Jenny's Choice (Apple Creek Dreams #3)
Page 26
Then Jenny turned the quilt back over and pointed to something in the very center of the rose. The writer had to take his glasses off to see the tiny key-shaped piece of red silk stitched almost invisibly there.
“My mama didn’t know it when she sewed this on, but this is Rachel’s story. You’ll find that among the manuscripts.”
Jenny spread the quilt out on the floor. It was beautiful—the Rose of Sharon quilt.
“And the whole quilt…it is my mama Jerusha’s life, it is who she was, so creative, so beautiful, so warm, and so caring. I was blessed to have her. She was ein Geschenk vom Gott…a gift from God.”
The writer glanced at Jenny. Again he had the feeling that she was looking somewhere far away.
“And what will you do now, Jenny? Will you write any more books?”
“No. That part of my life is over now. I will stay here in Paradise and grow old and pass and go to be with Jonathan and my mama and papa and my sister, Jenna, and all who have gone before. And my legacy will go on in these books, in this quilt, in my grandchildren, and in this farm. God has restored me to the garden, and I am content to live here among the trees of Eden.”
Later, after they said their goodbyes, the writer drove away. He was going west, and the sun was setting. He stopped partway down the driveway and looked back. Jenny stood on the porch, watching. Her kappe was slightly askew, and the rebellious curls, now gray, fought to escape. And then the evening breeze picked up, and the golden light of the setting sun touched the leaves of the trees, and they began to dance and then flamed into fire. And he knew that all was well in Paradise.
Discussion Guide
Dealing with the Death of a Loved One
In chapter 1, Jenny is dealing with the death of her husband, Jonathan. Lives are often transformed by such loss, but these changes do not necessarily need to be for the worse in the long run. Jenny is grieving. You may have had the same experience.
1. What are the initial effects of Jonathan’s death on Jenny? If you have suffered the death of a loved one, did similar things happen to you?
2. Grief is about more than your feelings—it also shows up in the way you think. How did grief change Jenny’s thinking? How did it change the way she felt about things around her? Did you relate to her? Why?
3. Jenny had to decide how to talk with Rachel about death and dying. How did she handle it? How would you handle it?
4. Does knowing Jesus Christ change your perspective about death and dying? Have you ever shared that perspective with unsaved loved ones and friends? If so, how did you do it?
Scripture reference: Hebrews 2:14-15
The Importance of Family in Troubled Times
When Jenny returns to Apple Creek, she is an emotional and physical wreck. A loving family is critically important in times of trial or suffering.
1. If you have endured a devastating loss, did you seek solace among your family, or did you isolate yourself and try to make it on your own?
2. Jenny discovered she had to develop an identity that did not include Jonathan. How important was that to her healing? Why?
3. Jenny involved herself in everyday, mundane things until she found her center again. Was that important? Is that something you would try to do if you were grieving? Why?
4. Jenny discovered the gift of writing, and it became the focus of her life. Have you ever experienced a new beginning after a time of loss?
Scripture reference: Joel 2:25; Isaiah 58:12
Choices
Toward the end of the book, Jenny must make a decision. Her choice will be dictated by her head or by her heart.
1. Have you ever had to choose between something you felt was the leading of the Lord and something that was practical and safe?
2. How did you choose?
3. Did it affect the direction of your life profoundly or minimally?
4. Was the outcome positive or negative?
Scripture reference: Acts 21:13-14
ABOUT PATRICK E. CRAIG
Patrick E. Craig is a lifelong writer and musician who left a successful songwriting and performance career to follow Christ in 1984. He spent the next 26 years as a worship leader, seminar speaker, and pastor in churches and at retreats, seminars, and conferences all across the western United States. After ministering for a number of years in music and worship to a circuit of small churches, he is now concentrating on writing and publishing both fiction and nonfiction books. Patrick and his wife, Judy, make their home in Northern California and are the parents of two adult children and have five grandchildren.
Praise for the first two books in Patrick Craig’s Apple Creek Dreams Series
A Quilt for Jenna and The Road Home
“Patrick Craig writes with an enthusiasm and a passion that is a joy to read. He deals with romance, faith, love, loss, tragedy, and restoration with equal amounts of elegance, grace, clarity, and power. Everyone should pick up his debut novel in Amish fiction, turn off the phone and computer and TV, and settle in for a good night’s read. Craig’s book is a blessing.”
Murray Pura
author of The Wings of Morning and Ashton Park
“A good storyteller takes a fine story and places it in a setting peppered with enough accurate details to satisfy a native son. Then he peoples it with characters so real we keep thinking we see them walking down the street. A great storyteller takes all that and binds it together with, say, a carefully constructed Rose of Sharon quilt and the wallop of a storm of the century that actually happened. A Quilt for Jenna proves Patrick Craig to be a great storyteller.”
Kay Marshall Strom
author of the Grace in Africa and Blessings in India trilogies
“A touching tale of three people who have lost their way. In A Quilt for Jenna, Patrick Craig deftly contrasts the peaceful Amish lifestyle with the harsh World War II Guadalcanal battlefield, tied together with a lovely message of sacrifice, humility, and forgiveness. I was entranced.”
Sarah Sundin
award-winning author of With Every Letter
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