Hero Interview from To Love and Cherish by Kelly Irvin

This week I’m hosting Christa Allan with Love Finds You in New Orleans, Louisiana, Yvonne Lehman with Hearts that Survive, Mary Ellis with An Amish Family Reunion, and Kelly Irvin with To Love and Cherish.  If you want to enter the drawings for the books, please leave a comment on one of the post during the week with your email address. I will not enter you without an email address (my way to contact you if you win). If you don’t want to leave an email address, another way you can enter is to email me at margaretdaley@gmail.com. The drawings end Sunday (February 26th) evening.

Interview with the hero from To Love and Cherish:

1.   Thomas, tell me the most interesting thing about you.

I’m a Plain man so I reckon I’m not all that interesting. I don’t know why anyone would want to interview me, but I’m happy to answer your questions if it is helpful to you. I’m a farmer, a father, a widower, and I hope to be a husband again soon. I work hard, and I try to be a good father and a good friend.

2.  What do you do for fun?

I don’t have a lot of time for fun, but I do take my son, Eli, hunting and fishing, whenever I get a chance. We have fun and bring home food at the same time. It’s important for him to learn how to do these thing. I like seeing how excited he gets when he catches a fish in the creek or when he gets a shot at a deer. He’s only a boy so he has to learn how to be quiet and patient. It’s my job as his daed to teach him. Spending time with him is a blessing. With my daughter, Rebecca, it’s harder. She wants to make pie. I’m not much good at that, but she’s a happy girl and being around her gives me pleasure.

3.  What do you put off doing because you dread it?

I’ve always thought it’s best to do those things I dread first. Get them done and get on with doing the more enjoyable things. I don’t like punishing my children, but it has to be done sometimes. For their sake. So I do it and pray they grow up to understand why it was necessary.

4.  What are you afraid of most in life?

I’m not afraid. I know God has a plan for me. He’s blessed me with two healthy children, a farm that bears fruit from my labor, and a community that is here for me when I need it. I guess if I were to let my fears get a hold of me, they would come in the form of something happening to my kinner. I almost lost Rebecca and the very beating of my heart hurt in my chest during that dark time.

5.  What do you want out of life?

To farm the land, if that’s God’s will for me. To live out my life with my family. If I have that, I will be content, and if I don’t, I’ll learn to be content anyway.

6.  What is the most important thing to you?

My faith comes first, then my family, and my community.

7.  Do you read books? If so, what is your favorite type of book?

I don’t read much. I like to tell stories, though. The kinner like it when I tell them stories about how our ancestors came from across the ocean to settle in this country so they could worship the way they wanted. I can teach them their history while telling a good story.

8.  If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

I try to accept myself for who I am. God made me this way. Trying to change it would be wrong. But it’s true I sometimes feel like it would be nice if I were able to talk to people easier. I don’t talk much so it gets awkward. I have the words in my head, but they don’t come out right. Courting is awkward when a woman expects the man to keep up his end of the conversation. I don’t blame Emma for wondering if Carl might be a better choice. He was a real good talker and women tend to like that.

9.  Do you have a pet? If so, what is it and why that pet?

I don’t have a pet, but I like animals. I’m a farmer so I have horses. The kinner named the new one Muffin. Why, I don’t know. We have pigs, a few cattle, chickens, and a whole batch of new kittens that live in the barn. Farm life is like that—an abundance of life always growing and changing. I can see God’s hand in it everywhere.

10. If you could travel back in time, where would you go and why?

That’s a mighty fanciful question. We can’t go back in time nor should we want to. We need to stay on the path God has set for us. We are the sum of the experiences He has given us. After my fraa Joanna died of cancer, there were many nights when I wanted to go back and relive our days together so I could make the most of them. I suppose that I learned from that experience not to take one minute of one day for granted. If Emma and I are to be together, I will cherish every day with her, however many those days are.