{"id":5563,"date":"2010-09-08T02:02:49","date_gmt":"2010-09-08T07:02:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/\/?p=5563"},"modified":"2010-09-07T21:34:46","modified_gmt":"2010-09-08T02:34:46","slug":"a-hope-for-hannah-by-jerry-eicher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/?p=5563","title":{"rendered":"A Hope for Hannah by Jerry Eicher"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>\"\"<\/a>It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour<\/a><\/strong><\/span> <\/strong> book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old…or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n


<\/p>\n

Today’s Wild Card author is: <\/strong><\/div>\n


<\/p>\n

Jerry Eicher<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

and the book:<\/span> <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

A Hope for Hannah<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Harvest House Publishers (June 1, 2010)<\/p>\n

***Special thanks to Karri James of Harvest House Publishers for sending me a review copy.***<\/p>\n

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:<\/span> <\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n As a boy, Jerry Eicher spent eight years in Honduras where his grandfather helped found an Amish community outreach. As an adult, Jerry taught for two terms in parochial Amish and Mennonite schools in Ohio and Illinois. He has been involved in church renewal for 14 years and has preached in churches and conducted weekend meetings of in-depth Bible teaching. Jerry lives with his wife, Tina, and their four children in Virginia.<\/p>\n

Visit the author’s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n<\/embed><\/object>\n<\/p>\n

Product Details:<\/p>\n

List Price: $11.99
\n Paperback: 272 pages
\n Publisher: Harvest House Publishers (June 1, 2010)
\n Language: English
\n ISBN-10: 0736930442
\n ISBN-13: 978-0736930444<\/p>\n

AND NOW…THE FIRST CHAPTER:<\/span> <\/strong>
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Hannah Byler awoke with a start. She sat up in bed and listened. The wind outside the small cabin stirred in the pine trees. The moon, already high in the sky when she and Jake went to bed, shone brightly through the log cabin window.<\/p>\n

Beside her she heard Jake\u2019s deep, even breathing. She had grown accustomed to the comforting sound in the few short months since they\u2019d been married. She laid back down on the pillow. Perhaps it was just her imagination. There was no sound\u2014nothing to indicate something might be wrong.<\/p>\n

But her heart beat faster\u2014and fearfully. Something was wrong\u2014but what?<\/p>\n

\u201cJake,\u201d she whispered, her hand gently shaking his shoulder. \u201cJake, vagh uff.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is it?\u201d he asked groggily. He spoke louder than she wished he would at the moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d she whispered again and hoped he would get the hint. \u201cI think there\u2019s something outside.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jake listened and sat up in bed with his arms braced on the mattress.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t hear anything,\u201d he said, a little quieter this time. \u201cThere are all kinds of noises in the mountains at night.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think something is outside,\u201d she insisted.<\/p>\n

They both were silent a moment, waiting and listening. Hannah half expected Jake to lower his head back to his pillow, tell her the fears were a bad dream, and go back to sleep. Instead he pushed back the covers and set his feet on the floor.<\/p>\n

Just then a loud snuff outside the log wall stopped him. They both froze. Hannah didn\u2019t recognize the sound. No animal she knew ever made such a noise.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt sounds like a pig,\u201d Jake said, his voice low. \u201cWhat are pigs doing out here at nighttime?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a pig,\u201d Hannah whispered back. No stray pig, even in the nighttime, could create such tension. \u201cIt\u2019s something else.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut what?\u201d Jake asked, the sound coming again, seemingly right against the log wall.<\/p>\n

Hannah lay rigid, filled with an overpowering sense that something large and fierce stood outside.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to go see what\u2019s out there.\u201d Jake had made up his mind, and Hannah made no objection.<\/p>\n

Jake felt under the bed for his flashlight and then moved toward the door. Somehow Hannah found the courage to follow but stayed close to Jake.<\/p>\n

Their steps made the wooden floor creak, the only sound to be heard.<\/p>\n

Jake slowly pulled open the wooden front door, his flashlight piercing the darkness as he moved it slowly left and then right.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing here,\u201d he said quietly and then stepped outside.<\/p>\n

Hannah looked around Jake toward the edge of the porch. \u201cIt was around the corner,\u201d she whispered.<\/p>\n

Jake walked slowly toward the corner of the house, but Hannah stayed on the porch near the front door.<\/p>\n

