Rebecca always dreamed of being a mother, and now she was—of two teenage girls. Somehow, it just wasn't the scenario she had planned for…

Rebecca Kauffman longs to fulfill her quiet Old Order Amish life by giving her husband Daniel a child, but for years she has been unable to conceive. When her older sister, Grace, who left the Amish community for the modern world, dies in an automobile accident, Rebecca is left custody of her two teenage nieces, Jessica and Lindsay. Now Rebecca wonders how she is going to take on this daunting task of being an Amish woman raising two English teenagers.

Rebecca struggles to give the girls the guidance they need as she tries to fulfill her duties as an Amish wife. The strain between Rebecca and Daniel mounts as the girls search for their identity in this new home. Caught between her husband's disapproval and her nieces' unhappiness, Rebecca begins to question her place in the Amish community, her marriage, and her faith in God. Will she be able to reconcile differences in her home—or will the clash of cultures tear her world apart?

The Making of A Gift of Grace

When I first started researching the Amish for my Kauffman Amish Bakery series in 2007, I was fascinated by the differences between the Amish way of life, and our English (non-Amish) culture. A “worlds collide” concept came to me, and A Gift of Grace, the first book in the series, was born.