Sarah's Orphans

Sarah has recently lost her father and now her mom has left home, leaving Sarah to take care of her four brothers. Andy and Henry are pretty much grown up, but Luke and Isaac are still in school. Coming home from the general store one day, Sarah nearly runs over a little boy. She goes looking for where he darted into the woods and finds an abandoned barn and a small trailer. Inside the small trailer are the little boy and an even tinier girl. Sarah convinces them to come home with her and begins looking for their mother. When the child protective services gets involved, Sarah finds she has to take classes and training to become a Bridge Parent for these children. Right after gaining custody of the children, Sarah's paternal grandmother comes to stay for as long as she's needed.

Paul Byler buys the farm next to Sarah's and works out how he can help her. He buys some chickens and takes them to Sarah so that they can share the eggs. He buys some goats and gives them to Sarah in exchange for goat's milk cheese. He gives her brothers work to do in exchange for helping them out on their own farm. He wants to help Sarah in a way that doesn't look like charity.

One thought rings clarion clear throughout this book and that is how important it is to listen to God. We can let the chaos of urgency take our minds off what is truly important, or we can take whatever is on our plates to God. When Sarah's foster children disappear, the first thing the community does is gather to pray.

Vannetta Chapman doesn't write the formulaic romance, but she does write thoughtful books that touch her readers deeply. In Sarah's Orphans, she brings out the need for foster parents, parents willing to adopt children who have been removed from their parents for whatever reason, people willing to take these children in for however long, because the one thing every single child needs is love.

This book is five stars, two thumbs up, and love and prayer.

My thanks to Harvest House Publishers for allowing me to read and review this book.