The Amish Midwife

309 Pages·2016·1.61 MB·English

by  Clark Mindy Starns

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973,
1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide; and from
the King James Version of the Bible.
Cover by Garborg Design Works, Savage, Minnesota
Cover photos © Chris Garborg; Bigstock
The authors are represented by MacGregor Literary.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the authors’ imaginations
or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to events or locales, is entirely
coincidental.
THE AMISH MIDWIFE
Copyright © 2011 by Mindy Starns Clark and Leslie Gould Published by Harvest House Publishers
Eugene, Oregon 97402
www.harvesthousepublishers.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Clark, Mindy Starns.
The Amish midwife / Mindy Starns Clark and Leslie Gould.
p. cm.—(The women of Lancaster County; bk. 1) ISBN 978-0-7369-3798-6 (pbk.)
1. Midwives—Fiction. 2. Adopted children—Family relationships—Fiction. 3. Family secrets—Fiction.
4. Amish—Fiction. 5. Lancaster County (Pa.)—Fiction. I. Gould, Leslie, 1962-II. Title.
PS3603.L366A83 2011
813'.6—dc22
2010032983
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any
other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.
Printed in the United States of America
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 / LB-NI / 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Mindy’s brother, Joseph Starns,
and Leslie’s daughter, Lily Thao Gould.
When God wrote your stories, we are so thankful
that in His grace He included us.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
PSALM 139:16
CONTENTS
A
CKNOWLEDGMENTS
P
ROLOGUE
O
NE
T
WO
T
HREE
F
OUR
F
IVE
S
IX
S
EVEN
E
IGHT
N
INE
T
EN
E
LEVEN
T
WELVE
T
HIRTEEN
F
OURTEEN
F
IFTEEN
S
IXTEEN
S
EVENTEEN
E
IGHTEEN
N
INETEEN
T
WENTY
T -O
WENTY NE
T -T
WENTY WO
T -T
WENTY HREE
T -F
WENTY OUR
T -F
WENTY IVE
T -S
WENTY IX
T -S
WENTY EVEN
T -E
WENTY IGHT
T -N
WENTY INE
T
HIRTY
T -O
HIRTY NE
T -T
HIRTY WO
D Q
ISCUSSION UESTIONS
A A
BOUT THE UTHORS
O B H H P
THER OOKS BY ARVEST OUSE UBLISHERS
A R
MISH EADER.COM
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Mindy thanks
John, Emily, and Lauren Clark, for input, inspiration, and never-ending
teamwork. I am so blessed!
Vanessa Thompson and Al Cummings, for working so hard behind the scenes
even when I’m on a deadline.
The members of my FVCN Small Group: the Akamines, Halls, Peases, and
Smiths, for prayers, support, and patience.
Leslie thanks
Peter Gould for his endless encouragement and research assistance, Hana and
Thao for joining in on the journey, and Kaleb and Taylor for their help along the
way.
Melanie Dobson, Kim Felton, Kelly Chang, Emily King, Dori Clark, and Ellen
Poole for their ideas and input early in the story; Mary Hake for sharing
information about Conservative Mennonites; Libby Salter for her ongoing
support as both a reader and a friend; and Laurie Snyder for sharing a new take
on Psalm 139:16 with me.
Patty Deacon, RN, and Holly Frakes, RN, both who specialize in obstetrics, and
Peter Gould, RN, for his input on both cardiac and general medical issues. (Any
inaccuracies are mine.) And all of the babies and children, both by birth and
adoption, I have witnessed being welcomed into their families. I will always
treasure the joy of those moments.
Mindy and Leslie thank
Chip MacGregor for bringing us together on this project, Kim Moore for making
it all work, and the wonderful crew at Harvest House Publishers for their
dedication to this book.
Dave Siegrist for his expertise; Jamie and Steve Shane of the Apple Bin Inn in
Willow Street, Pennsylvania, for the perfect landing spot and appreciated
insights; the Mennonite Information Center in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, for their
invaluable resources; and Erik Wesner, author of http://amishamerica.com, for
answering questions and providing clarification.