But for the Grace of God

By Susie Gingrich

But for the Grace of God is a thrilling and sometimes heartbreaking story about a young Mennonite girl who was abused and has to come to terms with it. It has adventure, romance, and tragedy leading her to a new life.

After a horrific accident, the Dat (father) decided that the family should become modern Mennonite, rather than Old Order Mennonite.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jun 15, 2015
• ISBN: 9781490878249

Susie Gingrich

Author bio coming soon.

Book preview

BUT FOR THE

GRACE

OF GOD

SUSIE GINGRICH

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Copyright © 2015 Susie Gingrich.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

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Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4908-7825-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-7824-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015906467

WestBow Press rev. date: 06/12/2015

Contents

Chapter 1 The Horror of Rape

Chapter 2 Early Days

Chapter 3 School Days

Chapter 4 The Buggy Accident

Chapter 5 Barn Fire

Chapter 6 Romance Blooms

Chapter 7 Life inside a Mental Institution

Chapter 8 Continuation of Life

Chapter 9 Raising a Family

Chapter 10 Tragedy to Triumph

Foreword

The author grew up on a farm in an Old Order Mennonite family near Somewhereville, North America. She is the oldest of six children, even though the book says seven. Most of the book happened to her or someone she knows, but a bit of it is fictitious.

Susie is bright, personable, and loves to entertain either with stories or by singing in a choir or trio. She has lots of friends who come to her home for dinner parties.

She has worked both in the clerical and health-care professions; however, always she comes back to writing. Her work has been previously published in children’s books, a story in a Mennonite paper, and in newspapers.

Susie has three children (even though the book says four, and five grandchildren).

She has taught Sunday school, been a youth work leader, and volunteered in a girls club. Arranging flowers, gardening, cooking, baking, and visiting seniors or disabled people are also high on her to-do list.

Always Susie has a smile, a pretty hairdo, and is immaculately dressed. She is also the most organized person that I’ve ever met.

—Cecil Rahn

Preface

The reason I wrote this book is to talk about some of these things that have actually happened to me. Some stories happened to other people or could have happened to them. If it sounds like you, don’t be offended. It wasn’t. The characters in the book have no true identity.

I have risen above the terrible issues that I have dealt with in life so far. I have written this book to be an encouragement to others who need to rise above their problems and to continue with the journey of life.

I used the pseudonym of Susie Gingrich because the book deals with some very sensitive issues, including abuse, mental illness, death, and a broken romance. The story takes place on a farm near Somwhererville, North America. The setting is an Old Order Mennonite family