The Mother’s Day Booklist We Can’t Forget

posted on

It’s almost Mother’s Day!

That day of the year that we celebrate the women who birth us, raise us, and read to us.

In honor of mothers, we’re highlighting a few (of the many) great books that we have – written by mothers.

The Longest Goodbye

What happens when your mother no longer remembers you? When her body remains but her mind bids you the longest goodbye? Shelly Calgano goes into that and more in her book, The Longest Goodbye.

What Now? Finding Renewed Hope in Christ After Loss

Kaitlyn Odom Fielder became a mother long after she had lost her own mother…and father…and siblings. Her story of waking up in a hospital bed orphaned and without her beloved siblings and the life she lead after that tugs at every heartstring. What Now? is available now, and is sure to move your heart.

Help! I’m a Foster Parent

Written for anyone who loves foster kids or their parents, and shows the real-life, on-the-ground experiences of families who operate in the foster care system.

Help! I’m a Foster Parent is a must-read for everyone. But again – we encourage you to bring tissues.

Waiting is the Night

What do mothers do at night? Wait. Pray. Wonder.

Waiting is the Night is written for anyone who has stared at the darkness and waited for light to break. But for mothers, this title speaks to their very fiber of being. This is the book for the tired, weary mother. For the mother who desperately needs encouragement. For the mother who does not sleep at night, but waits.

This Mother’s Day, give the mothers in your life the gift of a book that speaks to her.

#Throwback Thursday: Esther: Reflections From An Unexpected Life by Jennifer Westbrook Spivey

posted on

As we reminisce on the over forty years that God has blessed Ambassador International to remain in business, we are highlighting a different #backlistbook each week in a series called #ThrowbackThursday.

This week’s featured book is Esther: Reflections From An Unexpected Life by Jennifer Westbrook Spivey which was published by Ambassador International on March 14, 2008.

Through Queen Esther, the course of history was changed. It is nearly impossible to imagine our world today had Haman been successful in his attempt to wipe out the Jews altogether. Her story is, in the easiest terms and by the most convenient definition, an historical account of how God delivered the Jews from total destruction at the hands of an evil man. However, to describe Esther’s story as a mere historical account does not do justice to this powerful and dramatic life. Esther’s life was, in every way, unexpected. The untrained observer looking at this young Jewish woman may not have thought much of her at all. Certainly there was nothing extraordinary about where she lived, when she lived, how she lived, or even who she was.

In Esther: Reflections From an Unexpected Life, readers will come to know several important people: Esther, the Jewess still living in the city of her captivity, even though the captivity has been over for many years; Mordecai, Esther’s guardian and cousin; Ahasuerus, king of Persia; and Haman, the evil man using his influential position with the king to plot and against the Jews. Readers will also come to know a few others who have smaller roles in this story, but are equally significant: Vashti, the dethroned queen; Memucan, one of Ahasuerus’ many advisors; and Zeresh, Haman’s wife who unwittingly encourages her husband to his own tragic end. Whether good or bad, each of these people have something to teach us in their examples.

This inspirational study is divided into ten weeks, each week divided into five days of “mini lessons.” Each lesson begins with an illustration that introduces the idea of the personal application for the day before getting into the Word. Each lesson may take about ten to twelve minutes, so it can easily be added to your daily quiet time. If you do not currently have a daily quiet time, this little study may serve as a great tool to help you develop that important discipline. Also, after reading through Esther and studying this book, you will see that it is not at all just dry history: it is a powerful and timeless example to what God can do with a person completely submitted to Him, regardless of personal cost.

Esther: Reflections From an Unexpected Life is a thought-provoking must read for all Christian women. For a limited time, you can grab this ebook for .99! Don’t miss out!

 

You can add Esther: Reflections From an Unexpected Life to your Goodreads HERE and you can learn more and find purchase links HERE. This book is available in paperback and ebook.

#Throwback Thursday: Biblical Leadership: Becoming a Different Kind of Leader by Ken Collier and Matt Williams

posted on

As we reminisce on the over forty years that God has blessed Ambassador International to remain in business, we are highlighting a different #backlistbook each week in a series called #ThrowbackThursday.

This week’s featured book is Biblical Leadership: Becoming a Different Kind of Leader by Ken Collier and Matt Williams which was published by Ambassador International on April 1, 2004.

Biblical Leadership is written by two long time Christian leaders who have had years of practicing Biblically based servant leadership. At age eleven, Ken Collier accepted Christ as his Savior at a Christian camp in Alabama. In the years to follow, the Lord continued to use camp ministries to mold his life in service for the Lord. After receiving a degree at Bob Jones University, Ken joined the full-time staff of The WILDS in North Carolina, where he now serves as the camp director. In addition to his camp responsibilities, he is a deacon in his local church where he teaches the adult Sunday School class. He and his wife, Mardi, have three sons and one daughter.

