Again, thanks for traveling with me through the pages of this book. I can’t wait to see you at the start of Above the Line: Take Two.
Until then, keep looking for fireflies.
In His light and love,
Karen Kingsbury
www.KarenKingsbury.com
READER STUDY GUIDE
Please use the following questions for your book club, small group, or for personal reflection.
1. What drove Keith Ellison and Chase Ryan to leave Indonesia and move to California to make movies? Is there anything you feel that passionately about? Explain.
2. What does Keith mean when he says the culture has forgotten about truth? Can you give an example of this from your own community?
3. The producers see the world of entertainment as a vast mission field. What do they mean by this?
4. Do you agree with them? Why or why not?
5. Is it important for producers today to consider making films that favor faith and family? Give an example of a film you’ve seen lately that had a positive effect on your life. Explain.
6. Andi Ellison is troubled by the death of her friend, Rachel. Has there been something tragic in your life that defies an easy explanation? How have you learned to live with that situation?
7. Has your faith or the faith of someone you love been tested in recent years? Explain.
8. Andi talks about wanting to experience life. Have you lived through a time when you made wrong choices for the sake of experiencing life? Share your stories and how those choices affected your life.
9. Lisa Ellison spends nearly the entire shoot in Bloomington with her husband. She might’ve done other things with her time. What do you think motivated her to stay on the set? Talk about an incident when you sacrificed your time and energy in support of someone else.
10. Kelly Ryan doubted her husband’s ability to make a movie on such a limited budget, and she was right. Is it better to be encouraging or right when it comes to your input over the major decisions in the lives of people you love? Share an example of how you handled such a moment, and how the situation played out.
11. Time and again, Keith and Chase felt God was reminding them that persecution was something that came with being a Christian. Talk about a time when you suffered through persecution. Did it draw you closer to God and the people around you? Explain.
12. Read chapter one of James. How did the producers show a sense of joy even in the face of trials? How have you been able to show that kind of joy in your life?
13. Bailey Flanigan has a great relationship with her mother. What proof of this was there in the story? Do you have that type of relationship with your family members? Why or why not?
14. Andi allowed herself to compromise her beliefs several times. What compromises did she make? Has there been a time in your life when you compromised? How did you feel about yourself? How did you feel about your faith?
15. The Baxter family stands as a strong example to Keith and Chase as a beautiful picture of what a family should be like. What in this book demonstrated the closeness of the Baxters? In what ways is your family close and connected like the Baxters?
16. Bailey struggles at times in her honesty toward her room-mate. How do you feel about that? Is it okay to keep private details to yourself when you first meet a friend?
17. Both Bailey and Andi experienced jealousy in the early weeks of their friendship. Have you had a friendship that was plagued with jealousy—one way or another? What was the outcome of that friendship?
18. Bailey finds herself in a situation where she must want the best for her roommate, Andi, even if that means accepting the fact that Andi might be interested in Cody Coleman. Have you ever had to accept some difficult situations as part of loving a friend or family member? Explain.
19. Hayley Baxter says a very short and eloquent prayer at the end of dinner the night everyone is gathered at the old Baxter house. She simply thanks God for His miracles. What miracles have you witnessed in your life or the life of someone you know? How did you feel about God after that?
20. Chase Ryan is amazed at the reality of fireflies. Because they exist, he believes God can do anything. What example of amazement exists in your life? How has it affected your faith?
READ AN EXCERPT FROM THE NEXT BOOK IN THE ABOVE THE LINE SERIES: TAKE TWO
BAILEY FLANIGAN WAS WALKING ACROSS THE Indiana University campus to rehearsal after class Monday when her phone vibrated. Her roommate or her boyfriend, she figured. No one else would be texting her in the middle of the day. She pulled her phone from the pocket of her rain jacket, and what she saw made her breath catch in her throat.
Cody Coleman? After he hadn’t talked to her in nearly a month? They’d seen each other on campus—even from a distance, and they sat in the same Campus Crusade meeting every Thursday night, but still, other than a polite wave or a quick hello, he hadn’t talked to her. Sometimes it seemed he went out of his way to avoid her.
She felt her heartrate pick up as she read the message. Miss you … more than you know. She read it again and a third time. The message was short, but it spoke straight to her heart and made her long for the chance to see him, talk to him. His absence from her life was the one thing she didn’t understand, could never figure out. He talked to her roommate, Andi Ellison, now and then, but never to her.
“Does he ever mention me?” she had asked Andi that morning as they were leaving their dorm.
“Not really.” Andi frowned. “It’s weird, I agree with you. I think it’s because of Tim.”
Bailey’s mom thought the same thing. Ever since Tim Reed had become Bailey’s boyfriend, Cody had backed out. Never mind his promise of friendship, he’d cut her off completely. There were times when she wanted to make the first move, call him and ask why he was being so ridiculous, staying away from her and her family. But she always figured if he really cared he’d call first. After all, he was the one who had walked past her at the Clear Creek High football game a month ago with barely a glance in her direction.
