A Time for Peace

by Barbara Cameron

  She nodded and he stood and lifted her in his arms to swing around and then clasp her to him.

  Laughing, she cried, "Stop!"

  "Oh, sorry!" he said immediately and he bent to place her gently on the sofa. "I didn't hurt the baby, did I?"

  "Of course not, silly!" She held on to the sofa armrest, waiting for the world to stop spinning. "I'm still having trouble with the nausea, that's all. Let's not move me around too much too quickly."

  And then as the children crowded around her, hugging her, telling her how happy they were, she started crying.

  The children backed away, looking concerned. "It's okay," Matthew told them.

  "Happy tears?" Joshua asked.

  "Ya," Matthew agreed and he was grinning.

  But he looked concerned when Jenny couldn't stop crying.He gathered her into his arms and shushed her, saying that she needed to stop or she'd make herself sick.

  Safe in his arms, feeling a tremendous relief, Jenny sagged against him.

  "What's all the commotion?" Phoebe wanted to know as she walked into the living room. "Why Jenny, you're back early."

  Jenny pulled back from Matthew and wiped her eyes on the handkerchief Matthew handed her. Then she held out her hand to her grandmother who came to sit beside her on the sofa and stare at her, concerned.

  "Tell me: What do you think about being an urgrossmudder again? A great-grandmother? "

  Glossary

  aenti—aunt

  allrecht—all right

  bauch—stomach

  boppli—baby or babies

  bruder—brother

  Daedi—Daddy

  danki—thanks

  dawdi haus—addition to the house for grandparents

  eldre—parents

  en alt maedel—old maid

  Englisch or Englischer—a non-Amish person

  fraa—wife

  grosssohn—grandson

  gwilde—quilt

  grossdochder—granddaughter

  guder mariye—good morning

  gut—good

  gut nacht—good night

  gut-n-owed—good evening

  haus—house

  hochmut—pride

  hungerich—hungry

  kaffi— coffee

  kapp—prayer covering or cap worn by girls and women

  kich—kitchen

  kind, kinner—child, children

  lieb—love

  liebschen—dearest or dear one

  Mamm—Mom

  mann—husband

  nee—no

  onkel—uncle

  Ordnung—The rules of the Amish, both written and unwritten.Certain behavior has been expected within the Amish community for many, many years. These rules vary from community to community, but the most common are to not have electricity in the home, to not own or drive an automobile, and to dress a certain way.

  Pennsylvania Deitsch—Pennsylvania German

  redd-up—clean up

  rotrieb— red beet

  rumschpringe—time period when teenagers are allowed to experience the Englisch world while deciding whether to join the church.

  schul—school

  schur—sure

  schwei—sister-in-law

  schweschder—sister

  sohn—son

  urgrossmudder—great-grandmother

  verdraue—trust

  wilkumm—welcome

  wunderbaar—wonderful

  ya—yes

  Discussion Questions

  Please don't read before completing the book as the questions contain spoilers!

  Jenny studied to join the Amish church before she married Matthew. She knows that she—and her Amish friends and family—aren't saints. But she experiences unaccustomed envy when her sister-in-law conceives.Have you ever envied someone? What was the situation? What did you do about it?

  Jenny inherited a ready-made family when she married Matthew: little Annie, Mary, and Joshua. Many people have stepchildren these days. Do you? How are they the same—or different—from your own children?

  Chris—Jenny's brother-in-law—also converted to the Amish faith. Did you convert to a different religion when you married? How did you adjust?

  Hannah—Jenny's sister-in-law—practiced forgiveness when she was injured by a man who carried a grudge against Chris. What do you think about the Amish practice of forgiveness? Do you think they are right to refuse to prosecute those who try to harm them or in some way break a law?

  Jenny's family loves to tease her about her cooking.Many people don't know how to cook these days. Do you like to cook or do you prefer to buy ready-made food or eat out? If you like to cook, what's your favorite thing to cook?

