1. Sadie is presented with two good opportunities–to be matron of the orphan home and to
become Blaine’s wife. But they are mutually exclusive. By choosing one she forfeits the other.
Have you ever found yourself having to choose between two good things? How did you go about
making your decision? How did it turn out?
2. Sadie and Blaine each have a personal history that shapes who they are and how they
communicate with one another. How did each history contribute to their understanding of one
another? How did each history contribute to their misunderstanding of one another?
3. Carter and Blaine share a personal history, both good and bad, and yet they veer in opposite
directions. Why do you think this is? How does Sadie play into the choices each makes? Or does
she?
4. Earl’s interest in the care of dependent children occurs on a more philosophical, legislative and
administrative level while Sadie’s is a day-to-day caring for individuals. Both are valid and
needed. Think about an issue that stirs your own heart. Are you a Sadie or an Earl? Are you
acting within your giftings, or like Sadie as matron, or have you laid aside your strengths in order
to act in a way that appears more important? If you are an Earl in your giftings, have you stopped
long enough to see and appreciate those who do the day-to-day work of the issues that drive your
public passion?
5. Sadie and Blaine must both give up things as they grow through the story–more than her job
and his land. What are some other things they each sacrifice along the way? What moments of
change make them willing to make those larger sacrifices?
6. Sadie hides her weakness with numbers due to her belief that her strengths will far outweigh
that weakness. Miranda hides her strengths for fear that they will never overcomes her
deficiencies. In doing so, they hurt the very cause and organization they both loved. Share an
instance in which you have either hidden a weakness or a strength that hurt a situation you had
hoped to help. Were you eventually “found out” or did you finally reveal what you’d hidden?
7. What character did you most closely identify with and why? What character made you most
angry or frustrated and why?
8. Was there a verse or passage of Scripture that came to mind when you finished the book? How
did you see that theme played out through the story?
9. Share something you learned from the story that you didn’t know before. It could be a bit of
history or something about yourself or about people in general.
10. Mrs. Fore was truly a mentor to all the younger characters. Has there been an older woman in
your life that tried to help steer you in the right direction? Have you been that loving mentor a
younger woman?