Welcome to the Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt!

Be sure to collect the clues through all 27 stops, in order, so you can enter to win one of our top 3 grand prizes!

• • The hunt BEGINS on 11/7 at noon MST with Stop #1 at LisaTawnBergren.com.
  • Hunt through our loop using Chrome or Firefox as your browser (not Explorer).
  • There is NO RUSH to complete the hunt—you have all weekend (until Sunday, 11/10 at midnight MST)! So take your time, reading the unique posts along the way; our hope is that you discover new authors/new books and learn new things about them.
  • Submit your entry for the grand prizes by collecting the CLUE on each author’s scavenger hunt post and submitting your answer in the Rafflecopter form at Stop #27. Many authors are offering additional prizes along the way!

An Apple a Day…

An apple a day keeps the doctor away.

Even better: A proverb a day keeps wisdom near.

Proverbs are said to be short sentences drawn from long experiences. Over the centuries, they’ve played a surprisingly prominent role in the speech of the Pennsylvania Germans. They served as teaching tools for illiterate populations that relied on oral tradition.

The Pennsylvania Deitsch dialect (which is called “Penn Dutch” though it has no relationship to Holland) originated in the Palatinate area of Germany over four hundred years ago and was brought to Pennsylvania in the 1700s with a wave of immigrants: Lutherans, Mennonites, Moravians, Amish, German Brethren, and German Reformed. Penn Dutch was, and remains today, an oral language.

While pithy bromides and maxims aren’t meant to be universal truths, they do contain general observations about life. Best of all, they allow us a peek into the Penn Dutch culture, faith, folklore, history, language, mentality, psychology, worldview, and values.

Proverbs, even those of King Solomon’s, come from many sources. It’s not unusual to find the same proverb in many variants. The saying “Bend the tree while it is young; when it is old, it is too late” is a variation on the Bible’s “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverb 22:6, kjv).

Some proverbs might seem a little outdated to our modern ears but take another look. Most are just as relevant in 2019 as they were in 1719:

“Zu viel Eise, gaar ken Schwees” translates directly to “Too much iron, but no fusion.”

Give it a 21st-century twist: “Too many irons in the fire.”

The ultimate goal of proverbs is to help others learn by experience and live wisely, pleasing to God. Committed to memory, these words can go deep into your soul.

And isn’t that the point?

Each day, you can receive a Penn Dutch proverb, similar to these, delivered right to your inbox. It’s easy to subscribe, and easy to unsubscribe, too, though I have a hunch you’ll enjoy them. Click here to subscribe: Sign me up! 

HERE’S THE STOP #8 SKINNY:

You can order my newest book at Amazon or CBD or BN.com or at your local bookstore! 

Clue to Write Down: “For anyone

Link to Stop #9, the Next Stop on the Loop: author Susan Sleeman

HOLD ON! It gets even better! I’m raffling off 5 copies of Stitches in Time! All you have to do is sign up to receive email newsletters and announcements from me, and there are additional points to be gained if you follow me on Goodreads, Bookbub, Facebook. or Instagram. Thanks for entering! (USA only…I’m sorry!)