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April 18, 2008

Helen’s Temper Book Discussion/Review

Published in Book Reports-Reviews Articles, HSB Literary Club, Homeschooling Articles

I, along with my Mom, moderate and lead the discussion at the HSB Literary Club. We have recently finished a Lamplighter book titled, “Helen’s Temper and it’s Consequences“. This is one of the Rare Collectors Series.
This book is an amazing story of 3 girls, Helen, and her sister Betty, and a poor lame girl named Louisa, whom they meet on the way home from Sunday School.
In reading this book, you will see how Helen becomes so hateful, Betty becomes the Good Samaritan, and Louisa is another soul won for Christ.

Here my discussion of the book:
Chapter 1
From first reading about Helen, you can tell that she is very selfish and self-praising. Not to mention mean… not a very good combination.
In Sunday School, I could tell she only knew the answer to show that she was hearing the words of Miss Herne and could tell her what she knew.
Helen is very prideful and I don’t think she realizes it. But as Proverbs 16:18 says “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.”
It really astonished me that Helen would not help the Little Louisa. Did she really only hear the words of Miss Herne and The Good Samaritan and not listen to the meaning with her heart?
I think that happens to all of us a lot of the time. I remember when I was younger, when I was in trouble that Mom would ask me if I had listened to what she was saying. Not just hearing it, but listening and taking it to heart.

Chapter 2
I love the verse that her grandfather uses, the Luke 16:10, “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.” That verse is one of my favorites!
There is another thing that my Mom tells me that the grandfather spoke of: “As you are now, my Child, so you will be when you grow older, and therefore it is important you should have right ideas and right feelings while you are young.” My Mom has always said something like that to me. She has said that the person I am today is the person I will be for the rest of my life because when I hit a certain age doesn’t mean that I am going to automatically change. How powerful is that?
It is sad to me though that Helen was so eager to get rid of her grandfather. Why do we push away the righteous people in our lives who show us the sins in our lives? I have learned that no matter how far you push them away, God will find some way to get them back to you to show you what you need to change.
I love her grandfather. It is hard nowadays to find grandparents who will teach you the Bible and talk to you about Scriptures and tell you what you don’t want to hear.
All I can say of Betty is WOW! What a precious little girl with a heart for the lost. Friend to the friendless!
I am really astounded by Helen’s mean spirit. She is just nasty. She calls names a lot and that is really sad to see.
It is so great to see that little Louisa learned so much her first day at Sunday School. That is the real reason for Sunday School. To teach the lost.
Oh! I love the verse Louisa learned and recited to her mother. I bet it brought much peace to her and maybe even a little hope that things would turn toward the better.
As we close the last chapter, I can completely relate to Mrs. Hall. I a lot of the time get caught up in life and troubles that I forget about Christ. That is when my life is really a mess. Its a mess because I take my focus off of Christ and place it on my troubles. I need to remember that as long as I keep my eyes on Him, then I won’t sink into the sea as I am walking across it!

Chapter 3
We start chapter 3 with our sweet little Betty worrying about her new friend, Louisa and if she will decide to attend Sunday School with her. I love her childish way of just saying what she is asking. I think so many times we are afraid to just ask for what we need or want, and we end up beating around the bush in our prayers to God. I love the way that Betty just goes straight to the point!
Then we read that Helen tries to dissuade Betty from taking Louisa to SS. She is now reminding me of when Satan was tempting Jesus in the wilderness. She is just being downright hateful. Really she is being so mean. She is having no thought except for herself and what others will think of her if Betty brings Louisa. You would think that everyone who would be at SS would LOVE to have an unsaved girl attend and come to love Christ as they do. You would think they would welcome her with open arms. But unfortunately, they don’t and even nowadays we don’t. We shun those who we think are less than us because they aren’t clothed in fancy clothes or aren’t rich or aren’t pretty. It is sad.
What a little trooper Betty is to just ignore all the evil words her sister is saying. Betty is wonderful.
It is surprising to me that Miss Herne didn’t see the 2 girls talking to each other and stop them. I know that one room schoolhouses were small. I just would have thought that she would have seen them. It is very sad that they had so much contempt for Louisa.
I am so glad that Louisa got SO much from just the one lesson. It brings joy to me to think that she could pick up so much in so little time. She is going to get far with that!
It was nice to read more about Louisa’s family. It gave me a little more insight to what she might be going through.
I would have thought that Miss Herne would have maybe spent more time with Louisa. It appears, though, that she just met her and told her to come back.
Poor Mrs. Hall! I am not a mother yet, but I do feel remorse and guilt sometimes for things that I did that have caused pain to others.

Chapter 4
I am kinda getting mad at Helen. HOW HATEFUL she is! Oh my word! She really loves herself more than she loves her sister. Even more than she loves Christ, I think. If she cares more about not being associated with Louisa, then she really doesn’t care about the love of Christ.
I don’t understand why Betty will not tell her mother about Helen. That is not making sense to me. This is a problem that Helen clearly needs to deal with and her mother not knowing about it is really bad for Helen.
I love it that little sweet Betty was able to give her hymnbook to Louisa and her family. What a blessing!
Reading about Betty going to Louisa’s house and helping them make that place shine was so wonderful. It made me want to go clean something. I love how Betty was able to approach teaching Louisa and her sisters, just like Betty’s mom had done with her. Betty would make a great stay at home mom! This whole chapter was so encouraging and lovely to read!

