We're featuring to more fiction authors on the show this week. The first half hour we'll hear from Jennifer Beckstrand. She has a brand new series with Summerside Press called Forever After in Apple Lake. The first book from that series, Kate's Song has just released. Then during the second half hour we'll meet Amy Wallace. Her latest novel, Hiding in Plain Sight, is set in the Mennonite community. Looking forward to hearing the inspiration behind both stories.

For a chance to win 1 of 3 copies of Jennifer's Kate's Song or Amy's book, Hiding in Plaine Sight, leave a comment here. Winners will be notified next week via email.

More about Jennifer: Jennifer Beckstrand grew up with a steady diet of William Shakespeare and Jane Austen. After all that literary immersion, she naturally decided to get a degree in mathematics, which came in handy when one of her six children needed help with homework. When daughter number four was born, she began writing, and by juggling diaper changes, soccer games, music lessons, and dinner preparations, she finished her first western historical, Rachel’s Angel, in just under fourteen years. Rachel’s Angel won First Place Full-length Book in the League of Utah Writers writing contest and First Place in the Inspirational Category in the Utah Heart of the West Writers' Contest. Jennifer is a member of the Utah Chapter of Romance Writers of America and is represented by Mary Sue Seymour of The Seymour Agency.

She has completed three Amish romances in the Forever After in Apple Lake Series (Summerside/Guideposts). Book One, Kate’s Song, is now available. Rebecca’s Rose follows in Fall 2012, and Miriam's Quilt is scheduled for release in Spring of 2013. She has two Amish readers in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania who make sure her stories are authentic. No matter the setting, she hopes to pen deliriously romantic stories with captivating characters and soar-to-the-sky happy endings. 

Jennifer lives in the foothills of the Wasatch Front in Utah with her husband and two children left at home. She has four daughters, two sons, one son-in-law, and one adorable grandson. www.jenniferbeckstrand.com

More about Kate's Song: Kate Weaver was raised in an Amish home and has always been expected to choose baptismand strict observance of the Ordnung. But Kate is blessed with a beautiful singing voice, and when another path leads her to the academy for vocal training, she struggles to understand God’s will for her life. She returns to Apple Lake, haunted by a violent encounter with a fellow student, and finds herself drawn to the peace and devotion of her Amish home. But can she give up her dreams? Or will her calling forever separate her from the people and the way of life she holds so dear?

Nathaniel King has never wavered in his commitment to the community and the Old Order Amish Church into which he is baptized. He has been in love with Kate for as long as he can remember, and he is devastated when she leaves Apple Lake to attend the academy. When Kate returns, will she make his most profound hopes a reality—or will she break his heart all over again?

More about Amy: Amy Wallace is the author of Ransomed Dreams, Healing Promises, and Enduring Justice. She is a homeschool mom, speaker, and self-confessed chocoholic. Amy is also a graduate of the Gwinnett County Citizens Police Academy and a contributing author of several books, including A Novel Idea: Best Advice on Writing Inspirational Fiction and God Answers Moms' Prayers. She lives with her husband and three children in Georgia. www.amywallace.com

More about Hiding in Plain Sight: In a quiet town with a thriving Mennonite community, police officer Ashley Walters finds her threadbare faith and way of life challenged by the Plain people whose simple dress and welcoming manner open her eyes to a God she left behind. Peace eludes Ashley until she realizes the answers she seeks aren’t found in starting over but in returning to the simple truth that it’s God who overcomes the world, not her.

Written for women who desire action-packed suspense, romance, and an escape into the peaceful world of the Mennonites, Hiding in Plain Sight delves into the painful struggle to fit in and the search for peace that so often eludes our fast-paced lives.

This week on Amish Wisdom we'll be hearing from the writing duo Lori Copeland and Virginia Smith. Their book, The Heart's Frontier, is an exciting new Amish-meets-Wild West adventure that weaves an entertaining and romantic tale by two best-selling authors. 

For a chance to win a copy of The Heart's Frontier, leave a comment here. The winner will be notified via email next week.

More about the authors:

Lori Copeland is the author of more than 90 titles, both historical and contemporary fiction. With more than 3 million copies of her books in print, she has developed a loyal following among her rapidly growing fans in the inspirational market. She has been honored with the Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award, The Holt Medallion, and Walden Books' Best Seller award. In 2000, Lori was inducted into the Missouri Writers Hall of Fame. She lives in the beautiful Ozarks with her husband, Lance, and their three children and five grandchildren. Visit Lori's website.

Virginia Smith is the author of more than a dozen inspirational novels and more than fifty articles and short stories. An avid reader with ecclectic tastes in fiction, Ginny writes in a variety of styles, from lighthearted relationship stories to breath-snatching suspense. Visit Virginia's website.

More about The Heart's Frontier: Kansas,1881—On a trip to visit relatives, Emma Switzer’s Amish family is robbed of all their possessions, leaving them destitute and stranded on the prairie. Walking into the nearest trading settlement, they pray to the Lord for someone to help. When a man lands in the dust at her feet, Emma looks down at him and thinks, The Lord might have cleaned him up first.

Luke Carson, heading up his first cattle drive, is not planning on being the answer to anyone’s prayers, but it looks as though God has something else in mind for this kind and gentle man. Plain and rugged—do the two mix? And what happens when a dedicated Amish woman and a stubborn trail boss prove to be each other’s match?

This week we'll be talking to two devotional authors about making room for God in our busy lives. The first half hour we'll chat with Shirley Brosius about her new devotional, Turning Guilt Trips into Joy Rides. Guilt trips...we've all got them and we've all been along for the ride. Shirley, and her co-authors Janine and Kim, bring a wide range of situations we can connect to. Then during the second half we'll hear from creative mom, Carey Bailey. Carey is the creator of Cravings-The Devotional in a cupcake! Super cute and useful. Cravings is a series of devotionals on the Psalms, written to help mothers make God time easier. Don't miss this week's show!

For a chance to win either Turning Guilt Trips into Joy Rides or Cravings, leave a comment here. Winner will be notified via email next week.

More about Shirley and her co-authors: Kim Messinger, Janine Boyer and Shirley Brosius had a common bond of Christian service when Christ drew them together for their first small group meeting in January, 1998.

Since then they have drawn closer through life’s joys and struggles and found God to be sufficient for their every need. They call themselves “Friends of the Heart” because their passion is to help women open their hearts and find joy in Christ. 

Kim and Janine supported Shirley in writing Sisterhood of Faith: 365 Life-Changing Stories About Women Who Made a Difference, which was released by Howard Publishing, a division of Simon & Schuster, in 2006.  More recently the three women worked together to write another devotional book, Turning Guilt Trips into Joy Rides. They have spoken at women’s retreats and events in five states. All three women live in Millersburg, Pennsylvania. Visit their website for more info.

More about Turning Guilt Trips into Joy Rides: Women today are busy, stressed, and guilt-ridden, yet they long todevelop their spiritual sides. Turning Guilt Trips into Joy Rides offers inspirational thoughts based on scripture--brief enough to be read during a television commercial, yet insightful enough to open your eyes to the grace of God on days you change diapers and/or lead corporate meetings. Each reading suggests a "Guilt Trip to Avoid" and ends with a way to "Take the Joy Ride." The book includes six months of daily readings so that you may establish a habit of connecting with God. Readings are listed under the letters G-R-A-C-E, representing God, Relationships, Acceptance, Challenges and Emotions.

The coauthors hope these meaningful readings will help you deal with guilt--both real and imagined. By applying the insights shared in Turning Guilt Trips into Joy Rides, you may develop a calmer, less guilt-ridden life-style and become better equipped to function as wives, mothers and friends. Younger women often develop patterns of thinking and experience feelings of guilt that carry over into their mature years, so women of all ages will find this book helpful.

The Friends of the Heart ladies are giving away a FREE life-coaching consultation and a $50 gift certificate to Amazon.com! Enter today.

More about Carey: Carey Bailey is a recovering perfectionist, wife, proud mama and Family Life director for her church in Surprise, Ariz. On the side she loves party planning, crafting, and pursuing her dream of writing. She has a degree in religion from Westminster College and writes at her blog found at www.CareyBaileyOnline.com.  

More about Cravings-The Devotional: Cravings is a collection of card-size devotionals based on the Psalms. They are written to help mothers develop their relationship with God in the midst of motherhood. Each card contains a scripture for the day, a "thoughtlet," and an action idea. As moms crave the sweet morsels from God's Word, they can draw a card from a delectable Cravings holder--a pink cupcake!--that also displays the daily card for hands-free viewing. Versatile enough to fit with any feminine décor in a dining nook, a prayer closet, a kitchen--wherever you'd want Scripture at your fingertips. If you find you need Cravings around the home, just one may not be enough!

Be sure to visit Carey's blog tour and enter to win a Minute-for-Mom gift pack (Gift Certificates to Victoria's Secret, Bath & Body Works, and much more!)

Enter Today - 4/23-5/12!

This week I'm traveling and doing a little research. Enjoy this encore presentation of Jonas Beiler's interview from last summer. We talked about "Think No Evil", his wife Anne and their business Auntie Ann's Pretzels and so much more. Don't miss it. I'll be back next week with return guest Nancy Sleeth!

More about the book: THE TRUE STORY OF OCTOBER 2, 2006, WHEN CHARLES ROBERTS ENTERED AN AMISH SCHOOLHOUSE, bound and shot ten schoolgirls, and then committed suicide, stunned all who read the headlines or watched the drama unfold on television screens. Somehow, the senseless violence seemed all the more horrific against the backdrop of horse-and-buggy funeral processions and scenes of wide-eyed innocent children clad in bonnets and suspenders.

But perhaps even more startling than the violence was the quiet yet powerful response of the Amish community offering unconditional forgiveness to the murderer and reaching out to his family with baskets of food and warm welcomes into their homes. Could such forgiveness be genuine, truly heartfelt? Surely there must be simmering rage behind those peaceful words.

Jonas Beiler wondered. He had grown up in that very Amish community. His own pain of losing his daughter in a tragic accident years before resurfaced, and the lingering shadows of other life tragedies loomed darker. As he met with the grieving families, he could see how devastated and broken they felt, and yet he was drawn to the strength he saw in them.

Outsiders, too, had difficulty understanding the rock-solid faith of the people in this Amish community. How could they forgive someone who killed their innocent daughters? How could they reach out and embrace his family, expressing unconditional love for them in these circumstances? Letters from around the world poured in, asking these universal questions in the face of suffering.

And so began Jonas Beiler's journey into this story -- the story behind the headlines, behind the farmhouse doors, around the lantern-lit kitchen tables, at the local market, and alongside the tiny coffins. His quest is now yours to read. His discoveries yours to consider.

Walk with those closest to the scene: an Amish grandfather, an ambulance driver, a surviving Amish schoolgirl, and volunteer firefighters. Even look on as the community demolishes the school where the murders took place and builds the New Hope School that holds no memories of bloodstained walls.

Think No Evil is the first insider account of the tragic events, the personal victories and the daily Amish life in Nickel Mines, written by a native of the Amish community who still lives and works where most of his relatives are Old Order Amish. Against the rich and fascinating backdrop of Amish culture, Beiler reveals the best of the human spirit in the midst of the worst, and leaves us all drawn heavenward, the richer for it.

More about Jonas: Born and raised in the Amish-Mennonite community of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Jonas and Anne Beiler grew up surrounded by faith and family. During these early years, important life lessons were permanently woven into the fabric of their lives.

Jonas and Anne both attended traditional Amish schools until the 8th grade. They met as teens and were married by the age of 21 and 19, respectively.

Jonas and Anne's peaceful life as newlyweds and young parents went into a tailspin after the death of their 19-month-old daughter, Angela Joy, who died tragically in a farming accident in 1975. Anne, in her mid-20s at the time, found herself depressed and eventually on the brink of suicide. Despite being a faithful churchgoer, she didn't feel she could share her pain with friends or family members.

Jonas and Anne drifted apart. They remained silent partners who simply lived together and went through the motions of family life. They stayed together for the sake of their other two surviving daughters. Anne sought counsel from her pastor, who used the vulnerability of her grief to manipulate and control her for more than six years.

After confessing the manipulation to her husband, the Beilers sought counseling. The Beilers reconciled as God restored their marriage. Through the repair of their own marriage, God revealed that many others were suffering from the same despair and hopelessness. After studying at Dr. Richard Dobbins' EMERGE Ministries in Akron, Ohio, Jonas began providing lay counseling as a way to give back and help others.

To support Jonas' vision to help others, Anne bought a concession stand at a local farmers' market in Downingtown, Pennsylvania. She sold everything from pizza to ice cream, but it was the hand-rolled soft pretzels that customers couldn't get enough of. Because of the demand, Anne dropped the rest of the products and concentrated on perfecting the pretzel. Auntie Anne's Soft Pretzels was born.

Under the leadership of Jonas and Anne, Auntie Anne's grew from a single outlet to more than 950 locations worldwide, with a workforce of more than 10,000. Auntie Anne's, with its international headquarters in Lancaster, PA., is the world's largest hand-rolled soft pretzel chain offering snack and meal options to shoppers and travelers. Today, Auntie Anne's has over 300 franchisees in 20 countries and continues to be recognized for its superior product and service standards. In order to pursue their passion to strengthen families and build community, Auntie Anne's was sold to a private owner in April of 2005.

From their modest beginnings to the notable success of Auntie Anne's, Inc., the Beiler's have become one of the nation's leading entrepreneurs. In 1992, the Beilers founded the Family Resource and Counseling Center, a Christian, non-profit counseling facility which currently employees 24 people. In 2008 the Beilers founded The Family Center of Gap, a 55,000 square foot building created to meet the ever growing needs of the community. Through their time and resources, the Beilers continue to give back to the community they love so much.

The Family Center of Gap also houses numerous partner organizations. Some of those partners include the Salisbury Township Branch Library, Angela's Café, Cornerstone Pregnancy Care Services, Tree of Life Health Ministries, Hildebrandt Learning Centers, Gap Community Church, House on the Rock Family Ministries and Family Resource and Counseling Centers.

The Beilers have always believed in leading by example, doing business with integrity, and giving back to the community. While at Auntie Anne's, they demonstrated their business principles with the acronym, LIGHT: Lead by example; Invest in employees; Give freely; Honor God; and Treat all business contacts with integrity. These principles continue to LIGHT their way as they follow their passion to serve people, strengthen families, and build community.

Visit www.thebeilers.com for more.

Struggling with your finances, trying to juggle your budget with the needs of your family? Saving for retirement or for a vacation? Don't miss this week's show. Crystal Paine, one of Nielsen's Top 50 Power Moms, will be sharing advice from her blog, MoneySavingMom.com (which receives over 4 million hits a month!!). She'll also be talking about her new book, The Money Saving Mom's Budget.

Leave a comment here for a chance to win 1 of 2 copies of The Money Saving Mom's Budget AudioBook. Winners will be notified next week via emial. 

More about Crystal: Crystal Paine is a wife and homeschooling mom to three young children who has been writing on topics related to frugality for the last five years-and living a frugal, simple, and debt-free life since she was born. Her blog MoneySavingMom.com is one of the top personal finance blogs on the web, averaging over four million page views per month. Crystal has contributed to articles in Woman's Day magazine and All You magazine, as well as being mentioned on National Public Radio and CNN.com, in USA Weekend and Real Simple magazine, appeared as a guest on the 700 Club, and featured in numerous other local newspapers and radio and television stations. www.moneysavingmom.com

Also be sure to RSVP for Crystal's Live Webcast event this Thursday at 5PM PST / 8PM EST! 