  Jenny is devastated when she finds her grandmother ill. Since Phoebe is her only living relative, she experiences real anxiety at losing her. Have you lost a beloved mother, father, or grandparent? How did you cope?

  When she goes to get clothes for her grandmother, Jenny unexpectedly finds a letter that changes everything for her. Have you ever discovered a family "secret" and had it change how you felt about someone you loved?

  Friends of Jenny's decide to make a major change in their lives, downsizing and living simpler. Have you ever done this or thought about it?

  Joy, Jenny's friend, asks her if she's ever considered adoption. Have you adopted? What do you think of adopting?

  When her stepson is hurt, Jenny discovers she has much to learn about God's will and obedience to rules and to God. Sometimes it's hard to be obedient to God or to have faith that He has a plan. Sometimes it takes faith you feel you don't have at the time. How do you deal with that?

  Jenny's relationship with her husband changes when she discovers he kept part of the secret. It affects their marriage. People say "don't go to bed angry" but their distance isn't because of anger but because of a difference in culture. How have you resolved differences in your marriage or significant relationship?

  Jenny wrestles with what she calls "unanswered prayer." Do you feel if you don't get the answer or thing that you've prayed for that God hasn't listened or given you what you prayed for? How do you feel? What do you do?

  Amish Recipes

  Potato Soup

  6–7 large potatoes, peeled

  1 medium onion

  2 quarts milk

  Salt

  Pepper

  Chop potatoes and onion and boil in salted water until fork-tender. Drain and return to saucepan. Mash potatoes somewhat (leave a few chunks for texture) and pour in milk.Warm without boiling, simmer for an hour. Add salt and pepper (white pepper is best) to taste. If soup is too thin, add a teaspoon or two of cornstarch to thicken it.

  Serve with some crumbled cooked bacon, grated Cheddar cheese, and some chopped chives (optional) for a soup that tastes like a big, stuffed baked potato. So good on a cold day or serve chilled on a summer day for vichyssoise (blend the soup so it's very smooth).

  Amish Macaroni Salad

  2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni (or any shape macaroni you prefer)

  2 stalks celery, chopped

  1 small pepper (red, green, yellow, or a mixture)

  2 teaspoons pickle relish (sweet or dill, whichever you prefer)

  2 tablespoons mustard

  ½ cup sugar

  2 teaspoons white vinegar

  ¾ teaspoon celery seed

  1 tablespoon chopped onion

  Boil macaroni according to package directions, drain, and cool. In separate bowl, combine remaining ingredients and pour over drained macaroni. Stir until blended. Chill in refrigerator for at least two hours (best if chilled overnight).

  Add cup or two of drained tuna, chopped cooked chicken, or ham, and you have a wonderful cool summer salad.

  Amish Bread Soup

  A simple fruit dessert for any season

  Homemade bread or sweet Hawaiian rolls from the grocery

  store

  Fresh fruit in season

  Heavy cream or ice cream

&nb
sp; For each serving, tear up bread—homemade bread or Hawaiian sweet rolls—and place in a soup bowl. A slice or slice and a half of the bread or two or three rolls should be right for an individual serving. Top with your favorite summer fruit. Ripe peaches, plums, strawberries, or any kind of mixed berries will do nicely. Thawed frozen fruit will also work— even canned pie filling. However, fresh fruit in season is best.Top with heavy cream or ice cream. This dessert is a busy Amish fraa's favorite.

  Whoopie Pies

  For the cookies:

  1 cup shortening

  2 cups sugar

  1 cup hot water with 2 teaspoons baking soda

  4 ½ cups flour

  ¾ cup cocoa

  Dash of salt

  3 eggs

  1 cup milk (buttermilk is best)

  2 teaspoons vanilla

  Filling:

  4 tablespoons flour

  1 cup milk

  1 cup sugar

  1 cup shortening

  1 teaspoon vanilla

  (OR, you can use that marshmallow fluff in glass jars found in the grocery store in the baking section)

  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

  For cookies: Mix the dry, then the wet ingredients. Drop mixture by the teaspoonful onto a greased baking sheet, taking care to space far enough apart so cookies don't blend together.Bake for 8-10 minutes, cool.

