One Light Still Shines: My Life Beyond the Shadow of the Amish Schoolhouse Shooting

Marie Monville, a life-time resident of the Lancaster, Pennsylvania area, often sat alongside her father in his milk truck as he served his Amish and non-Amish neighbors. She married her high school sweetheart, then gave birth to three children. The first 28 years of her life were quiet, predictable, and full of regular day to day country living. That all changed the day her husband barricaded the Amish schoolhouse at Nickel Mines, just one mile down the road, and murdered one Amish schoolgirl after another, before committing suicide--a horrific scene that stunned the entire world. That day was October 2, 2006. And though she knew that day that the life she'd known had just been shattered, that very same day God infused Marie with an unearthly assurance that he was with her, present and trustworthy, and that he would not fail her. Today, Marie is remarried to Dan Monville, and their blended family is a testament to the healing kindness of God. Today, Marie speaks nationwide as she and Dan continue to raise their five children in the Lancaster, PA area.

Cindy Lambert is a freelance writer and editor and a partner in Somersault, a publishing services bureau, where she serves as publishing strategist. She owned an award-winning bookstore before expanding into leadership roles in publishing companies such as Ingram, Simon & Schuster, and Zondervan, where she served as vice president and associate publisher. She and her husband, Dave, have six children and nine grandchildren, and live in Michigan.