The Christmas Shoes

Sometimes, the things that can change your life will cross your path in one instant-and then, in a fleeting moment, they're gone. But if you open your eyes, and watch carefully, you will believe...

Robert is a successful attorney who has everything in life-and nothing at all. Focused on professional achievement and material rewards, Robert is on the brink of losing his marriage. He has lost sight of his wife, Kate, their two daughters, and ultimately himself.

Eight year old Nathan has a beloved mother, Maggie, whom he is losing to cancer. But Nathan and his family are building a simple yet full life, and struggling to hold onto every moment they have together.

A chance meeting on Christmas Even brings Robert and Nathan together-he is shopping for a family he hardly knows and Nathan is shopping for a mother he is soon to lose. In this one encounter, their lives are forever altered as Robert learns an important lesson: sometimes the smallest things can make all the difference.

The Christmas Shoes is a universal story of the deeper meaning of serendipity, a tale of our shared humanity, and of how a power greater than ourselves can shape, and even save, our lives.

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Reading Guide

1. How would you compare Robert and Kate's marriage to that of Jack and Maggie? How are the relationships different? How are they similar?

2. One of the main themes of the book is that we must figure out what the most important questions in life are. How do the questions that Robert asks himself change over the course of the book? Do you ask yourself similar questions in your own life? Are they questions that get you closer to what matters most to you in life?

3. Another major theme in the book is that God can use even the smallest things to change us. How did God use the small things in life to change Robert? How has God used small things in your life?

4. Faith in God is a significant part of Maggie Andrews' life. How would you describe her faith? What role do you think faith plays in how Jack, Maggie's mother and even Maggie herself handle her illness?

5. Besides the role of teacher, how else does Doris Patterson play into Nathan's life? What other secondary characters provide enriching elements to the storyline? How do they contribute to the story?

6. Compare Robert Layton and Jack Andrews. They are very different men but both make powerful contributions to the story. What makes them stick out in your mind? What unique contributions do they make to the book?

7. Robert's mother senses something is terribly wrong with Robert and Kate's marriage and she confronts him about it. Do you think she steps over the line or is she in line with her role as his parent? If you are a parent, is it easier to confront your children when they are younger or older like Robert is in this scene?

8. What contributed to Robert Layton seeing beyond a child that was simply getting on his nerves on Christmas Eve to actually helping that child? Do you think he would have helped Nathan had he met him earlier in the book? How does this simple encounter change Robert's perspective?

9. As you caught a glimpse of Nathan as an adult at the end of the book what did you think of him as a young man? What do you think his childhood was like? What sort of changes do you think Robert Layton faced during those years? Which storyline resonated with you and why?

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