Connecting Hearts

Connecting Hearts

God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.

Philippians 2:13

I’ve been told that every great novel starts with a bit of fact. My first Amish novel, Beside Still Waters, started with more than that. A few years ago I was asked if I would ever consider writing an Amish novel. The truth is, I hadn’t. But the seed of an idea was planted, and my mind started to feed and water it. That’s how novels usually start.

The very day I was asked, I remembered that the parents of my daughter’s friend Saretta had been raised Amish. They had moved from an Amish community in Indiana to Montana, and that is how we met. I also remembered my daughter telling me that Ora Jay and Irene had lost two daughters in a buggy accident. I remember thinking that I’d love to hear their story. Maybe someday, if I saw them again, I would ask them about it.

The next day, my daughter Leslie and I went out for some mom-and-daughter time. We went to a bookstore to browse and get coffee, and as we looked over the bargain rack, guess who walked in? Saretta. We hadn’t seen her for at least six months, and there she was.

“Saretta,” I told her, “I think I’m supposed to talk to your parents and hear their story.”

“Sure,” she said. “I think they’d love to talk to you!”

Not long after that, Ora Jay and Irene sat in my living room. They told me about being Amish, about losing their daughters, about their move from Indiana to Montana. They also talked about their faith. They shared what it meant to be Amish. They shared how their faith had grown after moving to Montana. They shared many ways God had changed their lives and their hearts. I was amazed. As I listened, their story added more water—Living Water—and sunshine to that seed of a novel planted in my heart.

God has a way of connecting our hearts to those of others. He does it so that we’ll grow and change. He does it so that others will too. When we’re seeking Him, God takes pleasure in working in and through us in ways we may never expect. It pleases Him, and we are blessed too.

Dear heavenly Father, I’m amazed at how Your story for me connects with Your story for others. Thank You.