Josh Jones has happily settled into the farming life, glad to know that this is where God would have him be. Grandpa and Uncle Charlie have recently transferred possession of the family farm, and the deed now has Josh's name on it. He owns the farm, it's all his! Josh is near to bursting with this, and he runs the increasingly prosperous farm the best he knows how. Yep, things are pretty good, until a new neighbor starts to come calling on the two girls that live with Josh, Grandpa, and Uncle Charlie.Mary (the hired help for the kitchen and household duties), and Melissa (the local school teacher that boards at the Jones farm) have become like family to Josh. He cares about them both, but has kind of taken for granted the fact that they would both always be around. So when this new neighbor comes calling on the girls, Josh starts to realize one (or both!) of the girls could up and marry at any time. This sets Josh thinking about having a family of his own..... Mary and Melissa are both great girls, and he cares about them both, but in different ways. How will Josh ever choose which girl to court?I don't want to give away any more of the story line, so I won't say who Josh chooses. But I will say that Josh and the girl he picks go through quite alot, and even though their faith is stretched at times, they still try to trust God and depend on Him to get them through the tough times.While this is a nice ending to the series, I would've liked a little more closure...it ended and I was like, "That's it?!" The short epilogue was okay, but I think one or two more chapters would've really been ideal to totally wrap things up. (However, don't let that stop you from reading the series, it does have an ending, it was just different than I expected.) In closing, I think this entire series would be a good one for just about any age!
I LOVED this book. It was without a doubt my favorite of the series. That's something i have always admired about Janette Oke. Her books seem to get richer and stronger throughout the series rather than just being expensive volumes of pointlessness. The characters are easy to connect and fall in love with. They seem real to you, because rather than being characters who always manage to do everything right, they mess up. Their faith fails and their knowledge of what God has for them is constantly being added to. I enjoyed how Josh ended up with the BEST girl for him and not the most beautiful girl. The struggles the family faced and the faith they displayed throughout proved to be not only an exciting read, but also an encouraging one. And yes, I am aware it was just fiction:) In a nutshell:It was good. It was entertaining. It was sweet.
What do You think about Spring's Gentle Promise (1989)?
The final book in the series and rated in context of the entire series. In this book, Josh gets married and begins his family. He strives to cherish his new wife, but struggles with the human flaws that we all do. He learns to communicate with her and understand her. He finds much joy and fulfillment in adding this relationship to his life. He experiences some hard times brought on by the depression and drought, but manages to trust in God that come what may it will be for his good. With that trust in God he is able to move forward skimping, working and sacrificing to do his part.I have enjoyed this series and find it inspiring. I appreciate the writing of Janette Oke in this series and how she is able to give descriptions to things that help me to visualize and relate to what she is sharing, including the thoughts and feelings of her characters. I like the simple goodness of people doing their best to follow God's will and to live his commandments and finding joy and peace in doing so, even through difficult times.I do think that the series is a good one for youth who are in transition and contemplating how God works in the lives of his children and are experiencing the decisions of career, schooling and marriage.
—Janiece
