This was a delightful book with quite a different story line than I have read before.  Rebekah Hendricks is 19 but stuck on her family’s farm in Oklahoma with an overbearing, controlling mother that treats her like a child.  She is young and full of adventure with grand ideas of how her life will be.  A young man named Arthur Samson  seems to be her ticket out and the man of her dreams.  Arthur has enlisted to fight in the Great War so she anxiously awaits his return to begin their life together.

Her mother’s sister requests her help as she is very sick.   Hesitantly her mother allows her to go.   Rebekah is thrilled.  Not only will this get her out of her home but she will be closer to her beloved Arthur’s training camp.  Her head is dizzy with plans.

She finds out quickly life has a way of making other plans for us.  Upon arriving at her aunt’s, she finds there is a Spanish flu epidemic and her aunt dies shortly upon her arriving.  The greater shock is that her aunt has been caring for 4 children whose mother also died and their dad is a soldier in the war.  Now Rebekah is shouldered at the tender age of 19 with 4 children who have no one but her to care for them.

I can remember when my children were young and how hard and tiring the days were but I had so many modern conveniences.    The author was wonderfully vivid in writing about all the days entailed in caring for children in the 1900’s without all the modern “fluff” I had.  I found myself actually feeling tired reading about all the work she did!  It made me realize how blessed I was!

I loved how I was made to feel a part of the daily life during that era.  Caring for the sick was an awesome job without all the day to day chores of running a home. Before all the medications and antibiotics  we have today, sickness was often fatal and people really suffered.

The story shows a young woman maturing through hardships.   Rebekah becomes torn apart as she struggles with pursuing her dreams or accepting the reality of the responsibility she has been placed in.   After much wrestling with herself and the Lord she accepts the truth she has always known:  God is in control and His plan is always perfect.   She reminded me of myself the times I have fought what God has chosen to bring into my life until I too submit to Him and find real peace.

This is an outstanding book with strong spiritual lessons.  How wonderful when a book can entertain us and teach us more about ourselves and God.  This one does all of this and more!

I received this book free from Bethany House Publishers.  I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255