Leona Koehn Nichols was born into a loving Holdeman Mennonite family and grew up within the Mennonite community, being very much a part of this ultraconservative culture. Her parents were devout and committed to their church but were also balanced in their views of what it meant to follow Jesus. Raised in a family of five, with an older and younger brother, Leona enjoyed a happy childhood in rural California. Her father was a respected leader in the church and also in the community. Her mother enjoyed life and had visitors in the home frequently. She loved reading and read often to her children, both Bible story books and children's classics. Having been baptized into the church at age ten, Leona fully expected to spend her life as a faithful member of the Church of God in Christ (Mennonite). She married a minister's son, and they began a family.However, as their six children got older and decisions regarding what they would or would not be allowed to do began to immerge, so did the questions. Desiring to have biblical reasons behind their beliefs and decisions caused them to search the scriptures, looking for answers. This was met with concern. Being part of a church culture that emphasized unity in all things, including clothing and grooming styles; it was expected that their family would conform without question. When Leona and her husband met Jesus in a very loving and unexpected way in their own living room, it was soon obvious they would need to make a choice. Who would take first place in their hearts? Jesus, the Savior of their souls, or the church of their fathers? After months of trying to find a solution to conflicting views, their church fellowship was severed through the ordinance of excommunication. Now they would learn to trust in Jesus alone as the foundation they could build their lives on. Follow their story as they moved from legalism to grace.

Other Loves All Flee: One Family's Journey from Legalism to Grace

Leona Koehn Nichols

Greenberry Publishing, LLC

What happens when the only culture and lifestyle you've ever known is removed and you must depend totally on Jesus to make the many decisions involved in living life and raising your children? Living in a modern world with which they were unfamiliar, these are the challenges faced by the authors of His Grace Found Me. In her story, Leona Koehn Nichols continues the events begun in her first book, Other Loves All Flee, which recounts the conflict in the hearts of her and her husband as they tried to live out their understanding of the Bible. It would culminate with the excommunication of the four family members baptized into the Church of God in Christ (Mennonite). They struggled for nineteen months with one question: Would they continue as part of their unique culture and faithfully follow the traditions of the church, or would they make Jesus the Lord of their lives? Having been raised in an ultra-conservative environment they had little concept of how the "outside world" lived. Included in this book are the stories of five other ex-Holdeman families, also reluctant to leave the life they knew. Faced with decisions of how to live their lives and raise their children without the clearly defined guidelines of the church, they searched the Scriptures for help in the various choices they would make. They too met many challenges, but over time each family has come to a place of joy in living out their faith. These families are: The Ray Eck Family The Anthony Toews Family The Quentin Giesbrecht Family The Lance Dirks Family The Jim Smith Family Truly, the grace of God reached down and found them, guiding their steps in "the new and living way" described in the Book of Hebrews. They have found their "freedom in Christ."

His Grace Found Me: Finding Freedom in Christ

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Books by Leona Koehn Nichols

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Leona Koehn Nichols. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Other Loves All Flee: One Family's Journey from Legalism to Grace

His Grace Found Me: Finding Freedom in Christ