Inspirational Christmas Short Stories

A grieving widow. A steadfast carpenter. An abandoned baby with the power to heal—or break—both of their hearts. When Sarah Yoder discovers a swaddled infant on her doorstep one snowy Thanksgiving night, it’s a miracle, a second chance to fill the emptiness in her heart. Naming the baby Hope, she pours all her love into the little girl. Then whispers ripple through Pine Creek and Sarah soon finds that Hope’s arrival brings as many questions as it does moments of joy. Abram Miller has always admired Sarah from afar, his heart patient and true. As he steps in to help her with baby ...

One snowy night changes everything… When a dying English mother begs Rebecca Lapp to raise her newborn daughter, the young Amish widow faces an impossible choice. Following her heart means defying her community's traditions and risking everything she knows. But as baby Joy's smiles fills her lonely home, Rebecca discovers that sometimes Gott's greatest gifts require the most courage to accept. Widower Eli Stoltzfus has kept his grieving heart locked away since losing his wife in childbirth. But helping Rebecca face mounting pressure from both community elders and English authorities ...

A promise of love, a miracle, and a treat that will tie your heart into knots! Let's begin with introducing you to the grumpiest Scrooge around – Army Veteran and former medic, Houghton. The gruff man served many tours in Afghanistan, but one thing can bring him to his knees faster than a foreign enemy. His wife, Jill. Except there is a problem. Now, the couple is facing a twist in their hard-earned Happily Ever After that neither expected, threatening the secret he's kept for months now. When the cookie crumbles, how do you pick up the pieces, realizing that things are still incredibly ...

He's a former Union cavalry lieutenant who now serves as the guardian of his three nieces. Betrayed by his former fiancée and still troubled by his memories of war, Grady Buchanan is cynical and determined to keep the world at a distance.“If I must marry, the woman should be the quiet type, content to focus on tending to the family, leaving me to my solitude and peace.” She's a spirited bootlegger’s daughter from the south who is on the run. Bethany Murphy is stubborn and resilient, looking for a fresh start, and determined to achieve her happily ever after. “Even chickens ...

Can a troubled young woman find healing, love, and a place to call home? When Phoebe Mast loses her parents, she’s taken in by the loving Beiler family. Struggling with grief and dark secrets from her past, Phoebe resists the steadfast compassion and guidance of the welcoming clan. But as she opens her heart to the community and discovers a talent for baking, Phoebe starts to heal and find herself once more. Caleb Schmucker, a gentle and caring young man, sees beyond Phoebe's troubled history. As their friendship blossoms into something more, Phoebe must confront the shadows of her past ...

Can the glow of Christmas candles illuminate the path to love and purpose? A year after watching her brother David find unexpected love, Eunice Beiler returns to Spring Haven questioning her own future. The last place she expects to find direction is in Daniel Lehman's candle shop, where his quiet strength and dedication to craft speaks to something deep in her heart. As they work side by side crafting special candles for the community's Christmas celebration, their shared creativity sparks more than just beautiful lights. But when shadows from the past threaten their growing feelings, both...

Wheeler was raised by a mother who loved deeply moving inspirational Christmas stories. It shows: his Christmas in My Heart series is today the longest-running Christmas story series in America. Readers believe there is a reason: unless a given story touches the heart, or takes the reader somewhere new, the story will be rejected. And he considers the spiritual dimension of a Christmas story to be paramount. This sixth collection of Joe Wheeler's treasury of old-fashioned Christmas stories takes readers back to a time when Christmas was more than a frenzy of commercial promotion. These ...

Will a quiet candlemaker find her light in time for Christmas? In Bird-in-Hand, Pennsylvania, Ruth Brenneman's exquisite candles speak far louder than her gentle voice. Content to work alone in her peaceful workshop, Ruth's orderly world changes when her best friend suggests sharing a Christmas market booth with Daniel Fisher—a handsome woodworker with dreams as big as his heart. As their matched creations draw admirers from near and far, his progressive ideas inspire Ruth to step from the shadows into light. But when mysterious thefts threaten their growing success and divide their ...

Three motherless children. Two broken hearts. One Christmas miracle waiting to happen. Widower David Beiler's faith is tested when he returns to Spring Haven with his children. His only hope: Mary Hersh, a gentle soul hiding her own painful past. Hired to watch his children, she also brings warmth back to his home. As snow falls on Spring Haven, David and Mary's past struggles and grief blossom into an unexpected connection. But when long-buried secrets threaten to shatter their fragile bond, they must choose: either retreat to the safety of solitude, or risk everything for a love that ...

Can faith, forgiveness, and a Christmas recipe mend years of rivalry? The Stoltzfus and Yoder families have run competing bakeries for years and years. Martha Stoltzfus never questioned the feud or her duty to her family's bakery—until she begins secretly working with Timothy Yoder for the Christmas bake sale. His kindness and faith make her wonder if Gott has different plans, but choosing him means turning her back on everything she's ever known. Working together in the community kitchen, Martha can't ignore the growing feelings between them. But their secret meetings risk both their ...

