The Forgiving Jar

I enjoyed revisiting this family. I was surprised how the young ladies got along even though the real grand-daughter had trouble forgiving the impostor who was now again living in her grandparents home. I liked how the jar of verses and quotes helped her in learning how to forgive. Family, faith and finally forgiving made this a wonderful story of Amish family life.
“I received a complimentary copy of this book from Barbour Publishing and was under no obligation to post a review.” My review is voluntary.

The Forgiving Jar is the second book in New York Best Selling author, Wanda Brunstetter’s The Prayer Jar series. Her first book in the series is titled, The Hope Jar and the story in The Forgiving Jar picks where The Hope Jar ended.
Sara Murray has moved to Lancaster County Pennsylvania to live with her grandparents, Willis and Mary Ruth Lapp. When Sara arrives she is surprised to find Michelle Taylor, the young woman who passed herself off as their granddaughter ( in the book The Hope Jar).
Sara and Michelle are not getting along living in the same house. They both are in a competition for the Lapps attention. Can the Lapp’s cope with the jealousy between the two girls. Sara does not trust Michelle’s motives, especially when she finds out that she wants to become a member of the Amish community.
While in the cellar and barn, Sara comes across a jar that is filled with slips of paper that contain scripture, prayers and words of encouragement. Sara starts to read the slips and still the writer of them remains a mystery.
Love is blooming for Michelle and Ezekiel King but in order for their relationship to take the next step to marriage, Michelle must join the Amish church. Can Michelle go through with this commitment.
Love may also be blooming for Sara and Brad Fuller, the young man who is studying to be a minister and works on the Lapps’ farm during the summer.
Sara must first deal with her past, like the quote on one of the slips says: “Leave the past where it belongs – which is in the past. Look forward to the future that has been planned for you.” Will it take a tragedy to make Sara realize this.
I really, really, enjoyed reading The Forgiving Jar and highly recommend that you read this wonderful book. I would suggest reading The Hope Jar first, so you can become familiar with how the story began.
If you are looking to read a story that is about overcoming jealousy, forgiveness, romance, new beginnings, and some encouragement. I would suggest that you read this book/
I was provided with a complimentary copy of The Forgiving Jar by Barbour Publishing and the great author who wrote it , Wanda Brunstetter. I hope you will enjoy it, as much as I did

How would you react if someone stole your identity, created a relationship with your grandparents (that you have never met!) pretending to by you, and the ran for the hills with money they ‘borrowed’ without asking from said grandparents? How would you react when you return back to visit and find this same person living with your grandparents. . .again? Could you forgive them? Would you even want to? I’ll be honest. I’d probably want to throat punch them every day of the week, not just Thursday. I think the idea of forgiveness would make me see red and make we want to have them see stars, forget the actual act of forgiveness. I think if each one of us were honest that would be our reaction. I think it would even be hard to give ‘lip service’ to the idea of forgiveness. The difference between myself and Sara is that with time, she can see a way forward. The difference between me and Willis and Mary Ruth is night and day. I pray to have a heart of forgiveness that they have cultivated. I’m not a hothead by any stretch, I’m more a mad crier, but I don’t know that I wouldn’t react more viscerally to something like this. Hopefully I never have to find out!

While I can, and do, completely commiserate with Sara she is the one that really and truly got on my nerves this time. She is the one that started trending to the unlikable. I think in her quest to vindicate herself she is vilifying Michelle, beyond what is truly necessary. Brad, who professes to simply want to get to know the real Sara, is quick to latch onto Sara’s judgement and also way too quick to decide they might have a future together. It felt a little too much too fast tossed with a side of might be insta-love. Ezekiel on the other hand is just head over heals all is well with the world. I feel like he was too caught up in Michelle before either one of them made any decisions that greatly impact their actual future. I am trying to tread lightly here so as not to spoiler anything. So basically, Sara needs to stop talking to her self so much and dumping on Brad so much because that might make me like her a bit better. Brad needs to slow his romance roll a smidge while Michelle and Ezekiel are floating in a bubble of love that no one can rain on their parade. The things that annoyed me in a nutshell. However, it truly was not annoying as I did absolutely love this book. Like in ‘The Hope Jar‘ they were mere hiccups.

