In celebration of The Heart of the Amish being released, I asked what’s harder to forgive: something big or something small? Thank you to everyone who submitted their thoughts on forgiveness! Here is the winning story from Kay:
Forgiveness isn’t so much about the other person or what he or she did, but ourselves.
When our daughter, our only child, was killed in a car accident, all we really wanted was for the people involved to take responsibility for their actions. When it became apparent that this wasn’t going to happen, feelings of anger and hate started to swell up inside me, which isn’t me at all.
I had to decide if this is how I wanted to live my life. Was this how I wanted folks to remember our daughter or did I want to forego the 17 years we had with her to be out-shadowed by this one incident – was carrying around these ill feelings really worth it? The answer – after a lot of soul searching and prayer – was no.
The ONLY way for me to go on with peace in my soul, love in my heart and good memories in my head, was to turn it loose. And the only way to do that was to forgive. Not to forgive the action or the outcome, but to forgive the person – to know that it wasn’t me that should judge, to know that he had to live with his actions, and to know that someday I would see my daughter again.
It wasn’t easy. In fact, at times almost impossible. But with loving support of family and loved ones, continual prayer and time, I was able to forgive.
How is forgiveness woven into your faith?
Submit your thoughts on forgiveness (300 words of less) to info {at} suzannewoodsfisher {dot} com. I’ll pick a story to share on my blog next week and the winner will receive a copy of The Heart of the Amish!
Don’t forget to enter my Heart of the Amish giveaway! Eight prizes are up for grabs.
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Suzanne your books are amazing and make me want to know the people you writes about…forever. Your stories are so real and I have never loved reading another author nearly as much!
I just finished “Anna’s Crossing” and felt that I knew the characters and lived the story with them. I have returned so many books that I thought would be good reading and educational about the Amish Life. I live on a small farm near the St. Jacobs area in Kitchener Ontario Canada and converse with the Mennonites often. There is a special feeling of ‘Real Life’ when I head home from a visit. Keep those stories coming, Suzanne. I will always go to bed with one in my hands and read til I fall asleep. Sometimes I can’t wait til morning to finish a chapter.
Lynne