Beloved Readers,
Welcome to fall! Another school year has rolled around, and for many that means the workload has increased in some ways and become easier in others. Fitting in the homework hour around extracurricular events and a sit-down meal is an interesting (and blessed!) feat, isn’t it?
My husband and I are all-too-quickly working our way out of those childrearing years. Our youngest son has entered another year of high school, and just as it was with his older brothers, this time is passing quickly. But we’re very grateful that the beautiful cycle of having babies has begun with the next generation. Our first grandchild will be here in mid-December!
As the circle of life continues, marching onward through the uplifting times and the trying times alike, it’s important to hold on to what’s really important, and one of those things is giving of ourselves to others. Mother Teresa once said, “If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.”
Barbara Bush once said, “Some people give time, some money, some their skills and connections, some literally give their life’s blood. But everyone has something to give.”
Through prayer and songs, we can unload our burdens on the One who gives true rest (Matthew 11:28). And then, like cups that overflow, we spill what He’s filled us with—grace, joy, strength, and more—onto others, oftentimes through small acts of kindness.
“No one is useless in this world for those who lighten the load of another” (an Amish proverb).
Ich schick mei Liewe zu eich all (I send my love to all of you),
Cindy
Book News
The Christmas Singing hits store shelves today, October 4!
Mattie Eash’s life was everything she could hope for. Until three years ago at Christmastime, when her childhood sweetheart, Gideon, betrayed her.
Heartbroken, Mattie retreated to her brother’s home in Ohio and poured her life into the dream of running her own cake shop. There she found someone safe to give her heart to—unlike Gideon.
A situation forces Mattie back home…and right into the path of Gideon Beiler.
Will learning the truth behind his rejection restore her Christmas joy—or open the door to even deeper heartbreak?
This holiday season, Mattie’s best gift might just be the harmony of unexpected truth and reconciliation.
Spend Christmas with the Amish in this story of love, romance, heartache, and restoration in The Christmas Singing.
Excerpt from Chapter One of The Christmas Singing
Cold darkness and the sugary aroma from the cake shop below surrounded Mattie as she slid a solid-colored dress over her head and tied her white apron in place. The Old Order Amish here in Ohio didn’t wear the black aprons—a difference she enjoyed—and only those involved with baking wore the white apron from the waist down. After brushing her hair, she fastened it up properly and donned her prayer Kapp. Who needed a light or a mirror to get ready for the day? She’d been wearing similar clothes her whole life, and the Ohio Amish pinned up their hair in much the same way as she had back in Pennsylvania.
Now, cake decorating—that required good lighting and great attention to detail. And her favorite season for making specialty cakes—Christmas—was right around the corner.
Ready to take on a new day, she hurried down the rough-hewn steps that led into her shop, lit a kerosene lantern, and pulled on her coat while going out the back door. Before getting to the woodpile, she paused a moment, enjoying Berlin’s lights. Illuminated white bulbs hung like beacons against the dark night. Although she missed her Mamm and Daed, this was home now, not Pennsylvania.
She scanned the silhouettes and shadows of nearby homes and shops. The golden full moon had a silky glow around it, a ring almost as clear and defined as the moon itself. What would it look like if she designed a cake with a halo?
Eager to make notes, she loaded wood into the crook of her arm and went inside. She dumped the logs in the bin and then stirred the embers in the potbelly stove and added kindling. Before her first customer arrived, she’d have the place toasty warm.
The shop was old and narrow, but Mattie loved it. When the previous owner, a man who sold saddles and such, decided to sell his place a few weeks before she moved here, her brother James had helped her buy and remodel it. They’d torn out all the old counters, workbenches, and shelving.
The ceiling, floors, and walls were made of unfinished, exposed wood. She’d put in a huge display case along the left wall, and a couple of small tables sat to the right. Stainless-steel sinks and a gas-powered commercial oven and refrigerator filled the back wall. Her work station, where she pieced together and decorated her cakes, sat a few feet away. Even in cooler weather, keeping the place warm without electricity wasn’t much of an issue with the heat radiating from the oven and the wood stove. Hot summer weather was a little more problematic, but the many windows helped.
She began searching for her spiral notebook, which she often referred to as her brain. The pages of her combination sketch pad, scrapbook, and journal were covered with drawings, doodles, and pictures from magazines and newspapers. It’d been a gift for her twelfth birthday, and although the gift giver had broken her heart seven years later, she still appreciated the book. Her day planner was in the back of it, with the types of cakes she needed to make, due dates, and all her clients’ names and phone numbers. Without it she wouldn’t know how to run her store.
She knelt and looked under her work station. It was there, maybe two feet away. Reaching as far as she could, she touched the edge of the thick binder and grabbed it. Now where did she leave her pencil?
Is it behind your ear, Mattie Lane? Gideon’s voice washed over her.
