Beginnings by Kim Vogel Sawyer

Just thought I'd let you know about a book that one of my fav authors has out now. This review is posted on Armchair, but for those of you who don't go there...

Beth lives among the Old Order Mennonites, and though she shares their Christian faith, she doesn’t share their lifestyle. While, yes, she feels that God brought her to Sommerfeld, Kansas, and gave her a gift as a stained-glass artist, how can she rectify the two in a place where women are homemakers and art is frivolous?

And what of men? In her employee, Andrew, Beth finds a compassionate and hardworking friend, but to embrace him would be to embrace his Old Order lifestyle, something Beth isn’t inclined to do. When Sean shows up at her studio door proposing a business relationship, Beth begins to see the realization of her dreams. But can she trust either of these men with her future?

Oh, how I love Kim Vogel Sawyer’s books. Frankly, I’m not sure whether it is her setting (my old stomping grounds) or her ability to weave great stories, but I think it is a combination of the two. Kim is a master story teller who has cornered the market on a lesser known sect of Mennonite, the Old Order. In my not-Old-Order opinion, she nails the people and their gentle ways from an “outsiders” view point.

But don’t go away with the impression that this is “just another Mennonite book,” because it isn’t. Though you will see into the lives of a few characters, this book is more about feeling like an outsider in any part of life. About not being good enough, not fitting in, desiring more and, eventually, letting go of the idea that life is under our control.