More about The Money Saving Mom's Budget: Crystal Paine can point to her money-saving ways as a major factor in a life more focused on advancing the kingdom of God and less on earthly concerns. When she and her husband figured out how to live on under $1000 per month without debt while he was in law school, she had the revelation that a lifestyle of saving versus spending could provide a means of spiritual focus without being tied down by financial chains.

The Money Saving Mom®'s Budget illustrates hundreds of ways to lower your expenses creatively and details dozens of ways to save money, stretch your dollars further, and bring in extra income. Crystal herself reads this audio book, which has been adapted from the print version to make it more suited to listening versus reading. Crystal brings passion and clarity to the chapters, more than just words on a page.

"I want to come alongside Christians and give them practical financial tools so that a new financial freedom can enable them to live a life of generous giving, rather than a life of preoccupation with money," says Crystal. "If the people of God get their finances in order, oh, what amazing things we can do for the Kingdom of God!"

Crystal's principles have worked so well in her own life that she is able to give all the proceeds from The Money Saving Mom®'s Budget to Compassion International, a child advocacy organization for the poorest of the world's poor.

Endorsements:

"Crystal Paine does it all as an entrepreneur, wife, and mom-and that means she knows all about finding room in a home budget! From reducing clutter to finding amazing coupon deals outside the grocery aisle, The Money Saving Mom®'s Budget will help you make dollars and sense of your life again." -Dave Ramsey, New York Times bestselling author and nationally syndicated radio talk show host

"A great solution for anyone who's struggling to get on a budget!" - Mary Hunt, founder of Debt-Proof Living and award-winning author of 7 Money Rules for Life

"Fresh Inspiration...A practical, creative plan to make your life priories a reality." - Ann Voskamp, New York Times bestselling author of One Thousand Gifts

This week on Amish Wisdom we'll be diving into the fictional world of the Amish with authors Mary Ellis and Kelly Irvin. For a chance to win either Mary's or Kelly's new book leave a comment below. Winners will be notified next week via email.

More about Mary Ellis: Mary grew up close to the eastern Ohio Amish community, Geauga County, where her parents often took her to farmer’s markets and woodworking fairs. She loved their peaceful, agrarian lifestyle, their respect for the land, and their strong sense of Christian community.

She met her husband in college and they married six days after graduation. She, her husband, dog and cat now live close to the largest population of Amish in the country—a four-county area in central Ohio. They often take weekend trips to purchase produce, research for her best-selling books, and enjoy a simpler way of life.

Mary enjoys reading, traveling, gardening, bicycling and swimming. Before “retiring” to write full-time, Mary taught Middle School in Sheffield Lake, Ohio and worked as a sales rep for Hershey Chocolate for twenty years—a job with amazingly sweet fringe benefits. All three of her Miller Family series, A Widow’s Hope, Never Far from Home, and The Way to a Man’s Heart have made the CBA and CBD bestseller lists. A Widow’s Hope was a finalist in the ACFW Carol Awards for 2010 in the long contemporary category, and a runner-up in the 2010 Holt Medallion Awards. A Marriage for Meghan is second in the Wayne County series, following ECPA bestseller, Abigail’s New Hope. For more about Mary, visit her website.

More about An Amish Family Reunion: During a rumschpringe visit to Niagara Falls, Phoebe Miller meets Eli Riehl, ayoung man who charms her—and everyone else—with his exceptional storytelling ability. When Phoebe sketches scenes to illustrate one of his tales, Eli encourages her incredible talent, and together they embark on a lofty and unlikely business venture for two young Amish people—writing and illustrating a children’s book.

Eli’s kindness and appeal extend beyond his knack for words to reach inside Phoebe’s heart. But he is an only son with five sisters, and when his father suffers a heart attack, Eli gives up his writing to assume responsibility on the farm. Though willing to abandon his dream of becoming an author, he won’t give up his beloved Phoebe.

Can their love for a good story develop into something that lasts forever, or will Phoebe’s deep-seated fear of desertion stand in their way?

More about Kelly Irvin: Kelly Irvin is a Kansas native and has been writing professionally for 25 years. She and her husband, Tim, make their home in Texas. They have two children, three cats, and a tankful of fish. A public relations professional, Kelly is also the author of two romantic suspense novels and writes short stories in her spare time. To learn more about her work, visit www.kellyirvin.com.

More about To Love and To Cherish: It’s been four years since Carl left. Four years since he left the safety of the small Amish community for the Englisch world. And in four years, Emma’s heart has only begun to heal. 

Now, with the unexpected death of her parents, Emma is plunged back into a world of despair and confusion. It’s a confusion only compounded by Carl’s return. She’s supposed to be in love with him…so why can’t she keep her mind off Thomas, the strong, quiet widower who always seems to be underfoot? Could the man she knew only as a friend be the one to help her to heal? 

In a world that seems to be changing no matter how tightly she clings to the past, one woman must see beyond her pain, find strength in God, and open her heart to trust once again.

Ever wonder why someone would leave the Amish? Find out on this week's show. Ira Wagler and Saloma Furlong will both be sharing why they chose to leave the Amish. We'll talk about their experiences and current views on the Amish and Amish community.

For a chance to win a copy of Ira's and Saloma's book please leave a comment here. Winners will be notified next week via email.

More about Saloma Furlong: Saloma Miller Furlong was born and raised in an Amish community in Ohio, which she left in her quest for freedom and a formal education. She graduated from Smith College in 2007. She is the author of Why I Left the Amish. Learn more about Saloma at her website: www.salomafurlong.com.

About Why I Left the Amish: There are two ways to leave the Amish — one is through life and the other through death. When Saloma Miller Furlong’s father dies during her first semester at Smith College, she returns to the Amish community she had left twenty four years earlier to attend his funeral. Her journey home prompts a flood of memories. Now a mother with grown children of her own, Furlong recalls her painful childhood in a family defined by her father’s mental illness, her brother’s brutality, her mother’s frustration, and the austere traditions of the Amish — traditions Furlong struggled to accept for years before making the difficult decision to leave the community. In this personal and moving memoir, Furlong traces the genesis of her desire for freedom and education and chronicles her conflicted quest for independence. Eloquently told, Why I Left the Amish is a revealing portrait of life within — and without — this frequently misunderstood community.

More about Ira Wagler: Ira Wagler was born in the small Old Order Amish community of Aylmer, Ontario. At 17,frustrated by the rules and restrictions of Amish life, Ira got up at 2 am, left a note under his pillow, packed his duffel bag and left. Over the course of the next 5 years, Ira would leave and return home numerous times, torn between the ingrained message that abandoning one's Amish heritage results in eternal damnation, and the freedom and possibilities offered by the "English" world. Upon becoming a Christian at age 26, Ira left the Amish for good. He is currently general manager of Graber Supply, LLC and Pole Building Co. in Lancaster County, PA. Ira is the author of Growing Up Amish. Learn more about Ira at his website, www.irawagler.com.

About Growing Up Amish: New York Times eBook bestseller! One fateful starless night, 17-year-old Ira Wagler got up at 2 AM, left a scribbled note under his pillow, packed all of his earthly belongings into in a little black duffel bag, and walked away from his home in the Amish settlement of Bloomfield, Iowa. Now, in this heartwarming memoir, Ira paints a vivid portrait of Amish life—from his childhood days on the family farm, his Rumspringa rite of passage at age 16, to his ultimate decision to leave the Amish Church for good at age 26. Growing Up Amish is the true story of one man’s quest to discover who he is and where he belongs. Readers will laugh, cry, and be inspired by this charming yet poignant coming of age story set amidst the backdrop of one of the most enigmatic cultures in America today—the Old Order Amish.

I'm excited to welcome our guest this week. Holley, incourage.me founder and award winning author has written a book of encouragement and foundational truth. Every woman can relate to the feeling of instant inadequacy after walking into a room crowded with other women, comparing themselves to everyone else in the room. We’re transported back to the seventh grade lunch room, and our quest for acceptance and perfection seems never ending. But what if there was a way to quiet our insecurities and to embrace our differences to live the life God designed specifically for us. So don't miss this week's show.

For a chance to win a copy of Holley's book, leave a comment here. Winner will be notified via email next week.

More about Holley: Holley Gerth is an award-winning writer, licensed counselor, certified life coach and speaker. She is cofounder of (in)courage, an online destination for women, which received more than one million page views in its first six months. She also reaches out to readers through her popular blog, Heart to Heart with Holley and through her partnership with DaySpring, a subsidiary of Hallmark. Holley lives in Arkansas with her husband, Mark. Visit www.holleygerth.com for more info.

More about You're Already Amazing: Women feel enormous pressure to be perfect. To have the perfect body, to be a perfect woman, to have the perfect career, and to have the perfect attitude. All the time. Under all that pressure and all those expectations are women carrying burdens they were never meant to carry and suppressing the dreams they were always meant to live.

In You're Already Amazing, popular blogger and cofounder of (in)courage helps women understand and embrace the fact that they don't need to do more, be more, and have more--because they're already amazing just the way God created them to be. As a licensed counselor and certified life coach, Holley knows what readers need to hear. Like a heart-to-heart talk over coffee, reading this joy-filled book encourages women to forget the lies and expectations the world feeds them, instead believing that God made them for a purpose and that he loves them right now, at this moment, and always. Holley takes readers on a journey of the heart to discover their strengths and embrace all God created them to be.

Welcome to the two year anniversary of Amish Wisdom - we've had some amazing guests on the show and this week we're celebrating! My very first Amish Wisdom guest, Erik Wesner from Amish America, will be joining us. I so value his expertise and insight into the Amish and their lifestyle. Erik and I will be catching up and chatting about a few of the topics he's been covering on his blog. 

And now onto the HUGE Giveaway!

During this anniversary week I will be giving away ten 3 book prize packs. I've accumulated quite the collection of wonderful books since the show began and I'm gifting those to ten fortunate folks.

To enter just do 2 (or more) of these 4 things. Then leave a comment below letting me what you did:

1. Click the Share This button above and share Amish Wisdom (and the giveaway) on one of your social networking sites.

2. Like Suzanne Woods Fisher on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SuzanneWoodsFisherAuthor

3. Sign up for my newsletter: http://www.facebook.com/SuzanneWoodsFisherAuthor?sk=app_141428856257 or here: http://suzannewoodsfisher.com/connect

4. Like my books at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Suzanne-Woods-Fisher/e/B002A4Z51

We'll be drawing 10 names from all those who enter on 3/14 and announcing it on my blog. One entry per day.

More about Erik Wesner: Erik is the author of the popular blog "Amish America." During the interview we chat about

Erik's book, Success Made Simple, and about Amish businesses. Since 2004, he has visited 20 Amish communities in five states, and met roughly 5,000 Amish families in total.

As the 2008 Snowden Fellow at the Young Center at Elizabethtown College, Erik delivered a lecture entitled “Is Success a Four-Letter Word? The Amish Approach to Business Achievement”.

Erik has contributed to Amish-themed articles featured in Entrepreneur Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and other print media. He's have also served as a consultant for numerous authors of Amish fiction and non-fiction. 

I'm excited to chat with this week's guests. Both of this week's guests made extreme lifestyle changes to get rid of excess and live more meaningful lives. First, we’ll hear from Jen Hatmaker, the author of 7:An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess. Jen will be sharing about how she and her family tackled 7 areas of their lives to pair down, cut back and let go of what was isolating them from each other. We'll also hear how God transformed them in the process. Then during the second half of the show we’ll hear from author Nancy Sleeth. Nancy’s book, Almost Amish, details one family’s quest for a slower, simpler life. Nancy and her husband discovered the joys and benefits of being “Almost Amish” by incorporating the best of Amish principles into ten areas of their modern lives - they discovered stronger, deeper relationships with family, friends, and God.

More about Jen and 7:An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess: American life can be excessive, to say the least. That’s what Jen Hatmaker had to admit after taking in hurricane victims who commented on the extravagance of her family’s upper middle class home. She once considered herself unmotivated by the lure of prosperity, but upon being called “rich” by an undeniably poor child, evidence to the contrary mounted, and a social experiment turned spiritual was born. 

Jen Hatmaker and her family live in Austin, Texas, where the city motto is “Keep Austin Weird,” and they work hard to do their part. Jen’s eight previous books include Interrupted and A Modern Girl’s Guide to Bible Study. She and her husband planted Austin New Church in an economically and ethnically diverse, socially unique, urban area of the city in 2008. They are in the great- est adventure of their lives, (thrilled to find out where they have planted is known as the “church planters graveyard”) and have made some incredible new partnerships in ministry. They’ve seen their world turned upside down as they’ve considered what it means to ask God how to live and not just what to do. But it’s a good upside down, as part of that discovery will be the addition of two children from Ethiopia set to join the three they already have. Together they will keep Austin weird and seek to glorify God as they do. www.jenhatmaker.com

Have you ever stopped to think, Maybe the Amish are on to something? Look around. We tweet while we drive, we talk while we text, and we surf the Internet until we fall asleep. We are essentially plugged in and available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Rather than mastering technology, we have allowed technology to master us. We are an exhausted nation. No one has enough time, everyone feels stressed out, and our kids spend more hours staring at a screen each week than they do playing outside.

It’s time to simplify our lives, make faith and family the focal point, and recapture the lost art of simple living. Building on the basic principles of Amish life, Nancy Sleeth shows readers how making conscious choices to limit (and in some cases eliminate) technology’s hold on our lives and getting back to basics can help us lead calmer, more focused, less harried lives that result in stronger, deeper relationships with our families, friends, and God. www.nancysleeth.com.

 

After a spiritual and environmental conversion experience, Nancy Sleeth and her family radically altered their footprint, reducing their electricity use to one-tenth and their fossil fuel use to one-third the national averages. Along with her husband, Matthew, Nancy now travels throughout the U.S. speaking and writing about faith and the environment.

Prior to heeding this environmental calling, Sleeth served as communications director for a Fortune 500 company and as a high school and college educator and administrator. Sleeth is a graduate of Georgetown University and holds a masters degree in journalism. She is the author of Go Green, Save Green: A Simple guide to saving time, money, and God’s green earth, the first-ever practical guide for going green from a faith perspective. Nancy and Matthew are the parents of Clark, who is married and in his fourth year of medical school, and Emma, a graduate of Asbury College who also works for Blessed Earth speaking to youth and college students about creation care. Nancy is the Program Director of Blessed Earth, a faith-based nonprofit focusing on environmental stewardship

Don't miss this week's show. Acclaimed and best-selling author, Dale Cramer, will be back for a visit. We'll find out what's new in Dale's life since 2010 and hear about his latest novel, A Captive Heart.

For a chance to win a copy of A Captive Heart leave a comment here. Winner will be notified next week via email.

More about Dale: Dale Cramer is the critically acclaimed, best-selling author of Sutter's Cross, Bad Ground, Levi's Will, Summer of Light, Paradise Valley, and The Captive Heart. His novels have won two Christy Awards, a Romantic Times Top Pick, and multiple listings among the best books of the year at Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, and Booklist, as well as numerous starred reviews. His latest novel, The Captive Heart, released in December 2011, is the second installment of a trilogy called The Daughters of Caleb Bender, based on an Amish colony in Mexico in the 1920's.

