Saints Alive!: Annie’S Very Own Miracle

By Deanna Hurtubise

Annies fourth-grade religion class is learning about their patron saints to share in an oral report later on. She has always been fascinated by the lives of the saints, especially the miracles they experienced. More than anything, she would love to experience a miracle of her own since so many miracles happened to the saints when they were children. When Annie discovers that her patron saint isnt as exciting as those of her classmates, she is disappointed and embarrassed to give her report. Learn how prayer, faith, and a little divine intervention during a frightening family crisis changed Annies feelings about her patron saint, Saint Anne, the grandmother of Jesus.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Nov 14, 2016
• ISBN: 9781512764345

Deanna Hurtubise

Deanna Hurtubise is a former high school and university French teacher and still lectures on French history, language and travel. She is the author of two picture books, three French historic fiction chapter books and one Christian historic fiction book for children, one memoire, In Sickness and in Health, and a contributing author to an anthology of true love stories. She lives in Cincinnati with her three children and eight grandchildren.

Book preview

SAINTS ALIVE!

Annie’s Very Own Miracle

Deanna Hurtubise

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Copyright © 2016 Deanna Hurtubise.

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 author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

1663 Liberty Drive

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: 978-1-5127-6433-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-6434-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016919102

WestBow Press rev. date: 11/14/2016

CONTENTS

Chapter 1    Annie’s Big Question

Chapter 2    Religions, Saints, and Cookies!

Chapter 3    My Friend, Kathy

Chapter 4    The Scariest Bike Ride Ever

Chapter 5    A Stormy, Stormy Night

Chapter 6    Jeannie’s Awful Accident

Chapter 7    I Love Christmas!

Chapter 8    The Miracle of Lourdes

Chapter 9    Three Lucky Cousins at Fatima

Chapter 10    An Even Bigger Miracle

Chapter 11    May Crowning Conquered

Chapter 12    A Wild Story

Chapter 13    I Am So Embarrassed

Chapter 14    Bridget’s Dream

Chapter 15    The Scariest Summer Ever!

Chapter 16    My Amazing Dream

Chapter 17    My Heartfelt Prayer

Chapter 18    My Very Own Miracle!

Author’s Note

DEDICATION

To Mae

For her enthusiasm for this story

and for encouraging me to tell it.

CHAPTER 1

Annie’s Big Question

D id you ever wonder why really special things, unbelievable things, happened to other people but never to you? I think about that a lot, and it just doesn’t seem fair. My name is Annabel Jennings, but everybody calls me Annie, and I’m in the fourth grade at Saint Francis School. I think I’m a good person; I do what I’m told, well, most of the time. I go to church with my parents and my older sister, Jeannie, every Sunday, as well as every school day with my class. I usually do my chores without grumbling, and I always do my homework on time. I’m lucky that I can visit my grandparents frequently because they live close by, and I can walk to their house. We call them Oma and Opa which is German for grandma and grandpa. They’re really like my best friends in the whole world.

Opa’s parents, my great-grandparents, came to this country from Germany a long time ago. Opa tells wonderful stories about when he was a little boy. He had twelve brothers and sisters! Can you imagine all those people living in one house? It must have been totally crazy. Opa’s voice is always the loudest, and he says it’s because when he was growing up, he had to shout to be heard over everybody else. He told me they raised chickens in their backyard, and his mom went to the barn to gather eggs for breakfast. I think she went out there just to get away from all that noise in the house. Sometimes she would even kill a chicken so they could eat it for supper! I really don’t think I could eat a chicken after I killed it. I told Opa I could never kill an animal but he just laughs.

His mom had to bake all their bread, too. She made eight loaves every day to feed that big family. I can’t imagine how she got all the work finished, but Opa said all his brothers and sisters helped her do the laundry, cooking and cleaning. Once he told me that when he didn’t pick up his clothes and put them away, his mom threw them out the window. He said he never did that again! I wish I had had a chance to know his mom. She must have been a special lady.

Sometimes on Saturdays, I walk to Oma and Opa’s house for lunch. She makes the best egg salad sandwiches, but my favorite is her special grilled cheese and tomato soup. She pours hot tea with milk and sugar in one of her good china cups, and I feel very grown up. I love to dress up in her clothes and jewelry, but my favorite thing is her old fur coat. My mom has a fake fur coat because she says it is more politically correct, whatever that means. Sometimes Oma gives me a manicure, and we talk about everything that’s