A Re-discovered Novel During our COVID Sheltering in Place, many of us have evolved into book detectives, searching our bookshelves to solve the mystery of the misplaced book we loved and let get away, far into the dark recesses of that shelf. I’ve rediscovered the superb storyteller Jon Hassler. Grand Opening, a grand tale, is one of his best. Not your ordinary coming of age novel, Grand Opening’s young character, Dodger, is part rebel with a record and part sensitive, vulnerable and terribly misunderstood. Living in small town Minnesota during World War Two, he is shunned by many. Grocery store owners and newcomers Hank and Catherine Foster, son Brendan and Grandfather take in Dodger and offer him the opportunity for schooling and work in the store. Plum, an imaginary small town in Southwest Minnesota, is typical of many small towns, friendly on the surface, but at heart somewhat malicious. Reminiscent of Sinclair Lewis’ Main Street, …

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  I find their stories compelling and providing many life lessons. In these women’s stories, we visit the New Testament churches and their church communities. There no one suffered in want, no one was isolated. Members of the Way (an early name for Christianity) shared their joys and sorrows and helped each other grow in their faith walks. Women of the Bible reveal that no one is perfect. Often they were called to ministries for which many could say, they were unqualified or ill-prepared. But God recognized their gifts and potential and helped them to develop those gifts and grow their ministry. Doubts regarding their calling and their own abilities surfaced, yet they found God’s grace more than sufficient to counter the doubts, gain confidence and successfully go forward in ministry. Joy was abundant in their lives of faith, but for every joy, there was sorrow, loss or danger. Life under Roman rule was not …

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