More about A Captive Heart: Ravaged by disease, preyed upon by ruthless bandits, the Bender family's second year in Mexico takes a grievous turn.  Faced with impossible choices, the expatriate Amish discover, more than ever before, what it means to live by faith and not by sight.

But it's Miriam who must make the hardest choice as her heart takes her on a new and dangerous course. Domingo. "He is gentle," his sister said, "until someone he loves is threatened." Is Miriam that someone?  

"Cualnezqui," he often calls her— the Nahuatl word for 'beautiful one'. The chiseled native has proven himself a man of principle, grace and power. Yet is he the pearl of great price for whom she would sacrifice everything, or is he merely a friend?  Tormented by conflicting emotions, she's haunted by vivid dreams: Dressed in the coarse cotton pants and shirt of a peasant, she stands on the precipice of a sun-washed ridge searching desperately for Domingo. Domingo the fierce. Domingo the protector.

Domingo the forbidden.

Welcome to Amish Wisdom! On Thursday's show I'll be interviewing columnist and blogger Rhonda Schrock. My good friend Sherry Gore introduced us ... and I'm grateful she did. You're going to love Rhonda. Sherry and Rhonda both write for Cooking & Such. Rhonda was raised in a Mennonite community and today is a wife and mom to four (YES 4!) boys and has a wonderful blog, The Natives are Getting Restless. She also writes a column for The Goshen News called "Grounds for Insanity."

For a chance to win a year's subscription to Cooking & Such leave a comment here. Winner will be notified next week via email.

More about Rhonda: Rhonda Schrock lives in Northern Indiana with her husband and 4 sons, ages 22, 18, 13, and 5. By day, she is a telecommuting medical transcriptionist, chief cook, and bottle washer. In the early morning hours, she flees to a local coffee shop where she pens “Grounds for Insanity,” a weekly column that appears in The Goshen News, so named for her love of coffee and all those boys. She is an occasional guest columnist in her hometown paper, The Hutch News.  Two of her columns won Editor's Choice awards and have been published in an anthology.  She’s also blogged professionally for her son’s school of choice, Bethel College; contributed to a humor blog; contributes to a parenting website, Moms Michiana; and maintains her personal blog, “The Natives are Getting Restless.” She is the newest writer for the magazine, "Cooking & Such:  Adventures in Plain Living," whose first issue went to 40-plus states, 2 foreign countries, and counting.  She survives and thrives on prayer, mochas, and books. 

This week the tables are being turned on me! Judy Christie is going to interview me on this week's show about The Keeper and the Stoney Ridge Seasons series. Fun!

Here's where I need your help...any questions you might like to ask? All topics are fair game. (Within reason, naturally! Nothing about age or weight.) Leave your question in the comment section below and we'll get those to Judy for Thursday's interview!

Also - both Judy and I are giving away books. For a chance to win The Keeper and Judy's Downtown Green, leave a comment below. Winners will be notified next week via email! 

More about The Keeper: Book 1 in the Stoney Ridge Seasons series

"The Stoney Ridge Season starts off with characters who are trying to make the right choices, but sometimes with unexpected results. Fisher always brings freshness to her Amish novels. The Amish culture is interesting to read and learn about, but there is also a message: God has plans and those plans may vary greatly from the plans you have." -Romantic Times, 4 Stars

Julia Lapp has planned on marrying Paul Fisher since she was a girl. Now twenty-one, she looks forward to their wedding with giddy anticipation. When Paul tells her he wants to postpone the wedding--again--she knows who is to blame. Perpetual bachelor and spreader of cold feet, Roman Troyer, the Bee Man.

Roamin' Roman travels through the Amish communities of Ohio and Pennsylvania with his hives full of bees, renting them out to farmers in need of pollinators. He relishes his nomadic life, which keeps him from thinking about all he has lost. He especially enjoys bringing his bees to Stoney Ridge each year. But with Julia on a mission to punish him for inspiring Paul's cold feet, the Lapp farm is looking decidedly less pleasant.

Can Julia secure the future she's always dreamed of? Or does God have something else in mind?

Full of the plot twists and surprises her fans love, The Keeper is the first in a new series by bestselling author Suzanne Woods Fisher. Through touching family relationships and trials of the heart, Fisher's vivid characters grapple with yielding to God's will when it doesn't match their own.

More about Judy: Judy Christie is an author and consultant who lives in Northwest Louisiana.

She writes inspirational fiction and nonfiction. Her popular Green series chronicles the goings-on in the small Louisiana town of Green and is part of Abingdon Press’s new inspirational fiction line.

Judy is also the author of the popular Hurry Less, Worry Less nonfiction series, published by Abingdon Press.

Wreath, published in October 2011, is Judy’s first young adult book. Look for it and a free download on her books page!

Judy was a journalist for many years and is  a frequent speaker at retreats and workshops. She works with clients around the country on how to slow down and enjoy each day more and how to set and meet goals. www.judychristie.com

More about Downtown Green: Book 5 in the Green series

When the short bypass around Green opens with much fanfare, downtown dries up faster than cement on the roadway. Businesses close and the hospital becomes a clinic. Mayor Eva must decide whether to sell her historic store or close it. The Holey Moley Antique Mall seems less like a dream and more like a nightmare. While the road is progress to some, it seems to be leading Green toward a national trend--a town that is merely a shadow of itself.   

With the town going backwards, Lois is both intrigued and jealous when a fellow business owner come up with a strategy to save Green. But can his plan rescue the town from the path it’s on? 

I'm thrilled to have Lorilee back on the show. She first visited Amish Wisdom a year ago when Erik Wesner was filling in as my guest host. Lorilee will be chatting a bit about how unprepared she was to write this book and how it changed her life ... for the better! She'll be sharing some tips on being frugal and saving time and money. We'll also hear about Lorilee's new book project that will release this summer. Don't miss the show - Thursday at 4:00 PM Central.

Be sure to leave a comment here for a chance to win a copy of Money Secrets of the Amish. Winner will be announced next week! Be sure to leave your email address.

More about Lorilee: Lorilee Craker used to be quite dense on the subject of money, so much so she laughed out loudwhen someone suggested she write a book about Amish money secrets. But since she hopped in that metaphorical buggy, in the summer fo 2009, she’s been learning how to share, save, and make shoefly pie (it’s cheap: six ingredients!). When she’s not scoping out thrift stores and garage sales, Lorilee is usually hanging out in her big old house with her husband, three kids, and four pets (ie: three too many!). She’s the author of 11 books, including the New York Times bestseller “Through the Storm” with Lynne Spears, and “A is for Atticus: Baby Names from Great Books,” featured in People magazine. For the last fifteen years, she’s also moonlighted as an entertainment and features writer for The Grand Rapids Press in glamorous Grand Rapids, MI. 

For more about Lorilee visit www.lorileecraker.com.

More about Money Secrets of the Amish: Take one thoroughly modern gal with a recessionary income problem, mixwith the practices of a culture that has proved to be recession-proof, and what have you got?

A financial planner in a straw hat.

When writer Lorilee Craker learned that the Amish are not just surviving but thriving in the economic downturn, she decided to find out why.  What she found was about a dozen tried and true financial habits the Amish have employed for generations that will make your cash last longer and help you build wealth.  Craker provides tips to...

• use it up, wear it out, make do, or do without
• rethink your gift giving
• repurpose, recycle, and reuse
• eat like royalty for a peasant's pittance

Endorsements:

Packed with practical, simple, and smart money saving ideas and teeming with great insight into the sensible Amish ways, Money Secrets of the Amish will entertain you with stories and retrain your brain to be the savvy money saver you always dreamed you could be.  --Beth Wiseman, best-selling author of Plain Promise and Seek Me With All Your Heart

This book is like an Amish basement shelf loaded with Mason jars full of Plain money wisdom.  Self-confessed “Fancy” gal Lorilee Craker rolls up her sleeves and cracks them open one-by-one, figuring out how to fit Amish principles to a non-Amish life.  She succeeds, and so can you—read Money Secrets of the Amish and add weight to your wallet.  --Erik Wesner, amishamerica.com; author of Success Made Simple: An Inside Look at Why Amish Businesses Thrive

Lorilee inspires and impacts your everyday life with this marvelous little read. From buttons to bakery you suddenly realize this conversation is not about just pinching a few pennies but about transforming how we view our everyday lives. I applaud Lorilee for asking the hard questions and pressing in to find honest answers. Forget the mall, kick back and soak up the delicious wisdom of a life well lived. Thank you Lorilee for shaping my everyday!  --Tracey Bianchi, author of Green Mama

Don't miss this week's show. I'll be speaking with cookbook author Judy Walter. Her cookbook, At Home in the Kitchen: Mennonite, Hutterite and Amish-Style Cooking, reflects Judy’s enjoyment of cooking and preparing wholesome meals. Each recipe, throughout the wide range of food categories, comes with clear step‑by-step instructions using simple ingredients. Be sure to tune in on Thursday, January 26th at 4PM Central.

Judy has generously offered to give away three copies of her cookbook. Just leave a comment here to be entered. Winners will be notified next week via email!

More about Judy: The prairies and an amazing grain farm in southern Alberta were home to Judy Walter.  In thepattern of Hutterite communities, a central kitchen was the scene of old-fashioned good eating, as delicious and abundant as anyone could wish for. Three times a day the big bell pealed out the sound that signalled the call to the kitchen where the food was waiting.

Years of observing and helping with food preparations gave Judy the opportunity to explore her own bent in the kitchen.  She had the experience of being involved in cooking large amounts of food as well as paring down to making meals in her own kitchen.  Many guests passed through her doors, leaving with memories of delicious meals or snacks shared around her kitchen nook. 

Check out Judy's blog for recipes along with tips and tricks from At Home in the Kitchen. 

More about At Home in the Kitchen: At Home in the Kitchen is a 7"x10" spiral bound book with full-color laminated covers.  There are 8 color pages illustrating a sampling of the recipes as well as celebrating the beauty of Alberta.  Along with colorful photos, you will find heart warming anecdotes and personal experiences that enliven the pages of this beautiful cookbook.  With over 300 recipes its sure to be a favorite.

I'm excited to chat with this week's guests. We've all heard (and probably experienced) the results of being unorganized and too busy (it's usually the "being too busy" that leads to my being unorganized!). Our first guest this week, Kathryn Bechen, author of Small Space Organizing, will be sharing ideas and tips for being organized and talking about why that even matters! Then during the second half of the show we'll hear from Cindi Ferrini. Her recent book, Balancing the Active Life, offers some advice on avoiding the pitfalls of our hurry, hurry culture. Stress, fatigue, disconnected families, ruined relationships and so much more. She'll be sharing tips on how to balance all that God's called us to. Be sure to tune in on Thursday at 4PM Central!

Both ladies are giving away a copy of their books. Leave a comment below for a chance to win one. Winner's will be notified next week via email.

More about Kathryn: Kathryn Bechen is an award-winning lifestyle writer specializing in home decorating andorganizing, how-to, weddings, and travel. She is the author of several lifestyle e-books, and her feature articles have been published in national and regional magazines such as Cottage Style, Small Room Decorating, Country Almanac, and San Diego Style Weddings. Kathryn's new home-related book, published by Baker Publishing Group, is scheduled to release to bookstores everywhere, and online book outlets, in early 2012. Kathryn lives in sunny San Diego, CA, USA, with her husband and business partner of many years, Steve Bechen. For more information please visit her blog and website at www.KathrynBechenINK.com.

 

More about Cindi: Cindi enjoys speaking on topics that will encourage men and women to make a difference in their sphere of influence by being all they can be for the Lord, their families, and themselves. Joe and Cindi are on the speaking team for Family Life Ministries, a marriage-focused ministry founded by Dr. Bill Bright of Campus Crusade for Christ.

Joe (a dentist) and Cindi have enjoyed ministry together as they direct the City Focus Ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ in the Northeast Ohio area as associate staff since 1989. They helped to bring the Billy Graham Crusade to Cleveland in 1994 and served as trained counselors, supervisors and leaders. They were also responsible for the direction of distributing over 32,000 pieces of material to inquirers that came forward throughout the crusade. The Billy Graham Association asked them to establish follow-up in the NE Ohio area because of the discipleship ministry they already had in place. They have also served as City Ministry Directors of the FamilyLife conferences in Cleveland (NE Ohio) from 1990-2001 with expansion to Akron in 2000 and an Urban Familylife Conference in Youngstown, OH, in October of 2001! Joe and Cindi now speak nationally for the Familylife Marriage Conferences. For more info, please visit  http://www.cindiferrini.com

More about Balancing the Active Life: If you struggle to get organized, Cindi's your new friend who understands...

[She] will enable you to develop a more balanced life. -Susan Alexander Yates, speaker and author
...concrete ways to move ahead toward a balanced life. -Joy Downs, speaker and co-author

Balancing a pyramid of seven people on a tightrope cable only 5/8-inch thick, the Great Wallendas showed the world their astonishing skills. They performed their balancing act 35-100 feet high over dens of lions! How many times did they nearly lose their balance?

Though you might not be surrounded by lions, who is to say that your life isn't just as stressful with your own set of acrobatic and balancing acts?

'How we spend our time is the life we live,' says Cindi Ferrini of Creative Management Fundamentals.

Join author and balancer Cindi Ferrini as she presents her 13-week interactive Bible study that addresses the question: 'Does being a Christian mean we automatically have a balanced life?'

Everyone gets carried away with work, family, ministry, and life opportunities available to us. And sometimes we neglect the areas that God is calling us to and that are best for us. Through this study, you'll learn to balance your priorities, set and achieve goals, and discipline and organize yourself in a variety of areas.

Just as the Wallendas learned the excitement of being in balance and walking the tight rope, you too can take the challenge of learning what it takes to Balance the Active Life!

This week on Amish Wisdom we've got two guests who will help you start 2012 right. The first half hour we'll hear from Deborah Pegues about taming your fears. Whether it’s failing finances, rocky relationships, or the angst of aging, the spirit of fear is paralyzing people from living out the lives God intended them to fulfill. What can be done? Are we destined to be slaves to our fears? Deborah will help answer those questions and more. Then during the second half hour we'll hear from Saundra Dalton-Smith. Saundra is  a practicing physician who shows women how to break free from fear, insecurity, and other lies they tell themselves and into a life of health and balance in her new book, Set Free to Live Free. She'll be sharing her tips for freeing ourselves from some of the mental ties we bind ourselves with: perfection, envy, image, balance, control, emotions, and limits.  

Both Deborah and Saundra have copies of their book to giveaway - leave a comment below (with your email address) for a chance to win one. Two winners (one for each book) will be selected next week and notified next week via email. 

More about Deborah: Deborah Smith Pegues is a dynamic, high-energy motivational speaker, CPA, and certifiedbehavior specialist who delivers sage advice on gaining relational, financial, and emotional freedom. Her books include 30 Days to Taming Your Tongue, 30 Days to Taming Your Finances, 30 Days to Taming Your Stress, Confronting Without Offending, and more. Her advice has appeared in several national magazines. Pegues has also made radio and television appearances on shows produced by FamilyNet, Salem Radio Network, Moody Broadcasting Network, and more.

For more about Deborah and her other books, visit http://www.confrontingissues.com.

