About the Book

Book: Stitches in Time

Author: Suzanne Woods Fisher

Genre: Contemporary Amish fiction

Release Date: October 1, 2019

Detachment had worked well as a life strategy for horse trainer Sam Schrock. Until he met Mollie Graber . . .

New to Stoney Ridge, schoolteacher Mollie has come to town for a fresh start. Aware of how fleeting and fragile life is, she wants to live it boldly and bravely. When Luke Schrock, new to his role as deacon, asks the church to take in foster girls from a group home, she’s the first to raise her hand. The power of love, she believes, can pick up the dropped stitches in a child’s heart and knit them back together.

Mollie envisions sleepovers and pillow fights. What the 11-year-old twins bring to her home is anything but. Visits from the sheriff at midnight. Phone calls from the school truancy officer. And then the most humiliating moment of all: the girls accuse Mollie of drug addiction.

There’s only one thing that breaks through the girls’ hard shell–an interest in horses. Reluctantly and skeptically, Sam Schrock gets drawn into Mollie’s chaotic life. What he didn’t expect was for love to knit together the dropped stitches in his own heart . . . just in time.

Suzanne Woods Fisher invites you back to the little Amish church of Stoney Ridge for a touching story of the power of love.

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About the Author

Carol-award winner Suzanne Woods Fisher writes untold stories about inspiring people. With over one million copies of her books sold worldwide, she is the bestselling author of fiction and non-fiction, ranging from Amish Peace: Simple Wisdom for a Complicated World to the historical novel Anna’s Crossing.

More from Suzanne

Have you ever felt the tug to become a foster parent?

On any given day, there are nearly 438,000 children in foster care in the United States. Most states have a critical need for more foster parents, and the number of children placed in foster care increases yearly.

There are plenty of assumptions about having foster children, but most are incorrect. The media has a tendency to focus on the negative, but from all the research I conducted to write this book, for every bad news story, there were two good ones. Good stories just don’t make the news.

Below are some of the most common assumptions about foster care, with corrected information that is applicable across the United States (but keep in mind that each state has their own requirements).

Myth: Kids in foster care are bad or troubled.

Truth: Children in foster care are good kids taken out of a troubled situation. They need a caring foster parent who is patient and understanding. When given the opportunity, most of these children begin to thrive.

Myth: To be a foster parent, you need to be married and own a home and be a college graduate.

Truth: You don’t need to be married or to own a home or even be a college graduate. That means if you’re single or renting, you can be a foster parent.

Myth: I can’t afford to be a foster parent.

Truth: There are monthly reimbursement rates for children in foster care based on the level of care you provide. Medical and dental care is paid through state Medicaid programs.

Myth: Most kids in foster care are teenagers.

Truth: The average age of a child entering foster care is seven years old.

Myth: Most kids are in foster care because their parents have abused drugs.

Truth: Now, this one is not a myth. It’s true. There are fifteen categories that can be responsible for a child’s removal from a home. Drug abuse from a parent has had the largest percentage increase.

Myth: Fostering could require a commitment until the child turns eighteen. Truth: Generally, children remain in state care for less than two years. Only six percent spend five or more years in foster care.

Myth: It’s too hard to give a child up to his biological family.

Truth: Most children are in foster care for a short time, returning to their biological families. Reuniting a child to his family is the ideal situation. Foster families provide a safe haven for a child. Healthy grieving is to be expected, but it’s for the right reasons. It’s healthy.

Myth: You can’t adopt foster children.

Truth: In 2016, more than 65,000 children—whose mothers and fathers parental rights were legally terminated—waiting to be adopted. Also in 2016, more than 20,000 children “aged out” of foster care without permanent families. Research has shown that those who leave care without being linked to a “forever family” have a higher likelihood than the general youth population to experience homelessness, unemployment, and incarceration as adults.

Is there room in your heart and family for a child in need? There are many ways to get involved, some that do not even require foster care. One recommendation: volunteer with The National CASA Association (Court Appointed Special Advocates) for Children. You can find out more information here: www.casaforchildren.org.

Or consider small ways to connect to children in need—after school tutoring at your public library. Volunteering at a community center. Buy Christmas gifts for a family in need through an Adopt-a-Family program with a local church. Support a family who does provide foster care with respites—babysitting or meals. There’s many ways to get involved to care for children in need. And every little bit makes a difference.

My Review

Even without having read book one in this series, I had no trouble following along and jumping right into Suzanne Woods Fisher’s “Stitches in Time”. What initially caught my eye was the cover, and that, along with the rather embarrassing fact that I had not yet read any of this author’s books, led me to request it for review when the opportunity arose. Reading “Mending Fences” first would provide background for the characters in this sequel, as well as the Amish community of Stoney Ridge, but it is not absolutely necessary, and the author has kindly included a character legend at the beginning for reference.

Unique among the Amish fiction which I have read to date, “Stitches in Time” manages to encompass key issues that are pertinent to most readers’ lives but that I would never have thought of in an Amish context. These include marriage struggles, addiction, broken families, church leadership, and chiefly foster families. Fostering children is not something I ever considered the Amish doing, and the different experiences that they undergo in this story run the gamut from good to downright challenging, but their approach of love and discernment speaks to the same care the Savior has for us. This book is mostly split between the story of Luke and Izzy Schrock and that of Sam Schrock and Mollie Graber. And yet despite dealing with such tough topics and multiple characters, “Stitches in Time” never feels bogged down or dismal. Suzanne Woods Fisher writes in such a way that all of the pieces fit together and both the characters and the reader learn some insightful truths.

Psalm 23 underpins this story and beautifully illustrates what shepherding looks like from a Biblical perspective and how it applies to human relationships. For instance, “Sheep weren’t meant to rely on other sheep, only on their shepherd.” Several of the characters in this book have unrealistic expectations that interfere with their relationships and with how they see the world. One of the best pieces of advice comes from the Amish bishop, who tells Luke: “Try to do the opposite of what comes naturally. Listen more than talk. Ask questions more than spout answers.” Another bishop encourages starting each day by asking, “Lord, what do you want me to do today?” What a profound prayer! If we have the courage to pray such and then follow where God leads us, true change can occur as we draw strength not from our own feeble reserves but from the Lord’s omnipotence.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through CelebrateLit and was not required to post a favorable review. All opinions are my own.