When his past comes calling, will Jonas lose the love he’s just begun to find or will faith lead him to something greater? Jonas Fisher’s life is finally falling into place. His craft as a woodworker is thriving, and Mary Hershberger has agreed to courtship. But just as their tentative love begins to bloom, Megan Carter—a woman from Jonas’s Rumspringa past—arrives in Pine Creek with a six-month-old baby. The child is his, and Jonas is suddenly faced with a future he never imagined. Widowed Mary Hershberger has spent years guarding her heart after devastating loss. After finding ...

Ruth Raber, an elderly Old Order Amish woman, has led a lonely life. She never married, never sang with a boy at one of her community's gatherings, and ruined the only relationship she could've had. And worst of all, she doesn't understand why any of that happened. Or does she? Every year around Christmas, a series of memories haunt her, and this Christmas is no different. When the nearby townspeople and the Amish and Mennonites in the area gather at Christmas Eve and invite Ruth, not only will she be challenged by her memories, she'll be challenged by a lesson from her mother, now passed ...

A lost love, a shared grief, and the unexpected gift of a second chance. Widowed young, Sarah Yoder has returned to her family’s Amish community in Lancaster County, hoping to rebuild her life and provide stability for her daughter, Emma. But with her heart heavy from loss and her confidence shaken, the path forward seems more uncertain than ever—until a stray cat and a simple kindness open the door to an old friendship. Jacob Stoltzfus understands loss all too well, raising his son alone after his wife’s passing. His days are filled with sawdust and silence, but when Sarah steps back...

An Aussie ex, a hairless cat, and a live TV audition. What could go wrong? One audition stands between me and my dream job with Channel Foodie. An audition that must go off without a hitch. Also up for the job is my work nemesis Patty. One will claim victory; the other will wallow in woe, and trust me—I’ve wallowed in enough woe since my breakup with Aussie chef Jude Sting. Patty’s corporate daddy gives her an edge, but my superior experience should score me the win. So long as I don’t panic under pressure. Which I do. A lot. To add to that pressure, I’m forced to make last-minute...

An ice storm is coming, and so is the gossip. After eighteen months on rumspringa, Sarah Esh returns to Pinewood Grove, uncertain if she still belongs in the life she once embraced. The Christmas season brings familiar traditions and a chance to reconnect with her Amish roots—but also whispers about whether the girl who ventured into the English world will stay for good. Noah Miller has always cared for Sarah, but working alongside her to prepare for the storm stirs something deeper. When an ice storm leaves them stranded alone overnight, their bond grows stronger, yet so do the questions...

Jenna Camden knew nothing would be the same again. She felt like a guest in her own home...empty rooms echoed with precious memories, quiet nights filled with shadows of so many cherished yesterdays. Nothing was the same. Not even Christmas.A Christmas love story of hope, courage, and the enduring strength of love… Jenna didn’t have to look around her home with its colorful and shining Christmas decorations, the tall Christmas tree in her front room with the many Christmas ornaments that told in a special way the story of her family, to know that no matter what she did it would never ...

She stopped in Lancaster County on a whim. She stays for love. Traveling nurse Olivia Ellis stops at an Amish Christmas market, drawn by the nostalgia of visiting with her late parents. Betrayed and jaded, she's buried herself in temporary assignments - until fate brings her face-to-face with widowed craftsman Matthias Yoder and his daughter Emma. In their world of simple faith, she discovers healing she never expected. His gift for creating therapeutic equipment for sick children reminds her why she once loved medicine, while Emma's innocent wisdom breaks through her defenses. As their two...

Stories filled with everything Christmas brings...family, friends, Christmas trees, huge meals, childhood Christmas memories, mothers baking turkey, sibling bickering that goes on into adulthood...and knowing no matter where you are...home isn’t always a place…it’s the people who live there. This includes: Home Again for Christmas (part of the Return to Summit Falls series) Years ago four young men left their hometown of Summit Falls. Each of them ready to take on whatever the world had to throw at them. Now, years later, three of them, Jonah Sutherland, Adam Dane, and Nicolas ...

Joe L. Wheeler was raised by a mother who loved deeply moving inspirational Christmas stories. It shows: his Christmas in My Heart series is today the longest-running Christmas story series in America. Readers believe there is a reason: unless a given story touches the heart, or takes the reader somewhere new, the story will be rejected. And he considers the spiritual dimension of a Christmas story to be paramount. This wonderful fifteenth collection contains stories that continue, generation after generation, to be the most loved and cherished. These tales will bring out the joy, wonder, ...

Just days before Christmas, after returning from a business trip, Luke Sutherlin found the last thing he would have ever expected.Her letter. Luke knew he would only ever have to read it once. Each word was now seared into his memory. He knew too it wasn’t something she had done easily. Her every written word tells him that. He knows that he’s made some bad choices and even worse decisions over the years. Then hadn’t paid attention when she saw what he didn’t. Or didn’t want to. Those things had changed him. He had never meant to take anything for granted. But he had. Worse, he ...