"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house." Matthew 5:14-15

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it." Matthew 13:45-46

Saturday, April 9, 2016

The Story Behind the Amish Firefighter

 
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you. Isaiah 43:2

Some time ago, I was surfing Pinterest, and I saw a picture of an Amish man with a team of firefighters, holding a fire hose and rushing toward a brush fire. That picture intrigued me, and I saved it to my Pinterest story board, The Amish Firefighter. (You can see it, here: https://www.pinterest.com/vernetlh/the-amish-firefighter/)

Then I ran across some articles written about Amish firefighters and paramedics. The Amish believe in giving back to their community and that is one way they are allowed to do so. Some of the girls even take EMT classes to work on ambulances or as first responders. Some Amish communities even have signs up, showing Amish men on scooters racing for the fire station or the scene of the fire. 

Wow, impressive!

 Sammy Miller, my hero in The Amish Firefighter, survived a fire in The Postcard. He had already started school to become an EMT and paramedic before the book starts due to an accident in Pennsylvania which killed his best friend, Ezra Weiss. The fire he was rescued from in The Postcard cemented his desire to help others and he became a volunteer fire fighter in Jamesport.

Abigail Stutzman has relocated to Jamesport due to her mother’s marriage to an Amish widower. She thought she was sent there to force her to break up with her boyfriend, who happened to be her step-father’s son. But the story behind her story was so much more volatile than she ever imagined.

When the book opens, Abigail is following a new friend into a barn to meet her boyfriend and some of his friends. But before she makes it back to where the men are, everyone runs out and Abigail is stunned to discover that someone there had set the barn on fire! She tries to think how to best proceed, let the animals out, then call for help? Call for help and start fighting the fire? Fight the fire and then proceed from there? But when running out of the barn she trips and falls over something and there she is discovered by Sammy who is returning from a late class and hears the family dog barking a warning.

An unknown girl. Alone. In a burning barn. What is a man to think?

Sammy went with the obvious. She was a firestarter. An arsonist. And he was going to have her pay.
The flames between Abigail and Sammy were just as dangerous as the fires that were set around the Amish community. And in Abigail’s words, “The spark between them is undeniable, but she could never trust her life—or her heart—to a man who thinks her guilty.”

I absolutely loved The Amish Firefighter, and writing this story. It was fun, exciting, and not at all predictable. Not only that, but both Abigail and Sammy go through the refiner’s fire, growing spiritually and in ways they never expected.

Pick up your copy of The Amish Firefighter. Available for preorder at your favorite retailer. 

 Thank you, Laura for sharing about your new book. For more information about Laura, be sure to check this out.

Award winning author, Laura Hilton, her husband, Steve, and their five children make their home in Arkansas. She is a pastor’s wife, a stay-at-home mom and home-schools. Laura is also a breast cancer survivor.

Her publishing credits include three books in the Amish of Seymour series from Whitaker House: Patchwork Dreams, A Harvest of Hearts (winner of the 2012 Clash of the Titles Award in two categories), and Promised to Another. The Amish of Webster County series, Healing Love (finalist for the 2013 Christian Retail Awards). Surrendered Love and Awakened Love followed by her first Christmas novel, A White Christmas in Webster County, as well as the Amish of Jamesport series, The Snow Globe, The Postcard,  and The Birdhouse. Other credits include Swept Away from Abingdon Press’ Quilts of Love series. Laura is contracted for another three book Amish series set in the Jamesport area, with the first book, The Amish Firefighter releasing in May 2016, followed by two more Amish books and a Christmas story releasing in Fall 2016, Spring 2017 and Fall 2017 respectively.

She has self-published a Christmas novella, Christmas Mittens.

Laura is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and a professional book reviewer and blogs for Putting on the New and Seriously Write.

twitter: @Laura_V_Hilton

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