Blue Bottle Club
Penelope J. Stokes
In the wake of the depression of 1929, four friends gather in a cold, dusty attic on Christmas day to make a solemn pact. “Our dreams for the future,” they whisper, as they place tiny pieces of paper holding their life wishes into the blue, cabin-shaped bottle. Letitia dreams of marriage and children; Mary hopes to be a painter; Eleanor aspires to help those in need as a social worker; Adora longs to be a Broadway actress. Four girls, four dreams, and four futures sealed in a cobalt blue bottle. Sixty-five years later, local news reporter Brendan Delaney stumbles upon the bottle, discovering the most meaningful story of her career and possibly the meaning missing from her own life.
**we deviated from the book we had originally planned-- "House and Home, " due to some rather intimate and unnecessary details and cussing we'd rather not read.
This book was enjoyable. I'm glad we chose this one instead of the other one!!!
ReplyDeleteYes, it's about a group of childhood friends with a we'll-be-friends-forever feel, but it's more than that, which made it different from all those other similar feeling books.
Basically, the book is about how we all have dreams that may or may not ever achieve or realize, but that God is in control and will make things work out best for us in the long run. God knows our hearts and when we're open to his guidance in our lives, he can help us fulfill those innermost dreams and desires (that we may not have even known existed).
Here are some quotes from the book that I liked:
"The dream itself is the gift, you see--not necessarily the fulfillment. The dream, the longing for something outside ourselves, something greater and finer and nobler, is put into our hearts and souls by God who loves us. The dreams we're aware of keep us reaching, give us hope, provide a goal to strive for. Whether or not they're ever fulfilled, they serve their purpose. Dreams are like love: never lost, even is it goes unrequited. For the very experience of loving makes us tenderer, better people, more capable of receiving and appreciating God's love."
"It's the dreams we are unaware of that are the most important ones. God sees into our hearts and knows our souls inside out. Our conscious dreams may go unfulfilled, but the Lord's dreams--those deeper ones--are always realized. We just have to keep our eyes open to see the miracle when it happens."
"There are two things important in this life--love and forgiveness. Don't give your future to the past. Live without regret."
"Understanding is irrelevant. Only love matters."
"The real challenge of life was not fulfilling one's dreams, but being willing to give them up for the sake of a greater call. God had not asked her to lay down her art--that was a Divine gift and would not be revoked. God had only asked her to lay down her pride."
(*context: she had wanted to be an artist and had the chance to become famous, but turned it down because her satisfaction wasn't in the fame, but the peace and faith she received from doing art for God's purposes. Followed by this next quote about her....)
"Everyone had marvelled at how much she was willing to sacrifice.... But no one could understand, unless they had done it themselves, that it wasn't a sacrifice at all. She had let go of her dreams, but in return, she had been given passion and fulfillment, vision and direction."
"Everyone has dreams--and everyone knows what it's like to see their dreams crumble. But these women have found something more stable to hang onto. They're not content and fulfilled because circumstances turned out the way they hoped, but because of their faith in God who is above circumstance."
*What are your dreams? And what are you willing to sacrifice to see them realized?
Now really, what are your REAL innermost dreams? (those from your inner child-like pure heart, regarding character or doing good...because it's those that God is directing you towards, but we just have to keep our hearts humble, our minds faithful, our hands willing, and our eyes open to see His hand directing our lives.
It's nice to know He is in control...and we can have peace in that.