Esther Filbrun

What Will be Left? (An Abandoned Gold Mine Adventure)

October 13, 2018 by Esther Filbrun · 1 Comment

Last Sunday, several people in our family had colds, so we had a family worship time together instead of meeting with our normal church group. Then, since we had an afternoon to spend together, we decided to go explore some new part of our local area. We finally settled on Waiuta, a town located north and east of us, what once was a gold mining town from 1905 to 1951, when the mine closed.

The first place we explored was the township area itself, around the first mineshaft to go in, the Blackwater shaft. There was a good-sized vein of gold-bearing quartz in this area, and apparently the operations were quite profitable while they lasted—they produced almost 750,000 ounces of gold altogether!

Our God Sustains

September 13, 2018 by Esther Filbrun · Leave a Comment

This post was written a couple days ago, while I was on my way home after a trip.

I’m on my way home right now. After being away for three weeks, I should be walking in my front door in about four hours.

The past three weeks have been much like I was expecting them, and totally different. I went to help out a family after complications following the birth of their youngest, who is now six weeks old. I got to be “Mum” to two lovely youngsters—both under eight—while Dad was away working and Mum was in the hospital with the baby.

Homespun: Book Review and Blog Tour

September 4, 2018 by Esther Filbrun · Leave a Comment

If I had to tally all the most common questions I have been asked over my time here in New Zealand, probably one of the highest-scoring ones would be the question of whether I’m Amish or Mennonite. Unfortunately, I’m neither, so that leaves people rather stumped. However, I love the ex-Amish and Mennonites that I’ve been blessed to know over the years, and really appreciate the cultures they come from. So when I saw Homespun come up for review recently, I thought it would be a great read. And I ended up loving it!

Straight from the pens of Amish and Mennonite women . . .

Ever wish you could visit with a group of Amish or Mennonite women over a cup of coffee? In the pages of Homespun, Amish and Plain Mennonite women swap stories and spin yarns while we listen in. Lorilee Craker, bestselling author of Money Secrets of the Amish, collects these personal writings about hospitality, home, grief, joy, and walks with God. Hear from one woman who struggles with feeling inferior to her sister, from another about her longing for a baby, and from a third who accidentally bought stretchy material to sew her husband’s pants. Each woman’s story is a testament to the grace of God and the blessings of community.

Choose Your Own Story // Book Release Event!

August 25, 2018 by Esther Filbrun · Leave a Comment

Today, I’m thrilled to have the privilege to invite Sarah Holman to join me on this blog! She recently released Escape and Endurance, the fifth book in her Tales of Taelis series. This is a Christian medieval fantasy series that she has been writing for several years now, and although I haven’t read the last two yet, I’m hoping to very soon—I enjoyed the first three!

To celebrate the release of Escape and Endurance, Sarah has decided to do a “choose your own adventure” event, similar to those books we all enjoyed as children (hey, I still like going through our “day in the life of an otter” book, and trying to avoid the death traps!). I’ll let her carry this away.

Out of North Korea: The Suspense Book That Taught Me Something

August 20, 2018 by Esther Filbrun · 6 Comments

There are certain books you look forward to for quite a while before they finally come out. This book was one of them. And when I saw that a blog tour was being set up for it, I knew I wanted to be on it. So today, I’m pretty thrilled to share one of my more recent reads with you—and what a goodie! Completely different from what I expected, but sometimes those are the best ones, right?

I was somewhat disappointed when I got into Out of North Korea—I was expecting a heart-racing read, and it turned out to be a slightly slower, more thoughtful book. Then, I fell in love with the story, and finished it fairly quickly after all.