Jake stopped momentarily and then stepped around the corner of the house. Hannah could only see a low glow from the flashlight. In the distance by the light of the moon, the misty line of the Cabinet Mountains accented the utter ruggedness of this country. During the day, the sight still thrilled her, but now that same view loomed dangerously.<\/p>\n

For the first time since they\u2019d moved into the cabin after their wedding, Hannah wondered whether this place was a little too much for the two of them. Was a remote cabin, a mile off the main road and up this dirt path into the foothills of the Cabinet Mountains, really what she wanted?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a bear!\u201d Jake\u2019s voice came from around the corner. \u201cCome take a look\u2014quick\u2014before it\u2019s gone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGone,\u201d she whispered.<\/p>\n

\u201cCome see!\u201d Jake\u2019s urgent voice came again.<\/p>\n

Again Hannah found courage from somewhere. She stepped around the corner of the house and let her gaze follow the beam of Jake\u2019s flashlight, which now pierced the edge of the clearing around their cabin. At the end of the beam, a furry long-haired bear\u2014as large as the one she\u2019d seen once at the zoo\u2014stood looking back at them, its head raised and sniffing the air.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a grizzly,\u201d Jake said, excitement in his voice. \u201cSee its hump?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen why are we out here?\u201d Hannah asked, nearly overcome with the urge to run and desperate for solid walls between her and this huge creature.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe men at the lumberyard said there aren\u2019t many around,\u201d Jake said in her ear. \u201cMostly black bears down in this area.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShouldn\u2019t we be inside?\u201d she asked the question another way, pulling on his arm. \u201cIt\u2019s not going away.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will leave sooner if we stay in sight rather than go inside,\u201d he told her, his light playing on the creature whose head was still in the air and turned in their direction.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I\u2019m going inside,\u201d she said, her courage now wholly depleted.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going,\u201d Jake announced, and so she paused. They watched, fascinated, as the great creature bobbed its head and disappeared into the woods.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s gone,\u201d Jake said, a bit disappointed. \u201cThat was a grizzly.\u201d<\/p>\n

They turned back to the cabin, Hannah following Jake\u2019s lead. As they stepped onto the porch, Hannah considered their front door. Suddenly the solid slat door\u2014so bulky before\u2014now looked thin, an unlikely protection against the hulk that had just disappeared into the dark tree line.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat if it comes back?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt won\u2019t. It\u2019s just passing through,\u201d he assured her. \u201cThey don\u2019t like humans. They\u2019re wanderers anyway. It\u2019ll probably not come this way again\u2014ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not reassured, Hannah shut the door tightly behind them and pushed the latch firmly into place.<\/p>\n

\u201cBears hang around,\u201d she told him. \u201cThis one could come back.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen we\u2019ll deal with it. Maybe the game warden can help. I doubt it will return, though.\u201d Jake was fast losing interest and ready for his bed again.<\/p>\n

Jake snuggled under the covers, pulling them tight up to his chin. \u201cThese are cold nights,\u201d he commented. \u201cWinter\u2019s just around the corner. I have to get some sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hannah agreed and pulled her own covers up tight. Jake\u2019s job on the logging crew involved hard manual labor that required a good night\u2019s sleep. She didn\u2019t begrudge him his desire for sleep.<\/p>\n

\u201cI sure hope it doesn\u2019t come back,\u201d she said finally.<\/p>\n

\u201cI doubt it will,\u201d he muttered, but Hannah could tell he was already nearly asleep.<\/p>\n

To the sounds of Jake\u2019s breathing, she lay awake and unable to stop her thoughts. Home, where she had grown up in Indiana, now seemed far away, a hazy blur against the fast pace of the past few months.<\/p>\n

What is Mom doing? she wondered. No doubt she\u2019s comfortably asleep in their white two-story home, secure another night just like the night before and ready to face another day just like the day before.<\/p>\n

Thoughts of her earlier summers in Montana\u2014tending to Aunt Betty\u2019s riding stable\u2014pushed into her mind. This country had seemed so glorious then, and she had dreamed of her return.<\/p>\n

The wedding had come first. She smiled in the darkness while she remembered the special day. After a flurry of letters and Jake\u2019s visits as often as he could, Betty got her wish for a wedding in Montana. Hannah\u2019s mother realized it was for the best. Because the plans for Hannah\u2019s wedding to Sam Knepp ended in a disaster back home in Indiana, Roy and Kathy decided they couldn\u2019t have the wedding there and possibly face that embarrassment again. Even Jake was in favor of the wedding in Montana\u2014here where they had met.<\/p>\n

