Finding Father Christmas (17 page)

“You must be Miranda,” he said, rolling the “r” with the same Scottish twist that was so evident every time his father said
my name.

I quickly pulled the paper crown off my head. “And you must be Andrew’s son.”

“Ian,” he said.

“Ian,” I repeated.

“So.” He gave his earlobe a tug. “I heard you wanted to meet me.”

“Really? The way I heard it, you’re the one who wanted to meet me.”

He smiled.

I smiled.

Both of us seemed to be turning a bit rosy.

I noticed Andrew standing just off to the side in the hallway. The jolly ole elf caught my eye and raised an eyebrow. I knew
he was checking to make sure I liked the final gift he had just delivered on his rounds this year.

My answer to him was a great big bashful grin. I think he got the message. Ian certainly did.

That’s when I realized the unimagined had happened. In my heart and in my life, it finally was Christmas.

1. Do you know any women like Miranda who grew up without a father? How have these women filled the empty space in their lives?

2. What do you think of Miranda’s decision to go searching for her birth father?

3. How did Doralee’s spiritual experience affect Miranda in the long run?

4. Why do you think Miranda preferred to think of herself as an accident of nature rather than someone created by God?

5. Miranda liked accounting because the numbers could be “counted on” to always act in certain ways. What or who do you rely
on to be stable when the rest of life seems to be on shifting sand?

6. How would you feel if you found yourself depending on the kindness of strangers at Christmastime?

7. What roles did the image of Father Christmas play in the book? In what ways was this “character” like God? In what ways
was Father Christmas different from God?

8. Read Genesis 21:8-21. Ishmael was the son of a slave and of the slave’s owner, Abraham. Early in life Ishmael was separated
from his father and raised by his mother. How do you think Ishmael felt about his father as Ishmael grew up? What do you
think Hagar told her son about his father? Do you think she portrayed Abraham sympathetically or unkindly? What does this
story tell us about fathers and mothers? What does it tell us about God as our heavenly Father?

9. Was there ever a time you felt your parents withheld important information from you, including possibly leading you to
believe in Santa? How did you feel about your parents when you found out the truth?

10. Miranda was concerned that God might be like a one-eyed dragon on the other end of the swimming pool. Can you recount
a time you thought of God as potentially dangerous? Did you, like Miranda, run away, or did you respond differently?

11. How did God win Miranda’s heart? What does this tell us about him?

12. Can you recall a time someone beckoned you, like Christmas Present called to Miranda, “Come in, and know me better”? How
did that make you feel?

13. What do you think of the way Miranda told the Whitcombes about her possible relationship to them? Do you think she handled
the situation fairly for all involved?

14. What does the last paragraph of the book tell us has occurred in Miranda spiritually and emotionally?

15. Identify a time when you felt you were experiencing Christmas after a long winter in your life. How did that make you
feel about God?

Robin Jones Gunn
grew up in Southern California, where both her parents were teachers. She attended Biola University and spent time traveling
throughout Europe and attending Capern-wray Bible School before marrying Ross Gunn in 1977.

Ross and Robin worked together in youth ministry for over twenty years and raised a son and a daughter while living in interesting
places, including Reno and Maui.

When their children were young, Robin would rise at three a.m., make a pot of tea, and write pages and pages about her imaginary
friends, Christy, Katie, and Todd. The Christy Miller series became Robin’s first series of novels for teens, followed by
the Sierra Jensen series. Over the past twenty years, Robin has written sixty-one books, including the bestselling Sisterchicks®
novels for women, along with her award-winning gentle love stories in the Glenbrooke series.

For the past twelve years, Robin and her family have lived near Portland, Oregon, and are part of Imago Dei community. Robin
loves to travel. She is a much-loved story-weaver and an aficionado of dark chocolate.

You are warmly invited to visit Robin at her Web site:
www.robingunn.com
.

If you liked

Finding Father Christmas…

Engaging Father Christmas

Bestselling author Robin Jones Gunn brings readers another charming Christmas novella about a man and a woman, and a Christmas
that just might change their relationship forever.

Miranda Carson’s search for belonging continues in ENGAGING FATHER CHRISTMAS, the sequel to
Finding Father Christmas.
Arriving in Carlton Heath a year after her introduction to the charming community, Miranda is eager to visit the Whitcombe
family but harbors doubts about how this Christmas will unfold. Will her relationship with Ian change everything for her and
the Whitcombes? More important, how will Miranda respond when the engaging moment comes and Father Christmas is at the door?

Bestselling author Robin Jones Gunn

brings readers a poignant

Christmas novella about a woman

desperate for a place to belong, who finds

herself in England a few days before

Christmas, looking for the father

she never knew.

FINDING FATHER

CHRISTMAS

Miranda Carson’s search for her father takes a turn she never expected when she finds herself in England with only a few feeble
clues to who he might be. Unexpectedly welcomed into a family that doesn’t recognize her and whom she’s quickly coming to
love, she faces a terrible decision.

Should she reveal her true identity and destroy their idyllic image of her father? Or should she carry the truth home with
her to San Francisco and remain alone in this world? Whatever choice she makes during this Christmas will forever change the
future for both her and the family she can’t bear to leave.

Robin Jones Gunn combines lyrical writing and unforgettable characters to craft a story of longing and belonging that will
stay with readers long after they close the pages of this book.

“Enchanting. Engrossing. Enriching. Gunn’s novella is a gift to be opened and savored—best digested with a cup of tea on a
cold winter’s day. I look forward to the next installment of Miranda’s story so I can find out what transpires next!”

—LISA T. BERGREN, author of
The Begotten, The Betrayed,
and
What Women Want

Ross Jones Gunn III

ROBIN JONES GUNN is the bestselling author of sixty books, representing nearly 3.5 million copies sold. A dozen of her novels
have appeared at the top of the CBA bestseller list, including her wildly successful Sisterchicks® series, the Glenbrooke
series, and the popular Christy Miller series for teens. Robin and her husband of thirty years have two grown children and
live near Portland, Oregon, where they are longtime members of Imago Dei Community, the church written about in Donald Miller’s
book
Blue Like Jazz.
You can find out more about Robin at her Web site:
www.robingunn.com
.

Praise for

F
INDING
F
ATHER

CHRISTMAS

“With deep warmth and charming poignancy, Robin Jones Gunn brings us a tale as timeless as Christmas.”

—K
AREN
K
INGSBURY
, bestselling author of
Like Dandelion Dust and Just Beyond the Clouds

“With tender beauty, Robin Jones Gunn weaves a timeless Christmas tale that touches the fatherless place in us all—welcoming
us home into the Family, reminding us that we are all invited to be a part of the great Father heart of God.”

—J
OANNA
W
EAVER
, bestselling author of
Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World
and
Having a Mary Spirit

“Robin Jones Gunn has produced yet another warm, affectionate, heartfelt tale. This book is a winner.”

—DAVIS BUNN, bestselling author of
Imposter

“With magical prose and a touching story, Robin has woven a heartwarming Christmas tale. Cozy up with a cup of tea and enjoy!”

—M
ELODY
C
ARLSON
, author of
An Irish Christmas
and
These Boots Aren’t Made for Walking

“On the calendar, Christmas arrives at the beginning of winter. In our individual lives, however, ‘Christmas’ often comes
at the end of a long winter—and this inspiring book shows us just how special its long-awaited arrival can be!”

—B
RET
N
ICHOLAUS
, bestselling author of
The Christmas Letters