Linda Stoll: Becoming Mrs. Lewis * Book Club & Giveaway #3

Well, hello again ... and welcome back to our third in a series of four Book Club gatherings. I hope you don't mind my arriving in your inbox a day early!

If you're new around here, we've been sharing focused conversation on Patti Callahan's historical fiction bestseller, Becoming Mrs. Lewis: The Improbable Love Story of Joy Davidman and C.S. Lewis. Whether you've been steadily sharing your heart in the comment section ... or are quietly sitting on the sidelines soaking it all in, I'm so glad you're here.

And no, it's not too late to join us! You can grab your Kindle edition and jump right in. Or leave a comment even if you're not reading the book. Absolutely.

I want to call your attention to an exceptional interview that Christianity Today did with Patti Callahan ... Joy Davidman: The Woman Who Wanted Something More. This is must reading, especially if you've been unsettled about the intersection of Joy's 'heartbreakingly slow' faith journey and her blossoming relationship with Lewis.

Patti says, 'I approached the pages with humble reverence but also with the knowledge that they were both human and their pedestals were just as cracked as anyone’s. I didn’t want to portray the marble image but, instead, the woman and the man in their daily struggles, doubts, and fears as best I could ...

Joy and Jack's story isn't meant to be a lesson in Christianity or a how-to book on living a good life. If I wrote this novel to reach anyone with a message, it would feel insincere. The story reaches our hearts because it is true and because it involves the suffering and joy that comes with intimate connection, the meaningful search for God, and the effort to make sense of what seems senseless.'

Read the whole interview here.

A superb piece. A lovely melding of grace and truth.

- Christianity Today -

Thanks for letting me know that you're finding the videos to be glorious and informative. I'm happy to have stumbled onto this little series during my research for the Book Club. I almost feel like I'm right there with you, touring Oxford on a bright spring afternoon, soaking in the old beautiful brick architecture, traipsing through the woods, glimpsing the captivating gardens. Oh, wouldn't that be fun?

For sure, these little online jaunts have turned out to be the icing on the cake, haven't they ...

watch video on YouTube

As ever, this week's quotes below are available for you to weigh in on. I'm especially interested in what's caught your eye and grabbed your heart in your reading.

May your words display that lovely melding of grace and truth mentioned above. May our dialogue be even warmer and more gracious because you came by to visit.

Every person who leaves a comment {limit 2 per post!} on any of the four Book Club posts will be eligible for a $25 Amazon gift card. {U.S. only ... and please be sure your comment links to your contact info.} The winner will be announced a few days after our final March 14th discussion.

'Discernment fell down on me with great weight: You must know when it's enough ... and I must trust God - again and again I was learning and relearning to trust the Truth who had entered my sons' nursery. The rusty and decrepit habit of trusting in only myself, only abiding in my own ability to make things happen, died hard and slow.'
{Joy, chapter 40, page 294}

*

'When love becomes a god it becomes a devil.'
{Jack, chapter 43, page 318}

*

'I know now, Lord, why you utter no answer. You are yourself the answer. Before your face questions die away.

Questions that die away.

Answers I sought.

Questions that haunt.

All my life I'd been searching outside myself for the answer to this one inquiry: do you love me?

Seeking, always seeking. Always scrambling. Always losing. This I'd thought more times than I could count, this is the answer and this is the mask and this is the way.'

{Joy, chapter 44, page 323}

What are you discovering about yourself
as you make your way through this story?

And what are you learning about God's redemptive love?

If you've written a post on Becoming Mrs. Lewis
or have come across some Joy resources,
please do share those links ...