The Hiding Place wk 4 &5~no spoiler alerts required~

[Janet]

Have you finished the book? What did you think? Will it make an impact on your life?
Feel free to discuss anything in the book without spoiler alerts. If you haven't finished the book, you may not want to follow this part of the discussion.

[Andrea]

I absolutely loved this book. My favorite of the year so far! It has already changed my outlook on life. I'm bound and determined to be more optimistic and grateful for the "fleas" in my life. Even in the midst of trial, there are small miracles that go unnoticed every day. Corrie and Betsie noticed them and gave thanks for them.

I developed a case of shingles this week, and I'm so glad I had read this book beforehand. It gave me new perspective and a chance to be thankful for all the small miracles this week, instead of just grumbling and feeling miserable.

This book also reminded me of how much ONE person can impact the world and people around them. ONE person (and her family) probably saved hundreds of lives, and uplifted and blessed thousands of others. If I can impact just a fraction of that many throughout my life, I will feel honored.

Thanks again for suggesting this book. It's a life-changer!

[Marla]

I am almost done, but I've been meaning to comment, but I was behind on the reading...so here are my almost done comments...I had put off any more Nazi and Holocaust books for the past few years, and I am so glad that I joined you in reading this one.

I kept having to remind myself that the horror in this book wasn't fiction, this is her story. I felt so bad for her as everyone died, but was so hopeful when she heard some of her family had been released.

How often do we complain about the "fleas" in our lives instead of thanking God for them. Now, that was a very cool message. Betsie and Corrie were so brave and loving in such a horrible situation. I cannot begin to understand how Betsie was so forgiving and loving toward her captors.

The small acts of kindness and remarkable events of divine intervention are wonderful examples of God answering prayers...if only we pray them, and recognize when they are answered.

[Gabriella]

I really loved this book too. It shows us that we have everything in life to be grateful for, no matter how small it seems. Life is always better when you give thanks for the small gifts instead of always trying to seek out the big ones. When we do this, we will be able to focus on what really matters because it will help to clear our minds instead of stressing out so much that we might not have enough. Also, another important lesson that this book teaches us is that life is so much more enriched when we forgive those who hurt us. We free ourselves of a lot of the hate that we have inside of us when we do that. If we are just going to be holding on to all those cold, bitter and loathsome feelings then we are just adding fire to the circle of hate.

Speaking of not holding onto hate, how do you guys feel about the reaction to Osama bin Laden's death? i don't believe the story, but celebrating someone's death out of hatred was so odious and odd. I felt that it was okay at first because Americans were happy because he can't exact any more harm on them anymore and they 'got him', but the more I thought about it I just felt that if you were doing it, you were carrying some deep resentment inside of you. of course what OBL did takes a lot of time to heal from, and by holding onto those emotions you're not fully allowing yourself to do that.

[Gabriella]

ummmmm..... do you guys agree with me?

[Lanetta]

I know that it is way after the fact but I can't help but leave a question unanswered (I am just now finding time to read the posts). The lesson I feel like we could have learned from the Hiding Place is that we should be praying for Osama bin Laden and looking for ways to teach and reach out to all the people over there. We should not have hate in our hearts and rejoice in whatever "coming to" happens. Corrie had a time at the end when she had to face one of the guards and forgive him...with the help of God she was able to we should do the same thing with bin Laden especially since he has not personally harmed me.

[Marla]

Sorry, I didn't see my notification from this discussion...so waaayyy after the fact: I like the tying in to a present day situation (Osama bin Laden) and our need for letting hate go and embracing forgiveness.