Mending Fences #ourgoodlifebooklist

Mending Fences by Suzanne Woods Fisher is the latest book in The Deacon's Family series.  My guilty pleasure is reading Amish fiction. I have been reading Suzanne's books for a few years now and have reviewed Phoebe's Light, The Return, and The Devoted. I have enjoyed each one of them!

I received this book from Revell Books in exchange for my honest opinion.

From the publisher:  

Every saint has a past. Every sinner has a future.

Luke Schrock is a new and improved man after a stint in rehab, though everyone in Stoney Ridge only remembers the old Luke. They might have forgiven him, but nobody trusts him.

Amos and Fern Lapp allow Luke to live at Windmill Farm under two conditions. First, Luke must make a sincere apology to each person he's hurt--a four-page, single-spaced list. Second, he must ask each victim of mischief to describe the damage he caused. 

Simple, Luke thinks. Offering apologies is easy. But discovering the lasting effects his careless actions have caused . . . that isn't so simple. It's gut-wrenching. 

I truly fell in love with Izzy and Luke's stories. The world is a harsh place for many, and their stories reminded me that everyone has a backstory that isn't often seen. I love walking Luke's path with him as he made amends to all the people he had pranked in the past. I loved watching Luke seeing what his not-so-innocent pranks meant to the receiving end.  He learned so much about empathy for others through the pages of the book.  So did I.

I loved the interwoven lifestyle of the Amish stories.  A chunk of the book was dedicated to Alice, whom Luke had put a snake in her buggy.  Luke didn't know that Alice had a real fear of snakes and this prank caused Alice some deep anxiety about leaving her home. Through much diligence and time, Luke and his friend were able to help Alice overcome her fear of snakes and attend church for the first time in a couple of years.

The book explores repentance, forgiveness, acceptance, grace, and being worthy of love. We hear about AA's 12 step recovery, grace, alcoholism, and drug abuse.  We see broken families and child neglect.  We watch God's Will blossom through his people.

The characters are well defined and extremely likable. Each has their own flaws and works to understand and accept them.  We see their day-to-day hearts and their personal struggles to let go of their plans and surrender to God's. 

I enjoyed this book so much that I finished it within 4 days, reading only at night!  The plot is interesting and diverse, lots of stories to keep you interested, and enough twists to make you sit up straight! Even though some of the characters had done awful things to people, Suzanne makes these people human, not to be disliked. I appreciated that and give kudos to her for writing so well.

I highly recommend this book, and many others by Suzanne Woods Fisher.  If you are interested in purchasing this book, the link below will take you to Amazon and you can buy it there. If you use this link, I will get a small commission. Thanks in advance!