contemporary fictionRomans 8:26
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. [27] And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will. (NIV)
1. This story about life in a small town has some very realistic characters with some very big problems that most Christian fiction does not deal with, thus making the story often unpredictable and edgy.
How did this story, with such surprising characters, differ from a story like the Mitford
series? What particular character did you most feel for, and why? What in this story made you feel the most uncomfortable, and why?
2. Although this story contains a myriad of rich and complex characters, there
is a strong theme which runs through it, holding it together like it holds our own lives together, and that is that God can use whatever circumstances we are in, no matter how big or how small, to demonstrate His great
love for us so that we may be brought closer to Him. What were the ways God intervened in Velma's life in Leeway, Kansas, and what spiritual lessons did she learn along the way?
3. Velma's spiritual gift is cooking,
which she turned into a full-time job after her son was grown and on his own. She went on to spend more than 25 years feeding people, and listening to their stories, and praying over them when she refilled their coffee
cups. What can we learn from this story about using our gifts, and about what God can do with any talent if we let Him have it?
4. This story teaches us about love and forgiveness, and several of these characters had
huge offenses to forgive! Discuss this especially in terms of Velma, her grandmother (Gran Lenny), and Shellye Pines. What other characters had to learn forgiveness? Who and what did each one have to forgive, and since
it seems that no one gets to escape this spiritual lesson, why do you think it is so important? What happens when we can't forgive?
5. Velma comments throughout her story that she is not good at prayer, and yet she
seems to have a lot of faith that whatever kind of prayer she prays it will be received by God, even the ones she does not consciously offer up. In what ways did this novel demonstrate the significance of prayer? In
what ways did Velma's story help you better understand what it is to have a life of prayer, as well as the feelings of frustrations and inadequacy that a person might feel in regards to it?
6. This story also
deals with feeling and expressing anger towards God. Gran Lenny was angry with God (p. 160), and stated once "that it takes some folks longer to get mad at God than it does others. But everybody does get there,
sooner or later" (p. 234). Velma recalled how that sounded awful to her when she was young, but real anger rose in her spirit when she thought about how "Doris's problems were much bigger than the effects of
an act of sin here or there" (p. 235). Do you sometimes feel this way about people you know? Discuss this in terms of how we often view God's lack of intervention in our lives? What blessings
in Velma's life reinforced her trust in God?
7. This story is also about having hope in the Resurrection. After reading this story, what might you say to people who suffer like these characters, that
would offer them not just the belief in a resurrection, but the hope
that when we die it will be different than just "living better than before" (p. 235 & 272)? What do you think Doris meant when she said this? Paul tells us that we need to have