More about 30 Days to Taming Your Fears: Deborah Smith Pegues, behavioral specialist and bestselling author of 30 days to Taming Your Tongue (more than 500,000 copies sold), sheds light on rational and irrational fears and offers readers a path of hope and assurance.

With her trademark clarity and practical wisdom, Deborah addresses spiritual, relational, physical safety, financial, and emotional fears with godly principles and straightforward helps. Each step of the way, she gives readers power over fear by helping them understand:

• the foundation of  their fears
• God’s  perspective on their specific anxiety, fear, or phobia
• how to respond to fear triggers with information, awareness, and confidence
• ways to embrace healthy fears and to resist unhealthy ones
• how  neutralizing their fears  maximizes their life

This will be an invaluable resource for anyone walking the minefield of constant apprehensions who is ready to exchange fear for the peace which passes all understanding. 

More about Saundra: Saundra Dalton-Smith is a physician, teacher, wife, and mother who is passionate about helping women overcome the mental barriers that prevent them from living free in Christ. She combines the knowledge and compassion of her medical training with biblical principles to offer those bound by insecurity, anxiety, fear, and doubt a prescription for living free. To learn more about Saundra visit www.setfreetolivefreebook.com. Read more at http://www.drdaltonsmith.com/about.aspx. 

More about Set Free to Live Free: A Physician Shows How Our Physical Health Is Impacted By Spiritual and MentalChoices

Discover the seven lies women believe about themselves and how they can overcome them 

Author Saundra Dalton-Smith, a practicing physician, shows women how to break free from fear, insecurity, and other lies they tell themselves into a life of health and balance in Set Free to Live Free (ISBN: 978-0-8007-1993-7, May 2011, $12.99). Smith shares with readers how one patient reshaped her practice and approach to medicine. One day, a patient entered her office, and as Smith listened, she recognized she would need to work closely with this patient if she was to get better. She could not simply offer the latest medications, but would instead need to walk with the patient and help her become free from the lies that had impacted her physical health. Readers will journey with this patient and others as Smith shares how their triumphs became her motivation to see others free. 

Imagine life with unlimited possibility, where fear, misconceptions, and insecurities don't have the power to rob us of our potential or our dreams. Many women have trouble seeing this vision, because they are bound by mental ties that keep them from living free. In Set Free to Live Free, Smith will show women how to break free from seven mental ties that hold them back: perfection, envy, image, balance, control, emotions, and limits. She encourages women to embrace spontaneity, be transparent, nurture their bodies, and cultivate a balanced life through compassionate and inspirational writing. 

A study guide is provided at the end of the book outlining each chapter with discussion questions.

Start the year out right with this week's Amish Wisdom. Author Lisa Wingate and Judy Christie will be chatting about how to make changes this year ... changes that matter.

For a chance to win a copy of both Lisa's and Judy's books, leave a comment here. Winner will be announced next week via email.

More about Lisa: Lisa Wingate is an award-winning journalist, magazine columnist, popular inspirational speaker andanational bestselling author.  Lisa is one of a select group of authors to find success in both the Christian and general markets in mainstream fiction. Her works have been featured by the National Reader's Club of America, AOL Book Picks, Doubleday Book Club, the Literary Guild, American Profiles, Crossings Book Club, Women’s World Magazine, Family Circle Magazine, and have been short-listed for various awards, including the American Christian Fiction Writer’s Book of the Year Award, which her book Never Say Never won in 2011.  Lisa also spends time on the road as a motivational speaker. Via internet, she shares with readers as far away as India, where her book, Tending Roses, has been used to promote women's literacy, and as close to home as Tulsa, Oklahoma, where the county library system has used Tending Roses to help volunteers teach adults to read.  Recently, the group Americans for More Civility, a kindness watchdog organization, selected Lisa for the National Civies Award, which celebrates public figures who work to promote greater kindness and civility in American life. www.lisawingate.com. 

More about Blue Moon Bay: Heather Hampton returns to Moses Lake, Texas, to help facilitate the sale of a family farm as part of a planned industrial plant that will provide the area with much-needed jobs. Heather's future fiance has brokered the deal, and Heather is in line to do her first large-scale architectural design--if the deal goes through. 

But the currents of Moses Lake have a way of taking visitors on unexpected journeys. What was intended to be a quick trip suddenly morphs into Valentine's week--with her old high school crush, Blaine Underhill, the handsome banker who just happens to be opposing Heather's project. Spending the holiday in an ex-funeral parlor seems like a nightmare, but as Heather connects with Blaine and reconnects with her uncle's aging Mennonite housekeeper, Ruth, she slowly finds herself being drawn into the family and the lakeside hometown she thought she'd left behind for good. 

More about Judy: Judy Christie is an author and consultant who lives in Northwest Louisiana.

She writes inspirational fiction and nonfiction.  Her popular Green series chronicles the goings-on in the small Louisiana town of Green and is part of Abingdon Press’s new inspirational fiction line.

Judy is also the author of the popular Hurry Less, Worry Less nonfiction series, published by Abingdon Press.

Wreath, published in October 2011, is Judy’s first young adult book. Look for it and a free download on her books page!

Judy was a journalist for many years and is  a frequent speaker at retreats and workshops. She works with clients around the country on how to slow down and enjoy each day more and how to set and meet goals. www.judychristie.com

More about Hurry Less, Worry Less: Live a More Meaningful and Joyful Life  

Hectic. Rushed. Noisy. Exhausted. We live in a world where we know these words all too well. Is it even possible to live at a slower pace?   

Judy Christie assures us that, with God’s help, it is possible to learn to live with less hurry and worry, to recover the joy of living. Hurry Less, Worry Less offers practical ideas and strategies to help you begin your own path toward change. 

Crucial steps include:   

Determining what your ideal life would look like   

Creating a new road map for your life   

Letting go of your worries and trusting in God   

Cutting down on the “noise” in your life and listening for guidance   

Discovering God’s will for your life   

Making a commitment to persist in your journey

If you like to eat - don't miss this week's show. Georgia Varozza will be joining me for a lively (and delicious) discussion about Amish Cooking! Yum.

You'll have a chance to win Georgia's cook book. Leave a comment here for your chance to win. Winner will be notified next week via email.

More about Georgia Varozza: Georgia Varozza, the author and general editor of The Homestyle Amish Kitchen Cookbook, has worked in the publishing field for more than 20 years as a journalist, editor, and writer. As a certified Master Food Preserver, she has taught many people in her community how to safely preserve their family's foods. Georgia's family comes from a Plain background, and many of the recipes she shares are family favorites.

About her cookbook: The Homestyle Amish Kitchen Cookbook: Plainly Delicious Recipes from the Simple Life

Just about everyone is fascinated by the Amish—their simple, family-centered lifestyle, colorful quilts, and hearty, homemade meals. Straight from the heart of Amish country, this celebration of hearth and home will delight readers with the pleasures of the family table as they take a peek at the Amish way of life—a life filled with the self-reliance and peace of mind that many of us long for.

Readers will appreciate the scores of tasty, easy-to-prepare recipes such as Scrapple, Graham “Nuts” Cereal, Potato Rivvel Soup, Amish Dressing, and Snitz Pie. At the same time they’ll learn a bit about the Amish, savor interesting tidbits from the “Amish Kitchen Wisdom” sections, find out just how much food it takes to feed the large number of folks attending preaching services, barn raisings, weddings, and work frolics, and much more.

The Homestyle Amish Kitchen Cookbook is filled with good, old-fashioned family meal ideas to help bring the simple life home!

This week we're welcoming Amy Clipston back to Amish Wisdom. We'll catch up on all the news, talk about her latest holiday book, Noami's Gift, and find out what Amy has in store for 2012. She was supposed to be on last week but, there was a snafu with scheduling on our end!

For a chance to win a copy of Amy's book, leave a comment here. Winner will be notified via email next week and we'll try to get it to you before Christmas.

More about Amy: Amy Clipston is the author of the bestselling Kauffman Amish Bakery novels. She has a degree incommunications from Virginia Wesleyan College and currently works for the city of Charlotte, North Carolina. Amy lives with her husband, two sons, and four spoiled-rotten cats. Visit www.amyclipston.com.

More about Noami's Gift: Naomi's Gift re-introduces twenty-four-year-old Naomi King, who has been burned twice by love and has all but given up on marriage and children. As Christmas approaches-a time of family, faith, and hope for many others-Naomi is more certain than ever her life will be spent as an old maid, helping with the family's quilting business and taking care of her eight siblings. Then she meets Caleb, a young widower with a 7-year-old daughter, and her world is once again turned upside-down.

The Making of Naomi's Gift

My dear friend Lauran deserves the credit for this book! Lauran loved the character of Naomi King in A Promise of Hope and A Place of Peace. When I began brainstorming a concept for the book, Lauran insisted more than once that Naomi needed her own story so that she could find her true love. I’m so thankful for Lauran’s input that I dedicated the book to her.

We've got two guests on the show this week. The first half hour I'll be chatting with Noah Coleman. Noah is the son of Bill Coleman of Amish Photo. If you've read my Christian Post articles, seen my book covers or spent any time at my blog then you've seen Bill's gorgeous work. His eye is unmatched. Today Noah will be talking about how he helps his father, now in his 80's, and what's new and coming soon to AmishPhoto.com. Then during the second half of the show we'll kick off the Christmas season with Judy Christie. She's going to pop in to talk about her book, "Hurry Less, Worry Less at Christmas."

Judy is running a special gift promotion today, plus she's offering a copy of her book to some lucky person who leaves a comment.

For more about Judy, visit her website!

Don't miss today's show! 5pm EST, toginet.comwww.toginet.com/shows/amishwisdom. And if you have to miss it, just go to the site and click and listen or download it as a podcast, at your convenience!

More about Amish Photo:

Bill Coleman is an internationally acclaimed photographer of the Amish. The photographic legacy he deems his Amish Odyssey is four decades long, a goodly number of years to document the lives and landscapes of the Old Order Amish sect in a hidden valley somewhere in Pennsylvania. But forty years is scantly time to portray a people whose ancestors immigrated to the area in the 18th century.

The Amish have a love affair with life and simplicity, with preserving ages of innocence and respect, with teaching responsibility and the joys of tradition. These very private people are reluctant to reveal themselves to outsiders.

Bill, albeit knowing he will always be an outsider has, charmingly, respectfully cajoled his way into the hearts and homes of a number of Amish families willing to allow him to document their lives from birth to death, generation after generation. His determination to keep their location secret, their lives private, equals their determination to maintain their way of life.

His photographs, often images of a precise scene taken at each season of the year and of cherubic children as they mature, holds a continuity of life and lifestyle beholden to the past, yet treasured for the future. In a sect where tradition and the ethic of hard work, respect of elders and love of children intertwine.

Bill creates beautifully powerful images. The past is present in every nuanced curve of the land. His photographs are intimate portraits of a place and a people who live in the simplicity of the past as the realities of the 21st century encroach upon their future.

Bill’s photos touch one’s senses beyond the gift of sight. They reveal the laughter of the youngsters, the chill of a snowy field, the aroma of a fresh baked apple pie, the touch of little girls clutching their baby dolls, and the mellifluous hammering of a barn raising. Beyond the physical senses are those of place, of humor, of past, and present thriving harmoniously. He portrays the whimsy of children at play with equal respect to the seriousness of Sunday worship.

On many days, from sunrise to sunset, Bill aims his camera at what he calls the “symphony of forms that created the valley…the lights, colors and textures of the fields, the farmlands, and the faces.” In describing his passion for preserving the gentle nature of this Amish sect, he confides, “I wish they knew how much I love them.” Look at his photos and you will have no questions about his love.

For more information and to see some his amazing work, please visit: www.amishphoto.com

This week I'll be playing an encore of my interview with Beverly from earlier this year. If you have a moment or two on Thanksgiving (while you're cooking maybe?) tune in and hear Beverly talk about the Amish and her books.

Her stories have been published in eleven languages worldwide. A keen interest in her mother's Plain heritage has inspired Beverly to write many Amish-related novels, beginning with The Shunning, which has sold more than one million copies and was recently made into an Original Hallmark Channel movie. Beverly lives with her husband, David, in Colorado. Visit her Web site at www.beverlylewis.com for more information.

More about Beverly: Beverly Marie Jones (Lewis) was born in the heart of Amish country—Lancaster, Pennsylvania. At the tender age of nine, she began writing short stories and poetry. Prior to that, she made up lyrics to the "little fingers" piano pieces she learned, at the age of five.

"My mother saved everything I wrote, even the stories I dreamed up during my grade school years," Bev says. One such tale is semi-autobiographical, about a young girl whose parents can no longer afford to give her piano lessons. The manuscript was 77 pages long and titled "She Shall Have Music," penned under the shade of a lone willow tree. "Reading, writing, and playing piano have been top three on my list of favorite things," she says.

Not until her own children were well into middle school did Bev seek to publish her work, first in magazines such as Highlights for Children, Dolphin Log, and Guideposts for Kids. Her first book followed in 1993—Mountain Bikes and Garbanzo Beans—presently retitled Big Bad Beans (book #22 in the popular Cul-de-Sac Kids series of chapter books—see list of Bev's children's books).

Beverly's first venture into adult fiction is the best-selling trilogy, The Heritage of Lancaster County, including The Shunning, a suspenseful saga of Katie Lapp, a young Amish woman drawn to the modern world by secrets from her past. The book is loosely based on the author's maternal grandmother, Ada Ranck Buchwalter, who left her Old Order Mennonite upbringing to marry a Bible College student. One Amish-country newspaper claimed Beverly's work to be "a primer on Lancaster County folklore" and offers "an insider's view of Amish life."

Asked if she is surprised by the popularity of her work, Lewis says, "The sales response for my work is astonishing, but even more heartwarming are thousands of letters a year pouring in from readers." Fans describe how her books have "touched a nerve, creating a curiosity about the Old Ways of the Amish... a yearning for a simpler life and return to traditional values in the mainstream society, where an impersonal, high-tech lifestyle reigns paramount," she explains. Bev still takes time out of her busy schedule to answer her readers' letters.

Booksellers across the country, and around the world, have spread the word of Bev's tender tales of Plain country life. A clerk in a Virginia bookstore wrote, "Beverly's books have a compelling freshness and spark. You just don't run across writing like that every day. I hope she'll keep writing stories about the Plain people for a long, long time."

A member of the National League of American Pen Women, as well as a Distinguished Alumnus of Evangel University, Lewis has written over 80 books for children, youth, and adults, many of them award-winning. She and her husband, David, make their home in Colorado, where they enjoy hiking, biking, and spending time with their family. They are also avid musicians and fiction "book worms."

I'm excited to chat with this week's guests. We've all heard (and probably experienced) the results of being too busy. Stress, fatigue, disconnected families, ruined relationships and so much more. Thursday we'll be talking to two authors who know all about busyness and how to manage it! The first half hour we'll catch up with Tricia Goyer. Then during the second half of the show we'll be hearing from Joanne Kraft who took her family on a Radical Sabbatical. 

Joanne is giving away a copy of her book. Leave a comment here for a chance to win one. Winner will be notified next week via email.

More about Tricia:

Using her own experiences as a teen mother, and leader of today’s generation, Tricia’s vision is to be a voice of hope and possibility for teenage girls, pregnant teen girls, mothers and wives through her educational and inspirational speaking, workshops and books. Her intention is to serve ordinary women by encouraging extraordinary things with God’s help. Tricia expresses real life, real hope, for real women.

