Christmas Promises: My Review

This is a sweet gifty type book. It is small and hard cover. The paper is a buff color and the typeface is pretty. Most of the pages have borders on them. It is not really a book to sit down and read through, but rather one to pick up and savor as part of your prayer time. The sections include pages of beautifully scripted scripture quotes on a theme, written sort of like a letter from God. Those pages are decorated with a Christmas theme. They are followed by a poem or some heart-warming story that illustates the theme. The book is a nice reminder to slow down, to remember the reason for the season and to savor it.

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It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year?
Encouragement for the Christmas Season

For some, the Christmas season is a marathon—a month of parties, decorating, shuffling through crowded malls, and family gatherings. For the last-minute types among us, Christmas is a sprint—a dizzying, fruitcake-fueled race to the finish line. For others, the season dredges up painful memories of lost loved ones or dreams deferred. Amid both the commotion and the emotion, it’s easy for anyone, even the most devoted Christian, to lose sight of the true meaning of Christmas.

In her inspirational new book, Christmas Promises: Heavenly Gifts for the Holiday Season (Regal, 2008), author and speaker LeAnn Weiss encourages readers to embrace the deepest significance of the Christmas season, a time to celebrate the keeping of God’s greatest promise—His Son, Emmanuel…God with us. In a popular culture in which guarantees are nullified by the fine print and marriage vows have lost their durability, it comes as no surprise that so many have lost the wonder they once felt at Christmastime. Weiss believes that God’s enduring faithfulness shines all the brighter during the Christmas season.

“Somewhere over time, the meaning of ‘promise’ has eroded from being a binding pledge (at least bound by honor) to merely a possible expectation or hopeful feeling. No wonder we’re cynical when someone says, ‘I promise.’ And maybe that sense of disillusionment unconsciously spills over into our spiritual life,” says Weiss. “When God says that He’s faithful to all of His promises, we can fully trust Him that all means all. No exceptions. We can take His promises to the bank. Christmas Promises: Heavenly Gifts for the Holiday Season is about these promises of His peace, presence, provision, and rest.”

Weiss is best known for her personalized paraphrased scriptures which are featured in over seven million books in Howard Publishing’s (a division of Simon & Schuster) popular Hugs™ series. She is also coauthor of the successful Heartlifters series. Christmas Promises is a collection of heartwarming true stories of God’s faithfulness. Each story takes place in a Christmas setting and is communicated with Weiss’s characteristic tenderness and insight, concluding with her trademark personalized paraphrases of scripture that have encouraged so many.

The Bible is packed with hundreds of promises concerning daily life issues that are closest to our hearts. Through this collection of stories and the scriptural reflections that follow, Weiss encourages readers to discover God’s faithfulness in their own lives. Some of the most moving moments in the book are the accounts from her own life, including a story of heartache and new beginnings for her and her husband (the couple wed on July 4, 2008). Christmas Promises would make an excellent gift for anyone who is overwhelmed by the “to-do’s” of the Christmas season or for anyone who simply enjoys getting into the Christmas spirit. Because the stories are universally engaging, the book would also be an ideal gift for Christians to share with non-believers.

“Unfortunately, we sometimes get so caught up in the routine and rush of life that we forget to seek the illumination of the Bible,” Weiss reflects. “It’s my prayer that Christmas Promises: Heavenly Gifts for the Holiday Season will help personalize the timeless promises of God’s Word to readers’ everyday lives. I pray that they will experience the refreshment of God’s one-on-one love as His Word comes alive in their daily circumstances.”

Christmas Promises by LeAnn Weiss
Regal Books September 2, 2008
ISBN-13: 978-0830746972/hardcover/$14.99