Treasured / God Gave Us Blog Tour

Treasured/God Gave Us Love/God Gave Us Christmas
Published at Waterbrook

TREASURED

About the book
In Treasured, Leigh McLeroy considers tangible reminders of God’s active presence and guides readers in discovering evidence in their own lives of his attentive love.

“The idea for the book came from a cigar box filled with odds and ends of my grandfather’s life that arrived a few months after his death. Sifting through the objects in the box, I experienced him in a fresh new way. This made me wonder what treasures might be tucked away in Scripture that could frame God for me in an equally intimate, tangible way. This process also helped me uncover my own “treasures” of my walk with the Lord: objects that remind me of my history with him and his faithfulness to me,” says McLeroy.

Drawn from the pages of Scripture, the author considers twelve such treasures and personalizes their meaning for readers, such as a green olive branch that offers proof of God’s “new every morning” mercy and a scarlet cord that demonstrates his willingness to adopt “strays” of every sort.

Weaving these treasures together with scenes from her personal history, Leigh McLeroy invites readers to discover God’s heart for them and embrace their unique role in his redemptive story. Treasured offers readers a guided experience of God’s love and character and invites them to consider their own treasures that point to their part in God’s ongoing story.

Who is Leigh McLeroy?
Leigh McLeroy is the author of The Beautiful Ache and The Sacred Ordinary. An avid collector and recorder of everyday moments, words, and wonders, Leigh’s keen eye for God’s presence in ordinary life infuses her writing and living with a deep, insistent joy. A frequent conference and event speaker, the author makes her home in Houston, Texas, and posts often on http://www.leighmcleroy.com/ and http://www.wednesdaywords.com/.

My Thoughts
Do you have a box in your wardrobe where you put little treasures in it? I do. Actually, I have one to remember things that my husband gave me, one (make that two) for our wedding that won’t be opened until our 25th anniversary (which by the way will be in another fourteen years from now – well more like thirteen and a half! *grin*), and one for each kids with mementos for them since their birth. I know I’m a major packrat. I still have things from when I was in primary and high school – like the high school journal I was part of. Geez! Pathetic sometimes.

This book is a wonderful read and a must for anyone who wants to discover God through new lenses. It makes you think about what God would keep in a box to remember the major events that touched humanity. Okay – some of you might say – God doesn’t need a box of things to remember. True enough but I think He would keep the box for us – his children so that one day we can sit with Him and go through the box together (a little bit like we will do with our children on our 25th anniversary!).

Treasured made me discovered a different side of God – a side I haven’t thought off, a side where He cherishes the memories of things that happened in the past. If God would keep these mementos from various times from the bible, why would He not keep some from my story. Someday, I could sit down with him and go through my own memory box with Him and see how He was present the whole time even when I didn’t know it…

Even while you read about the things that God would probably keep, you also go through the life of the author as she pours out her thoughts about the various subjects of each chapter. At the same time, it got me ponder and think about my own life and how I would have reacted in a same situation.

God Gave Us Love / God Gave Us Christmas

About the books

In God Gave Us Love, Little Cub and Grampa Bear’s fishing adventure is interrupted by mischievous otters, and the young polar bear begins to ask questions like why must we love others . . . even the seemingly unlovable? Why is it easier to love those we like? Where does love come from? And why does God love her so much?

Grampa Bear patiently addresses each one of Little Cub’s curiosities by explaining the different kinds of love we can share: the love between friends, the love between families, the love between moms and dads, and the love for God.

He also assured Little Cub that because of the love God has given her through his Son, there’s nothing she can do to make God love her any more or any less. Through Grampa Bear’s encouraging Little Cub to love others with a “God-sized love,” children will be inspired to love others and to be patient, gentle and kind, so that in every way, they too can demonstrate God’s love.

**************

In God Gave Us Christmas, as Little Cub and her family prepare to celebrate the most special day of the year, the curious young polar bear has something on her mind: “Who invented Christmas?” she asks. “Is God more important than Santa?”

Her questions reflect the confusion of so many children during the holiday season. And this heartwarming story takes them on a wonderful journey of discovery—right to the heart of Christmas.

Through Mama’s gentle guidance, Little Cub learns that God loves her and everyone— polar bear, moose, or human—so much that he gave us Jesus, the very best gift of all.

Who is Lisa Tawn Bergren?
Lisa Tawn Bergren is the award-winning author of nearly thirty titles, totaling more than 1.5 million books in print. She writes in a broad range of genres, from adult fiction to devotional. God Gave Us Love follows in Lisa’s classic tradition of the best-selling God Gave Us You. She lives in Colorado, with her husband, Tim, and their children, Olivia, Emma, and Jack.

My Thoughts
I have seen the previous books from Lisa Tawn Bergren in the bookstores previously but I never bought one. I always thought that the drawings were fantastics though.
Imagine my excitement when I had the opportunity to review not one but two of her latest books; God Gave Us Love and God Gave Us Christmas.

In God Gave Us Love the children will learn that it is important to love others no matter what. Little Cub is very frustrated with the otters and can’t seem to find love in him for them. Grandpa Bear explains the different kind of love that God gave us – love to share between families, friends and parents. And Little Cub is reminded that every time we show love to someone – even when they are unlovable – we show a bit of God’s love to that person.

In God Gave Us Christmas, Little Cub is wondering who invented Christmas. And his mother takes him on a journey so that he can discover who created Christmas in the first place. As they explore together their environment, Little Cub will find God in places where he never thought about. He then concludes that Jesus is the best gift of all!

My children and I enjoyed the two books. We read them together while sitting in the living room. We enjoyed the beautiful drawings and the adventures of Little Cub with his grandpa and mother. We talked about love and Christmas afterward. The four kids loved Little Cub and even after reading it, they would pick up the books just to look at the pictures.

I find these two books very well done and easy to understand for little minds. They give the basics information about love and Christmas and the children enjoy the pictures. These two books are definitively good books to give to children during Christmas.

These reviews were made possible because I have received a copy of each books -Treasured, God Gave Us Love and God Gave Us Christmas - from Waterbrook.

Treasured is available everywhere even at amazon.ca and indigo.ca.
God Gave Us Love is available everywhere even at amazon.ca and indigo.ca.
God Gave Us Christmas is available everywhere even at amazon.ca and indigo.ca.