What are good book club discussion questions for Making Peace With What I Can't Control?

Spoiler-free questions to get the conversation going: Where did you do most of your reading for this one, and did you find yourself reaching for tea, a blanket, or a pen to underline with?; Was there a page where you had to stop, set the book down, and just breathe for a minute? What was happening in it?; The book keeps circling the idea of unclenching. What is something small you have been gripping this week that you would like to loosen your hold on tonight?; Lysa writes about disappointment that does not get tidied up. Did reading that make you feel comforted, uneasy, or a little of both?; Was there a line or idea in here that felt like it was handed to you personally, almost like someone had been listening in on your last hard year?.

What food and drinks should I serve at a Making Peace With What I Can't Control book club?

Food: Slow-simmered chicken and rice soup, Skillet cornbread with honey butter, and Warm apple crumble with cream. Drinks: Honey chamomile tea with lemon, Salted maple hot chocolate, and Mulled red wine with orange and clove.

Cozy night

Making Peace With What I Can't ControlBook club questions, food & host guide

Lysa TerKeurst

#4 New York Times Bestseller 1 week on the list

A cozy book club night for Making Peace With What I Can't Control by Lysa TerKeurst. Includes 8 spoiler-free discussion questions, food and drink pairings, a playlist, and a host guide, ready to print and share.

A close-knit club that likes soft blankets, honest talk, and second helpings of dessert

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Lysa TerKeurst offers a tender, honest look at what happens when life refuses to follow our carefully made plans, and how peace can be found anyway. It is a gentle read that invites readers to unclench their fists a little.

Why it works for clubs

Short, digestible chapters make it easy for busy readers to finish
Every person in the room has a version of the same struggle to share
Blends memoir-style vulnerability with practical, discussable takeaways
Invites honest talk without requiring anyone to perform having it together

Themes & mood

Tender Hopeful Surrender Faith Healing

Browse all themes →

Reading level

Easy

Warm-up questions

1 Where did you do most of your reading for this one, and did you find yourself reaching for tea, a blanket, or a pen to underline with?
2 Was there a page where you had to stop, set the book down, and just breathe for a minute? What was happening in it?

Digging in

1 The book keeps circling the idea of unclenching. What is something small you have been gripping this week that you would like to loosen your hold on tonight?
2 Lysa writes about disappointment that does not get tidied up. Did reading that make you feel comforted, uneasy, or a little of both?
3 Was there a line or idea in here that felt like it was handed to you personally, almost like someone had been listening in on your last hard year?
4 The book treats peace as something you make rather than something you find. Which of those two versions of peace has felt truer in your own life?

Going deep

1 Lysa is honest about the seasons where trust and faith felt thin. If you have been in one of those seasons, what did company or comfort look like for you then, and did this book name any of it well?
2 By the last pages the book leaves you somewhere different from where it started, without tying every thread. How did you feel setting it down, and is there something you have made a quiet peace with that you are willing to share?

On the table

Slow-simmered chicken and rice soup

The book is essentially a bowl of soup handed to someone having a hard year, so serve the literal version in mismatched mugs.

Skillet cornbread with honey butter

Homey, Southern-leaning comfort that nods to the author's North Carolina roots, and it needs no plating or fuss.

Warm apple crumble with cream

Imperfect, spooned straight from the pan, sweet in the middle of something messy: the whole thesis of the night in dessert form.

To sip

Honey chamomile tea with lemon No alcohol

A nervous-system-soothing pot to keep refilling while people talk about hard things gently.

Salted maple hot chocolate No alcohol

Indulgent and a little salty-sweet, for the readers who came to be comforted, not challenged.

Mulled red wine with orange and clove

Warm, spiced, and slow-sipping, the kind of glass that keeps a conversation soft instead of sharp.

Hushed acoustic and piano-forward songs about holding on loosely, played low enough to talk over.

06 The Wisdom To Know The Difference - Ólafur Arnalds

Tap a track to play it. Full songs play when you're signed into Spotify.