Return (33 page)

Discussion Questions

Use these questions for individual reflection or for discussion with a book club or other small group. They will help you not only understand some of the issues in
Return
but also integrate some of the book’s messages into your own relationships.

1. 1. What caused Luke to leave his family?
   
2. 2. How did fear play a part in his departure?
   
3. 3. How did pride play a part?
   
4. 4. What was his father’s reaction to Luke’s departure?
   
5. 5. Recall the scene when John Baxter was at his son’s apartment, confronting him about his girlfriend. How could you identify with John’s feelings?
   
6. 6. How did you identify with Luke’s feelings?
   
7. 7. What did John say to Luke before he left? Do you think he meant the things he said? Why or why not?
   
8. 8. Have you ever had a time when you left someone you loved?
   
9. 9. Why did you leave?
   
10. 10. What emotions played a part in your leaving? How did you feel after you left?
    
11. 11. If you have now returned to that person, how did you go about returning?
    
12. 12. Did that person you left express words of unconditional love the way John did to Luke? If not, what did that person say to you?
    
13. 13. Did someone you love ever leave you? Why?
    
14. 14. What emotions did you feel when that person left? What did you do about those feelings?
    
15. 15. Did that person return to you? If so, why? What were your feelings when he or she returned?
    
16. 16. Luke’s mother told him about the Hound of Heaven. Explain who that term refers to, and how God worked that way in Luke’s life throughout this story.
    
17. 17. How did God work that way in Landon’s life?
    
18. 18. How did God work that way in Reagan’s life?
    
19. 19. How have you seen the Hound of Heaven working in your life or the life of someone you love?
    
20. 20. Besides the situation with Luke, what other aspects of this story dealt with returning to people you love?
    
21. 21. Give three definitions of
    return
    as it applies to relationships.
    
22. 22. Which most relates to your life? Explain.
    
23. 23. Identify one person who either needs to return to you, or whom you need to return to. Make a plan to carry out that return sometime soon.
    
24. 24. Identify a relationship that is suffering from busyness, time, or distance. Make a plan to return to that person on a regular basis as a way of honoring him or her.
    
25. 25. List three things you have learned about relationships by reading
    Return.
    

Also in the Redemption Series…

R  E  D  E  M  P  T  I  O  N

R  E  M  E  M  B  E  R

R  E  T  U  R  N

R  E  J  O  I  C  E

R  E  U  N  I  O  N

Other Relationship Books by Gary Smalley

Food and Love
One Flame
Love Is a Decision
(with John Trent)
Bound by Honor
(with Greg Smalley)
Joy That Lasts
(with Al Janssen)
Love That Lasts Forever
The Language of Love
(with John Trent)
The Blessing
(with John Trent)
The Two Sides of Love
(with John Trent)

Other Emotionally Gripping Fiction Titles
by Karen Kingsbury

Where Yesterday Lives • Waiting for Morning
A Moment of Weakness • When Joy Came to Stay
A Time to Dance • On Every Side
Halfway to Forever • A Time to Embrace
Gideon’s Gift—A Christmas Novella

T
he
R    E    D    E    M    P    T    I    O    N
Series by Karen Kingsbury and Gary Smalley

Novelist Karen Kingsbury and relationship expert Gary Smalley team up to bring you the
Redemption Series,
which explores the relationship principles Gary has been teaching for more than thirty years and applies them to one family in particular—the Baxters. In the crucible of their tragedies and triumphs, the Baxter family learns about commitment, forgiveness, faith, and the redeeming hand of God.

Check out the first two novels in the
Redemption Series
today!

  
Redemption
is a story of love at all costs. Kari Baxter Jacob’s husband is having an affair with one of his students. Stunned, Kari returns home to the Baxter family to sort things out. But when an old flame shows up, Kari is more confused than ever. How can Kari forgive her husband for the hurt he has caused? And what about her own revived feelings for Ryan, a man she knows she should avoid? Only as she turns to God can Kari find healing and redemption.

  
Remember
follows Ashley Baxter on a journey from tragedy to healing. Ashley has locked up her heart, convinced that no one—including God—could love her. Then comes the nightmare of September 11, which forever changes the lives of the Baxter family, leading them to make decisions that are both heartbreaking and hope-filled.