The Healing Jar

Wanda E. Brunstetter

Aug 2019 · The Prayer Jars Book 3 · Barbour Publishing

About this eBook

What if you have waited to find love only to be rejected when it finally comes?
 
Lenore Lapp is an Amish schoolteacher in her late twenties still living at home with her parents and grandparents. She thought love had passed her by until she meets Jesse Smucker, a widower with a baby daughter. She quickly falls in love with them both and accepts Jesse’s proposal of marriage, but Jesse breaks off their engagement when he realizes he can’t marry only for convenience.
 
Resigned to living single, Lenore throws herself into caring for her elders. While working in her grandmother’s garden, she digs up an old jar. Will Lenore find healing for her broken heart and solve long-buried family secrets by reading the note contained inside?

Ratings and reviews

The Healing Jar is the third installment in The Prayer Jar series. You do need to read the books in order for the complete story. In this final book in the series, we get to know Lenore. Lenore is the local schoolteacher who dreams of having a happy marriage and a houseful of children. Unfortunately, the right man has not come along for Lenore. After Willis Lapp suffers a debilitating stroke, Lenore’s faith has weakened. She does not understand why bad things happen to good people like her grandparent’s. Jesse Smucker’s wife died giving birth to their daughter, Cindy. He left Kentucky to start anew away from the memories, but it is hard being a single parent. Jesse wants a marriage of convenience since he still loves his deceased wife, and he begins to court Lenore without telling her this little tidbit. I thought The Healing Jar was well-written with a gentle pace. It was lovely to revisit the Lapp family and catch up with them. Mary Ruth is a positive woman with strong faith which aids in her times of adversity. Michelle is shocked when Ezekiel wishes to move to New York. She wants her husband to find a job he loves, but Michelle does not want to be away from her family and friends. It is been a year and half since they married, and Michelle has yet to get pregnant which worries her. Sara and Brad are happily married, but Sara still wonders about the identity of her biological father. The Healing Jar is an emotional novel and you need to have a box of tissues nearby for some poignant scenes. I like the prayer jars and how each of our main characters find slips of paper that speak to them. There are scripture passages, prayers, and inspirational quotes inside the jar. Our characters pray for guidance and assistance. I admire their deep faith and how they can pray in front of others. They are good Christians and they live by example which is hard to do in this day and age. I did find some items repeated too often. An example is Jesse’s love for his wife, Esther and Michelle’s desire for children. There are discussion questions at the end of the book along with a recipe for Lenore’s Pineapple Philly Pie. The Healing Jar is a satisfying conclusion to this uplifting series.

The Healing Jar is third in The Prayer Jar series and the absolute best; I very much enjoyed it! If you haven’t read the first two, each can be read as standalones but are better read in order. We see the family and friends we met in the first two novels and meet or get to better know others. It is like visiting and catching up with old friends, so well are the characters demonstrated by realistic conversations and actions. There is mystery, romance, and challenges of daily life for two of Willis and Mary Ruth Lapp’s granddaughters and Michelle who is like a granddaughter. Grandpa Willis had a stroke several weeks ago. Granddaughter Lenore is living with them to help Grandma as Willis needs additional care. Lenore is a teacher, and her next term will be at an Amish school near her grandparents. In her late 20’s, Lenore still wants to fall in love, get married, and have her own children. Michelle and Lenore’s cousin Sara both lived with the older Lapps in the past; Lenore now loves the time she has with them. One day in the barn, she found a jar full of pieces of paper. Curious, she looks inside. One has a scripture and another, a prayer. Michelle, who is visiting, said she and Sara had found that jar and one in the cellar when they lived there. They don’t know who wrote the notes. Each of the girls had found what they needed to go forward and to grow their faith in the Lord. Michelle had once been recovering from abusive parents and a string of abusive men. She became Amish, is now married, and just moved away so her husband could start a new career. She is pregnant and frightened of being the kind of mother hers had been. Sara’s mother was Mary Ruth and Willis’ daughter. She ran away and changed her name when she was 18. Sara learned of her grandparents when her mother passed away, leaving a letter to her in Mom’s Bible. She does not know who her biological father is and wants to fill in that empty place. At a Sunday service, Mary Ruth meets a young man holding an adorable six-month-old girl. A widower, Jesse’s wife died giving birth to little Cindy. Family members think he should marry again, but Jesse’s heart only has room for his late wife. After Lenore runs into Jesse at a restaurant and adeptly soothes a fretting Cindy, he asks her to watch the baby when he works until school starts. His elderly Aunt Vera currently cares for Cindy. By the time Lorene returns to school, he hopes to find a teen who can babysit and do chores in his home. Not only does Lenore fall in love with little Cindy, she begins to have feelings for Jesse. He considers her as a wife only to care for his daughter and home. When he proposed to her, she had no idea that it would only be a marriage of convenience until he confessed one month before the big day. It is hard to imagine how this family endures all that occurs this year without their faith in God, active prayer life, and love of family and community. Several face what seem like insurmountable challenges for which they don’t have the resources to endure. This is the very best, my favorite of the series, with beautiful examples of faith and a very satisfactory conclusion. I highly recommend this to fans of this gifted author, and those who appreciate well-written Amish fiction in which one can learn as well as relax with a riveting read. I received a complimentary copy of this book from Barbour Publishing and was under no obligation to post a review.

THE HEALING JAR. Wanda Brunsetter Lenore is wondering when love will come for her, with two of her friends now married. At her grandparents home, still loved being there, now seeing that they were in need of love and assurance, unable to tend to the farm. She took a new teaching position this year, close by. In the barn, on a shelf, she noticed a canning jar that had papers inside. Michelle came in, and notice that Lenore had found her jar, It was when she was living there and pretending to be Sara, she wrote them. Sara knew about them also, and there were more jars with notes in them. They never asked about them to the grandmother for some were personal. Mishap outside the school yard and Lenore falls into an old well. Jesse happen to come by and noticed the children. He probably saved her life, and realized the love for her. A second chance at love if she would forgive him for what he had said before. Beautiful story and series of a love for the older, and the new love that comes in God’s time. Given an ARC for my voluntary review and my honest opinion by Net Galley and Barbour .

About the author

New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Wanda E. Brunstetter is one of the founders of the Amish fiction genre. She has written more than 100 books translated in four languages. With over 11 million copies sold, Wanda's stories consistently earn spots on the nation's most prestigious bestseller lists and have received numerous awards. Wanda’s ancestors were part of the Anabaptist faith, and her novels are based on personal research intended to accurately portray the Amish way of life. Her books are well-read and trusted by many Amish, who credit her for giving readers a deeper understanding of the people and their customs. When Wanda visits her Amish friends, she finds herself drawn to their peaceful lifestyle, sincerity, and close family ties. Wanda enjoys photography, ventriloquism, gardening, bird-watching, beachcombing, and spending time with her family. She and her husband, Richard, have been blessed with two grown children, six grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. To learn more about Wanda, visit her website at www.wandabrunstetter.com.