Their hearts were in Montana now\u2014close to the land and the small Amish community in the shadow of the Cabinet Mountains. But lately Hannah asked herself if living out here in the middle of nowhere was really for their best. Then she was thankful that at least she was with Jake\u2014better here with Jake than anywhere else without him.<\/p>\n

But as she lay in the darkness unable to sleep, she found herself wishing for close neighbors. She wished she could get up now and walk to the front door, knowing that someone else lived within calling distance\u2014or at least within running distance if it came to that. Now, with a bear around, a night wanderer with mischief on his mind, there was nowhere to go. She shuddered.<\/p>\n

She wondered if she could outrun a bear and reach a neighbor\u2019s house. She pictured herself lifting her skirt for greater speed. How fast can bears run? Can they see well at night to scout out their prey?<\/p>\n

Hannah shivered in the darkness and listened to Jake\u2019s even breathing, wondering how he could sleep after what they had just seen. A grizzly! Jake had been sure it was a grizzly they\u2019d heard sniffing around their cabin just outside their bedroom wall. Why was Jake not more alarmed? He had even seemed fascinated, as if it didn\u2019t bother him at all.<\/p>\n

She had always thought she was the courageous one, the one who wanted adventure. After all, she had come out to Montana on her own that first summer. The mountains had fascinated her, drawn her in, and given her strength. But tonight those same mountains had turned on her and given her a bear for a gift\u2014a grizzly. Even the stately pine trees, with their whispers that soothed her before, now seemed to talk of dark things she knew nothing about, things too awful to say out loud.<\/p>\n

She turned in the bed, hoping she wouldn\u2019t disturb Jake. She thought of his job on the logging crew, really a job of last resort. Yes, at first it was a blessing because they needed the income, but now it had become more and more of a burden. Jake didn\u2019t complain, but the burden was apparent in the stoop of his shoulders when he came home at night. It revealed itself in his descriptions of how he operated the cutter, navigated the steep slopes, and worked with logs that rolled down the sides of the mountains. She also heard it in his descriptions of Mr. Wesley, his boss. She had met Mr. Wesley once when he had stopped by the house to interview Jake for the job. He operated the largest timber company in Libby, and his huge, burly form matched his position, nearly filling their cabin door that day. She had been too glad Jake had gotten the job to worry much about Mr. Wesley, but after he left she was glad she wouldn\u2019t see him every day.<\/p>\n

Hannah shivered again, feeling the sharp chill that seeped into the log house\u2014the same one that seemed so wonderful in summer. Winter would come soon to this strange land, and neither she nor Jake had ever been through one here.<\/p>\n

Hannah willed herself to stop thinking. Now she knew for certain. There had been something she wanted to tell Jake but had wanted to wait until she was sure. Now on this night\u2014the night the bear came\u2014she was certain. The strangeness puzzled her. How could a bear\u2019s unexpected visit and this wonderful news have anything to do with each other?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


<\/p>\n

MY REVIEW:<\/strong><\/p>\n

A Hope for Hannah<\/a> continues the story of Jake and Hannah, a young Amish couple who decided to live in Montana after their wedding.\u00a0 As they face numerous trials and tribulations including job loss and terrifying visits from a grizzly to their isolated cabin, Hannah is plagued with homesickness and fear. Despite their problems, Jake is certain that they are where God wants them. When he is chosen to be one of the ministers in their small Amish community, Hannah’s hopes are dashed because she knows they must now stay in Montana. As more problems and tragedy beset them, Jake and Hannah are drawn closer together and find themselves reaching out to a neighbor and others in their congregation.<\/p>\n

I thought A Hope for Hannah<\/a> was an improvement over A Dream for Hannah<\/strong><\/em>, possibly because I found Hannah more likable as she gained maturity once she stopped thinking only of herself. This book also appears to be aimed at a teen audience. It’s theme of making the best of whatever situation you find yourself in and placing others ahead of yourself should be helpful to those struggling with similar issues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[38,8,60],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-amish","category-books","category-contemporary-fiction"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5563"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5563"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5563\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5573,"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5563\/revisions\/5573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}