She shuddered, detesting hearing him inside her head, especially with the added use of the pet name Mattie Lane. Lane was not a part of her given name or her surname. When they first broke up, his voice had played constantly in her mind, but after three years these whispers from the past were rare.
They’d been good friends most of their lives. He was three years older than she, and it had stung when he began dating at sixteen. But worse than seeing him with other Amish girls was seeing him with Englischer girls. At eighteen, he’d stopped seeing others and told her that he’d decided to wait for her.
Their first date had taken place on her birthday, Christmas Eve, and she’d attended her first singing with Gideon. The magic of Christmas seemed to surround both of them as their voices rose in celebration of Christ’s birth and the blessing of being together. Nothing in her life had ever compared to the emotion of that night, not even owning her own shop. For the next three years, they enjoyed the glorious Christmas singings together.
And then she caught him.
To read the full excerpt of the first chapter, click here.
| Available from: |
Cindy's Itinerary
Saturday, October 22, 2011 (book signing)
11:00 AM–12:00
Morrow LifeWay Christian Store
1904 Mount Zion Road
Morrow, GA 30260
Phone: (770) 473-2220
~
Saturday, October 22, 2011 (author chat)
2:00–3:00 PM
Jackson-Butts County Library
436 East College Street
Jackson, GA 30233
Phone: (770) 775-7524
If anything is added to this list,
you can find the updates on my website's Events page.
Amish Connection
It’s the time of year for apples! My Amish friends have been purchasing apples by the bushel. They’re canning and baking with them. Here’s a favorite recipe `an Amish friend shared.
Harvest Apple cake
Mix well 6 cups of diced apples with 1/2 cup of sugar and let sit for 1 hour. In a separate bowl:
| 1-1/2 cups of sugar | 2 eggs, beaten |
| 1 cup oil | 1 teaspoon vanilla |
Beat the sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. In a separate bowl:
| 3 cups flour | 1 teaspoon nutmeg |
| 2 teaspoons baking soda | 1 teaspoon salt |
| 1 teaspoon cinnamon | 1 cup chopped walnuts |
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9-inch Bundt pan. Combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt; stir into the batter just until blended. Fold in the apples and walnuts using a spoon. Bake for 1 hour.
Recipes from the Esh Family Cookbook
Recipes from the Esh Family Cookbook
A Recipe for Happiness
Submitted by a 14-year-old Amish girl
Take a heaping cup of patience
And a big heart full of love.
Add two handfuls of generosity
to all of the above.
Then blend in a dash of laughter
And some understanding too.
Sprinkle generously with kindness
And memories old and new.
Add a lot of faith and mix well
To make it rich and sweet.
And enjoy a heaping portion
With everyone you meet!
Contest
We have two winners from our last newsletter contest. Mary of Westfield, New York, and Linda of Red Lion, Pennsylvania have each won an autograph copy of The Christmas Singing. Congratulations, ladies!
For this newsletter contest, two people will have a chance to win an autographed copy of The Scent of Cherry Blossoms. The contest will run until a few days before the next newsletter is sent out.
[The Scent of Cherry Blossoms, in stores this February!]
Here’s how to enter. (Please follow these steps carefully to prevent your entry from being disqualified.)
- Send a blank e-mail. (I won’t open them, so don’t send a message.)
- Place the words “Newsletter Contest” in the subject line.
- Send to cindy@cindywoodsmall.com.
- Only one entry per person/e-mail address, please.
This contest is open to residents of the continental United States and Canada.
I have two other giveways currently taking place as well. Each one involves a chance to win one of two Amish-made wall hangings. One giveway is on my Plain Talk Blog on the home page of my website: http://www.cindywoodsmall.com. Once you’re on the site, scroll down until you see the words Plain Talk Blog, then click on either of the links provided: “read more” or “Win a copy of The Christmas Singing and an Amish-made wall hanging!” Scroll to “Leave a Reply,” then post a comment.
The other giveway is taking place on Facebook—
The Facebook giveway begins today, Tuesday, October 4, and ends tomorrow, October 5, at midnight.
The detail on this wall hanging is so exquisite it’s hard to give it away, but I’m excited for someone to win it!
PS—In my last newsletter, I mentioned that changes were coming to my site. And several have been made that should make navigating the site more pleasant for you. But many of the aesthetic changes won’t be out for another month or two. I hit a bump in the road that slowed things down. The good news is, I have connected with an excellent service provider and we’re working together to accomplish our goals. Thank you for your patience!
If you have suggestions concerning my website, please send them to cindy@cindywoodsmall.com with a subject line of Suggestion Box. I’d love to know what you think and how you feel about my site. The whole purpose of a website is to create a space where you, my dear reader friends, have your author-to-reader needs met. Again, thank you!.
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