Daring To Hope

Katie Davis Majors

Book Club Discussion Questions:

1. Why do think this book is so popular? Did it make you cry? At what parts?
2. Has anyone ever traveled to Uganda or close?  Does anyone want to go to the “Pearl of Africa” after reading this book?
3. “Prisoners of Hope” are explained in ch. 5.  What did you learn about hope? Why do we sometimes resist hope? 
4. Besides hope, what other themes did you see in this book?  Which one is the most meaningful to you right now? 
5. “The LORD Will Provide” (p. 26, 192) is another theme. “But God’s promise to Abraham spoke to me. God wasn’t promising me ease. He wasn’t promising that things would go as planned. God wasn’t promising a world without trouble, without heartbreak along the way. He was promising me Himself.”
6. Katie mentions a few lessons that she learned about life in the Western world vs. Uganda.  What can we learn?
7. Katie discusses the true meaning of “happy endings.” (pp. 14-15) She shares how her “happy ending thinking” was redefined (p. 39)  Does teaching our children to pursue the American dream go against her idea?
8. Besides Katie, which person in this book is the most memorable to you and why? (Betty dying p. 124-130)
9. Many people think that what Katie Davis Majors has done is very brave (p. 135). Do you agree? How has reading this book challenged you to do something that takes courage?  What is one thing that you will do now?
10. Is there a Scripture verse that was referenced or a quote that spoke to your heart?  Care to share? (i.e., “A faith that trusts Him only when the ending is good is a fickle faith. A faith that trusts Him regardless of the outcome is real.”)
11. Do you have any criticism of this book- the content, the style? What would you say to someone who says, “Easy for Katie to say, she’s living a blessed life: big family, loving husband, great health, fruitful ministry. Easy for her to talk about meeting God in the hard”?
12.  To whom would you recommend this book? Why?

Quotations from DARING TO HOPE:

1. Sometimes the things we would never pick for our lives gives us opportunities to receive God’s provision, to see Him working in ways we otherwise might not…
2. It is a bit of a mess, this business of love. As more and more people enter our lives, we are left with not choice but to enter theirs as well…This, at first glance, seems so burdensome, so overwhelming, but somehow I have found it not to be any longer. Something about shouldering the burdens of another brings a lightness to our own affliction. We are in it together, and Christ is in it with us.
3. Then we both look at that leg and see so much more than new skin. We see Jesus. He met us right there on the cold, hard cement floor of my sunroom with our festering wounds and our messy hearts. He took two broken people and showed us the scars on His hands and whispered that it was okay if we had our scars too, because the scars were always meant to draw us into His glory.
4. In a full life of trying to do great big things for God and see His glory in big ways, He showed me that He is glorified in the small too. He is glorified in each pot of pasta faithfully put on the table for our people. God is glorified each time we look into a stranger’s eyes and acknowledge the person’s humanity. He is glorified when we focus on Him instead of focusing on our lack, and He is glorified when we help our child with her hundredth math problem..Small acts of love become whispers of His glory in the midst of our everydayness.” 
5. I think that each of us just as lacking as the next, the most powerful thing we can do for another person is not to try to fix his or her pain or make it go away but to acknowledge it. I cannot heal or perform miracles. Even for all my trying, I cannot make sure that someone will receive salvation from Jesus. But I can be a witness. I can look at another’s broken, bleeding mess and say, ‘I see you. I am with you. I will not turn away.’
6. I miss Katherine’s laugh, loud and infectious. When I see her children smile, I see her, and I still wish the ending had been different.I asked God Why? again and again. What could all this suffering possibly accomplish? Why would He allow us to love people so deeply? A dear friend suggested, “Maybe because He knew you would. Could it be that be God’s answer to us as we walk the hard road? “I knew you would do it. I knew you would love them.” And suddenly the hard road becomes not a burden but a place of great honor, a place of partnership and intimacy with Him.
7. Then I think that maybe courage is not at all about the absence of fear but about obedience even when we are afraid. Maybe courage is trusting when we don’t know what is next, leaning into the hard knowing that it will be hard, but God will be near.
8. And I want to be just like that little bird. Hope is a crazy thing, a courageous thing. Faith is a bold, irrational choice. But that little bird—she feels the sun coming, knows with certainty that it will come, even when she can’t yet see it
9. I am the addict and doubt is my drug, this ugly lack of trust, the place I turn when I am weak. It is my lifelong Jacob wrestle, my unwillingness to lay a dear one on the altar and trust that the Lord will provide. 
10. Our hope in Him is not determined by our circumstances but by His character, always faithful to us.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him,

so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:13