Love's Abiding Joy is a 2006 Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

 Drama

Drama

Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...

 made for TV movie based on a series of books by Janette Oke

Janette Oke

Janette Oke is a Canadian author and pioneer of inspirational fiction. Her books are often set in a pioneer time period and centered around female protagonists...

. It was directed by Michael Landon Jr.

Michael Landon Jr.

Michael Landon, Jr. is an American actor, director, writer and producer.- Biography :Born as Michael Graham Landon, Landon is the son of the late actor Michael Landon and his second wife, Marjorie Lynn Noe. Michael is the brother of Christopher B...

 and stars Erin Cottrell

Erin Cottrell

Erin Cottrell is an American actress, who has appeared in the role of Missie Davis-LaHaye in 5 of the 8 films in the Love Comes Softly series. She also played Caroline Ingalls in the 2005 miniseries Little House On The Prairie...

 and Logan Bartholomew

Logan Bartholomew

| name = Logan Bartholomew| image =| imagesize = 150| caption =| birth_name = John Logan Batholomew| birth_date = | birth_place = Galion, Ohio, U.S....

. It is the fourth movie in the Love Saga, which includes Love Comes Softly

Love Comes Softly

Love Comes Softly is a 2003 Christian drama television movie set in the 19th century, based on a series of books by Janette Oke. It originally aired on Hallmark Channel in 2003...

(2003), Love's Enduring Promise

Love's Enduring Promise

Love's Enduring Promise is a 2004 Christian Drama made for TV movie based on a series of books by Janette Oke.The film is the second in the "Love Comes Softly" series of television movies on Hallmark Channel that includes Love Comes Softly , Love's Long Journey , Love's Abiding Joy , Love's...

(2004), Love's Long Journey

Love's Long Journey

Love's Long Journey is a 2005 Christian Drama made for TV movie based on a series of books by Janette Oke. It was directed by Michael Landon Jr...

(2005), Love's Abiding Joy (2006), Love's Unending Legacy

Love's Unending Legacy

Love's Unending Legacy is a 2007 Christian Drama made for TV movie based on a series of books by Janette Oke. It originally aired on Hallmark Channel on April 7, 2007. It was directed by Mark Griffiths and stars Erin Cottrell...

(2007), Love's Unfolding Dream

Love's Unfolding Dream

Love's Unfolding Dream is a Christian Drama and the sixth TV movie based on a series of books by Janette Oke and second to air in 2007. It originally aired on Hallmark Channel on December 15, 2007 and was produced for Hallmark by Larry Levinson Productions. It was directed by Harvey Frost...

(2007), and Love Takes Wing

Love Takes Wing

Love Takes Wing is a Christian drama and the seventh TV movie based on a series of books by Janette Oke. It aired on Hallmark Channel on April 4, 2009...

(2009), and Love Finds a Home

Love Finds a Home

Love Finds a Home is a Christian drama film, the eighth and final installment based on a series of books by Janette Oke. It aired on Hallmark Channel on September 5, 2009. The film is based on the book Love Finds a Home by Janette Oke...

(2009), as well as the 2011 prequels, Love Begins

Love Begins

Love Begins is the first of two prequels of the Love Comes Softly series. It premiered September 17, 2011 on The Hallmark Channel.-Differences from the book series:...

and Love's Everlasting Courage

Love's Everlasting Courage

Love's Everlasting Courage is a 2011 Christian-Drama television film that premiered October 1, 2011 on The Hallmark Channel. This film is the second prequel of the Love Comes Softly StarringWes Brown as ClarkMorgan Lily as MissyCheryl Ladd as IreneJulie Mond as Ellen Willow Geer as SarahTyler...

.

Synopsis

Clark goes out West to visit his daughter and son-in-law. During his visit, Kathy, the infant daughter of Willie and Missie, dies. A ruthless land baron and mayor, Doros, hires Willie as town sheriff, since grief-stricken Missie has quit her job as schoolteacher and the LaHayes need the money. Doros uses Willie as sheriff to try to evict ranchers that have fallen behind on payments. Missie helps one family by selling most of her most prized possessions, including the gold locket her mother gave her.

During this time, Doros' daughter, Collette, begins to like Willie and Missie's adopted son, Jeff. Collette is an eastern-schooled girl who is home from school on break. Jeff is a well-read young man who must take over for Willie on the ranch. Collette visits the ranch frequently and helps Jeff with his chores. Jeff also visits her at Doros' ranch. Doros secretly discovers this, but does not let on.

