The Christmas Quilt by Vannetta Chapman

So I am now on my 2nd blog post.  I just finished reading The Christmas Quilt and really enjoyed this.  I would gladly say that the author wove together a beautiful story of peace, forgiveness and family ties.

The story begins as two young Amish women are preparing for their marriages on the same day.  Annie and Leah share their feelings of joy and happiness at the coming of this happy event.  The story progresses as both women, now married, are both expecting a child, or in the case of Leah, twins.  Leah is married to Annie's brother and as her pregnancy advances she is no longer feeling the closeness to her husband and their marriage does not appear to be as happy as she had hoped or expected it to be at the time of their wedding. 

Leah's pregnancy starts to have complications and some serious problems associated with it.  As time progresses, her husband, Adam, finds her curled up on the floor in the middle of the night.  Realizing that she needs more help than he himself can provide for her, he contacts Annie and her husband, Samuel, for help.  Samuel having some medical knowledge, himself, realizes that he too must call for help and an ambulance is summoned.  Leah is brought to the hospital and after a time, it is realized she must go to yet another hospital for the care her two unborn children are so in need of.  This will take her farther from her family but it seems there is no option.

Annie realizing that Adam needs to care for their home and continue to work to help pay for the hospital expenses, finds a place near the hospital where she can stay and take care of Leah's needs. 
Each day she works on a quilt for Leah.  The quilt takes on significant meaning as the two share scripture time together and special stories together.  The two become close as the time progresses and Leah realizes how much Adam still means to her and Adam finds he too, greatly misses his wife.  As the two await their child, their Amish community comes together to find ways to help them with their expenses due to the extended hospital stay.

The stories and scriptural references begin to bind the two women together and help to calm Leah's fears and apprehension of the expected earlier birth of their children.  With each day the tender feelings between Adam and Leah seem to be returning.  This story gives wonderful hope that we can all  find ways to heal wounds that have torn us apart from those that are the most important to us in our lives.  It is a sweet book that helps us mend our souls.

You can get a copy at Amazon.com