Leota's Garden (73 page)

Annie raised her hands in exaltation to the God of heaven and earth.

Oh, Lord, my God, I delight in You!
She laughed aloud, so happy she felt her heart would burst with joy.
Oh, Lord, Lord, how majestic You are. Only Your plan will come to completion. Evil may seem to reign. Wars may come, and violence may spread over the earth, and man may take life itself into his own hands, but You prevail. You always have. You always will. I can rest in that knowledge. I can cling to Your promises and listen to Your voice, and walk in Your ways. I can trust You whatever the world may say or do. Someday my time will come, and however it does, I know You will not lose me. You will bring me safely home.

A soft breeze caressed her face, and she inhaled the incense of the garden. Sighing, she lowered her arms and smiled. She went back into the house. Morning would be here soon.

And there was work to do.

Discussion Questions

Dear Reader,

You have just finished the poignant story of
Leota’s Garden
by Francine Rivers. As always, Francine desires for you, the reader, to go to God’s Word to discover His principles for living. The following questions are merely a portal to exploring all God has for you.

Leota was a virtuous woman with godly intentions. However, she did not live in a perfect world with a perfect family and ideal circumstances. Rather, Leota and her family represent the typical dysfunctional family. Leota tried to keep the peace out of respect for her husband and her elders. Her silence cost her!

Like Leota, we live in an imperfect world. We each find elements of dysfunction in our own families. God has called us not to “keep the peace,” but to be peacemakers. Making peace always means confronting the truth—confronting the truth in love and kindness.

May God bless you and challenge you to be a peacemaker.

Peggy Lynch

1. Read Proverbs 31:10-31. Compare Leota to the woman described in this passage. In what ways is she like this woman? How is she different?
   
2. Compare Grandma Helene, Nora, and Annie to the woman described in Proverbs 31. How does each of them fall short or measure up?
   
3. How do you compare to the woman, husband, and/or children described in Proverbs 31?
   
4. Consider the instructions given in Ephesians 6:1-4, as well as the husband described in Proverbs 31. Discuss Bernard’s role in the lives of his children. How did he treat their mother? How did he add to their alienation? In what ways did he contribute to the wedge created by his parents? How did he avoid the truth? How is Nora’s husband, Fred, different?
   
5. Compare Leota and Nora as mothers. In what ways were their parenting styles different? In what ways were they the same? How do you account for the differences?
   
6. Compare Nora and Annie as children. Discuss their motivations. What contributed to their differences? In what ways, if any, were they alike?
   
7. What have your parents passed on to you? In what ways have they shaped who and how you are? What unfinished business is there in your family?
   
8. Discuss Corban and Sam in light of 2 Timothy 2:22-25. What had Sam learned, and at what cost? In what ways did he demonstrate that God had changed his heart? What does Corban learn about wrong companionship? What does he discover about himself?
   
9. Contrast Susan and Ruth. Both young women are modern; however, they choose to run in different directions. How does each of them deal with truth? How do friends influence them?
   
10. What kinds of relationships do you pursue? How do you handle truth? How well do you know yourself? Explain. What changes does God need to make in your heart?
    
11. Read Ephesians 4:15, 25-27, 32 and James 5:16. Keeping these passages in mind, what lies does Leota harbor? What lies does Nora harbor? What lies do you harbor?
    
12. When Leota confesses and speaks the truth in love, as Ephesians 4 exhorts us to do, what happens? Why do you think the author portrayed Leota’s granddaughter as the one chosen by God to hear?
    
13. Leota found solace in the garden she planted and maintained, yet she was lonely and estranged from her family. As she learns to speak the truth in love, she finds solace watching her garden develop into a gathering place for family and friends. She is no longer lonely, and the longing of her heart for her children begins to be fulfilled. What does your heart long for? What truth might you need to speak of in order to experience God’s fullest blessings? Speak the truth to God, your heavenly Father. Speak the truth to those who need to hear it from you. Do it today! Then trust God to bless your obedience in His time and in His way.
    

About the Author

New York Times
bestselling author Francine Rivers began her literary career at the University of Nevada, Reno, where she graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in English and journalism. From 1976 to 1985, she had a successful writing career in the general market, and her books were highly acclaimed by readers and reviewers. Although raised in a religious home, Francine did not truly encounter Christ until later in life, when she was already a wife, a mother of three, and an established romance novelist.

Shortly after becoming a born-again Christian in 1986, Francine wrote
Redeeming Love
as her statement of faith. First published by Bantam Books, and then rereleased by Multnomah Publishers in the mid-1990s, this retelling of the biblical story of Gomer and Hosea, set during the time of the California Gold Rush, is now considered by many to be a classic work of Christian fiction.
Redeeming Love
continues to be one of CBA’s top-selling titles, and it has held a spot on the Christian bestseller list for nearly a decade.

Since
Redeeming Love
, Francine has published numerous novels with Christian themes—all bestsellers—and she has continued to win both industry acclaim and reader loyalty around the globe. Her Christian novels have been awarded or nominated for numerous honors, including the RITA Award, the Christy Award, the ECPA Gold Medallion, and the Holt Medallion in Honor of Outstanding Literary Talent. In 1997, after winning her third RITA Award for inspirational fiction,
Francine was inducted into the Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame. Francine’s novels have been translated into more than twenty different languages, and she enjoys bestseller status in many countries, including Germany, the Netherlands, and South Africa.

Francine and her husband, Rick, live in northern California and enjoy time spent with their three grown children and taking every opportunity to spoil their grandchildren. Francine uses her writing to draw closer to the Lord, and she desires that through her work she might worship and praise Jesus for all He has done and is doing in her life.

Visit her website at
www.francinerivers.com
.