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This is an impossibly hard book to review. It covers so many topics and so very thoroughly and well, I can’t begin to give a cohesive overview. There are chapters on fear, peace, hope, convictions, confrontation, dealing with diverse world views… basically, it is a good book for any Christian to read. It has gotten me to think deeply about many things. I do wish to read it in a slower fashion and not on a review-book deadline, because it’s not the best book to skim.

Personally, I preferred reading the Scripture quotations from KJV (each chapter began with several verses). But the theology was sound, from all I could tell. I highly recommend it.

Just a sample of the quotes:
“Behind every belief is a believer, and behind every question is a questioner.”

“Listening is a vital part of responding. The more and better we hear others, the more and better they will hear us.”

“God has revealed Himself through His Word, through Jesus Christ, His Spirit in the life of the church, and even His created world. Is God hidden?”

“For every person who feels that prayer has not ‘worked’ for him and has therefore abandoned God, there is someone else for whom prayer remains a vital part of her life, sustaining her even when her prayers have gone unanswered, because her belief and trust are not only in the power of prayer but in the character and wisdom of God. When God is the focus of our prayer, I believe He sustains and preserves our faith.”

“There are only two options: either go to God on His terms and find our perfect peace in His acceptance of us, or play God with self-defining morality and kill.” (Speaking of Cain)

“The kings steeped the young men [Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego] in Babylonian philosophy and tried to change their names and worldview. But God’s faithful servants ended up changing the kings’ allegiance and identities.”

“I would suggest that sometime we lose our ability to sense God or see Him at work because we choose not to obey Him.”

“Only when we surrender to the light of God’s truth in our own lives are we enabled to truly see and then be a beacon of hope and healing in our dark world.”

“…Thomas Merton observed that man is not at peace with his fellow man because he is not at peace with himself, and he is not at peace with himself because he is not at peace with God…. So what lies beneath our struggle is a daily routine based on a momentous decision. That decision is to deal with what we do to hurt ourselves, not what others do to hurt us. The attacks of others simply will not succeed if we have taken the protection to guard our souls.”

“… giving all that is your best to God is worship at its core. This cannot be done without the sacrifice of the acclaim and adulation of the world.”

*I received this book from Book Look Bloggers and happily provided my honest review*

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I think one thing I liked the best about this one is Margot’s detestation of feelings and romance. Totally a girl after my heart. I loved how she had to journey through the difficulty of an emotional trial yet rejecting the emotions, and having to learn about being a girl with emotions and calling. Yes, totally my girl.

I definitely didn’t find the romance as strong in this as in some of Roseanna’s other books (which isn’t an issue with me). There was some sap and a couple of kisses, but romance definitely wasn’t the highlight of everyone’s thoughts.

As for faith content, I found the characters to be very historically accurate. They were Catholic, as was historic their genealogy, so a couple of Catholic rituals were mentioned (namely mass and praying the rosary). The characters were portrayed as those who had genuine faith in God and not in the church; a relationship not mere religion. I don’t agree with the Catholic beliefs of salvation and the Bible, but none of the controversial topics were brought out in this novel. At times, I forgot the characters were supposed to be Catholic, until the rosary or mass were mentioned (and coming from my homestate steeped in Catholicism, it didn’t seem authentic ritualistic religion). Some people would have a problem with this, but honestly, I didn’t find any unBiblical doctrine covered in the book.

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