Chapter 5
What a joy for Louisa to have such a caring friend in Betty! I am so happy that Betty and Mrs. Smith were able to find some clothes and stuff for her. Hopefully we will read on that they also procured some clothing for the two younger children.
It is always that way isn’t it. Helen is jealous of Louisa. I am not understanding Helen at all. I mean, she really acts hateful toward her sister about Louisa, yet she is jealous of her. Why is she jealous? I would assume because Helen always had the attention and now she doesn’t and also because she is so worried about what other people think that she does not have joy in her life! Louisa does. Even when Louisa was lost, she never lost her joy! Helen’s is gone though.
It is great to see that Mrs. Smith is finally getting to hear what is going on. I figured she would be very distraught to hear all about the evil things that Helen has been doing.
I am so glad to see that the Hall girls remembered and cared enough to keep the house looking good. It is great that Sarah will do what Louisa cannot and it is lovely to see Louisa teaching and helping her know what to do.
I am glad to read that Louisa’s father got in on the remodeling of their home. It sounds like he did such a great job incorporating the girls into helping him.
As we end this week’s discussion, it ends on such a beautiful picture of Betty dreaming, that I cannot say anything better than what the book describes.
BEAUTIFUL!

Chapter 6
What a sweet picture of two bosom friends that can’t imagine their lives without each other. I am blessed enough to have a bosom friend, Jocelyn. Betty and Louisa are a lot like Jocelyn and I only we are sisters. But we share the same love and friendship that they do! It is such a great thing!
It is sad to hear, though, that little Louisa is not growing better despite all the new things that are changing in her life. I have a feeling that we will be losing little Louisa soon, although I pray we don’t!
I love that Betty has such a heart for helping those in need. It is very sad to see that Mr. Hall may die and that Louisa and Mrs. Hall will be devastated by it! I can’t imagine losing my dad! Oh the horror!
Betty is just so AWESOME! The way she can simply share the Gospel with Mr. Hall is so inspiring! Actually the way she shares it with everyone gives me the push to want to go talk to everyone I see about the love of Christ! What an amazing little girl she is! She is a true missionary!

Chapter 7
OK… Now to this week’s reading brings to my mind that it seems this book should have been named something more like, Betty’s Love or The Little Samaritan Girl. Something like that since it seems this book is more about Betty and the love she shares than about Helen’s Temper! Although I think that we are going to start to hear more about Helen very soon!
You would thin that Helen would have enough sense to just stay away from Mary and Alice. I don’t understand why she would still want to be friends with them.
OH MY WORD! Poor Louisa! I can’t believe that Helen did that and just ran off and did not tell anyone! OH MY! How horrific! Then how she tells herself that she should not tell anyone is really disturbing! That is totally and completely wrong of her. I am really awestruck and the malice and contempt she has for this little girl who really never even asked for anything from anyone!
I really am astonished that Helen just comes home, composes herself, and goes downstairs and acts like everything is normal. What a hateful girl! I think that maybe if her mother hadn’t been so busy with getting that dress done, she would have realized that Helen was not herself.
As mean as this may sound, I am quite relieved that Helen’s conscience still works and it kept her up all night!
You would think that with that dream she had that she would tell her mother since she still doesn’t know if she is dead or alive!
Like Mrs. Brown said, I too really think that the end of this chapter is something that we really should understand. It truly does show the real Helen.

Chapter 8
I feel so very bad for little Louisa who is going through this. How sad it is to read that she almost doesn’t want to get better because she is afraid of the consequences of what that could do. I am sure she is afraid that she will get pushed again. Maybe she just can’t handle thinking and believing everything Helen told her about how she pretends and such. It is so obvious that Louisa is no way pretends anything. She is one of the sincerest girls I have ever read about or known.
I cannot say enough how selfish Helen is. Really she only thinks of herself and what will benefit her or be a detriment to her. She cares nothing for others!
I absolutely love where the author says, “Was not this heaping coals of fire on an enemy’s head?” That verse has really been a motto for us these last couple months. That is actually based off of

Romans 12:20
Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.

That verse is so powerful. It really lets us know that even when we are completely wronged and hurt that we should not do what has been done to us, but instead do the opposite and when we do it will just heap those hot coals on the wronger’s head as a constant reminder that they were wrong! Not that we are to do it for malice, but we are to do it because the verse right before that one says,

Romans 12:19
Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

That is what it means. I think that Louisa understands true forgiveness and I think that Helen would realize that if she was not so selfish!
As we end this chapter we see that Helen is too stubborn to even talk to God about her sin. That right there will get you into HUGE trouble. And also that the one person who knows about the secret Helen comes back into her life.

