stretching