  For filling:

  Mix flour and milk and cook in a saucepan, beating until smooth. Add sugar, shortening, and vanilla. Cool. Spread onto one cookie and top with another.

  Then stand back and watch out for the hordes of children and men who will descend and devour these!

  Coming Next

  from

  Barbara Cameron

  Beginning in Spring 2012, Abingdon Press launches Stitches in Time, a new Amish series by Barbara Cameron.

  This new series revolves around Leah and her three granddaughters, Mary Katherine, Naomi, and Anna, who run Stitches in Time, a very special store in Paradise, Pennsylvania.Please take a peek inside the first two chapters of Temporary Destination, the first book of the series, and meet these crafty Amish ladies!

  1

  A year ago, Mary Katherine wouldn't have imagined she'd be here. Back then, she'd been helping her parents on the family farm and hating every minute of it.

  Now, she stood at the front window of Stitches in Time, her grandmother's shop, watching the Englischers moving about on the sidewalks outside the shop in Paradise. Even on vacation, they rushed about with purpose. She imagined them checking off the places they'd visited: Drive by an Amish farmhouse.Check. Buy a quilt and maybe some knitting supplies to try making a sweater when I get back home. Check.

  She liked the last item. The shop had been busy all morning, but now, as people started getting hungry, they were patronizing the restaurants that advertised authentic Amish food and ticking off another item on their vacation checklist.Shoofly pie. Amish pretzels. Chow chow. Check.

  "Don't you worry, they'll be back," Leah, her grandmother, called out.

  Smiling, Mary Katherine turned. "I know."

  She wandered back to the center of the shop, set up like the comfortable parlor of an Amish farmhouse. Chairs were arranged in a circle around a quilting frame. Bolts of fabric of every color and print imaginable were stacked on shelves on several walls, spools of matching threads on another.

  And yarn. There were skeins and skeins of the stuff: Mary Katherine loved running her hands over the fluffy fibers, feeling the textures of cotton and wool and silk—even some of the new yarns made of things like soybean and corn that didn't feel the same when you knitted them or wove them into patterns but some people made such a fuss over it because it was using something natural.

  Mary Katherine thought it was a little strange to be using vegetables you ate to make clothes but once she got her hands on the yarns, she was impressed. Tourists were, too. They used terms like "green" and "ecological" and didn't mind spending a lot of money to buy them. And was it so much different to use vegetables when people had been taking oily, smelly wool from a not very attractive sheep and turning it into a garment for people, silk from silkworms, that sort of thing?

  "You have that look on your face again," her grandmother said.

  Mary Katherine smiled. "What look?"

  "That serious, thoughtful look of yours. Tell me what you're thinking of."

  "Working on my loom this afternoon."

  "I figured you had itchy fingers." Her grandmother smiled.

  She sighed. "I'm so glad you rescued me from working at the farm. And Dat not understanding about my weaving."

  Grossmudder nodded and sighed. "Some people need time to adjust."

  Taking one of the chairs that was arranged in a circle around the quilt her grandmother and Naomi worked on, she propped her chin in her hand, her elbow on the arm of the chair. "It'd be a lot easier if I knitted or quilted."

  Leah looked at her, obviously suppressing a smile. "You have never liked 'easy,' Mary Katherine."

  Laughing, she nodded. "You're right."

  Looking at Naomi and Anna, her cousins aged twenty and twenty-three, was like looking into a mirror, thought Mary Katherine. The three of them could have been sisters, not cousins. They had a similar appearance—oval faces, their hair center-parted and tucked back under snowy white kapps, and slim figures. Naomi and Anna had even chosen dresses of a similar color, one that reminded Mary Katherine of morning glories. In her rush out the door, Mary Katherine had grabbed the first available dress and now felt drab and dowdy in the brown frack she'd chosen.

  Yes, they looked much alike, the three of them.