It was raining, so she pulled up her hood and used her body to shelter her phone. She tapped her response with blazing speed. Yeah, Cody … miss you too. She hit send and slid her phone back into her pocket. Rehearsal for Scrooge was set to begin in half an hour, and she needed to go over her lines before things got started. She planned to find a quiet place in the auditorium and focus on her part. Andi and Tim were going to meet her there, since they also had lead parts in the upcoming show. This was no time to get into a conversation with Cody. She would need more than a few minutes to catch up with him, to find out why he’d been so distant.
She picked up her pace, adjusting her backpack a little higher on her shoulders, but before she walked another ten yards, her phone buzzed again. She released an audible sigh, and it hung in the cool, damp October air. “Don’t do this, Cody,” she whispered. “Don’t mess with my heart.” She pulled out her phone once more and this time his message was much longer, so long it took two texts to get it across.
I know … you don’t think I care because we haven’t talked. I get that feeling when Andi and I text. You need to know I’m just looking out for you. Well … okay, for both of us. You have Tim, and things between you two are more serious all the time.
Bailey hated when he talked that way. She let her exasperation build as she scrolled to the second part of his message. There’s no room in your life for me, and that’s okay. I accept the fact. But please Bailey, don’t think this is the way I want things. Like I said, I miss you more than you know.
She read the messages once more, and tears stung at her eyes. If he missed her, he should call her, maybe fight for their right to a friendship. Tim would’ve understood, and besides, back before Cody went to Iraq, he had feelings for her that went beyond friendship. They both did.
He would be waiting for an answer so she started to tap out some of what she was feeling when she changed her mind. She was almost to the theater. Tim would pick up on her sad m
ood, and that wasn’t fair. Besides she was looking forward to rehearsal. Today was the scene all three of them were in—the scene from Scrooge’s Christmas past. She erased the few words she’d written and typed out a shorter message instead. I wanna talk, but not now … call me later. As soon as she sent it she felt a sense of satisfaction. If he really missed her, he’d call.
She reached the theater door and put thoughts of Cody out of her mind. Scrooge opened in four weeks, and she wanted to give the rehearsal time her best effort. This was her first college musical, after all. Much was riding on her performance. Andi was already sitting in the auditorium, but as their eyes met, she didn’t look like her happy lighthearted self.
“How’s your day?” Bailey walked to a seat a few spots from her roommate and dumped her wet backpack on the chair between them. “The rain got you down?”
Andi shrugged. “Rainy days and Mondays. Never a good combination, I guess.”
“What happened?” After more than a month of sharing a dorm together, she knew Andi like a sister. Bailey gave her a half smile. “You bombed your math mid-term?”
The question was intended as a joke, and Andi allowed a small laugh. But the defeat in her eyes and the way she held her shoulders remained. “Remember Ben? The guy from my math class?”
Bailey winced. “The frat party guy?”
“Yeah.” Her expression was shadowed in shame. “He said they were having another party this weekend, and that there was always room for girls like me.” She looked deeply hurt by the remark. “Girls like me? Is that really my reputation? After one stupid party?”
Here was a fine line, the talks they’d had about Andi’s horrible experience at the frat party. She’d drank more than she intended and made out with this Ben guy from her math class, and nearly allowed something worse to happen except some couple came along and stopped things before they could get out of hand. And then Andi had called Cody—of all people. Andi had told Bailey every detail, including how she’d tried to throw herself at Cody that night, and how she was mortified about the fact.
Bailey had been secretly relieved to learn that Cody wasn’t interested, but still … it was hard for her to comment on her room-mate’s trouble that night when every action was her own fault. She drew a long breath, buying time. “He might see you that way, but so what. He’s one guy.”
“His friends too. They probably think that.”
“Okay, so six guys on a campus of forty thousand students.” She reached over and touched Andi’s knee. “I think there’s still time to rebuild your reputation.”
Andi leaned on the arm of her chair and held her head a little higher. “I guess. I just hate that anyone sees me that way. It’s so weird, because … well, you know that’s not really me.”
“But he doesn’t.” Bailey reached into her backpack and pulled out her script for Scrooge. “Think of it this way. Every time you tell him you’re not interested, you’ll basically be telling him that it was a one-time thing, a crazy night you still regret.”
“True.” Andi nodded slowly. “You always make me feel better, Bailey.” She opened her script. “I hate that I drank that night, but I don’t know … I’m not sure it was really wrong. Like, the kids that do that all the time, as long as they’re not hurting anyone does that mean they’re not good people? I’m still confused, I guess.”
Bailey resisted the urge to look tired. This had been Andi’s line of thought off and on since they’d met. She was the daughter of missionary parents, and she’d spent most of her life in Indonesia. But now her dad was a producer and had finished his first film, and Andi felt like she needed to rid herself of the good-girl image. As if she was ashamed of being too sheltered, too clean-cut. Bailey flipped to her scene and lifted a wary look to her friend. “You know how I feel.”
“Yeah. Just because a person thinks they’re doing well doesn’t mean they are.”
“Right. The only measuring stick we have is the Bible.” She gave Andi a somewhat tired smile. “We can mess up, but we have to keep getting back on our feet and turning to Him. That’s what it means to be a Christian.”