Tricia is the author of 30 books and has published over 500 articles for national publications such as Focus on the Family, Today’s Christian Woman and HomeLife Magazine.

She won the Historical Novel of the Year award in both 2005 and 2006 from American Christian Fiction Writers, and was honored with the Writer of the Year award from Mt. Hermon Writer's Conference in 2003. Tricia's book Life Interrupted was a finalist for the Gold Medallion Book Award in 2005. Tricia's co-written novel, The Swiss Courier, was a nominee for the Christy Awards.

In her fiction novels, Tricia writes contemporary and historical stories that feature strong women overcoming great challenges. She recreates historic wartime eras with precise detail through perseverant and comprehensive research.

Tricia speaks to groups interested in her writing, research and the publishing world.

She also speaks and conducts workshops for women and teens around the nation, and offers programs to assist teens and teen moms. Tricia has been a workshop speaker for MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) International Convention and Hearts at Home. She is the founder of Hope Pregnancy Ministries in Northwestern Montana.

In 2010, she was selected as one of the Top 20 Moms To Follow on Twitter by SheKnows.com. Tricia is on the blogging team at MomLifeToday.com and HopeforWomenMag.com.

For more about Tricia and her books, visit www.triciagoyer.com.

More about Joanne Kraft: Joanne Kraft is a recovering too-busy mom and the author of Just Too Busy—Taking YourFamily on a Radical Sabbatical. She’s a mom who writes and a sought-after speaker. Joanne’s articles have been published by In Touch, Thriving Family, ParentLife, Today’s Christian Woman, and P31 Woman. She’s appeared on CBN News, Focus on the Family’s afternoon show—Your Family Live, Sacramento & Co., and The Harvest Show.

She makes her home in the Sierra Nevada Foothills of Northern California with her husband Paul, their four children, and a beagle with a slight weight problem.

Find out more at www.joannekraft.com.

More about Radical Sabbatical: 

Just Too Busy: Taking Your Family on a Radical Sabbatical

Just Too Busy is the true story of the Kraft family s head-on collision with busyness and the twelve-month experiment that changed their lives. When their children could recite the dollar value meals at McDonalds faster than their times-tables, they knew something was very wrong. So, instead of continuing their bad habits and fitting more into their schedules, they took a year off from all activities and learned how to be a family again.

In this book, readers will laugh their way to learning the ten tell-tale signs that they are too busy and discover the symptoms for a common disorder known to moms today: A.D.D. (Activity Denial Disorder). Families will find simple ways to guard themselves from the temptation of constant distraction.

Excited about this week's show - Leeann Miller is back this week filing us in on all the exciting things that havebeen happening in her life since last year's visit to Amish Wisdom. She'll also be sharing about some things near and dear to her heart.

More about Leeann: Twenty Years ago she met, dated, and married an Amish man within 28 days. “Big D” and Leeann live in Ohio’s Amish Country with their two teenage sons.

They also have a Bed & Breakfast called the Miller Haus. Leeann is a regular cooking guest on several FOX & abc affiliates in our region and represents the brand ‘Taste of Home’, and is a field editor for their magazine.

She loves to bake, cook, & extend hospitality. She believes in truth, mistakes, love, failures, dreams, goals, wit, & grinding the best coffee beans you can find!

For more about Lee Ann, please visit her website.

So be sure to tune in at 4:00 PM Central on Thursday!

I'm so excited to have author Mary-Ann Kirkby back on the show this Thursday. We'll be hearing more about her fascinating book, I Am Hutterite and talk a bit more about what inspired her to write it.

About Mary-Ann: Mary-Ann Kirkby was born on a Canadian Hutterite colony near Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. One of nine children, Kirkby was raised in the Hutterite tradition, similar in some respects, to that of the Amish or Mennonites. At age10 her life was turned upside down when her parents abruptly left behind the comfort and security of the colony and relocated their family to a lonely farm house in the “English” world. The transition to a startling fast-paced society was overwhelming for a young Mary-Ann as she clashed head on with popular culture.

Growing up in the isolated self-sustaining Hutterite community of Fairholme Colony, Kirkby had little contact with the outside world. A primarily agricultural community dominated by male leadership, Kirkby’s childhood dreams included a happy marriage with healthy children, good food, strong friendships and a deep devotion to her unique way of life. Those dreams where shattered when her parents packed up their large family and moved to a new world, full of unknowns.

Thrust into a foreign universe that she didn’t understand, Kirkby worked hard to adapt to a new way of life and a new identity by abandoning the culture that had defined her. She struggled to reinvent herself by denying her Hutterite heritage in an attempt to avoid the stigma and cruelty associated with being different.

A graduate of the National Broadcasting Institute Kirkby made her way into the world of journalism as a news anchor and reporter. She was the senior reporter responsible for aboriginal issues at CTV in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan and worked in Ottawa for several years as a freelance journalist and as Media Relations Consultant for the National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations. The recipient of two Can-Pro Awards, Kirkby has made a career of telling other people’s stories. She is gifted singer, a sought after speaker and member of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers.

Finally embracing her role as a daughter of two cultures Kirkby has used her talents to chronicle her own life story. Her first book, “I Am Hutterite,” was published in Canada in 2007 and will be released in the U.S. by Thomas Nelson Publishing in May 2010. The book has garnered rave reviews as readers react to the Kirkby’s honest and compelling story told in her charming style. “I Am Hutterite” won the Saskatchewan Book Award for Best Non-Fiction in 2007.

About her fascinating book: Mary-Ann Kirkby revisits a hidden past and weaves it into her ground-breaking memoir “I Am Hutterite: The Fascinating True Story of a Young Woman’s Journey to Reclaim Her Heritage.” This compelling story will keep you glued to every page vicariously reliving the memories of Kirkby as a young child, now a storyteller in her own right as an award-winning author and news reporter. She was awarded the Saskatchewan Book Award for Best Non-Fiction and received notable acclaim in the first edition of “I Am Hutterite,” published for the Canadian audience in 2007. With outstanding reviews and affection from readers who were awed by her courageous story, she has partnered with Thomas Nelson Publishers to bring her book to the United States. Releasing in the U.S. in May 2010, Kirkby’s memoir will resonate with anyone who has ever experienced a desire to fit in. But perhaps those who will enjoy this book best are those eager to peel away their own defenses and embrace the simple truth that beneath every human exterior beats a heart longing for understanding and acceptance. For more information, please visit: http://www.polkadotpress.ca/

Don't miss Thursday's show. The wonderful Judy Christie will be guest hosting again (thanks Judy!). Her guest this week is talented author, Janice Thompson. They will be talking about humor writing. The role humor plays in reaching the reader’s heart. Should be a jovial chat. 

For a chance to win a copy of Janice's Hello Hollywood and Judy Christie's latest book, Rally Round Green, just leave a comment on this post. Winner will be notified next week via email

More about Janice: Award-winning author Janice Thompson also writes under the pseudonym Janice Hanna. She got her start in the industry writing screenplays and musical comedies for the stage. Janice has published over seventy books for the Christian market, crossing genre lines to write cozy mysteries, historicals, romances, nonfiction books, devotionals, children’s books and more. In addition, she enjoys public speaking, and mentoring young writers. Janice formerly served as Vice-President of CAN (Christian Authors Network) and was named the 2008 Mentor of the year for ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers).  She was thrilled to be named the 2010 Barbour/Heartsong Author of the Year, with three books on the top ten list for that house. Janice is active in her local writing group, where she regularly teaches on the craft of writing. Her online course, “Becoming a Successful Freelance Writer” (www.freelancewritingcourses.com) has been helpful to many who want to earn a living with their writing. Janice is passionate about her faith and does all she can to share the joy of the Lord with others, which is why she particularly enjoys writing. She lives in Spring, Texas, where she leads a rich life with her family, a host of writing friends, and two mischievous dachshunds. She does her best to keep the Lord at the center of it all. You can find out more about Janice at www.janiceathompson.com or www.freelancewritingcourses.com.

More about Hello Hollywood:

When it comes to love, one thing’s for sure–it doesn’t follow a script!



Athena Pappas is the head writer on Stars Collide, one of the most popular sitcoms in television history. But when Vegas comedian Stephen Cosse is brought in to beef up the show’s suddenly sagging ratings, she starts to worry about her job. Sparks fly as the competition–and attraction–between the two writers heats up. Athena has never had a problem writing the romances of her characters. So why is her own love life so hard to script? With humor and a Hollywood-insider viewpoint, Hello, Hollywood! delivers lots of laughs as Athena and Stephen discover that not being in control of the plot of their lives might just be the best thing that ever happened to them.

About the co-host - Judy Christie:

Judy Christie is an author and consultant who lives in Northwest Louisiana. She writes inspirational fiction and nonfiction. Her popular Green series chronicles the goings-on in the small Louisiana town of Green and is part of Abindgon Press’s new inspirational fiction line. The third book in the Green series, The Glory of Green, released Spring 2011. It follows Gone to Green, her first novel, published in 2009, and Goodness Gracious Green, which came out in 2010. Judy is also the author of the popular Hurry Less, Worry Lessnonfiction series, published by Abingdon Press: Hurry Less, Worry Less for Families; Hurry Less, Worry Less at Work; Hurry Less, Worry Less: 10 Strategies for Living the Life You Long For; Hurry Less, Worry Less at Christmastime. Judy was a journalist for many years and is a frequent speaker at retreats and workshops. She works with clients around the country on how to slow down and enjoy each day more and how to set and meet goals. Please visit Judy's website for more, www.judychristie.com.

Look for Judy's latest book, Rally Round Green.

"A tender tale filled with community, friendship, and love.  Judy Christie creates characters you'll want to know and places you'll want to be.  Don't miss your chance to rally round with the Gang from Green!"  -- Lisa Wingate, National Bestselling Author of Larkspur Cove and Dandelion Summer

This week I'm away on a book tour, so I've cued up an encore presentation of Who Are the Anabaptists. Tune in to hear the panel Erik Wesner, Sherry Gore, Ira Wagler, and Mary Ann Kirkby. Not sure of the differences between, Amish, Old Order Amish, Mennonite & Hutterite? Well, tune in and find out.

For a chance to win a copy of A Lancaster County Christmas  - leave a comment here! One winner will be notified via email next week.

More about our panel:

Erik Wesner: Erik is the author of the popular blog "Amish America." During the interview we chat aboutErik's book, Success Made Simple, and about Amish businesses. Since 2004, he has visited 20 Amish communities in five states, and met roughly 5,000 Amish families in total.

As the 2008 Snowden Fellow at the Young Center at Elizabethtown College, Erik delivered a lecture entitled “Is Success a Four-Letter Word? The Amish Approach to Business Achievement”.

Erik has contributed to Amish-themed articles featured in Entrepreneur Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and other print media. He's have also served as a consultant for numerous authors of Amish fiction and non-fiction. 

Sherry Gore: Sherry Gore is the author of Taste of Pinecraft….Glimpses of Sarasota Florida’s Amish CultureandKitchens. She's a writer/food reviewer for the Pinecraft Pauper, Florida’s first Amish newspaper, and a scribe for her community for the National Edition of The Budget. She co-hosted the Pinecraft Writer’s Presentation in Florida with Professor Emeritus Richard Stevick, author of Growing up Amish; the Teenage Years.

She is a year-round resident in Sarasota, Florida, the vacation

 paradise of the Plain People, and is a member of a Beachy Amish Mennonite Church. She is currently chronicling the adventures of everyday life of the Plain people in Pinecraft for the second edition of Taste of Pinecraft, due to be released 2012.

This mother of three, and full-time caregiver of her twenty-year-old daughter, loves to swim in the Gulf of Mexico, as she attempts to combat her pathological fear of sharks. It is her life-long dream to ride in the Oscar Mayer Wiener Mobile.

She is the non-resistant owner of a double barrel shotgun with an affinity for pie. She learned the hard way one spring day not to wear Chap-stick while driving an open buggy behind a shedding horse. Find out more about Sherry at her website: http://www.sherrygorebooks.com/.

Ira Wagler: Ira Wagler was born and raised in an Old Order Amish community surrounded by family, farms, horses and open spaces. Ira writes about his family and experiences with honesty, respect and compassion. His decision to leave was, as is the case with others, a moment of great anxiety and freedom. Words, books and knowledge were a part of the Wagler household – Ira simply wanted more. He entered college as a non-traditional student and there discovered literature and writing. He was deeply affected by Thomas Wolf’s “You Can’t Go Home Again.” Though his career has taken him in other directions, including management and law, he never lost his passion for narrative and writing. After some personal hardships, Ira decided to seek solace where he had found freedom in the past, in words. Three years ago, he started a blog. Initially posting weekly, he began to give words to the largely oral stories and traditions of his childhood with the intention of weaving them into a book. Visit his blog here: http://www.irawagler.com. Ira's book, Growing Up Amish,  is to be published and released by Tyndale House on July 1, 2011.

Mary Ann Kirkby: Mary-Ann Kirkby was born on a Canadian Hutterite colony near Portage la Prairie,Manitoba. One of nine children, Kirkby was raised in the Hutterite tradition, similar in some respects, to that of the Amish or Mennonites. At age10 her life was turned upside down when her parents abruptly left behind the comfort and security of the colony and relocated their family to a lonely farm house in the “English” world. The transition to a startling fast-paced society was overwhelming for a young Mary-Ann as she clashed head on with popular culture.

Growing up in the isolated self-sustaining Hutterite community of Fairholme Colony, Kirkby had little contact with the outside world.

 A primarily agricultural community dominated by male leadership, Kirkby’s childhood dreams included a happy marriage with healthy children, good food, strong friendships and a deep devotion to her unique way of life. Those dreams where shattered when her parents packed up their large family and moved to a new world, full of unknowns. 

Thrust into a foreign universe that she didn’t understand, Kirkby worked hard to adapt to a new way of life and a new identity by abandoning the culture that had defined her. She struggled to reinvent herself by denying her Hutterite heritage in an attempt to avoid the stigma and cruelty associated with being different. 

A graduate of the National Broadcasting Institute Kirkby made her way into the world of journalism as a news anchor and reporter. She was the senior reporter responsible for aboriginal issues at CTV in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan and worked in Ottawa for several years as a freelance journalist and as Media Relations Consultant for the National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations. The recipient of two Can-Pro Awards, Kirkby has made a career of telling other people’s stories. She is gifted singer, a sought after speaker and member of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers.

Finally embracing her role as a daughter of two cultures Kirkby has used her talents to chronicle her own life story. Her first book, “I Am Hutterite,” was published in Canada in 2007 and will be released in the U.S. by Thomas Nelson Publishing in May 2010. The book has garnered rave reviews as readers react to the Kirkby’s honest and compelling story told in her charming style. “I Am Hutterite” won the Saskatchewan Book Award for Best Non-Fiction in 2007. More about Mary here: http://www.polkadotpress.ca

What a fascinating guest this week. Be sure to tune in on Thursday at 4 PM Central and hear Danny Kofke talk about living wealthy on little money. He'll be sharing his experiences on living well on a teacher's salary. Super great guy. And check out this link for scores of television interviews with Danny on CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, and more.

For a chance to win a copy of Danny's book leave a comment here. The winner will be contacted via email next week.

