Review written for ClubReading.com by Sally
The writing style of the 1800’s is rather tediousto read, but the lessons shared in Katherine’s journal are worth the effort. We follow Katherine’s struggle for faith through excerpts from her journal of everyday experiences-courtship and marriage, bearing and raising children, relationships with family and friends.
We meet Katherine on her 16th birthday. She is, by her own admission, selfish, quick tempered, and conceited. She is also beautiful and vivacious. Her mother told her she had the elements of a fine character if she would only conquer some of her faults.
Frankly, I saw entirely too many of my own faults and fears and doubts mirrored in Katherine’s story. It is particularly encouraging to know that others have felt the same way.
There were few who were not constantly disappointed with themselves, with their slow progress, their childishness and weakness; disappointed with their friends who, strangely enough, were never quite perfect enough; and disappointed with the world, which was always promising so much and giving so little.
Those who desire to serve God but are not quite sure how to go about it will find Katherine’s honesty refreshing. She lives in a day when to be religious means being constantly sober and fearful of God. I like her mother’s attitude in the quote below. It reminds me of something my own mother tried to tell me when I was a teenager.
You speak of going back to your music as if that implied going away from God. You rush from one extreme to another. The only true way to live in this world, constituted just as we are, is to make our employments subserve the one great end and aim of existence, namely, to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. But in order to do this we must be wise taskmasters and not require of ourselves what we cannot possibly perform. Recreation we must have. Otherwise, the strings of our soul, wound up to an unnatural tension, will break.
Katherine’s life presents her with a good measure of pain and disappointment and suffering. Like many of us, she attempts to justify serving a God who allows trouble and sickness. How can it be that He loves us enough to become the man Jesus and take our penalty of sin on Himself, and yet allows such suffering. I confess that I do not fully understand. However, I have made peace with it . . . by trusting God’s will.
In fact, I believe that is all He asks of us . . . to love and accept and trust Him.