Andi thought about that for a few seconds. “I guess. It’s just not as clear as it used to be.” She was flipping through the pages of her script when her phone rang. Whatever name appeared in the window, Andi’s smile was quick to reach her eyes. She snapped her phone open and settled back in her chair. “Hey … I thought you were going to wait till later to call.”
Bailey wanted to ask who it was but didn’t want to seem nosy. She focused her attention on her script and did her best not to listen to Andi’s end of the conversation, but a minute into the talk, Andi laughed out loud. “Cody, you’re so funny!”
That was all Bailey needed to hear. She knew Cody and Andi had become friends, but that didn’t mean she could sit here and listen to her roommate talk to a guy who once had Bailey’s whole heart. She stood and set the script down, and she motioned to Andi that she was going outside to wait for Tim.
Outside she fought the tears that tried to form in her eyes. As far as she could tell there was nothing more than friendship between Andi and Cody, but still … they talked often, and whatever was happening between them seemed to be getting stronger. That might not have been so bad, because Bailey had already talked to her mom about whether God brought Cody into their lives so that one day Bailey could introduce him to Andi. Maybe Andi was the girl for him.
Even that would’ve been something Bailey could handle. But not while she and Cody weren’t speaking to each other. The pain of that was more than Bailey could take, and worse, other than her mom there wasn’t anyone she could talk to about it. Tim wouldn’t understand. If she was happy dating him—and she was—then why would it upset her so much that an old friend had lost touch with her? That would be his question and he’d have a right to it.
She would have no more answers for him than she had for herself.
The front steps of the auditorium were covered and dry, so she sat down and rested her elbows on her knees. Almost at the same time she spotted Tim walking her way at his fast pace, his red backpack slung over his shoulder. When he saw her, a smile filled his face and he waved.
Bailey returned the wave and waited for him to walk up. Dating Tim was easy, natural. The two of them had everything in common, their theater experience with Christian Kids Theater, their love for God, and the types of families they came from. Tim had no shady past, no troublesome background, no baggage. For years she had wanted nothing more than for Tim Reed to fall for her, and now he had.
He jogged up the stairs and took the spot beside her. “Hey.” He put his arm around her shoulders and hugged her. “You look cute in a rain jacket.”
“Thanks.” She snuggled a little closer to him. “How were your classes?”
“Great.” He reached for her hand and rubbed his thumb along her fingers. “You’re cold. Here …” In an act that was as thoughtful as it was romantic, he lifted her freezing hand close to his mouth and blew warm air against her skin. After three times he rubbed her hand and grinned. “Better?”
“Better.” She studied him, grateful. How many times had she dreamed of sharing a moment like this with him? “Tell me about your talk.” Tim was taking debate and today his class had staged a mock argument over Dr. Seuss’s book The Butter Battle. Tim’s side had to defend the stance that buttering bread butter-side-up was the correct way.
He laughed and shook his head. “Craziest thing.” Then he launched into a story about how the other side came dressed with shirts dyed yellow on the backside, and how their team had acted out a skit, which ended up being mostly bloopers, especially after one of the girls got tongue-twisted and began fighting for the wrong side.
Bailey enjoyed the story, loved the way it felt to sit here sheltered from the rain on the steps of the college theater with Tim warm beside her. She thought about the conversation Andi was having inside, and a pang of guilt pierced her heart. She had no right to be bothered by Cody’
s friendship with Andi. Neither of them meant to hurt Bailey by the time they were spending together. Besides, God had plans for all His people, and for now it seemed possible that Tim was part of the plans He had for her. That meant it was possible Cody was part of the plans God had for Andi, and if so, she could only embrace the situation. She was happy and content, and maybe this was only the beginning for her and Tim. The trouble was, even with all that knowledge, she couldn’t shake the hurt in her heart over Cody, or the fear she lived with every day.
That a part of her heart would always love Cody Coleman, the boy who’d played football for her father and lived with their family through his hardest years. The guy who had captured her heart when she was too young to know any better.
Every Now and Then
Karen Kingsbury,
New York Times Bestselling Author
A wall went up around Alex Brady’s heart when his father, a New York firefighter, died in the Twin Towers. Turning his back on the only woman he ever loved, Alex shut out all the people who cared about him to concentrate on fighting crime. He and his trusty K9 partner, Bo, are determined to eliminate evil in the world and prevent tragedies like 9–11.
Then the worst fire season in California’s history erupts, and Alex faces the ultimate challenge to protect the community he serves. An environmental terrorist group is targeting the plush Oak Canyon Estates. At the risk of losing his job, and his soul, Alex is determined to infiltrate the group and put an end to their corruption. Only the friendship of Clay and Jamie Michaels—and the love of a dedicated young woman—can help Alex drop the walls around his heart and move forward into the future God has for him.
Softcover: 978-0-310-26615-0
Unabridged Audio CD: 978-0-310-288183
Audio Download, Unabridged: 978-0-310-288190
ebooks:
Adobe® Acrobat® eBook Reader®: 978-0-310-28821-3
Microsoft Reader®: 978-0-310-28823-7