Danny Kofke is currently a special education teacher in Georgia.  His love of teaching and finances led him to write two books - "How To Survive (and perhaps thrive) On A Teacher's Salary" (Tate Publishing, OCT 2007) and the recently released "A Simple Book of Financial Wisdom: Teach Yourself (and Your Kids) How to Live Wealthy with Little Money" (Wyatt-MacKenzie, SEPT 2011).  

Danny has appeared on numerous television shows including Fox & Friends, CNN's Newsroom, CBS's The Early Show, Fox News Channel's Happening Now, The 700 Club, CNN's Your Bottom Line, Fox Business Network's Follow The Money, ABC News Now, FOX Business Network's Varney & Company, HLN's The Clark Howard Show and MSNBC Live.  He has also been interviewed on over 250 radio shows and featured in publications such as USA Today, Bankrate.com, PARADE, Instructor Magazine, CBS MoneyWatch.com, FoxBusiness.com, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, ABCNews.com, Yahoo Finance, USA Weekend, Woman's Day, Consumer's Digest, CNN.com, Bottom Line Personal, Your Family Today and The Huffington Post. 

Danny wants to show others if this 36 year-old school teacher can gain financial wisdom, then they can too. He is living proof that a family can live wealthy on little money. 

To learn more about Danny please visit www.dannykofke.blogspot.com

This week's interview will be such fun. Joining me on Thursday is an Old Order Amish woman who has just published an eBook, Grace Leads Me Home. The book is Marlene's memoirs of her life and a true delight to read. Don't miss this show.

For a chance to win a copy (eBook) of Marlene's book, leave a commet here. Winner will be notified next week via email.

More about Marlene: Marlene C. Miller has been a member of the Old Order Amish Church for 44 years and lives with her husband of 48 years on their farm in eastern Ohio, surrounded by her 9 loving children, 40 grandchildren, and 5 great-grandchildren. 

More about Grace Leads Me Home: When a small-town Ohio girl met an Amish boy ice skating at the local pond, she had no idea all God had in store for her from this chance encounter. All Marlene knew was how gracefully he slid across the ice and how gently he tightened her laces. Her curious and inquisitive nature was calmed by his patient, sensible answers. With problems at home, Marlene poured herself into band, cheerleading, singing, and twirling. But the true peace she was seeking was not found until one life-changing moment with God at her kitchen sink. The inner change was reflected outwardly as she embraced the Amish way of life. Her heart found its home in this closely-knit community. With only her love of her husband, a love of animals, and her desire to learn, Marlene joined her husband in farming the beautiful rolling hills of Ohio and raising a large, active family. She soon found that a life of faith is not alsways full of mountain-top experiences. But through the joys and successes, the hardships and anguish to come, Marlene held tight to God, trusting His grace to lead her home.

Purchase a copy here.

Join me this week on Amish Wisdom. I have the pleasure of welcoming Vannetta Chapman back to the show to talk about her new book, Falling To Pieces. Then during the second half hour we'll hear from Proverbs 31 gal, Glynnis Whitwer about her new book, I Used to Be So Organized. We'll be chatting about cutting things out of our lives and simplifying so we can find more peace in our day. 

For a chance to win a copy of both lady's books, leave a comment here. The winners will be notified next week via email.

More about Vannetta: Vannetta Chapman holds a BA and MA degree in English and has published over one hundred articles in Christian family magazines, receiving over two dozen awards from Romance Writers of America chapter groups.  Her first Amish novel with Abingdon Press, A Simple Amish Christmas, quickly became a Christian Books Distributor best seller. Her first Shipshewana Amish Mystery, Falling to Pieces (Zondervan), will release in September of 2011--the first in a three book series. She has also signed a contract for a three book Amish romance series with Harvest House. A Promise for Miriam: Pebble Creek Series will release in June of 2012. www.vannettachapman.com 

More about Falling To Pieces: In this first book of a three-book series, author Vannetta Chapman brings a fresh twist to the popular Amish fiction genre. She blends the familiarcomponents consumers love in Amish books—faith, community, simplicity, family—with an innovative who-done-it plot that keeps readers guessing right up to the last stitch in the quilt. When two women—one Amish, one English—each with different motives, join forces to organize a successful on-line quilt auction, neither expects nor wants a friendship. As different as night and day, Deborah and Callie are uneasy partners who simply want to make the best of a temporary situation. But a murder, a surprising prime suspect, a stubborn detective, and the town's reaction throw the two women together, and they form an unlikely alliance to solve a mystery and catch a killer. Set in the well-known Amish community of Shipshewana, Falling to Pieces will attract both devoted fans of the rapidly-growing Amish fiction genre, as well as those who are captivated by the Amish way of life.

More about Glynnis: Glynnis Whitwer is on staff with Proverbs 31 Ministries as the Senior Editor of the P31Woman magazine. She is one of the writers of Encouragement for Today, the Proverbs 31 e-mail devotions, with over 500,000 daily readers.  Her newest book, I Used to be So Organized, has just been released.  Glynnis, her husband Tod, and their five children live in Glendale, Arizona.  

More about I Used to Be So Organized: Combining spiritual encouragement and practical application I Used to Be So Organized presents a balanced approach to finding order and peace for today s overwhelmed woman.

I Used to Be So Organized addresses the frustrations many women feel when they can't get a handle on their lives. They know, deep in their hearts, they should be able to manage things. After all, they used to be organized . . .

In this book, Glynnis Whitwer addresses the issue of organization based in this new reality of information overload, overwhelming choices, increased expectations and technology advances that won t slow down. This book contains twenty-three chapters, each short enough for a busy woman to read during a lunch break. Every aspect of life comes together in this one easy-to-read guide. ten or twenty years ago. But now, life seems to hand them one distraction and challenge after another, and ''helpful technology'' that just seem to add to the problem. Just when they think they have ''caught up,'' something else changes, and there s more to be done.

If you like to eat - don't miss this week's show. Sherry Gore will be filling in for me while I'm away at ACFW. She's invited two Amish Cooking experts, Georgia Varozza and Kevin Williams, to join her in a lively (and delicious) discussion about Amish Cooking!

You'll have a chance to win a cook book from all three guests. Leave a comment here for your chance to win. Winner will be notified next week via email.

Sherry Gore: Sherry Gore is the author of Taste of Pinecraft….Glimpses of Sarasota Florida’s Amish Culture and Kitchens. She's a writer/food reviewer for the Pinecraft Pauper, Florida’s first Amish newspaper, and a scribe for her community for the National Edition of The Budget. She co-hosted the Pinecraft Writer’s Presentation in Florida with Professor Emeritus Richard Stevick, author of Growing up Amish; the Teenage Years.

She is a year-round resident in Sarasota, Florida, the vacation paradise of the Plain People, and is a member of a Beachy Amish Mennonite Church. She is currently chronicling the adventures of everyday life of the Plain people in Pinecraft for the second edition of Taste of Pinecraft, due to be released 2012.

This mother of three, and full-time caregiver of her twenty-year-old daughter, loves to swim in the Gulf of Mexico, as she attempts to combat her pathological fear of sharks. It is her life-long dream to ride in the Oscar Mayer Wiener Mobile.

She is the non-resistant owner of a double barrel shotgun with an affinity for pie. She learned the hard way one spring day not to wear Chap-stick while driving an open buggy behind a shedding horse. Find out more about Sherry at her website:http://www.sherrygorebooks.com/.

Georgia Varozza: Georgia Varozza, the author and general editor of The Homestyle Amish Kitchen Cookbook, has worked in the publishing field for more than 20 years as a journalist, editor, and writer. As a certified Master Food Preserver, she has taught many people in her community how to safely preserve their family's foods. Georgia's family comes from a Plain background, and many of the recipes she shares arefamily favorites.

About her cookbook: The Homestyle Amish Kitchen Cookbook: Plainly Delicious Recipes from the Simple Life

Just about everyone is fascinated by the Amish—their simple, family-centered lifestyle, colorful quilts, and hearty, homemade meals. Straight from the heart of Amish country, this celebration of hearth and home will delight readers with the pleasures of the family table as they take a peek at the Amish way of life—a life filled with the self-reliance and peace of mind that many of us long for.

Readers will appreciate the scores of tasty, easy-to-prepare recipes such as Scrapple, Graham “Nuts” Cereal, Potato Rivvel Soup, Amish Dressing, and Snitz Pie. At the same time they’ll learn a bit about the Amish, savor interesting tidbits from the “Amish Kitchen Wisdom” sections, find out just how much food it takes to feed the large number of folks attending preaching services, barn raisings, weddings, and work frolics, and much more.

The Homestyle Amish Kitchen Cookbook is filled with good, old-fashioned family meal ideas to help bring the simple life home!

More About Kevin: Kevin Williams is creator and editor of the syndicated column, The Amish Cook, written by Lovina Eicher. The Amish Cook appears weekly in over 120 newspapers from coast to coast.  

In 1991, Williams cooked up an idea for an Amish recipe column and convinced Old Order Amish grandmother Elizabeth Coblentz to write it. Today, The Amish Cooktradition lives on as Elizabeth's daughter, Lovina Eicher, continues to pen the column each week.  Kevin is an author and speaker, sharing his experiences among the plain people.  Kevin has co-authored 10 cookbooks, including the strong selling "Amish Cook at Home" and "The Amish Cook's Baking Book" (Los Angeles Weekly selected this book the best baking book of 2010).

More about The Amish Cook's Baking Book: For the Amish, baking is an art form, a pleasure, and a way of life. The emotion they bring to baking is at the heart of The Amish Cook's Baking Book. Together, celebrated Amish cook Lovina Eicher and her editor, Kevin Williams,introduce a new generation to Amish baking.

This baking book is filled with 80 beautiful photographs and over 100 classic Amish recipes for sweets that have been handcrafted in Lovina Eicher's Amish kitchen. The Amish Cook's Baking Book includes the following chapters: Pies; Breads, Rolls, and Pastries; Cookies; Cakes; Bars 'n' Brownies; and Special-Occasion Baking. Home cooks get an extra treat with sidebars from Lovina's children as well as interesting insights into Amish life both inside and outside the kitchen.

"Baking is something my mother taught me, much like sewing and ironing, or gardening. Now, as a mother of eight children of my own, I am beginning to teach them how to bake. I have many cherished memories of baking throughout my life." --Lovina Eicher

This week on Amish Wisdom I'll be chatting with two guests. The first is author Mary Ellis. We'll be catching up with her and talking about her new book, A Marriage for Megan. Then the second half hour pastor, author and speaker Bob Hostetler and I will be talking about instilling Christian values in our kids. He'll be talking about the importance of knowing what you believe and why. A great discussion. Don't miss Thursday's show.

More about Mary: Mary Ellis is the author of A Widow's Hope, Never Far from Home, The Way to a Man's Heart, and Sarah's Christmas Miracle. She and her husband live in central Ohio, where they try to live a simpler style of life. www.maryellis.wordpress.com

More about A Marriage for Megan: Fans of superb Amish fiction will welcome the rich and moving stories of The Wayne County series by Mary Ellis, the bestselling author of Abigail’s New Hope, Never Far from Home, and The Way to a Man’s Heart.

Meghan Yost is 19, bright, and eager to prove to her father, the bishop, that she’s mature enough to teach in the Old Order district. But just when Meghan gains confidence and assurance, a troubled student challenges her authority and a male suitor challenges her patience.

Life and love tensions escalate when a string of crimes threaten the Amish community, and handsome FBI agent Thomas Mast arrives to investigate.

Is there truth behind Meghan’s fear that she’s the cause for disruptions in the serene county? And is there true love behind her mixed feelings for Thomas, the outsider?

This is a timeless story of personal quests for hope, love, and enduring faith. 

More about Bob: Bob Hostetler is an award-winning and best-selling writer, editor, pastor, and speaker. His books include Don't Check Your Brains at the Door and The Bone Box.

www.bobhostetler.com

More about Don't Check Your Brains At the Door: Recent polls illustrate what Christian parents have feared: kids are dropping out of church early and for good. Age 16 is the average age at which teens are dropping out, says one poll, and 70% of Protestants ages 18 to 30 quit church by age 23, says another. Authors Josh McDowell and Bob Hostetler have written Don't Check Your Brains at the Door (Thomas Nelson, August 2011, ISBN: 1400317202, $12.99) to stem a troubling tide among Christian youth. 

Don't Check Your Brains at the Door answers many of the faith-related questions Christian youth face. It challenges young readers to test gospel truths found in the Bible so they can learn to give an answer for their faith as they mature into thinking adults.

"We receive all kinds of messages, myths, and misconceptions in the course of our lives," says co-author Bob Hostetler. "One of those messages is the idea that following Jesus requires us to check our brains at the door-that reason and faith are incompatible. And that mistaken idea leads to others. That's why this book exists: to help a young man or woman weigh the evidence and lay a firm foundation for a strong faith in Christ." 

Written as a definitive but humorous resource, Don't Check Your Brains at the Door examines questions that today's youth face and explains how to give reasoned answers in a Christlike manner. Readers will find answers to common cultural myths and misconceptions about-

...God:

God is a faceless, impersonal force.

God is a cosmic vending machine.

...Jesus:

Jesus was a just a man.

Jesus was just a good teacher.

...the Bible:

It's just a great work of literature.

It's full of factual holes.

...the Resurrection:

Jesus didn't actually die.

Jesus' body was stolen.

...and many more! Also in Don't Check Your Brains at the Door, the authors have added a great reading comprehension section after every chapter called "Brain Food." Readers, parents, and teachers alike will find this tool helpful in processing and retaining the facts presented in every chapter.

With these tools in hand, the readers will be equipped to have a positive influence on the world around them, rather than succumbing to its faithlessness. Every church and family library needs Don't Check Your Brains at the Door.

Both guests are giving away a copy of their books - leave a message here for a chance to win won. Winners will be notified next week via email.

Don't miss the show this week as I chat with the folks from Amish Workshops. I love their site - a great place to find genuine Amish made products and goods, read articles about the Amish and get your Amish questions answered by Viola. Don't miss the show and feel free to browse their site while you're listening: www.amishworkshops.com And click the icon below to sign up for their newsletter!

More about Amish Workshops: A quarter-century sounds like a long time, doesn't it? In 1985 a young man from Southern California met an Amish family in the Midwest. What began more than 25 years ago as a pen-pal relationship with one family has evolved into a business relationship with dozens of hard-working, meticulous wood workers, metal workers, quilters, weavers, and more.

The products found on AmishWorkshops.com are hand-crafted by Old Order Amish. Because we say "Amish made", it is very important to us (and to our Amish suppliers) that our products are truly Amish-made. Although not every single element of these crafted items is Amish-made (for example, nuts and bolts or fabric might be produced in a factory), we strive to ensure that only Amish people create the items we sell. We note exceptions to this rule in product descriptions, but if you have questions about the production or materials in any of our products, please don’t hesitate to write to us.

The Amish value hand-crafted products and many create items for sale or for practical home use, but these wonderful treasures are usually found only in the nooks and crannies of Amish country. With this site we bring many of these creations to you by going from workshop to workshop, finding quality hand-crafted Amish goods.

This week on Amish Wisdom I'll be interviewing two guests. The first is Becki Reiser, we'll be talking about grief and tips for getting through the tough stuff. Becki Reiser is a survivor! When her seventeen-year-old daughter, Liz was abducted and murdered, in May of 2000, her family stood on the Word of God and offered forgiveness to the person that took her daughter’s life. Then the second half hour we'll hear from Janet Holm McHenry. Janet's book PrayerWalk started a prayer revolution 10 years ago. The 10th anniversary edition has just published and we'll get tips from Janet on how to live a life of prayer and hear what she has learned about prayer since she wrote the book ten years ago. Don't miss this week's show!

