When I Fall in Love (Christiansen Family) (34 page)

A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

F
OR BETTER OR WORSE.
Richer or poorer. In sickness and in health. . . .
I’ll be celebrating twenty-five years with my amazing husband this summer, and as I look back, it feels like time is but a blink. Just yesterday, I was walking down the aisle to his smile, wondering how I got so lucky. And life has been generous to me
 
—four amazing children, a rich landscape of faith-building experiences.

It’s not been without challenges, however. Many a day, as I lived in Siberia, I thought,
What did I get myself into?
And we’ve changed, become different people. Life and romance didn’t always measure up to what I imagined. Thankfully, we’ve had a long-term view of the game. But what if I’d been promised only five years or less? Or what if my husband had a terrible disease that required me to care for him all our days? Would I have said yes to this adventure? It’s one thing to pledge yourself to love and then endure through the unexpected challenges . . . completely another to look at life knowing that darkness is ahead.

I came upon the idea for this book a few ways. First, I had a friend who married her sweetheart, knowing he had incurable brain cancer. He died three years later, and she said it was the best three years of her life.

Then I had another friend who married young, and just a few years into her marriage, her husband came down with early onset Alzheimer’s. She nursed him until she couldn’t care for him any longer, then fell in love with someone else and, although it was painful, divorced her first husband and married the other man. It haunted her.

I wonder if it was the perspective of knowing what lay ahead that helped the first woman rejoice, while the second felt robbed. Knowing her days might be few, my first friend feasted on every moment and ended well nourished, the taste of hope in her heart.

So often, in this Christian life, when things don’t turn out as we hope or expect, we feel robbed. As if our promise to follow God, like our promise at the altar, guarantees happiness. Frankly, God promises us challenges, so we shouldn’t be surprised when they happen. But how, then, do we cope?

Psalm 84:5-7 offers answers:

     
Blessed are those whose strength is in you,

          
whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.

     
As they pass through the Valley of Baka,

          
they make it a place of springs;

          
the autumn rains also cover it with pools.

     
They go from strength to strength,

          
till each appears before God in Zion.

Pilgrimage. The journey . . . through life, toward heaven. God offers us refreshment in the desert and places of strength along the way. What if our happiness isn’t only in what is ahead of us but in embracing the now? In enjoying the moments God has given us, even in the midst of suffering? What if we lived with a mind-set
of rejoicing in the strength and the springs of today . . . in order to bear the desert of tomorrow? Perhaps the annoying vices of our loved ones might not be so frustrating. Perhaps our faith wouldn’t seem so starved.

I wanted to write a cooking story because we love food around the Warren house. My husband is a fantastic cook
 
—he loves to follow recipes and create gourmet food on the weekends. I’m more of an “open the fridge and see what I can create” kind of gal. We could drive each other crazy. Max and Grace’s story shows me that perhaps we are, instead, a winning team, if we’re willing to embrace the moment, the current ingredients before us, and enjoy the mess we make together.

Enjoy
 
—no, feast
 
—on the journey, one meal, one day at a time.

Thank you for reading Max and Grace’s story. There are more Christiansen family adventures ahead! We still need to rescue poor Casper, and what about Raina? Then there’s Owen . . . oh, frustrating, angry, broken Owen. And don’t forget Amelia
 
—she has a few surprises in store for her.

God bless you on the journey,

Susan May Warren

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

S
USAN
M
AY
W
ARREN
is the bestselling, Christy and RITA Award–winning author of more than forty novels whose compelling plots and unforgettable characters have won acclaim with readers and reviewers alike. She served with her husband and four children as a missionary in Russia for eight years before she and her family returned home to the States. She now writes full-time as her husband runs a resort on Lake Superior in northern Minnesota, where many of her books are set.

