Building Faith: An Amish Home Novella

By Kathleen Fuller

Faith Miller knows that carpentry is an unlikely hobby for a young Amish woman, but she loves the work and it keeps the memory of her grandfather alive. So when her cousin asks Faith to build the cabinets in her new home, Faith is only too happy to take on the job, even if it is the most ambitious project she has ever taken on. The only catch is that she has to work with her ex-fiance, Silas. As they work to build Martha’s kitchen, can they put the past behind them and start to build faith in one another again?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson
• Release date: Feb 7, 2017
• ISBN: 9780718023676

Kathleen Fuller

With over two million copies sold, Kathleen Fuller is the USA TODAY bestselling author of several bestselling novels, including the Hearts of Middlefield novels, the Middlefield Family novels, the Amish of Birch Creek series, and the Amish Letters series as well as a middle-grade Amish series, the Mysteries of Middlefield. Visit her online at KathleenFuller.com; Instagram: @kf_booksandhooks; Facebook: @WriterKathleenFuller; Twitter: @TheKatJam.

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© 2017 by Kathleen Fuller

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Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc.

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All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV ®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, IncTM Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version®. © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Publisher’s Note: This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. All characters are fictional, and any similarity to people living or dead is purely coincidental.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

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Printed in the United States of America

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CONTENTS

Glossary

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Discussion Questions

Acknowledgments

Recipes from Building Faith

Mud Hen Bars

Overnight Amish Potato Salad

An Excerpt from A Cup Half Full

Also by Kathleen Fuller

About the Author

DEDICATION

To James. I love you.

GLOSSARY

ab im kopp—crazy, crazy in the head

daag/daags—day/days

daed—dad

danki—thank you

dawdi haus—small house used for in-laws/parents/grandparents

familye—family

geh—go

grossdaadi—grandfather

gut—good

gute nacht—good night

haus—house

kaffee—coffee

kapp—white hat worn by Amish women

maed—girls

mamm—mom

mei—my

nee—no

sehr—very

sohn—son

ya—yes

yer—your

yers—yours

yerself—yourself

CHAPTER ONE

FAITH MILLER RAN HER PALM ACROSS THE SMOOTH, cherry wood surface of the bread box, then blew sawdust off the top. The cherry was fancy for something as simple as a box to hold bread, but the wood had belonged to her grandfather, and she wanted to use it. Fine particles of dust floated in front of her, dancing in the air of her grandfather’s woodshop. This was her sanctuary. She had loved being here as a small child, helping Grossdaadi with his various woodworking projects. It had been a hobby for him, a serious one. He would have rather been a carpenter than a farmer.

Like her grandfather she loved the smell of the wood, the feel of the sawdust on her hands, the precision of measuring to one fifteenth of an inch. She stood back and inspected the bread box, a birthday gift for her mother. A little more light sanding, a few coats of varnish, then a clear coat, and the box would be finished.

She ran her fingers across the sleek, soft wood again and listened. Her grandfather used to tell her the wood talked. Not in words, of course, but it spoke to him on a soul level. Wood had never spoken to her, but she didn’t have the deep connection with carpentry and woodcrafting her grandfather had. She yearned for it and spent as much of her spare time as she could increasing and perfecting her skills.

She stood up and stretched. It was late—very late. She should’ve gone to bed hours ago. She had to get up early in the morning to go to her job at Schlabach’s Bulk Food store with her younger sister, Grace. But as each hour had passed, she kept telling herself just a little bit longer, a little bit more work, and then she would stop. She needed to sand down the top of the bread box until it was glass-like smooth. She eyed it critically. The surface still wasn’t perfect but it would have to do, at least for tonight.

Faith pushed back the stray strand of hair that refused to stay in her kapp and glanced out the shop window at the inky darkness. She didn’t accomplish everything she had wanted to, but she was tired, a feeling she’d been increasingly familiar with. It had always seemed that way lately—so much to do, but not enough time to do it. At twenty-two she’d learned the hard lesson that life was precious and time was short. She didn’t want to waste a single minute.

She turned off the lantern and walked out the door, stepping into the night air, cicadas and bullfrogs punctuating the dark silence. The house where she lived with her sisters and parents was a few yards away. Everyone would be asleep by now. Like I should be. She could barely make out her footsteps as she stumbled to the back door, but she didn’t dare turn on her flashlight. If her father knew she was out so late, she’d get another lecture, another reminder that early to bed, early to rise makes a man wise. Perhaps working on a bread box well past midnight wasn’t the wisest decision, but it was worth it.

She crept into the house and slipped off her shoes, then carefully made her way up the stairs and opened the door to the bedroom she shared with her twenty-year-old sister, Grace. Her other sisters, Charity and Patience, were in their bedroom down the hall. They were still in school, and in the morning the family would be bustling to get to their jobs and to the schoolhouse, all under the supervision of her mother.

As soon as Faith shut the door, Grace turned on the battery-operated lamp. Faith jumped. Grace, she hissed, squinting her eyes in the bright light. What are you doing up?

Grace folded her arms and leaned back against the pillow, her ash-blond hair in a long braid that hung over her shoulder. You woke me up.

Sorry. I was trying to be quiet.

Not quiet enough. Where have you been?

Faith unpinned her kapp and set it on the dresser. I was out in the woodshop.

Grace glanced at the small clock on the bedstand. It’s almost one a.m. Her grin turned sly. "If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought you snuck off to geh visit somebody."

Faith grimaced. I would never do that.

Grace arched a dark-blond eyebrow. Never?

Faith’s cheeks heated but she didn’t look at her sister. "That only happened one time. Now, turn off the light so I can put on mei nightgown."

Grace chuckled. Guess I hit a nerve, she said before turning out the light.

Faith heard the rustling of covers as her sister settled in bed. She quickly changed into her nightgown and got into the twin bed on the opposite side of the room. She closed her weary eyes to say a quick prayer.

I was worried about you. Grace’s soft voice lilted in the darkness.

Faith’s eyes opened, even though she couldn’t see her sister. Why would you be worried about me?

"You’re spending a lot of time in Grossdaadi’s woodshop. More time than you used to."

Faith closed her eyes again. I have work to do.

"You have work to do during the daag. Work you get paid for. That should be yer priority."

Holding in a sigh, Faith bit her tongue before she said something she would regret. Nothing like getting a lecture