For a chance to win a copy of PrayerWalk leave a comment here. Winner will be notified next week via email.

More about Becki: Becki Reiser is a survivor! When her seventeen-year-old daughter, Liz was abducted and murdered, in May of 2000, her family stood on the Word of God and offered forgiveness to the person that took her daughter’s life. Life as she had known it, being a wife to Jeff and mother to four children was forever altered. From the moment they found out what happened, they asked God to use their story to bring glory to His name. A ministry began and Jeff and Becki have shared their story and message of forgiveness nationwide. 

Jeff and Becki have been married almost 30 years (In November) and have three sons, Micah (27) an ordained worship minister at Cornerstone Chapel in Leesburg, VA., Jordan, (24) an ER Nurse at St. Mary’s Medical Center in Evansville, IN., And Christopher, (22) a senior at University of Akron, studying Civil Engineering, and plans to be a Youth pastor as well.

For more information about Becki, visit her blog.

More About Janet: After Janet graduated from University of California, Berkeley, with a degree in journalism,she married her high school sweetheart Craig and worked as a newspaper reporter and editor.  They eventually settled down in the Sierra Valley in northern California, where Craig is a rancher and where there is not a single stoplight in the entire county. In their town of 700+ folks, she says they have raised four pretty good children – three done with college – and are now enjoying the grandkids, all of whom are perfect. As a high school English teacher, academic advisor, and teacher mentor, Janet says the only pastime she has time for is friends!  And she looks forward to knowing you better! For more info about Janet and her other books, please visit her website athttp://janetmchenry.com.

More about PrayerWalk:

Many years ago, depressed and overweight, McHenry found a simple plan for her life: she would pray while she walked. Little did she know, it would change her life personally and open her eyes to the needs of her community.

Don't miss this week's guest, my friend and author, Debora Coty. We'll be talking about her new book Too Blessed to Be Stressed and how we can simplify our lives by keeping our to-do list from taking over. I'm looking forward to catching up with Debora - you'll love her sense of humor too! Oh, and don't miss her Kindle Giveaway (details below) and she's having a Facebook Party tomorrow evening - hope to see you there!

Leave a comment here for a chance to win a copy of Debora's book for yourself! Winner will be notified next week via email.

About the book:

Do your to do lists have footnotes? Has your fam suggested a rabies shot because your bite has surpassed Rover’s?

Maybe it’s time for a healthy dose of truth gift-wrapped in humor. With her own offbeat brand of wit and near-wisdom, inspirational humorist Debora Coty addresses the heart-needs of desperate women drowning in the churning everyday stress-pool of busyness.

In Too Blessed to Be Stressed, you’ll find simple, practical steps for attaining the peace that you crave as you struggle with the stresses of finances, health, career, relationships, self-image and family. You’ll discover healing, refreshment, and revitalization for your own spirit, body and mind through heart-changing real life stories, biblically based insights, and short chapters for on-the-run convenience.

About Debora: 

Debora M. Coty is a humorist, columnist, speaker, writing workshop instructor and award-winning author ofover 100 internationally published articles and ten inspirational books. She has also contributed short stories and devotionals to numerous anthologies. Debora's passion is sharing her offbeat blend of humor and hope, wit and near-wisdom with women of all ages. As a piano teacher for twenty years, she acquired the skill of auditory long-suffering and has helped countless people as an occupational therapist specializing in orthopedics for over three decades. Mother of two grown children, Debora currently lives and loves in central Florida with her husband and desperately wicked pooch, Fenway. www.deboracoty.com

Be sure to check out Debora's KINDLE giveaway (going on right now) and Facebook party on the 25th.

Enter 8/8 - 8/25!

Don't miss this week's show. We'll be talking about living more simply with guest Valerie Weaver-Zercher.Valerie is a Mennonite writer and editor in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. She works as a contributing editor to Sojourners magazine, a book reviewer for Christian Century, and her work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Christian Science Monitor, Orion, Christianity Today, and other venues. She is also the editor and compiler of Living More with Less.

Leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of Living More with Less. Winner notified next week via eamil.

More about Valerie and the book: 

"A Cookbook for Life" - Living More-with-Less: 30th Anniversary Edition

That's how author and activist Shane Claiborne describes Living More with Less: 30th Anniversary Edition.

It's an apt description. If Doris Janzen Longacre's first book, the More-with-Less Cookbook, was just that—a cookbook to help people who wanted to cook more responsibly in light of world food needs—Living More with Less was a cookbook for simple, sustainable, sane, and healthy living in a world where too many people lacked basic necessities for life.

Written in 1980, before living simply and "green" became trendy and popular, Living More with Less was a practical guide for living in simple, sustainable, and healthy ways—ways that keep the future of the planet, and the plight of poor people, in mind.

Thirty years later, Living More with Less: 30th Anniversary Edition has been released as a way to celebrateand honor Longacre, who died of cancer in 1979 at the age of 39 before she could complete the original manuscript.

In addition to Doris' original reflections on themes such as doing justice, learning from the world community, cherishing the natural order, and experiments in nonconformity, Living More with Less: 30th Anniversary Edition contains new and updated essays, reflections, stories, and practical tips in areas such as money, homekeeping, gardening, cooking, clothing, transportation, and technology.

For Bill McKibben, author of Earth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet, Living More with Less: 30th Anniversary Edition provides "sound advice for living sensibly—and for freeing up the energy you need to join with your neighbors in the drive for a fair and durable earth."

The book is exceptionally wise, urgently necessary for the sake of saving our planet, pertinently and personally practical," adds Marva Dawn, author of Unfettered Hope; Being Well When We're Ill, and Keeping the Sabbath Wholly.

Living More with Less: 30th Anniversary Edition "collects the wisdom and experience of those who live with less than a consumer culture says we need," says editor Valerie Weaver-Zercher. "It's a vibrant collection of testimonies, old and new, of those who are discovering the joy of living with enough."

Or, to put it another way, it's a cookbook for life.

I'm thrilled to have Amish America blogger, Erik Wesner, back on the show this week. We'll be catching up with Erik about his latest projects and some of the fascinating topics he's been talking about over at his blog. Topics like: Amish salvage stores and food safety, Amish homes, Amish settling in "atypical" places across the country--the South, West, etc., Could you live without technology?, favorite Amish businesses and much, much more. Have a question for Erik? Leave it below, send it on twitter (@suzannewfisher) or call in to 1-877-864-4869.

More about Erik: Erik Wesner is an independent expert on the Amish and their business practices, andpreviously spent a decade as a sales manager and record-breaking salesperson at Nashville’s Southwestern Company. He divides his time between Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where he has strong ties to the Amish community, and Poland, the country of his roots. He also writes the popular blog Amish America at amishamerica.com, covering Amish business, culture, and other topics.

For a chance to win a copy of Amish Values for Your Family, leave a comment. Winner will be notified next week via email.

I'm so excited to speak with Jonas on the show this week. We'll be discussing his book, "Think No Evil", his wife Anne and their business Auntie Ann's Pretzels and so much more. Don't miss it.

For a chance to win one of three copies of Think No Evil, leave a comment here. Winner will be notified next week via email. 

More about the book: THE TRUE STORY OF OCTOBER 2, 2006, WHEN CHARLES ROBERTS ENTERED AN AMISH SCHOOLHOUSE, bound and shot ten schoolgirls, and then committed suicide, stunned all who read the headlines or watched the drama unfold on television screens. Somehow, the senseless violence seemed all the more horrific against the backdrop of horse-and-buggy funeral processions and scenes of wide-eyed innocent children clad in bonnets and suspenders.

But perhaps even more startling than the violence was the quiet yet powerful response of the Amish community offering unconditional forgiveness to the murderer and reaching out to his family with baskets of food and warm welcomes into their homes. Could such forgiveness be genuine, truly heartfelt? Surely there must be simmering rage behind those peaceful words.

Jonas Beiler wondered. He had grown up in that very Amish community. His own pain of losing his daughter in a tragic accident years before resurfaced, and the lingering shadows of other life tragedies loomed darker. As he met with the grieving families, he could see how devastated and broken they felt, and yet he was drawn to the strength he saw in them.

Outsiders, too, had difficulty understanding the rock-solid faith of the people in this Amish community. How could they forgive someone who killed their innocent daughters? How could they reach out and embrace his family, expressing unconditional love for them in these circumstances? Letters from around the world poured in, asking these universal questions in the face of suffering.

And so began Jonas Beiler's journey into this story -- the story behind the headlines, behind the farmhouse doors, around the lantern-lit kitchen tables, at the local market, and alongside the tiny coffins. His quest is now yours to read. His discoveries yours to consider.

Walk with those closest to the scene: an Amish grandfather, an ambulance driver, a surviving Amish schoolgirl, and volunteer firefighters. Even look on as the community demolishes the school where the murders took place and builds the New Hope School that holds no memories of bloodstained walls.

Think No Evil is the first insider account of the tragic events, the personal victories and the daily Amish life in Nickel Mines, written by a native of the Amish community who still lives and works where most of his relatives are Old Order Amish. Against the rich and fascinating backdrop of Amish culture, Beiler reveals the best of the human spirit in the midst of the worst, and leaves us all drawn heavenward, the richer for it.

More about Jonas: Born and raised in the Amish-Mennonite community of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Jonas and Anne Beiler grew up surrounded by faith and family. During these early years, important life lessons were permanently woven into the fabric of their lives.

Jonas and Anne both attended traditional Amish schools until the 8th grade. They met as teens and were married by the age of 21 and 19, respectively.

Jonas and Anne's peaceful life as newlyweds and young parents went into a tailspin after the death of their 19-month-old daughter, Angela Joy, who died tragically in a farming accident in 1975. Anne, in her mid-20s at the time, found herself depressed and eventually on the brink of suicide. Despite being a faithful churchgoer, she didn't feel she could share her pain with friends or family members.

Jonas and Anne drifted apart. They remained silent partners who simply lived together and went through the motions of family life. They stayed together for the sake of their other two surviving daughters. Anne sought counsel from her pastor, who used the vulnerability of her grief to manipulate and control her for more than six years.

After confessing the manipulation to her husband, the Beilers sought counseling. The Beilers reconciled as God restored their marriage. Through the repair of their own marriage, God revealed that many others were suffering from the same despair and hopelessness. After studying at Dr. Richard Dobbins' EMERGE Ministries in Akron, Ohio, Jonas began providing lay counseling as a way to give back and help others.

To support Jonas' vision to help others, Anne bought a concession stand at a local farmers' market in Downingtown, Pennsylvania. She sold everything from pizza to ice cream, but it was the hand-rolled soft pretzels that customers couldn't get enough of. Because of the demand, Anne dropped the rest of the products and concentrated on perfecting the pretzel. Auntie Anne's Soft Pretzels was born.

Under the leadership of Jonas and Anne, Auntie Anne's grew from a single outlet to more than 950 locations worldwide, with a workforce of more than 10,000. Auntie Anne's, with its international headquarters in Lancaster, PA., is the world's largest hand-rolled soft pretzel chain offering snack and meal options to shoppers and travelers. Today, Auntie Anne's has over 300 franchisees in 20 countries and continues to be recognized for its superior product and service standards. In order to pursue their passion to strengthen families and build community, Auntie Anne's was sold to a private owner in April of 2005.

From their modest beginnings to the notable success of Auntie Anne's, Inc., the Beiler's have become one of the nation's leading entrepreneurs. In 1992, the Beilers founded the Family Resource and Counseling Center, a Christian, non-profit counseling facility which currently employees 24 people. In 2008 the Beilers founded The Family Center of Gap, a 55,000 square foot building created to meet the ever growing needs of the community. Through their time and resources, the Beilers continue to give back to the community they love so much.

The Family Center of Gap also houses numerous partner organizations. Some of those partners include the Salisbury Township Branch Library, Angela's Café, Cornerstone Pregnancy Care Services, Tree of Life Health Ministries, Hildebrandt Learning Centers, Gap Community Church, House on the Rock Family Ministries and Family Resource and Counseling Centers.

The Beilers have always believed in leading by example, doing business with integrity, and giving back to the community. While at Auntie Anne's, they demonstrated their business principles with the acronym, LIGHT: Lead by example; Invest in employees; Give freely; Honor God; and Treat all business contacts with integrity. These principles continue to LIGHT their way as they follow their passion to serve people, strengthen families, and build community.

Visit www.thebeilers.com for more.

Don't miss Thursday's show. The wonderful Judy Christie will be guest hosting again (thanks Judy!). Her guest this week is MaryBeth Whalen. They will be talking about how we compare ourselves to others and by doing so complicate our lives. Should be a fascinating and personal look at how we can make our lives simpler by being content. MaryBeth's fiction book, She Makes It Look Easy (David Cook) has just released and she'll be sharing some insights inspired by that book as well as chatting with Judy about cutting back financially and learning to live within our means.

For a chance to win a copy of She Makes It Look Easy and Judy Christie's latest book, Rally Round Green, just leave a comment on this post. Winner will be notified next week via email

More about She Makes It Look Easy

She Makes It Look Easy is a novel for every woman who has looked at another woman's life and thought I want what she has.

Ariel Baxter has moved into the neighborhood of her dreams-and the chaos of raising three children moved with her. Then she meets her neighbor, Justine Miller. Justine ushers Ariel into a world of clutter-free houses, fresh-baked bread, homemade crafts, neighborhood playdates, and organization techniques designed to make marriage better and parenting manageable. Soon Ariel realizes there is hope for peace, friendship, and clean kitchen counters. But when rumors start to circulate about Justine's real home life, Ariel must choose whether to believe the best about the friend she admires or consider the possibility that "perfection" isn't always what it seems to be.

More about MaryBeth:

I am an NC native and love living in the south! I have been married for nineteen years to Curt and have six children ranging in age from teen to TK. Things are never dull around here! Additionally, I write for Proverbs 31 Ministries, direct She Reads, and write novels. My first novel, The Mailbox, came out in June of 2010 and my second, She Makes It Look Easy, comes out in June of 2011.

For more about MaryBeth, visit www.marybethwhalen.com.

About the co-host - Judy Christie:

Judy Christie is an author and consultant who lives in Northwest Louisiana. She writes inspirational fiction and nonfiction. Her popular Green series chronicles the goings-on in the small Louisiana town of Green and is part of Abindgon Press’s new inspirational fiction line. The third book in the Green series, The Glory of Green, released Spring 2011. It follows Gone to Green, her first novel, published in 2009, and Goodness Gracious Green, which came out in 2010. Judy is also the author of the popular Hurry Less, Worry Lessnonfiction series, published by Abingdon Press: Hurry Less, Worry Less for Families; Hurry Less, Worry Less at Work; Hurry Less, Worry Less: 10 Strategies for Living the Life You Long For; Hurry Less, Worry Less at Christmastime. Judy was a journalist for many years and is a frequent speaker at retreats and workshops. She works with clients around the country on how to slow down and enjoy each day more and how to set and meet goals. Please visit Judy's website for more, www.judychristie.com.

Look for Judy's latest book, Rally Round Green.

