What others suppose about me—about us—no longer matters. Their accusations were a piercing thorn, but truth is a soothing salve. Whenever a lingering concern reveals itself, it's evidence that a bit of me remains after all. What cause for celebration there will be when all of me is finally lost in Him.
In the meantime, my dear friend, let's dance . . .
Faithfully,
Jenna
Dear Reader,
Lost and Found was written during one of the most difficult seasons of my life—a season where I, like Jenna, was learning what it meant to pick up my cross and follow Christ. It was a season of profound pain. A season of loss. Yet, as I surrendered to God, I found my life hid in Him and I found unexpected joy in His embrace.
During that year, I picked up the writings of Madame Jeanne Guyon. Jeanne Guyon, born in 1648, suffered more than I could imagine. Her autobiography was written from a cell in the Bastille at the command of her captors. Though she alluded to her suffering, it seemed almost an aside—an afterthought meant to simply highlight the delight she found in an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. It was that very relationship, in fact, for which she was imprisoned.
Upon my first reading of her story, I was angered by her passivity in the face of emotional torment directed at her by her mother-in-law and her maid. I was exasperated by her husband's neglect of her. I was outraged that she didn't fight against the establishment that convicted her and stand up for herself and the Holy Spirit living within her. I judged her a weak example of stewardship of the life God granted her.
I put the book aside and intended to forget about Madame Jeanne Guyon.
But her story nagged.
And nagged.
Also, two of my favorite authors, women who've mentored me through their writing, had both written about Jeanne Guyon. Either I'd also misjudged them, or I was missing something in Madame Guyon's life. So, a few weeks later, I picked up her autobiography again.
This time, I saw her with different eyes. I saw her with eyes that see. Instead of passivity, I saw faith. Instead of weakness, I saw strength. Instead of a lack of stewardship, I saw a woman whose life and faith are still speaking three centuries later.
Jeanne Guyon was intimately acquainted with what it meant to give up one's life for Christ's sake. She knew what it was to share in the sufferings of Christ—to know harsh judgment founded on the fear and lies of others. She understood, like Christ, that she was called to listen for the will of the Father, and the Father alone.
After my second reading of Jeanne Guyon's autobiography, I knew God had provided a companion for me through my own suffering—another woman to lead me in the way of prayer and surrender to God. For many months, I felt as though Jeanne Guyon walked with me through my own hardships and I began to wonder what a contemporary Jeanne Guyon might look like. What would she suffer? How would she handle it? How would she relate to God? To others?
Thus, the story of Lost and Found was born. It is a picture, I pray, of what it looks like to lose our lives for Christ's sake today. It is also a picture of one woman's romance with Christ.
It is a romance, a dance, I'm also participating in—and it's beyond anything I've ever imagined. It is also a romance He's calling you to. Do you hear Him? Do you see Him holding out His hand?
Will you dance with Him?
I pray you will . . .
I'd love for you to share your thoughts on Lost and Found with me. You may e-mail me through my Web site: www.ginnyyttrup.com.
Finally, if you related to Jenna's relationship with Brigitte in any way, if you find yourself in an emotionally destructive or abusive relationship, please, please, please pick up Leslie Vernick's book The Emotionally Destructive Relationship and allow God to lead you to a place of greater emotional health and strength found in Him (LeslieVernick.com).
Warmly,
Ginny L. Yttrup
Discussion Questions
1.Like Jenna, victims of long-term emotional abuse often lose themselves in the abusive relationship. Are there relationships or circumstances in your life that threaten the core of who you are? How do you hold on to the person God created you to be?
2.How did you feel about the way Jenna handled her relationship with Brigitte in the beginning of the story? How might you have handled the relationship differently?
3.Jenna chronicled her suffering and her relationship with God through her blog. How do you handle suffering? Do you reach out for others as Jenna did? Or do you isolate yourself?
4.Due to the wounds of her past, Andee felt compelled to control her circumstances. Are there wounds from your past that affect your behavior?
5.After learning Andee's secret, did you feel more compassion for her and less judgment of her? Are there people in your life you might extend that same compassion?
6.Both Jenna and Andee were faced with the choice of revealing truth or hiding behind their circumstances. How did the truth set them free? How does it set you free? (See John 8:32.)
7.At first, Jenna misinterpreted what it meant to pick up her cross and follow Christ, assuming it meant she had to stay in her place of suffering. What does it truly mean, based on Matthew 10:34–39, to pick up our cross and follow Christ?
8.Does anything about the verses in Matthew 10:34–39 surprise you? What?
9.Have you had to make the choice to walk away from people in your life who keep you from Christ? If so, was it a difficult decision and how did you handle it? If not, how would you deal with someone who came between you and your relationship with God?
10.Does the kind of relationship Jenna had with God seem extreme to you? Why or why not?
11.Jenna and Matthew shared a bond based on their mutual love for Christ. Do you have people in your life that you can share your spiritual journey with? If not, how might you establish such relationships and how would they benefit you?
12.Jenna seemed to have a romance with God. Does that type of relationship with God appeal to you? Why or why not?
13.Andee worked to redeem herself after she betrayed Jason and his family. Why did her efforts fail?
14.Have you ever struggled to accept God's forgiveness? Explain.
15.Lost and Found portrays God working simultaneously through the lives of Jenna and Andee. Unbeknownst to Jenna, God had her pray that Andee would "choose life," then He used that same passage of Scripture (Deut. 30:19) to encourage Jenna to do the same. Do you believe God works this way? Can you share an example from the Bible or from your own life?
16.Throughout Lost and Found, God seemed to speak to Jenna, Matthew, and even Andee. Do you believe God still speaks to His people? If so, how?
17.What did you take away from this story that you can apply to your own life?
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