Winter Winds (42 page)

  1. Dori’s big issue is forgiveness. Have you found that some people have a harder time than others with this issue? Why do you think this is so? Personality? Severity of the offense? Read Ephesians 4:31–32. What escape hatch are we given on the issue of forgiveness?

  2. In
chapter 27
, Trev says that forgiveness is “a willful choice to let go of something you know happened. There’s no denial in forgiveness. God knows full well that I’ve done many wrong things, but He has chosen to put them away. In the same way, we have to choose to let go of the wrong done us, the hurt dealt us by another.” Read Isaiah 44:22. To what does Isaiah compare God’s forgiveness of us? Is lack of forgiveness clouding your life?

  3. Many times we hear, “Forgive and forget.” When God forgives us, does He forget? Can He forget? Read Isaiah 43:25. What is the alternative to forgiving and forgetting?

  4. Bob and Shannon justified their affair by their feelings for each other. Is their argument valid? Read 1 Corinthians 6:18–20. What are God’s standards for us as believers?

  5. In what ways do Pop and Honey’s actions mirror those of the Lord? Read Psalm 68:5 and Hebrews 12:7.

  6. Dori, Joanne, and Maureen all suffered severe hurts in their lives, but they reacted differently.

Dori reacted as follows: “Keeping pace with the depth of her anger at Trev was her bitterness at God for letting her be so hurt. He’d snatched happiness from her twice, first with the
death of her parents and then with Trev’s treachery. How could she ever trust Him again?”

Joanne thinks that “the only trouble with her prayer was that she wasn’t certain God listened to people like her. Didn’t you have to go to church and stuff to be on His good side?”

Maureen tells Dori, “My life was awfully bleak back then [when Adam died], and the stories taught me that living isn’t static but evolutionary. New plateaus of forward development would always be open to me if I stuck with the Lord. Hope was always there if I chose to grab it.”

How does God work in each of these women’s lives? What lessons can we learn for our lives?

  7. Have you ever gone to church with someone like Jonathan Warrington? What personality traits and actions make someone like him a poor spiritual leader? Read Philippians 3:17. What example is Paul talking about? Read Philippians 3:12–16 to find out.

  8. What is God’s standard for the church? Read Romans 15:5–7. Does your church exemplify this standard? Is this standard lived out in your own life?

  9. It’s a major turning point for Dori when she realizes that not filing for divorce “didn’t show commitment to marriage but rather to the concept of marriage. If she’d been committed to marriage itself, wouldn’t she have been here, fighting for it instead of abandoning it?” Why is the concept of marriage so much more comfortable than marriage itself?

10. What do you find to be the hardest thing about being married? Why? What is God’s standard for relationships? Read Philippians 2:3–8.

Spring Rain
by Gayle Roper
Seaside Seasons, Book One:

Leigh Spenser, a young teacher and single mother of ten-year-old Billy, is thrown into conflict. Clay Wharton, the boy’s estranged father, comes home to Seaside, New Jersey, to await the passing of his twin brother, Ted—now dying of AIDS. Threats against Billy’s life ratchet the tension tighter, as Leigh wrestles with both tough and tender feelings for her old flame. Clay’s own conflict, as he seeks to come to grips with his brother’s lifestyle choices and the needs of the boy he fathered, underline the issue of Gods forgiveness in the hearts—and lives—of this modern-day family. An emotionally gripping read!

ISBN 1-57673-638-5

Summer Shadows
by Gayle Roper
Seaside Seasons, Book Two

The accident that killed Abby Patterson’s husband and daughter has left her with a limp and chronic pain. Abby strikes out, determined to build a new life for herself. She finds the perfect home: a cottage on the beach. At least, it would be perfect except for one tiny irritant: Marsh Winslow, her landlord. But when Abby witnesses a hit-and-run accident and the trauma leaves her with amnesia, she finds an unexpected source of help: Marsh! When mysterious events make it clear that Abby is now a target, she and Marsh join forces to uncover a dangerous secret. Together they discover that God is in the business of putting broken lives back together so that they are more beautiful—and more perfect—than ever.

ISBN 1-57673-969-4

Autumn Dreams
by Gayle Roper
Seaside Seasons, Book Three

The proud proprietor of her own bed-and-breakfast in sleepy Seaside, New Jersey, Cass Merton is intrigued by Dan Harmon who arrives at SeaSong for an extended stay. Management and finance specialist Dan Harmon is there to contemplate his life’s significance as a result of witnessing the tragedy of 9/11. Meanwhile, Cass struggles to care for her feisty teenage niece and easygoing nephew for a whole year while their parents work in the Middle East. Add Cass’s aging, deteriorating parents, and her emotions swirl like the quickly rising hurricane that’s fast approaching Seaside.

But everyday cares aren’t Cass’s only problems. A troubled young employee unknowingly endangers her as well. When an alarm sounds in the middle of the night, bullets fly, and Cass is taken hostage by a gunman. Dan looks urgently to the Lord for help and recognizes a new emotion within himself: love.

ISBN 1-59052-127-7