It Was a Miracle: A Memoir of Faith and Family on a Michigan Farm

The poignant, funny, and sometimes harrowing story of a Dutch immigrant farm family working to build the Christian church and shape modern America. The hand-written memoirs of Marvin Bub Nienhuis tell the tale of his family’s struggle for survival in the U.S., part of a large and unique Dutch church diaspora that settled the fertile fields around Holland, Michigan beginning in the 1840s. In his honest, straightforward prose, Nienhuis recounts shocking incidents from his life, including the shotgun killing of a neighbor boy who stole from the family, how his grandfather turned to spiritualists to help him speak to his deceased wife, and hard living on the farm during the Great Depression. These are rugged people who work tirelessly through rugged times, yet Nienhuis’ narrative is loving and upbeat, as he and his wife Dorothy ( Dot ) are buoyed up time and time again by their huge extended family and their faith as pioneers of West Michigan’s Christian Reformed Church.Edited by Nienhuis’ grandson Dean Kuipers, this memoir is inspirational reading, transporting the reader from the era of farming with draught horses to watching men on the moon, all the time working to grow and integrate the Christian church into American life. Includes special memories of the farm and spiritual life added by Bub and Dot’s children.