An Amish Christmas

Her bright face clouded over. “No, Papa.”

“And why not?” Karen asked, surprised to hear Anna had neglected her homework.

“Because I went to visit John Doe.”

John said, “I would have sent her back if I had known. She kept me company while I ate.”

Jacob glared at John and then spoke to Karen. “See. No goot can come of having him stay here.”

“Hush Jacob, this is not how we treat our guests,” Karen said.

Pushing back from the table, Jacob got up. “The Englischer will only bring trouble. You will see.”

He grabbed his coat and hat and headed outside, letting the door slam behind him. Eli rose, motioning to Karen to stay seated. “I will talk to the boy.”

Slipping his coat over his sling, he followed Jacob outside. Embarrassed by her brother’s display, Karen glanced at John.

He gave her a tight smile and said, “I’m sorry I upset him.”

“It’s not you.” She knew what troubled her brother and her heart ached for him.

Noah spoke around a mouthful of egg. “Jacob doesn’t like the English ever since the accident.”

Puzzled, John asked, “What accident?”

“The accident that killed our mother, brother and sisters,” Karen explained. “That Englischer was drunk. He hit their buggy doing like seventy miles an hour,” Noah added dramatically.

Karen was thankful Noah had not been there that day. It had been she and Jacob who came upon the terrible carnage.

Karen reached across the table to grasp Noah and Anna’s hands. “We have forgiven him as God has asked us to do.”

Nodding solemnly, Noah agreed. “We have.”

Anna shook her head. “I don’t think Jacob has.”

Karen squeezed her hand. “We will pray Jacob finds forgiveness in his heart.”

John asked, “What happened to the driver?”

Letting go of her siblings, Karen folded her hands in her lap. “He had barely a scratch.”

Frowning slightly, John looked from the children to Karen. “How do you do that? How do you forgive someone who has done something so terrible?”

“It is our way,” Karen replied. Closing her eyes, she sought the peace that forgiveness always brought her.

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