  Until Mary Katherine stood. She'd continued growing after it seemed like everyone else stopped. Now, at 5'8", she felt like a skinny beanpole next to her cousins. She felt awkward next to the young men she'd gone to school with. Although she knew it was wrong, there had been times when she'd secretly wished that God had made her petite and pretty like her cousins.And why had he chosen to give her red hair and freckles? Didn't she have enough she didn't like about her looks without that?

  And Naomi and Anna always looked calm and serene, as they did now. Mary Katherine had always had a problem with that—oh, not with Naomi and Anna. Who could have a problem with them?

  No, Mary Katherine had always almost bubbled with energy and lately it seemed her moods were going up and down like the road on a rolling hill.

  "Feeling restless?" Naomi asked, looking at her with concern.Nimbly, she made a knot, snipped the thread with a scissors, then slid her needle in a pincushion.

  Anna looked up from her knitting needles. "Mary Katherine was born restless."

  "I think I'll take a quick walk."

  "No," Leah said quickly, holding up a hand. "Let's eat first, then you can take a walk. Otherwise you'll come back and customers will be here for the afternoon rush and you'll start helping and go hungry."

  Mary Katherine was already mentally out the door but she nodded her agreement. "You're right, of course."

  Leah was a tall, spare woman who didn't appear old enough to be anyone's grandmother. Her face was smooth and unlined and there wasn't a trace of gray in her hair worn like her granddaughters.

  "I made your favorite," Leah told Mary Katherine.

  "Fried chicken? You made fried chicken? When did you have time to do that?"

  Nodding, Leah tucked away her sewing supplies, and stood."Before we came to work this morning. It didn't take long." She turned to Naomi. "And I made your favorite."

  Naomi had been picking up stray strands of yarn from the wood floor. She looked up, her eyes bright. "Macaroni and cheese?"

  "Oatmeal and raisin cookies?" Anna wanted to know. When her grandmother nodded, she set down her knitting needles and stood. "Just how early did you get up? Are you having trouble sleeping?"

  "No earlier than usual," Leah replied cheerfully. "I made the macaroni and cheese and the cookies last night. But I don't need as much sleep as some other people I know.
"

  "Can you blame me for sleeping in a little later?" Mary Katherine asked. "After all of those years of helping with farm chores? Besides, I was working on a design last night."

  "Tell us all about it while we eat," Naomi said, glancing at the clock. "We won't have long before customers start coming in again."

  "I worry about Grossmudder," Anna whispered to Mary Katherine as they walked to the back room. "She does too much."

  "She's always been like this."

  "Yes, but she's getting older."

  "Ssh, don't be saying that around her!"

  Leah turned. "Did somebody say something?"

  "Anna said she's hungry," Mary Katherine said quickly."And happy you made her favorite cookies. But everything is Anna's favorite."

  Anna poked Mary Katherine in the ribs but everyone laughed because it was true. What was amazing was that no matter how much Anna ate, she never gained weight.

  Nodding, Leah continued toward the back room. "We'll have it on the table in no time."

  Anna grabbed Mary Katherine's arm, stopping her. "Shame on you," she hissed. "You know it's wrong to lie." Then she shook her head. "What am I saying? You've done so much worse!"

  "Me? I have not! I can't imagine what you're talking about."

  Turning so that her grandmother wouldn't see, Anna lifted her fingers to her lips and mimed smoking a cigarette.

  Mary Katherine blushed. "You've been spying on me."

  "Food's ready!" Leah called.

  "Don't you dare tell her!" Mary Katherine whispered.

  Anna's eyes danced. "What will you give me if I don't?"

  She stared at her cousin. "I don't have anything—"

  "Your afternoon off," Anna said suddenly. "That's what I'll take in trade."

  Before she could respond, Anna hurried into the back

  Exasperated, Mary Katherine could do nothing but follow her.

  The minute they finished eating, Mary Katherine jumped up and hurried over to wash her dishes. "I'll be right back," she promised, tying her bonnet on the run as she left the store.