Chapter 9
Poor little Betty! To have to see her little friend so hurt and sick must have been so very hard on her! I don’t know that I wouldn’t have cried when I saw her! Among all of Betty’s wonderful traits we see that she has yet another one: Self-control! She is such a great friend that she knows she must control herself from not crying in front of her dear friend.
I wonder if Betty is thinking that when Louisa is asking her all the questions if maybe she had made her wonder those things. I wonder if Betty feels bad about not making sure that those questions were not in Louisa’s head.
I do think that Betty should have told her mother and grandfather what she talked to Louisa about. That would have been very wise of her, even though she was asked not to.
Mr. Holt is very wise and very watchful. For him to glance at Helen and see her reaction was really wonderful. He seems like he would definitely notice if something was going on with Helen and he did. I just wish he was around more so that Helen would feel like she does around him and maybe change!
As we end this week’s reading, I can smell that Mr. Holt has something up his sleeve for Helen. I know that as next week is the last reading of this book that it will be the turning point for Helen and I can’t wait to see what she learns and if she changes!

Chapter 10
As we start this week’s discussion, we find out that Louisa is deathly ill. More ill than we were made to think in the previous chapter. Little Betty is waiting on her little friend and spending as much time as she can with her.
We also see that Helen is still suffering from her conscience. She is in a very dangerous position with her spirituality right now. Now is the turning point of whether she is going to heed that little conscience or if she is going to ignore it. If she chooses to ignore it, she is going to have a REALLY hard time getting herself out of that habit. When I was younger, just a few years ago, I was ignoring the Holy Spirit and my conscience. I was so far gone and I am still dealing with repercussion of it. I still have a hard time not ignoring my conscience and the Holy Spirit. But by the grace of God I am coming back to hearing and knowing when the Holy Spirit is leading me!

A scripture that comes to mind through this ordeal is:

Numbers 32:23
But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.

I think a lot of times, we really do think that we can get away with our sin. Sometimes we do, but it is only for a time. Eventually, all our sin comes out. Whether it will be here on earth or when we all rise and go to heaven.
I can tell that Grandfather is on the verge of something for Helen and I am sure everyone is going to know what happened. It is going to be sad to see how it plays out though.

OH YAY! Louisa is sitting up and doing better! Thank God! I was thinking last week when I read that she was just kinda wanting to die that maybe she wasn’t getting better because she didn’t want to. I am glad to read that she is “going to try and get well“.

It is really sad to me that Grandfather Holt had to question little Louisa like that, but like he said, :”But for Helen’s future, I must persevere.“.He had to find out because he NEEDS to talk to Helen. This is a really big deal and it NEEDS to be taken care of.

I felt the tears coming as I read that part about Grandfather Holt turning his head to hide his tears. To read her innocent thoughts about life and death and to know that his granddaughter was the one to bring Louisa to this point, must have just torn him up! I wonder if he felt any remorse for not being more of a spiritual guide for Helen.

Chapter 11
From the title of this chapter I have a feeling that Grandfather’s Story is going to be Helen’s story only told as an allegory. I can relate to Helen in her feeling the dread she is feeling from this invitation. In the above mentioned state of my life, I had many invitations like Helen has just received. I know what she is going through.

I was even like Helen in the fact of her unforgiveness. I would not have gone and asked forgiveness of those I had sinned against. That did not help the situation either.

Oh I love this part of the chapter: “Helen was growing more familiar with sin; every hour that she indulged in deceit was leaving its mark on her character. How powerful! Every second, every minute, every hour we wait to ask forgiveness of sin, is a second, a minute, an hour that we become more accustomed to it. It is just something that becomes a part of us. It sticks and it is hard to unstick!

Grandfather Holt is very wise and sees a lot. Not just physically stuff, but also spiritual. He is very discerning. Grandfather Holt’s story is a little more like the actual story than I would have thought he would do. But obviously it got the point across! This is a shock to see Helen like this! WOW! Maybe she really is sorry for her actions. Oh wait… never mind. I had to know this was coming, “Ask God to forgive me?” “And then Louisa.” “What! That little brat?“. I sure wish she would decide whether she wants to be who she is supposed to or if she really doesn’t care. But that is how all of us humans are, I suppose. Wanting to be who we are supposed to be in the Lord, but our flesh gets the better of us most of the time.
Ah… finally we see some hope in Helen. She really does want to be Godly and lovely! I think she is at the point where she can’t stand herself anymore and just wants to be rid of this wronging and become who she is supposed to.

Chapter 12
Ok… where is the kleenex when I need it! WAH! This chapter is already turning out to be so beautifully sad! Poor Louisa!
There is not words I can say right now.. only tears as we read about Louisa’s departure. What a blessing it is to be the one to go to heaven before your family and friends. Knowing that you will be healed and that you will get to see the Savior!
Louisa’s farewell to everyone was so sweet! I bet everyone was wishing they could go with her!

This is one of those books that is really a powerful, uplifting and encouraging story that will spur you to become more loving and kind and less hateful and mean.
As Helen says at the end of her life, “For I have reason to sorrow bitterly, through a long life, over giving way to my temper, and the sad consequences it produced!”
Let us also remember what God has said: