Celebrate Christmas with the Amish with these four stories of love and romance found during the Christmas season. A Choice to Forgive  by Beth Wiseman After Daniel disappeared that long-ago Christmas Eve, Lydia built a life with his brother. But now she's a widow and Daniel has reappeared, asking for forgiveness. Can she go back to her normal life with her long-lost love as her neighbor? A Miracle for Miriam  by Kathleen Fuller Seth is no longer the arrogant young man who shattered Miriam's confidence and broke her heart. Will he be able to show "plain" Miriam that she is truly beautiful to him? One Child  by Barbara Cameron The birth of one child forever changed the world two thousand years ago. On a snowy Christmas night in Lancaster County, another child changes the world for two very different couples. Christmas Cradles  by Kelly Long When Anna Stolis takes over for her aunt, the local midwife, Christmas night heats up with multiple deliveries, three strangers' quilts, and unexpected help from the handsome and brooding Asa Lapp. An Amish Christmas December in Lancaster County By Beth Wiseman Kathleen Fuller Barbara Cameron Kelly Long Thomas Nelson Copyright © 2010 Beth Wiseman, Kathleen Fuller, Barbara Cameron, and Kelly Long All right reserved. ISBN: 978-1-59554-856-6 Contents A Miracle for Miriam.....................1A Choice to Forgive......................155One Child................................303Christmas Cradles........................435 Chapter One Five years later Seth lived with pain every day. At one time he'd tried to blame God for what had happened, but he knew that wasn't honest. He had no one to blame but himself. He winced as he pulled on his trousers, his movements awkward. Still, just as he did each day, he silently gave thanks to Father God. If people had said to him even six months ago that he would be grateful to feel pain, that he would praise the Lord for each twinge and ache, he would have laughed in their faces. But today, the ever-present soreness reminded him that he was lucky to be alive. He reached for his walking stick—plain, unadorned, but stained and lacquered to a smooth, shiny finish. His older brother, Noah, had made it for him shortly after the accident. The top of the stick was straight, so he couldn't call it a cane. Neither was it overly long, like a traditional walking stick. The knob at the top reached him at hip level, giving him the perfect amount of support without being unwieldy. When he first saw the stick, he'd wanted to throw it at his brother. Now the gift had become indispensable. Seth turned at a loud knock at his door. "What?" "Caleb Esh is here." His father's gruff voice penetrated the wooden door. "You ready?" Hearing his daed 's voice gave Seth pause. Considering their strained relationship, he was surprised his father had come upstairs to fetch him. "Ya," Seth replied, reaching for his black felt hat, the one he usually wore in cold weather. He'd pick up his coat on the way out. "Tell Caleb I'll be right down." He heard the thudding of his father's work boots against the wood floorboards as Melvin Fisher left to deliver Seth's message. Seth placed his hand on the knob of the door and started to turn it, then stopped. Before the accident he'd never been nervous about going out. But tonight was different. The Christmas sing at the Lapps' home was his first social outing in six months, a time span unheard-of for him. For the last three years, since he'd turned sixteen, going out had been a big part of his life. Not that he had wasted his time on the Amish social circuit. Frolics and singings and other gatherings had been too tame and too lame. Seth was too cool for that, choosing instead to hang with Englisch friends. When he was with them he drank. He smoked. He learned to drive a car. He ran his fingers over the thin ridge of scar tissue that started from his left temple and cut a straight line to the top of his jaw. The facial cut had healed faster than his leg, and far more quickly than his pride. Shaking off the raw memories, he twisted the brass knob and opened the door. He'd learned some hard lessons that night six months ago, and they had shaped him into a new man. But he couldn't hide here forever, surrounded by his family. Not only had they accepted what had happened; they'd forgiven him too. Perhaps not everyone would show him such mercy. He ignored the sudden stab of low confidence and headed down the stairs, determined to renew the old acquaintances he had abandoned in favor of the outside world. * * * "I don't understand why you're helping me with this boring task when you could be at the Lapps', having a good time." Miriam finished putting the plastic binding on a cookbook and looked into her older sister's weary face. The exhaustion she saw there explained why she chose to spend Sunday night helping her sister Lydia. But she would never say so aloud. Since the d