Susan holds a BA in mass communications from the University of Minnesota. Several of her critically acclaimed novels have been ECPA and CBA bestsellers, were chosen as Top Picks by
Romantic Times
, and have won the RWA’s Inspirational Reader’s Choice contest and the American Christian Fiction Writers’ prestigious Carol Award. Her novel
You Don’t Know Me
won the 2013 Christy Award, and five of her other books have also been finalists. In addition to her writing, Susan loves to teach and speak at women’s events about God’s amazing grace in our lives.

For exciting updates on her new releases, previous books, and more, visit her website at
www.susanmaywarren.com
.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. In her letter, Ingrid describes Grace as her clone, both physically and in her personality, her fears. Who in your own family are you most like? How have those similarities helped you to better understand that person
    
   —or yourself?
   
2. Several of the Christiansens encourage, maybe even push, Grace to step outside her comfort zone. Did you see their encouragement as helpful or bordering on meddling? Have you ever had to similarly “encourage” a loved one? How did you decide how hard to push and when to let go?
   
3. Max and his brother, Brendon, face the same diagnosis but make different decisions about how to live in the face of their eventual illness. Whose approach did you most understand or relate to?
   
4. Even though Raina believes Owen is different from men she’s known in the past, she finds herself falling into a familiar pattern of behavior with him
    
   —one she had sworn not to repeat. Do you think it’s possible for a person to avoid
   making the same mistakes over and over? How? If Raina came to you for advice, what would you tell her?
   
5. Casper sees Owen leaving town and secretly envies him. Do you think Casper is doing the right thing by staying in Deep Haven? Have you ever felt torn between your responsibilities and your dreams? What did you choose?
   
6. Grace’s fears of stepping outside her predictable life crop up in a number of ways, holding her back from chasing her dreams, traveling to Hawaii, even trying new foods. How do you see her courage growing throughout the story? Where does she still experience setbacks?
   
7. Max wants to make it to the hockey Hall of Fame to leave his mark on the world and let people know he was there. But Grace argues, “People know you were there because of the people you’ve loved.” Whose perspective do you agree with? What would it mean for you to leave your mark on the world?
   
8. While Raina believes that a “good person” like her aunt Liza has earned the right to ask God for an abundant life, she knows “a girl like [her] had to make her own future.” Do you believe some people are more worthy of God’s help and blessing than others? Are you more inclined to ask God to direct your life or to make your own future?
   
9. John warns Casper that “[Raina’s] been hurt and I don’t want you to think you can fix her. . . . That’s Jesus’ job.” Casper agrees but secretly hopes that God will use him to
   help heal Raina. How did you react to John’s advice? Do you think Casper was ultimately used for good in Raina’s life?
   
10. When Max leaves her in Hawaii, Grace is devastated, believing that “she’d reached out
     
    —no, flung herself out
     
    —on this great adventure, and God had dropped her. Hard.” Has there ever been a time when you felt “dropped” by God? How did you respond? Looking back, does the situation look the same to you, or has your perspective changed?
    
11. In this story, members of the Christiansen family begin to learn that Max was the one who accidentally injured Owen, ending his hockey career. Were you surprised by their response? If you found yourself in their position, would you be able to forgive Max?
    
12. Max finally shares about his Huntington’s disease with Jace, who tells him that Grace has a right to know the truth. Would you have given the same advice if Max had come to you? Do you think Max was being selfless in sparing Grace or, as Jace suggests, trying to reject her before she could reject him?
    
13. Max’s uncle Norm, who has watched a devastating disease ravage his family, gives his nephews this perspective: “Without suffering, we don’t need more; we have enough. But when we suffer, we can’t help but reach out. It forces us into God’s arms, and that’s where we find not only what we need, but more than we can imagine. We find Him.” Do you think that’s true? What results have you seen from periods of suffering in your own life? How have these times affected your relationship with God?
    
14. What do you think the future holds for Raina? For Casper? For Owen?
    
15. Grace faces the difficult decision of whether to love Max when it means an uncertain future, one far different from what she imagined for herself. Do you think she makes the right choice?