As a young woman is cleaning a church, the pastor's widow arrives for a last look around. They find a jar filled with little trinkets from previous church members. The widow explained the jar was "a story jar" and that each item had a special story behind it. Thus three stories emerge about some of the items.

*** A special book just in time for Mother's Day! In between each novella are poems and short true tales from various other people. Many of them are author names I recognize. However, several are not. I saw some poems from children about their mothers. It was so special and gave me such a warm feeling. The stories are inspirational. I found myself near tears of sadness at times, joy at others, and a few times a feeling of awe and wonder that only another mother could understand. Fabulous! ***

This book isn't just for Mother's Day--if you are a mother, have a mother, or would like to BE a mother, this book is for you. The three authors have given us such different stories--they cover all aspects of motherhood, including the desperate wanting to be a mother an infertile woman feels. A lovely book that's as honest as anything I've read lately. There are no easy answers, but God is faithful. I highly recommend!

A collection of heartwarming stories that honors mothers of all ages can be found in "The Story Jar." Top inspirational writers Robin Lee Hatcher, Deborah Bedford and Angela Elwell Hunt team up to produce a continuity story about an ordinary jar that holds an extraordinary power to encourage and heal the heart. The story jar was placed on the alter of a small country church each Mother's Day, and the mothers of the church would each contribute some small memento that has meant something to them during the previous year. Those mementos are the basis for a tale that weaves through several generations of women, and how they drew strength and encouragement from the lessons learned. Also included in "The Story Jar" are tributes from some of the country's top inspirational writers to their mothers including Lori Copeland, Linda Windsor and Jerry Jenkins. This book will inspire women everywhere to rejoice in the gift of children, and after all, this is the reason behind Mother's Day! Now, go get your mom a present!

This was just a wonderful story. It made me cry through the whole last half! I look forward to reading all Ms. Bedford's books.

I highly recommend this book. Very beautiful
story and you'll fall in love with all the
characters and never want it to end! Definitely
a "keeper".

What Mel Gibson's latest movie, Signs, tried to do but did not quite pull off. This book is thought-provoking and surprising, fast-paced, a fine read. It is one of the most realistic stories I've ever read to look at honest disappointment and honest faith. Is there really a God, or do you think everything around us is left to chance?

Bea Bartling has been praying for her son to come home and her prayers are not answered the way she thinks they should be. Instead, sometimes you find out that the one is charge of everything knows more about what we need then we do.

The characters are plausible and the dialogue is good. I will look for more books by this author.

Thank you, Deborah Bedford for writing a book that is wholesome and interesting. I am a stay at home mom, and even though I was interrupted regularly while reading this book, I was always eager to pick it up again and find out what was going to happen next. It kept my interest and was never hard to get back into once I had put it down. The story of the roses is fascinating. This is ultimately a book about a woman's faith in God and how her relationship with God was tested during a difficult time in her life. The book does a good job of tying everything together. I would highly recommend it!

My mother had been in the doldroms, or worse, for so long that she wasn't reading or doing crossword puzzles anymore. She is normally an avid reader. I bought this book because it was advertised in People magazine. I liked it so well, I bought another copy and gave it to her for Christmas. After reading this book, she is going to back to the library again. It's a great read and a beautiful story. Thank you to this author for sharing her very special talents with all of us. Yes, there is hope in the world even during difficult time and A Rose By The Door has a joyous way of pointing that out. Be prepared with a box of tissues because you WILL cry. But you'll be laughing almost the same time. This story is a slice of life at its best.

Both my mother and I would love to see another book with these same characters.

David and Abby Treasure are a happily-married couple in their mid thirties. Their family life is picture perfect. He has a stable job in banking and teaches Sunday school. She is a counsellor at a battered women's shelter and is a little league mom. Their 10 year-old son is healthy, popular and well-behaved. However, all stability evaporates when a long-hidden infidelity comes to light. This affair has a ripple effect which extends over the entire community.

This novel takes a close look at how a breach of trust can threaten and destroy a family. The novel focuses on the emotional impact -- the defensiveness and blame-shifting of the adulterer, the crushed self-esteem and irrational anger of the betrayed spouse, the panic of the children whose worlds are ripped apart at the seams, and the mutual resentment of all parties concerned. As author Deborah Bedford points out in her afterword, the story was inspired by actual events.

The writing is dramatic and fast-paced. The characters are at once both plausible and surprising. All the characters are sympathetically portrayed. This helps the reader to think about the hot button topic of marital infidelity from several angles. As a bonus, the author includes a bibliography of readings for couples in crisis. This book is an insightful work on recovery and forgiveness from a Christian perspective.

I loved this book. We recently moved to Jackson which makes it even better. ha.. There are things that I am currently going through which are unrelated to the story plot but I recieved a message from it.

This is a story of an affair that was covered over for years and suddenly surfaces with a child in need. David Treasures has to deal with his own personal Christian walk and his attempt to keep his affair a secret or lose everything. This book deals with true emotions and touched on other issues you might have in your everyday Christian walk. You watch as Abigail struggles with her own issues of betrayal and forgiveness. I encourage you to read this book and get lost in Deborah's wonderful way with words. PS: You might need a tissue.. I did.. : )

This author is fast becoming one of my favorites. She does not gloss over the pain and betrayal of finding out that your husband has had an affair. In fact, she takes the care to linger on all of those feelings and make sure that they ring true. My husband and I went through a struggle like this six years ago and, when I began the story, I thought it would not equal what happens in real life. But I was wrong. Bedford writes of a wife who feels betrayed and alone and unloved. She writes of a woman who is willing to set an ultimatum and then love her husband even though she looks at him across the room and sees somebody she doesn't know. At the back of the book, there is a list of recommended reading for people struggling. This story is set in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. It is fast paced, with even a scene of the husband climbing the Grand Teton, coming down in a storm. This book is good entertainment. It will also take you on a deep spiritual search. Is God someone who really wants to have a relationship with us? Can we do that, even when all our relationships around us fail?I believe so. I lived this story, and my marriage is stronger now than some of my friends who have good marriages. Look for other books by Deborah Bedford, including A Rose By The Door and The Story Jar. She doesn't pull any punches and she doesn't back away from tough, interesting issues.

Sarah Hayden left Spring valley, Wyoming, in the early summer to enter college. She was almost 18 and pregnant, hence the early departure. Unaware of her condition, her parents were hurt, but tolerant. Her childhood sweetheart, Jim Roice, was confused by her insistence on leaving when everyone had expected their wedding for years. Not knowing what exactly, Sarah nevertheless wanted something more than the life she'd known in this small town. She quietly, secretly arranged for the adoption of her baby and left.

Ten years later, she returns for the funeral of her father and discovers that, in the way of small towns everywhere, not much has changed. Her old love Jim has married another local girl, Victoria Tayloe, and they have an adopted son, Charlie, fondly called Chickadee. Vic's inability to conceive her own child causes difficulties in her marriage and in her ability to relate to Charlie.

The author lived in Wyoming for many years (and may still do) and her love for the country is obvious in every description of scenery and seasonal change, and the slow pace of an isolated country town is described to perfection. Perhaps that is why the adult characters have a maturity not usually found in one's mid-to-late twenties, making frequent references to 'at my age'. Everything is tied up neatly at the end, making this a good if lightweight, but entertaining companion for an afternoon at the beach.