The Perfect Blend (18 page)
Authors: Allie Pleiter
Dear Reader,
Coffee and tea are like life: common yet rare, simple yet complex, familiar yet filled with things still to learn. Maggie and Will discover life's imperfections and bumps in ordinary settings, but they prove the truth that lifeâeven at its most familiarâis never ordinary. Wonders hide under the mundane, and love hides where we least expect it.
Maggie and Will teach each other that life never runs in a straight line. The twists and turns are God's classroom, where He sends events and people to further shape us into citizens of the Kingdom. Some of life's journeys are easier than others, but the journey itself can always be trusted
if
we recognize God's sovereignty. The “delightful inheritance” promised us in Psalm 16 is always secure.
Stop by www.alliepleiter.com and share a digital visit, or send a note to me at P.O. Box 7026, Villa Park, IL 60181 and share your thoughts.
Blessings,
- Have you ever had a dream like Maggie's Higher Grounds? Could you see God in the plan? How has your life changed because of that dream?
- Maggie wants to get started on her dream right away. When is it good to jump into an idea, and why is it sometimes wise to wait? What are you dying to jump into and why?
- Will chose to put distance between himself and his family problems. Do you agree with his choice? How would you respond in a similar situation?
- Not everyone would think of coffee as a ministry. What ordinary gift do you have that God could use in a surprising way?
- Will and Maggie argue over faith vs. facts. Where has that issue risen in your life? Where did you place your trust and why?
- Do you agree with Maggie's parents' decision? How would you have responded to the same request?
- Is your family more like Will's or Maggie's? How has that affected how you see the world?
- Share a time when something silly, like Maggie's whipped cream trick, brightened your day. Can you set out to do something like that, or does it have to happen spontaneously to really work?
- When has God “taken something away” only to “give it back” to you in an even better way? How can that strengthen your faith for tough times?
- Maggie talks about “life happening over coffee.” Who do you need to share a cup with (be it tea or coffee or whatever)? Is there someone God might be nudging you to connectâor reconnectâwith? Share your ideas and make some plans.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-8601-0
THE PERFECT BLEND
Copyright © 2007 by Alyse Stanko Pleiter
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office, Steeple Hill Books, 233 Broadway, New York, NY 10279 U.S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
This edition published by arrangement with Steeple Hill Books.
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