Amish Midwives

From bestselling authors of Amish Fiction come three sweet stories about new life, hope, and romance. Bundles of Blessing by Amy Clipston Lost in grief after the death of her husband, Kristina Byler gave up remarrying and found comfort and purpose in becoming a midwife. She is surprised when Aidan Smoker—her ex-boyfriend and the man she was sure she’d one day marry—moves back to the community after living in Ohio for the past eight years. They’re both certain there’s too much pain in their shared past for them to have a future, but they keep finding themselves drawn together. As Kristina helps other women bring children into the world, she starts to wonder if a family of her own might be possible after all. A Midwife for Susie by Shelley Shepard Gray Haunted by secret guilt after a tragic accident, Joanna Zimmerman is sure she’s left midwifery behind her. She keeps to herself, certain this is for the best. Her childhood friend Dwight Eicher knows that Joanna hasn’t been herself lately, but every time he’s tried to talk to her about what’s wrong, she’s avoided his questions. When his sister, Susie, becomes pregnant, Joanna must decide if she can find the courage to return to the job she once felt so called to. Meanwhile, both Dwight and Joanna face romantic feelings that have the potential to change their friendship forever. Christmas Cradles by Kelly Long (Also in An Amish Christmas) When Anna Stolis takes over for her aunt, the local midwife, Christmas night heats up with multiple deliveries, three strangers' quilts, and unexpected help from the handsome and brooding Asa Lapp. Three sweet contemporary Amish romances Stand-alone novella collection Book length: 80,000 words Includes discussion questions for book clubs

"Category: Inspirational"--Page 4 of cover.

2 GREAT BOOKS IN 1 Follow these Amish men and women as they find love. The Amish Midwife by Patricia Davids Amish midwife Anne Stoltzfus is shocked at neighbor Joseph Lapp's request. Now responsible for his baby niece, Joseph is in over his head and needs a nanny fast. Soon they're bonding over baby Leah, and when Joseph makes an offer of marriage, Anne realizes that taking a chance could mean love—and family—are waiting just across the fence. Plain Pursuit by Alison Stone When her brother is killed in a small Amish town, Anna Quinn finds she's an unwelcome outsider. FBI agent Eli Miller left his Amish community long ago, but he's discovering a cold case from his past has mysterious connections to Anna's loss. Desperate to uncover the truth, Anna and Eli are faced with stony silence and secrets that someone wants to keep buried.

A dusty carved box containing two locks of hair and a century-old letter regarding property in Switzerland, and a burning desire to learn about her biological family lead nurse-midwife Lexie Jaeger from her home in Oregon to the heart of Pennsylvania Amish country. There she meets Marta Bayer, a mysterious lay-midwife who desperately needs help after an Amish client and her baby die. Lexie steps in to assume Marta’s patient load even as she continues the search for her birth family, and from her patients she learns the true meaning of the Pennsylvania Dutch word demut, which means “to let be” as she changes from a woman who wants to control everything to a woman who depends on God. A compelling story about a search for identity and the ability to trust that God securely holds our whole life—past, present, and future.

In this new edition of The Amish and the State Donald Kraybill brings together legal scholars and social scientists to explore the unique series of conflicts between a traditional religious minority and the modern state. In the process, the authors trace the preservation—and the erosion—of religious liberty in American life. Kraybill begins with an overview of the Amish in North America and describes the "negotiation model" used throughout the book to interpret a variety of legal conflicts. Subsequent chapters deal with specific aspects of religious freedom over which the Amish and the state have clashed. Focusing on the period from 1925 to 2001 in the United States, the authors examine conflicts over military service and conscription, Social Security and taxes, education, health care, land use and zoning, regulation of slow-moving vehicles, and other first amendment issues. New concluding chapters, by constitutional expert William Ball, who defended the Amish before the Supreme Court in 1972 in the landmark Wisconsin v. Yoder case, and law professor Garret Epps, assess the Amish contribution to preserving religious liberty in the United States.

Kim Osterholzer, a midwife who's caught over 500 babies since 1993, ushers readers behind the doors of Amish homes as she recounts her lively, entertaining, and life-changing adventures learning the heart and art and craft of midwifery. In A Midwife in Amish Country, Kim chronicles the escapades of her nine-year apprenticeship grappling with the nuance and idiosyncrasies of homebirth as she tagged along after the woman who helped her birth her own babies at home. With drama and insight, she recounts the beauty and painstaking effort of those early years spent catching babies next to crackling woodstoves, by oil lamp and lantern light, and in farmhouses powered by windmills for running water and sporting outhouses for the unmentionables. She found herself catching babies born into leaky wading pools and through howling snow storms: huge babies, tiny babies, breech babies, and twin babies. Some births kept her from home for days on end, others she missed by heart-pounding seconds, yet every birth enthralled her, whether halting hemorrhages, sharing breath with tiny lungs, or bouncing through wild rides in ambulances. Too many times to count, Kim stumbled home feeling overwhelmed and inadequate, yet as she strained against her misgivings, self-doubts, and seemingly insurmountable challenges, those intimate, sacred moments transformed her as time after time she rocked back upon her heels to soak in the spellbinding magic of hearty cries filling the air–the cries of brand-new lives with newly expanding lungs, of hardy men with overflowing hearts, of life-bearing women with the reward of their labors filling their arms–a harmony of cries that mingled with Kim's own and that, together, rose heavenward from rumpled beds speckled and splattered with the sweat, tears, and blood of those births. The very beds of those conceptions became sacred spaces awash with love and joy and gratitude. She persevered, and her experiences became profoundly empowering as she unearthed the foundation and cornerstone of true midwifery–how to use her heart as well as her hands to serve, and to serve in the simplest of womanly ways---stroking, smoothing, wiping, tidying, nourishing, comforting, hearing, encouraging, validating, and witnessing. Slowly, steadily, Kim learned to play her part as midwife to the Amish–her part in a symphony of inimitable women–a single, piping strain among the melodies of those skilled, focused, strong, and harmonious–women unflagging in their passion to welcome new lives earth-side effectively and gently. And at last, tried and tested, Kim took her rightful place among them.

The Amish have always struggled with the modern world. This title explores diversity and evolving identities within this distinctive American ethnic community, and its transformation and geographic expansion. It provides an authoritative and sensitive understanding of Amish society.

A midwife and single father have a second chance at the family they've always dreamed of in this heartwarming Amish romance from award-winning author Barbara Cameron. Widow Rebecca Zook adores her work delivering bopplin in her close-knit Amish community, but the young midwife secretly wonders if she'll ever find love again or have a family of her own. When she meets handsome newcomer Samuel Miller, her connection with the widowed single father is immediate-Rebecca even bonds with his sweet little girl. It feels like a perfect match, yet Samuel seems hesitant . . . In Paradise, Lancaster County, Samuel hoped to find the fresh start he and his dochder need . . . and perhaps a second chance for love. He never imagined he'd discover both so quickly and in one lovely, kind woman. But as Samuel falls for Rebecca, he worries that her job will only remind him of his past heartaches. Rebecca isn't willing to sacrifice her beloved calling, but she is ready to embrace the future . . . if only Samuel can open his heart once more.