As Collette prepares to leave for school, she and Jeff share a kiss. Her father lays a trap for Jeff using the unwitting Collette. Upon her departure, Doros charges Jeff with horse theft and demands that Willie arrest his own son. Doros swears that Jeff stole the horse, but Willie produces Collette, whom Doros thought left for school on the stagecoach. In the end, Clark realizes that his daughter Missie is in great hands with her husband, Willie and returns home. Also in the end, Jeff and Collete realize that they're in love.

Cast

Actor	Role
Erin Cottrell Erin Cottrell Erin Cottrell is an American actress, who has appeared in the role of Missie Davis-LaHaye in 5 of the 8 films in the Love Comes Softly series. She also played Caroline Ingalls in the 2005 miniseries Little House On The Prairie...	Missie LaHaye
Logan Bartholomew Logan Bartholomew | name = Logan Bartholomew| image =| imagesize = 150| caption =| birth_name = John Logan Batholomew| birth_date = | birth_place = Galion, Ohio, U.S....	Willie LaHaye
Frank McRae Frank McRae Frank McRae is an American actor and former professional football player.McRae was born in Memphis, Tennessee. McRae graduated from Tennessee State University with a double major in drama and history. He was a defensive tackle for the Chicago Bears in the 1967 NFL season.Among his acting roles are...	Cookie
Drew Tyler Bell Drew Tyler Bell Drew Tyler Bell is an American actor and dancer.-Career:Bell is perhaps most known for his role as Thomas Forrester in The Bold and the Beautiful, which he held from 2004 until 2010, for which he won the 2010 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series...	Jeff LaHaye
Mae Whitman Mae Whitman Mae Margaret Whitman is an American television, movie and voice actress. She is known for her role as Ann Veal in the TV series Arrested Development, her role as Amber on the TV series Parenthood, her role as Roxy Richter in Scott Pilgrim vs...	Collette Doros
William Morgan Sheppard	Scottie
James Tupper James Tupper James Tupper is a Canadian actor best known for his role as Jack Slattery on the ABC television series Men in Trees and recently appeared as Dr. Chris Sands on the NBC medical drama series Mercy , which was cancelled by NBC in May 2010.Tupper was born in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada...	Henry Kline
John Laughlin John Laughlin (actor) John Laughlin , sometimes credited as John C. McLaughlin or John McLaughlin, is an American film and television actor.-Career:Since 1978, he has appeared in over twenty-five films and at least thirty television productions....	Samuel Doros
Kevin Gage	John Abel
Brett Coker	Maddy LaHaye
Stephen Bridgewater	Mr. Taylorsen
Brianna Brown Brianna Brown Brianna Lynn Brown is an American actress.Brown was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota. After starting out as a singer she changed her focus to acting after being talked into going out for a high school musical by a student teacher...	Melinda Kline
Blake Gibbons Blake Gibbons Blake Gibbons is an American actor with a recurring role as Coleman on the long running Daytime television serial General Hospital.He also played "The Dude" in The Summer of George episode of Seinfeld....	Joe Paxson
Dale Midkiff Dale Midkiff Dale Alan Midkiff is an American actor.-Early life:Midkiff was born in Chance, Maryland, the son of Joyce and Thomas Midkiff. He attended Edgewood High School near Baltimore. His first acting experience came playing Jack in a production of Jack and the Beanstalk for a local children's theater. His...	Clark Davis

Differences From The Novel

• Marty and Clark both visited Missie in the novel, where Clark came alone in the film.
• Missie and Willie have another son, Josiah, in the novel, but is not in the film. They later have two daughters, Melissa and Julia, mentioned in later novels. Missie is pregnant with Melissa at the close of this novel. Melissa comes east to stay with Clark and Marty in Love's Unfolding Dream
  Love's Unfolding Dream
  Love's Unfolding Dream is a Christian Drama and the sixth TV movie based on a series of books by Janette Oke and second to air in 2007. It originally aired on Hallmark Channel on December 15, 2007 and was produced for Hallmark by Larry Levinson Productions. It was directed by Harvey Frost...
  
  . They do not have a daughter named Kathy who died as a baby.
• Clark is seriously injured while attempting to rescue two boys from a cave in. He is near death, but his life is saved by a neighbor doctor who amputated his leg.
• Willie does not become the town Sheriff in this novel.

External links

• Love Comes Softly Series site at Hallmark Channel
  Hallmark Channel
  The Hallmark Channel is a cable television network that broadcasts across the United States. Their programming includes a mix of television movies/miniseries, syndicated series, and lifestyle shows that are appropriate for the whole family...