NKJV Minister's Bible by Thomas Nelson

NKJV Minister's Bible by Thomas Nelson.  This Bible would be a nice working Bible.  It is not the Bible I would use for sermon preparation nor any other talks/ lessons .  This very nice appearing Bible would make a nice presentation as a pastor uses it for speeches, sermons, or other talks or ceremonies.  There is a nice feel to the leather like cover.  There are some resources for preparing for ceremonies such as weddings, funerals, baptisms, and dedications.  There are also some sample plans for the pastor to use when preparing for the above ceremonies including song suggestions.  There are some helps for preparing special sermons.  For sermon preparation I would hope that the pastor would have a different more in-depth Bible. This Bible would be a nice gift for any beginning pastor.  I would think an experienced pastor would already have all of this helps in their library but they would possibly enjoy having such a nice feeling Bible to use during the actual speaking. 

Now as for the actual Bible I loved it.  I love this version and plan to use it often in daily reading.  It is not a study Bible and should not be purchased as such.  There is 3 nice ribbons for marking your place as you do reading either in church or daily home reading.  The binding looks like it will last a long time and it is a nice small size but yet the lettering is easy to read.  The paper is thin and that is what makes it a small easy to carry Bible and after a few readings they don't stick together too bad.  I would buy it for a gift for a part time pastor, new pastor, or lay speaker.  I enjoy reading this version.  It flows nicely but is written in easy to read English.
I received this Bible for this review from BookLook.

The Road Home by Beverly Lewis

The Road Home by Beverly Lewis is the newest novel by this fantastic writer.  In this Amish love story Lena is the oldest of 10 children and as long as she has been alive she has never left Centreville, Michigan.  She loves it here, she loves living with her family and helping care for the littler children and she loves her fiancé, Hans, whom she plans to marry soon.  She is especially close with her littlest sibling, Chris, whom she has just gotten off to school since her father had taken her mother to the school where she taught as a substitute that day.  When 2 police showed up at the door she knew that something bad had happened but that didn't prepare her for the devastation of learning that both her parents had died in an accident.  That was bad enough but to find out that the farm had to be sold and the children were to be split up into different families was the worse part.  They couldn't even grieve together for long as the children were divided as best the bishop could do since he thought that Lena was too young at 18 to care for all of them and be responsible for the farm.  The bishop could find homes for the rest of the children and some of them even were able to live together but there was nowhere for Lena except for her aunt and uncle, Mimi and Harley, but they lived in Pennsylvania so far away and unable to see her family clear until Christmas.  How would Chris get along without her?  Luckily he was able to live with his grandparents who lived right next to them but he was so distraught to be loosing first his parents and know the sister who had practically raised him.  But there was nothing to do about it and soon Lena was sent to Pennsylvania.  Mimi and Harley were wonderfully nice to her and she was able to earn some money sewing in Mimi little shop.  How would she be able to get through all of this and not see any of her brothers and sisters until Christmas?

I loved this book as I love all of Mrs. Lewis' books.  She doesn't make her characters too good to be believed but she also doesn't downgrade the Amish in favor of another religion.  She faithfully tells the story of the great faith of Lena even though so much bad has happened to her.  Lena never gives up and eventually even when an opportunity to come home happens she choses to stay and help Mimi because she is in a crisis of her own.  Lena always relies on trust in God to get her through the day and back to home.
I received this book from BethanyHouse for this review.

An Amish Heirloom by Clipston, Wiseman, Fuller and Irvin

An Amish Heirloom by Clipston, Wiseman, Fuller and Irvin is four stories in one novel.  Imagine getting 4 for the price of just 1 novel.  The first one, A Legacy of Love is from the Amish Homestead series by Amy Clipston.  This story continues the story of the King and Dienner families and their association with volunteer fire department.  Leon finds himself yearning for a family of his own.  He also finds himself looking more often at his old flame, Susie Bontrager, who just happens to be planning her upcoming wedding to Josh.  They had broken up but remained "just friends".  Susie seems to possibly be more than just interested in Leon as more than just a carpenter who can repair the old rocking chairs for her new home.  She is beginning to wonder if it is too close to her wedding to call it off because she is afraid that she is not truly in love with her fiancé.

In the next story, The Cedar Chest by Beth Wiseman, Emma Fisher and her daughter Catherine are working in the basement looking for items for the church auction.  Emma knows that Catherine is bothered by something but she just won't talk about it.  While looking for items to sell Emma becomes sidetracked by on old cedar chest belonging to her great-great grandmother with a key broken off in the lock.  Catherine and Emma set to finally breaking the lock to see inside and find what old treasures have lain hidden in the chest for so many years.  They find the usual family heirlooms and a stack of old letters tied with a blue ribbon along with a wedding band (Amish don't wear rings). Finally after much discussion Catherine convinces Emma to allow the reading of the letters and so they are mentally transported back to her great great grandparent's courtship time.  As they read these letters Catherine is reminded what she needs to do for her own happiness and her husband's happiness in their marriage.

The next story, The Treasured Book by Kathleen Fuller continues the story of Shane Broyles.  She had lived a short time among the Amish as he refurbished a farm house and then sold it.  He found himself drawn to the lifestyle of the Amish and now was considering joining them as a member.  Shane finds himself also drawn to Lucy who is Amish but he knows that she is not the main reason he wants to become Amish.  He had become friends with Lucy when her dad and she  had helped him with the farm restoration and future sale.  Lucy is drawn to him but she knows that she has found him to be off limits since he is not Amish but also engaged to Jordan.  This story continues their story and the reader learns how they decide their situation. 

The last story is The Midwife's Dream by Kelly Irvin.  Iris Beachy is the community lay midwife.  She has delivered many of the children in her area but none so interesting as the teenaged unmarried and pregnant couple that she stumbles on while returning home from a delivery.  The couple are accepted into the Beachy home for their delivery on their way to Texas.  The next day Iris is shocked to find that the parents have left in the middle of the night leaving their baby with a little bag of baby clothes and formula.  Iris doesn't know what to do.  Her father went to meet with Freeman the community's bishop to decide what to do about the baby.  But Iris knew what she wanted to do--she wanted to keep her and raise her as her own.  Would they allow it?  Would the parents come back for the baby as they promised in the letter the mother left with the baby?

Read these little stories for simple well written Amish stories.  I am sure that you will love them as I do. This book was provided by BookLook for this review.