"A tender tale filled with community, friendship, and love.  Judy Christie creates characters you'll want to know and places you'll want to be.  Don't miss your chance to rally round with the Gang from Green!"  -- Lisa Wingate, National Bestselling Author of Larkspur Cove and Dandelion Summer

I'm thrilled to be back on Amish Wisdom this week (A HUGE thank you to my guest host last week, the amazing Judy Christie! Judy did a wonderful job.) and to welcome Mindy Starns Clark and Leslie Gould back to the show. These two authors have teamed up once again on the second book in the Women of Lancaster County Series. The Amish Nanny is sure to delight fans of the series which tells the stories of young Plain women as they explore their roots, connect with family, and discover true love. Tune in and leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of their book.

“Clark and Gould succeed in developing a fascinating story while simultaneously instructing readers on the Amish lifestyle, building a strong case for Plain living within a thoroughly modern world setting.” —Publishers Weekly

More about The Amish Nanny: Amish-raised Ada Rupp knows it’s time to make a commitment to the faithand join the church, especially if she wants a future with the handsome Amish widower Will Gundy.  

But when she has the chance to travel to Switzerland as the caregiver of a young child, she leaps at the opportunity.

Anxious to learn more about her forebears, Ada enlists the help of a young Mennonite scholar named Daniel, but even as she develops feelings for him, she cannot get Will from her mind—or her heart. At a crossroads, Ada must decide what she is willing to give up from the past in order to embrace her future.

More about Mindy: Mindy Starns Clark is the author of many books, which include the popular Smart Chick Mysteries, Whispers of the Bayou, Shadows of Lancaster County, and Under the Cajun Moon. In addition, Mindy’s plays and musicals have been featured in schools and churches across the United States.

Visit Mindy's website at www.mindystarnsclark.com.

More about Leslie: Leslie Gould, a former magazine editor, is the author of numerous novels, including Beyond the Blue and Garden of Dreams. She received her master of fine arts degree from Portland State University and lives in Oregon with her husband, Peter, and their four children.

I'm away at the International Christian Retail Show in Atlanta this week and the wonderful Judy Christie (see below for more on Judy) has agreed to guest host Thursday's show. (THANK YOU Judy!) She'll be interviewing the fascinating Kevin Williams of The Amish Cook.

More About Kevin: Kevin Williams is creator and editor of the syndicated column, The Amish Cook, written by Lovina Eicher. The Amish Cook appears weekly in over 120 newspapers from coast to coast.  

In 1991, Williams cooked up an idea for an Amish recipe column and convinced Old Order Amish grandmother Elizabeth Coblentz to write it. Today, The Amish Cook tradition lives on as Elizabeth's daughter, Lovina Eicher, continues to pen the column each week.  Kevin is an author and speaker, sharing his experiences among the plain people.  Kevin has co-authored 10 cookbooks, including the strong selling "Amish Cook at Home" and "The Amish Cook's Baking Book" (Los Angeles Weekly selected this book the best baking book of 2010).

More About The Amish Cook: The Amish Cook is a popular newspaper column seen in over 130 daily and weekly newspapers throughout the USA. The column has been penned by Old Order Amish mom, Lovina Eicher, since 2002. But the column has an even longer history.

The Beginning

Elizabeth Coblentz was the original Amish Cook. She penned the newspaper column from 1991 through 2002, charming audiences with her simple wisdom, easy recipes and loving accounts of life on her Indiana farm. Elizabeth's column grew from one paper in 1991 to over 100 at the time of her death. Her daughter, Lovina, at the urging of her editor, took over the column. Elizabeth's love and words live on through Lovina's pen.

Lovina Eicher (pronounced Luh-Vine-Uh EYE-Ker) is one of eight children to Elizabeth and Ben Coblentz. Lovina takes over "The Amish Cook" column from her mother. Lovina is married to her husband, Joe. They've been married since 1994. As of October 2002, Lovina and Joe are the parents of eight children: Elizabeth, Susan, Verena, Benjamin, Loretta, Joseph, Lovina, and Kevin. Each week, Lovina - in much the same way her mother did for over 10 years - shares snippets of her life as a traditional Amish mother. Lovina's column is seen in over 100 newspapers.

Kevin Williams has been editor of The Amish Cook column since its inception 20 years ago. As an 18-year-old college sophomore journalism major, Kevin "discovered" Elizabeth, and an unlikely duo was created. Kevin edits and markets the column, while Lovina - as her mother did before - writes it weekly. Kevin is a nationally noted expert and author about Amish, Mennonite and other plain cultures.

Kevin will soon release his first work of fiction, entitled "The Amish Appeal".

For a chance to win a copy of The Amish Cook's Baking Book (co-written with Lovina Eicher), leave a comment here. Winner will be notified via email next week.

More about The Amish Cook's Baking Book: For the Amish, baking is an art form, a pleasure, and a way of

 life. The emotion they bring to baking is at the heart of The Amish Cook's Baking Book. Together, celebrated Amish cook Lovina Eicher and her editor, Kevin Williams, introduce a new generation to Amish baking.

This baking book is filled with 80 beautiful photographs and over 100 classic Amish recipes for sweets that have been handcrafted in Lovina Eicher's Amish kitchen. The Amish Cook's Baking Book includes the following chapters: Pies; Breads, Rolls, and Pastries; Cookies; Cakes; Bars 'n' Brownies; and Special-Occasion Baking. Home cooks get an extra treat with sidebars from Lovina's children as well as interesting insights into Amish life both inside and outside the kitchen.

"Baking is something my mother taught me, much like sewing and ironing, or gardening. Now, as a mother of eight children of my own, I am beginning to teach them how to bake. I have many cherished memories of baking throughout my life." --Lovina Eicher

About Judy:

Judy Christie is an author and consultant who lives in Northwest Louisiana. She writes inspirational fiction and nonfiction. Her popular Green series chronicles the goings-on in the small Louisiana town of Green and is part of Abindgon Press’s new inspirational fiction line. The third book in the Green series, The Glory of Green, released Spring 2011. It follows Gone to Green, her first novel, published in 2009, and Goodness Gracious Green, which came out in 2010. Judy is also the author of the popular Hurry Less, Worry Less nonfiction series, published by Abingdon Press: Hurry Less, Worry Less for Families; Hurry Less, Worry Less at Work; Hurry Less, Worry Less: 10 Strategies for Living the Life You Long For; Hurry Less, Worry Less at Christmastime. Judy was a journalist for many years and is a frequent speaker at retreats and workshops. She works with clients around the country on how to slow down and enjoy each day more and how to set and meet goals. Please visit Judy's website for more, www.judychristie.com.

This week on Amish Wisdom we are welcoming Kathleen Fuller back to the show. Kathleen is the best-selling author of the Hearts of Middlefield series for adults and the YA series Mysteries of Middlefield. Kathleen joined us last August (along with her co-authors, Barbara Cameron, Beth Wiseman and Kelly Long) to talk about her book An Amish Christmas. This time Kathleen is back to talk about her new book, Treasuring Emma. We'll also catch up with Kathleen and find out what she's been up to in the last year.

For a chance to win a copy of Treasuring Emma leave a comment on this post. Winner will be notified via email next week.

About Kathleen: I was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas, and now make my home in beautiful Geneva, Ohio. I’ve been married to James for 18 wonderful years (really, they have been wonderful!)  We have three terrific children, three dogs, and an overwhelmed cat. We have also raised cattle, pigs, and chickens at various times over the years. We would have gone into the goat business, but I had to draw the line somewhere. I started writing in 2000, and published my first short story a year later. Since then I have authored several short stories, novellas, novels, and have done a lot of freelance non-fiction work. I have also worked as an editor. I have a Masters degree in Special Education, emphasis on teaching the blind and visually impaired, and a Bachelors in Early Childhood/Elementary Education. I have taught all age groups ranging from age 4 to age 18. A few of my favorite things: my relationship with Christ, chocolate (of course!), autumn, a satisfying book, good friends, a sense of humor, people who don’t take themselves seriously, haunting melodies, NFL football, and did I mention chocolate? For more about Kathleen, visit her website at www.kathleenfuller.com.

About Treasuring Emma: Book One in the Middlefield Family Series

Emma always put the needs of others ahead of her own.

Now her heart is torn between two men. But will either truly treasure her?

Adam was Emma’s first love, but two years ago he left Middlefield, set on experiencing the freedom of living in the Yankee world. In his wake, he left Emma’s shattered heart. Now Adam is back and Emma’s heart is breaking for other reasons.

I'm thrilled to welcome Ira back to Amish Wisdom. 

Ira Wagler was born in a small Old Order Amish community. At 17, frustrated by the rules and restrictions of Amish life, Ira left. Over the course of the next 5 years, Ira would leave and return home numerous times, torn between the ingrained message that abandoning one's Amish heritage results in eternal damnation, and the freedom and possibilities offered by the "English" world. Upon becoming a Christian at age 26, Ira left the Amish for good. He is currently general manager of Graber Supply, LLC and Pole Building Co. in Lancaster County, PA.

Ira's book Growing Up Amish has just released and we'll be hearing all about it as well as finding out what Ira's been up to since his last Amish Wisdom appearance.

For more info about Ira or to read his blog, visit www.irawagler.com. 

Leave a comment on this post for a chance to win a copy of Ira's book. Winner will be notified next week via email.

About Growing Up Amish: 

One fateful starless night, 17-year-old Ira Wagler got up at 2 AM, left a scribbled note under his pillow, packed all of his earthly belongings into in a little black duffel bag, and walked away from his home in the Amish settlement of Bloomfield, Iowa. Now, in this heartwarming memoir, Ira paints a vivid portrait of Amish life—from his childhood days on the family farm, his Rumspringa rite of passage at age 16, to his ultimate decision to leave the Amish Church for good at age 26. Growing Up Amish is the true story of one man’s quest to discover who he is and where he belongs. Readers will laugh, cry, and be inspired by this charming yet poignant coming of age story set amidst the backdrop of one of the most enigmatic cultures in America today—the Old Order Amish.

Join me today for Amish Wisdom's encore presentation of last year's interview with Pastor Joel Kime and his parents. Joel has an amazing story to share with us about God's grace and forgiveness. I shared his story in my book, Amish Peace. When he was a teenager Joel accidentally crashed his car into an Amish buggy, killing an Amish woman (a bride on her honeymoon). Don't miss Amish Wisdom on Thursday to hear how Joel and his parents dealt with this tragedy and how they experienced the power of inexplicable forgiveness. God has used this incident over and over to show His love and grace.

In Joel's words: It is a story familiar to us; perhaps too familiar.  All of us can share probably numerous personal illustrations of broken relationships, bitterness, and grudges.  We wonder when we'll ever experience the full life that Jesus promised he came to give us.  Jesus skillfully used this parable to illustrate that full life should never include grudges or bitterness toward people for anything they do to us.  Symbolically, and certainly in reality, forgiveness frees us.  We see in the parable the joy of the first servant, who, if he had not received forgiveness from the king, would have remained locked in a prison, despairing for his lost wife and family and everything he had.  Sadly, like us, he returned to that prison as a result of his inability to receive forgiveness and show it to others.  I know from firsthand experience that this parable is true-to-life.  I am that first servant.

More about Joel and his family: Michelle and I are beginning our ninth year of ministry at Faith Church, but third as Pastor. I graduated from Lancaster Bible College with a Bachelor of Science in Bible and Missions. I have been on the “eternity” plan at Evangelical Theological Seminary, and it felt so good to graduate with an MDiv in May 2010. Prior to coming to Faith Church as Youth/Associate Pastor, we served as church-planting missionaries in Kingston, Jamaica, with the Island Missionary Society. We are the parents of four children. If you catch me in a free moment, I’ll probably be reading a book, listening to U2 or REM, playing sports or Legos with my kids, enjoying a movie with Michelle or rooting for the Phillies or Redskins! More likely you’ll find Michelle and I talking about God’s heart for the oppressed and how we Americans can live the Gospel. We are so excited about how Faith Church is becoming a church that beats after God’s heart, removing the chains of injustice, freeing the captives, preaching the good news, feeding the poor, discipling the believers, praying for the world.

Join me for Amish Wisdom this week. We'll be catching up with author Shelley Shepard Gray. Shelley has a new book coming out this month, The Protector. We'll get the scoop on that book, chat about the Amish wedding she just attended and hear how's she's coping now that her youngest child has graduated high school. (I so remember that feeling!). Don't miss Thursday's fun interview.

For a chance to win a copy of Shelley's latest book, leave a comment here. The winner will be notified next week via email.

More about Shelley: I grew up in Houston, Texas, went to Colorado for college, and after living in Arizona, Dallas, and Denver, we moved to southern Ohio about ten years ago.

I’ve always thought of myself as a very hard worker, but not ‘great’ at anything. I’ve obtained a bachelor’s and master’s degree…but I never was a gifted student. I took years of ballet and dance, but I never was anywhere near the star of any recital. I love to cook, but I’m certainly not close to being gourmet…and finally I love to write books, but I’ve certainly read far better authors.

Maybe you are a little bit like me. I’ve been married for almost twenty years and have raised two kids. I try to exercise but really should put on my tennis shoes a whole lot more. I’m not a great housekeeper, I hate to drive in the snow, and I don’t think I’ve ever won a Monopoly game. However, I am the best wife and mother I know how to be.

Isn’t it wonderful to know that in God’s eyes that is okay? That from His point of view, we are all exceptional? I treasure that knowledge and am always so thankful for my faith. His faith in me makes me stand a little straighter, smile a little bit more, and be so very grateful for every gift He’s given me.

I started writing about the Amish because their way of life appealed to me. I wanted to write stories about regular. like-able people in extraordinary situations-and who just happened to be Amish.

Getting the opportunity to write Inspirational novels is truly gratifying. With every book, I feel my faith grows stronger. And that makes me feel very special indeed.

More about The Protector: Everyone needs a safe place to call home

When her mother passes away, Ella's forced to auction off her family's farm. Her father died years ago, and she could never manage the fifty acres on her own. But after she moves to town, she can't deny the pain she feels watching the new owner, Loyal Weaver, repairing her family's old farmhouse—everything Ella had once dreamed of doing.

What Ella doesn't know is that Loyal secretly hopes she will occupy this house again . . . as his wife. He begins inviting her over, to ask her opinion on changes he wants to make. As their friendship blooms, Ella starts to wonder about Loyal's intentions, especially when her best friend, Dorothy, hints that Loyal is not who he seems. There's no way the golden boy of their close-knit Amish community could be interested in Ella, long the wallflower, hidden away caring for her ailing parents.

Should she trust the man she's always yearned for, or the friend who's always been by her side? When one of them threatens to disrupt the independence she's finally achieved, Ella is faced with a choice. She can protect her heart and keep things the way they've always been. Or she can come out of her shell, risk everything for the love she's always wanted, and finally have a place to call home.

Don't miss Thursday's show - we'll be chatting with author, Ann Gabhart. Will be talking about her latest book in her Shaker series, The Blessed. We'll also dig a little deeper and find out what motivates and inspires Ann.

About Ann: Living just thirty miles from a restored Shaker village in Kentucky, Ann H. Gabhart has walked the same paths that her characters might have walked in generations past. Her thorough research provides a convincing and colorful backdrop for her Shaker novels. Gabhart is the author of several bestselling novels, including The Outsider, The Believer, The Seeker, and Angel Sister.