Christmas Gift Ideas: #3 of 4 – For ALL Ages, for Women and Men…

Friends! Oh, my, do I ever have the book recommendation to beat all books, ready to decorate your favorite coffee table and sure to spur on a variety of conversations….drum roll….

Checkout A Million God Stories: Volume 1 – Glorify

The book is not only lovely to look at, its jaw-dropping stories are ones you’ll marvel over noting the lengths and details to which our Lord goes to, all the while pursuing us.

The book is divided into 7 parts:

God is love,
Healing,
Connecting His Children,
Angels,
Provision,
Beauty from Ashes, and
Surrender

The spectacular photography enhances the beauty of each story. Illustrations with Scripture are sprinkled throughout as well.

A Million God Stories is the brainchild of Founder Pam VanArsdall. Entrepreneurial minded, Pam’s brain is always going a million miles an hour. The website launched in August of 2016. (Checkout www.amilliongodstories.com) Stories in the book all come from the website where there are currently 182 stories posted, with 999,818 to go!

One of many favorite aspects of the website is found on the right margin. You’ll find a large list of topics where you may choose a pertinent one for yourself. It’s called “Search by tags.” Whatever you’re going thru’, you’re sure to find someone else who is or has gone thru’ the same thing with helpful information right at your fingertips. (Some examples include: Bible study, Christmas, God as Father, God redeems, abortion, addiction, adoption, community, control, etc.)

The Mission of A Million God Stories is to provide a global media platform for all Christians to share stories that glorify God. Its goal is to share one million stories from every tribe, tongue, and nation that honor God, with Isaiah 42:12 being its mantra:

I’m delighted to discover this book says, “Volume 1,” indicating it’s one of many to come. I’m giving it to many of my friends this Christmas with a challenge. I’m going to ask each recipient to pray about sharing their own story with the staff at A Million God Stories. If you don’t want to write it yourself, they will happily help you. There are step by step instructions with how to proceed on the website.

Finally, it’s impossible to choose your favorite story, but I will share with you a few of my favorites you won’t want to miss from the book: “The Toilet Complex School,” “Bible Study Friends,” and “Darkness into Light.”

My favorite quote comes from a young mom who lost a son soon after he was born. He died from a heart defect. Her story, “Every Day is a Gift,” is a beautiful, inspirational tear-jerker. It perfectly depicts 2 Corinthians 1:4 that says,

The young mom closes her story with this:

“Sometimes even now I will just be hit with grief and I will be so sad but at the same time so thankful. It is true that it is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. I would never want to have that time with Jacob taken away even though it was painful. I have learned every single day is a gift. Knowing that not a single one of us is guaranteed tomorrow, helps me appreciate all the beauty, love, and joy that each day brings.”

The book, A Million God Stories: Volume 1 – Glorify, retails for $24, but can be purchased for $18 on the website and if you buy more than 15, they’re only $15! What a deal for a potentially life-changing book. Don’t miss this opportunity. I believe it’s a great evangelizing tool as well.

And, this gets better: (We readers learn this at the back of the book.)

“All profits from this book will go toward the creation and distribution of Ring and Robe magazine. A Million God Stories’ ministry produces and sends nearly 4,000 copies of this magazine to jails and prisons twice a year (Spring and Fall editions.) Each issue contains beautiful, faith-building stories of hope and encouragement from men and women who were at one time incarcerated themselves, but who are now out living lives transformed and restored by God. Your purchase of this book helps make possible a message of God’s love, grace and hope to many men and women in jails and prisons.”

I asked Pam the significance of the name Ring and Robe and she said it’s from the story of the prodigal son (Luke 15: 20-24). The end of each magazine explains the title in a beautiful way: “The ring and the robe the father gave to his son were symbols of his love for his son and the son’s worth, identity, and rightful place in his father’s family…Our identity as children of God and our place in His family are secure, just as the ring and the robe symbolize in this story. When you see the name ‘Ring and Robe’ we hope you are reminded of God’s love for you, your worth to God, and your place in His family.”

‘Til next time!

P.S. Fun disclosure…Pam, who founded A Million Stories, is a dear friend of mine and just happens to be the Mother of our daughter-in-love in Lexington, Lauren Hoagland, who’s married to Gordy. So, I do have braggin’ rights! I’m very proud of Pam and Sweet La as we call her. And Pam and I both have braggin’ rights on our precious grandson, Henry. Mega blessings…

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the page above are “affiliate links.”