I love that the jars came back into play, and actually played into a bonding opportunity for Sara and Michelle. I wish they had been featured more prominently though there was more meat to the jars this time around. There are still so many unanswered questions too. Like who wrote them!?! I would love to see the girls add to these jars or even start their own. I mean, these jars have helped them both to right their wrongs and find their way to faith. These jars have helped Michelle find her place in the world, a family she has never had, and her ever after. They have started that journey for Sara as well. Do you ever come across something in a book and wish you had thought of it. An ‘I could have done that’ moment. And there’s a part of you want wants to do it and a part of you that feels like you are too old to do it and another part altogether that wishes you had done it ‘back when’. I feel that. I also wish someone before me had done this for me to find as I struggled through the years that are stereotypically agnsty. I know there has to be another book. There are too many loose ends for my personal satisfaction. Like who wrote them! I will wait ever so impatiently for that book to find it’s way into the world.

I was provided a complimentary copy of this book by Barbour Publishing, NetGalley. I was not compensated for this review and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. I was not required to write a positive review.

The Forgiving Jar is the second book in The Prayer Jars series. Sara Murray returns to stay with her newly found grandparents in Lancaster County. Sara is an interesting young lady who struggles with resentment towards her stepfather. Sara is fascinated with short notes she finds in an old fruit jar hidden in the basement. Secondary character,Michelle Taylor, who originally impersonated Sara, decides to join the Amish religion. You will enjoy how these Englishers adapt to life in the Amish community. I received a complimentary copy of this book from Barbour Publishing and was under no obligation to post a review.

Book Two in the Prayer Jars series, I would suggest reading Book One, The Hope Jar, or you’ll miss out on key parts of Sara and Michelle’s stories. A story of family and faith, the characters definitely have grown since the first book and I really liked them.

Focusing on forgiveness, this book is a great reminder that we all have done things we shouldn’t, and we all need forgiveness, both from God and people. As Sara experienced, when we withhold forgiveness from someone who is truly repentant we are the ones who are miserable.

A really good story of second chances, I enjoyed it and recommend it if you enjoy Amish fiction. As always with a Brunstetter book, there are some yummy recipes at the end.

I received a complimentary copy of this book but was not required to leave a review.

The Forgiving Jar is the second book to The Prayer Jar Series by Mrs. Wanda E. Brunstetter. I love this series. It welcomes you to the Amish way of forgiving as well as their way of life. This story is the continuation of Michelle and Sara. Michelle who took the place of Sara the Lapp’s granddaughter, after mistakenly being thought she was their granddaughter. And Sara the real granddaughter. But in this story Michelle decides to forgive her past to move on and find peace and love. While Sara confronts her own hurt feelings toward her mom for not telling her about her background as an Amish. But as they both deal with their own feelings and work to forgive Sara meets Brad and Michelle gets baptized and married. And after a car accident that takes Sara’s stepfather’s life, she is found herself forgiving her past and the one person that at one time took her place, with the help of two jars filled with Bible verses and prayers. If you love reading Amish stories or would like to start I highly recommend this series. Loved this story as well and it’s a sweet addition to your library. Mrs. Wanda Brunstetter knows where exactly to put the Bible verses in the story and chooses the right ones.

I received a copy of the book for my personal honest opinion of the story.

How easy do you forgive a person who has been dishonest? In this heartwarming story, notes found in a jar play an important part in life lessons and forgiveness. While reading this book, I reflected on forgiveness in my own life. I received a complimentary copy of this book from Barbour Publishing and was under no obligation to post a review.

Second in The Prayer Jars series, Wanda Brunstetter welcomes the reader back to Strasburg, Pennsylvania and the home and farm of Mary Ruth and Willis Lapp. I appreciate this powerful novel much more than The Hope Jar. The Lapps are folks I think many of us would like to have as grandparents!

After the death of Rhoda, her mother, Sara Murray found a letter in Mom’s Bible that changed her life. The letter explained how her mother had been raised Amish. When Rhoda learned she was pregnant, she left her loving parents, never returning. Sara does not know who her father is, only her stepfather, Dean. Sara has since visited and spent time with the Lapps after a young woman, Michelle, deceived them, letting them think she was their granddaughter. She left when she knew the real Sara was arriving, and her Amish friend Ezekiel brought her back to apologize to them. They forgave her and invited her to stay with them again until she gets back on her feet. She is determined to get a job and earn money to pay back the cash she borrowed from their stash when she left.

Sara returns to stay at her grandparents’ home as her job has ended, and she hopes to find one near their home so she can get to know them. She finds Michelle in the barn, stunned and angry that she is there again. Certain Michelle is going to try to get something from them, Sara wants her far away from her grandparents. She refuses to forgive the deception Michelle acted out. When the Lapps arrive at home, they find their beloved granddaughter Sara talking about leaving, and unable to understand how they could forgive Michelle.

Sara is a bitter young woman who feels people have lied to her all their lives. She is unforgiving, even of her late mother, for keeping her away from her grandparents and her birth father. She won’t even try to get along with Michelle. When in the basement of the house one day, she finds a jar full of scripture verses and quotes that someone has saved. Curious, she reads a couple, and returns more than once to see what she will find in it. Sara doesn’t believe in God, however, certain that if God exists, He would care about her, listen to her prayers, even answer them. It takes more than one crisis and a deception of her own, before she is willing to listen hear what Michelle might have to share with her and begin to understand forgiveness.

Sara is the primary focus of The Forgiving Jar, even though we do see the continuous changes in Michelle’s life. Both young women are described well, as are the Lapps. Sara was easy to have empathy for when realizing that I have struggled with some of the same emotions. Mary Ruth and Willis, being faithful people of prayer, continue to bring the situation before the Lord. It will be like meeting a new person if the writer of scriptures and quotes in the prayer jars is revealed!

Forgiving others is a focus for several people in this novel. I have had to look at my own “history” of forgiving others, and how often I think the slate is clean until remembering a person or event. This delightful yet serious novel is a lesson in many ways. There are twists in the plot, some sweet and some not as sweet, that truly make the story what it is. I highly recommend this to fans of the author and of well-written Amish Christian fiction.

From a grateful heart: I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher and NetGalley, and this is my honest review.

The Forgiving Jar by much-loved author Wanda Brunstetter is the second book in her new series, The Prayer Jars. Readers will follow the characters from the first book in the series, The Hope Jar. The author has given enough of the back story of the characters that one could read The Forgiving Jar as a stand-alone without getting lost and having a lot of questions. I loved the characters –strong, resilient, and realistic with depth to their emotions, strengths, and foibles that readers will connect well with. Mary Ruth and Willis Lapp, trusting and compassionate. Michelle is filled with self doubt and feelings of unworthiness. Sara is flat out suspicious, angry and pretty much unforgiving towards Michelle who had ‘wormed her way’ into Sara’s grandparents’ hearts. Will the canning jars with notes of wisdom like “Broken people are made whole by God’s love.” be the key to a change of heart for each of the young women? Can they recognize that what’s done is done and can’t be changed or would each of their pasts continue to haunt them? The Forgiving Jar is a beautifully captivating story of forgiveness, family, finding faith, and lots of romance too. You won’t want to miss this sweet Amish romance. I can’t wait for the next book in the series, The Healing Jar.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Barbour Publishing and was under no obligation to post a review.

Many of y’all know me, and know that one of my favorite genres to read is Amish fiction. Among that Amish fiction, there is this really amazingly talented author who never fails to hook me, keep me focused on the story, and make me feel as if I was a character within the pages as I follow the ups, downs, ins and outs of her beloved characters’ lives. That author is Wanda Brunstetter. She is phenomenal. So, I looked forward to opening up the next book in her Prayer Jars series. Let me tell you this: She did not disappoint me. In fact, I was blown away with this story.

Ms. Brunstetter has woven a tender story with this book. It’s full of secrets and twists, but also full of hope, longing, forgiving and grace. Sara and Brad’s characters are tenderly chiseled together to create a few sparks of romance blooming within the book, and Michelle’s character…..well, let me say that at first, I wanted to hate her, for assuming a life that wasn’t her own. But, through the words of Ms. Brunstetter, through the forgiving grace of God, I was able to see why she did it, and much like the story line suggests, and forgive her for it, the same as if she truly did it to me.

The way Ms. Brunstetter makes me feel at the end of the book, like she wrote solely for me (which, of course, I know she did not but that’s how good her writing is!), has once again left me ready for her next book in the series so I can feel this way again. The Forgiving Jar is a tender story, one that makes the reader sit and reflect about forgiving and letting go of the pain and the past, and focus on the here and now. Anything less than a 5 star praise for this book, would not be doing it justice. Well done, Ms. Brunstetter. Well done.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Shiloh Run Press and was under no obligation to post a review, positive or negative.*Wanda E. Brunstetter