The Winter Seeking

by Vinita Hampton Wright

Spending Christmas with her mother who is battling cancer, Mary Reese finds herself unexpectedly drawn to the Virgin Mary's story in the Gospel of Luke as she tries to understand her mother's... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1578568277
• ISBN13: 9781578568277
• Release Date: October 2003
• Publisher: WaterBrook Press
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.6" x 0.6" x 7.2"

Customer Reviews

A pleasant surprise

I was interested in this book because it was Christmas-themed. I liked it because it was so different than anything I've read before. I had never heard of the type of Christian journaling that Mary Georgiana was led to (I never thought of what I would ask any Bible figures), and while I don't believe I have the biblical knowledge to take such a journey, I found Mary's journal enlightening. There is a perspective on the symbolism of the gift of myrrh that had never been presented to me, even in Bible Study class. I would have given it five stars, but it seemed to end a bit too abruptly. (Yes, I realize it's a novella.) I guess what surprised me most was the endnotes: this is the same author of "Velma Still Cooks in Leeway," a book I didn't like enough to read past the first chapter. A good book for the season of Advent, as I think it does get us in the mindset of Preparation.

Christian Book Previews

In The Winter Seeking, Vinita Hampton Wright presents the story of Mary Georgiana, known to most as Jana, a college student searching for something, only she doesn?t know what. Her parents are divorced, her father remarried, her mother struggling with cancer, and Jana must deal with the pain of her own recent break-up as she spends Christmas with her mother and aunt. On top of everything, her mother has returned to her childhood faith. When a therapist at her aunt?s church suggests journaling events in the Biblical Mary?s life from her own perspective, Jana accepts the challenge. As her questions about God and faith find answers from her fictionalized characters, the Christmas story becomes much more than a story. Beautifully written, this novella brings a unique twist to the old saga of stable, shepherds, and stargazers. Women of all ages will enjoy a cozy yet thought-provoking read that settles deep into the heart as two Mary?s reach the object of their seekings, the Christ Child. -- Katie Hart, Christian Book Previews.com

A Refreshing and Well-Written Story

Sometimes delightful gifts come in small packages. Sometimes that delight is found in a short novel that one can read in one or two evenings, from first-page storm to last-page resolution.For Advent inspiration or a Christmas gift, Vinita Hampton Wright's new seasonal novella fills the bill. After the opening Colorado blizzard that maroons "postcollege, prejob" Jana, the book's wintry scene has less to do with cold weather --- most of the December action taking place in balmy Atlanta --- than with the chill in Jana's heart.Jana's faithless life is fragmented: her parents divorced, her boyfriend out of the picture. "She had just survived Thanksgiving with Dad and his wife," whom he had met "at some conference about reclaiming life's positive energy." Until Jana slid off the road and into a ditch, "she had been gratefully alone and headed across the country, toward Christmas" in Georgia with her mother, currently undergoing distressing cancer treatments in the care of Jana's aunt.Jana "wasn't especially looking forward to Christmas either." But "when both parents had left you, you'd broken up with your boyfriend, and you had no job or money, well of course the thing to do was go have a Happy Thanksgiving and then top that off with a Merry Christmas." Such were the expectations she placed on herself and anticipated from others, notably her aunt Cheryl, who, in Jana's view had two strikes against her: Cheryl insisted on calling Jana by her full name, Mary Georgianna; Cheryl was also "very tight with 'the Lord.'" Jana mentally summarized her cross-country trip: "I'm making a pilgrimage from New Age freaks to Holy Rollers." Even her unchurched mother was talking about God since she'd taken sick.In the second of the novella's three parts ("The Journey, "The Encounter," and "The Gift") Jana reluctantly attends Cheryl's "rather well-to-do" Southern Baptist church, where "people were way too friendly, considering they hardly knew her." But there she meets a middle-aged woman named Sandra, whom Jana recognizes as someone "she might actually like to talk to."A spiritual director trained to listen well, Sandra befriends Jana and gently challenges her to read Luke's account of the Christmas story, imagine herself as a character and journal her experience. "Enter the story and walk beside Mary, and talk to her. Ask her any questions you like...God meets you in that story and tells you what you need to understand."In this fashion Jana --- whose real name, you remember, is Mary --- encounters Mary, Joseph, the shepherds and the Christchild. Over several days she reads, up through the account of Simeon and Anna, who intuitively know the baby's identity. Jana journals conversations with young Mary, musings about old Anna and herself: "Would I ever recognize the Jesus child? Would I know what to look for? Would I care enough to notice?"In the company of Luke's characters, Jana's maternal family and their Southern Baptist friends, Jana receives a gift that sets her o

4 1/2 Stars...Comfort and Hope

As Christmas neared, I decided it was time for a holiday novella. Grisham's "Skipping Christmas" was a humorous escape last year, but this book looked a bit more serious."The Winter Seeking" is a concise and wonderfully rendered tale of a woman dealing with many of the emotions we confront during the Christmas season. She struggles with her parents' divorce and her mother's illness. She also wrestles with her own issues of faith. When, at the suggestion of another young lady, she decides to read the Christmas account and put herself into the story, her perceptions begin to change.In some emotionally-charged, yet understated, final scenes, Vinita Hampton Wright wraps up a story that adds depth to the season. It never sugarcoats, but it does bring comfort. It never preaches, yet it offers hope. Sometimes laughter is a great medicine; in this case, a few tears clean the soul.