Matt Williams is Associate Pastor of Tri-City Ministries in Independence, Missouri where he has served for thirty-two years. He is also Executive Director of the Mid-America Association of Christian Schools and the Missouri Association of Christian Schools. He has spoken at numerous churches, conventions, and the American Association of Christian Schools Student Leadership Conferences across the nation. He is the author of How to Be a Team Player and Enjoy It. Pastor Williams and his wife, Donna, have been married for thirty-three years and have five children.

There are many different types of leaders—leaders in the business world, in government, in the home, and in the local church, but sadly, many times leadership has been completely contrary to what the Bible teaches.

Many leaders are focused on what they can get from their positions of authority rather than on what they can give to the works in which they are involved. While some view it as a tool for popularity and power, leadership is a privilege. Leadership requires responsibility.

Biblical Leadership teaches biblical leaders how to be people of integrity and humility—leaders who are willing to be different.

Biblical Leadership  will open up your understanding to a complete new look at Biblical leadership, and for a limited time, you can grab this ebook for 1.99! Don’t miss out!

You can add Biblical Leadership to your Goodreads HERE and you can learn more and find purchase links HERE. This book is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook!

#Throwback Thursday: Alana Candler, Marked for Murder

posted on

As we reminisce on the over forty years that God has blessed Ambassador International to remain in business, we are highlighting a different #backlistbook each week in a series called #ThrowbackThursday.

This week’s featured book is Alana Candler, Marked for Murder by Joanie Bruce. This book was published by Ambassador International on January 21, 2013.

Joanie has a strong passion for reading, and her love for books that “keep you up at night” inspires her to write contemporary suspense books. Thankful that God has given her the ability to write from her home in the country, she strives to use that opportunity to spread the gospel through her writing, and to honor Him in all of her accomplishments. Joanie and her husband, Ben, live in a country home near Madison, Georgia, right in the middle of a pasture full of dairy cows. There they raised and homeschooled their three children. She enjoys cooking, taking long walks, painting oil portraits, and caring for their home in the country.

In Alana Candler, Marked for Murder, Alana Candler is on someone’s hit list. But why?

A stalker is breathing down her neck at every turn, hiding in the shadows, waiting for her to make a mistake— to freeze long enough for him to make his hit. When the stalker kidnaps her from a hotel and leaves her to die, Jaydn Holbrook, CEO and owner of the largest company in Tennessee, saves her life and promises to protect her. But is he enough?

Jaydn’s high school friendship with Brad, Alana’s brother and the City’s Police Chief, gives him incentive to protect Alana and shelter her from the growing danger. Alana’s trust in God’s protection intrigues him and compels him to explore her faith further, but when she mentions her aversion to rich, executive-type bosses, Jaydn keeps his position at his company secret—trying not to destroy their fragile bond.

As tensions build, Jaydn and Alana are caught up in a dangerous web of hiding from the pursuer trying to kill them and fighting the attraction they feel for each other.

Alana Candler, Marked for Murder is an amazing novel full of faith, intrigue, and suspense that you won’t want to put down, and for a limited time, you can grab this ebook for .99! Don’t miss out!

You can add Alana Candler, Marked for Murder to your Goodreads HERE and you can learn more and find purchase links HERE. This book is available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook!

 

#Throwback Thursday: Pack Your Baggage, Honey, We’re Moving to Paris!

posted on

As we reminisce on the over forty years that God has blessed Ambassador International to remain in business, we are highlighting a different #backlistbook each week in a series called #ThrowbackThursday.

This week’s featured book is Pack Your Baggage, Honey, We’re Moving to Paris!: What Women Need to Know About Living Free From Emotional Baggage by Anne Farnum. This book was published by Ambassador International on March 24, 2020, a mere week after the United States declared a national emergency amidst the covid pandemic. While this book isn’t as old as some of our previously mentioned titles, we wanted to bring Anne’s book back into the spotlight!

Pack Your Baggage Honey, We're Moving to ParisBible study teacher Anne Farnum grew up in a Christian home in Western and Upstate New York and gave her life to Jesus at the age of seven. She has a Master of Education and a Bachelor of Art in Sociology/Social Work, and Anne’s background in education has given her a platform to teach studies to women through her church, neighborhood studies, and home studies. Anne has lived in New York, Wisconsin, South Carolina, and now Paris, France. She has been married for forty years to her husband, Tom, and has three grown married children and seven grandchildren.

In her book, Pack Your Baggage, Honey, We’re Moving to Paris!, Anne recounts her adventurous and, at times, fear-filled move to Paris for her husband’s job transfer. After their move and after finding several places in Scripture that speak to the issue of baggage, Anne became interested in what else the Bible might have to say about this subject. The result of this study is compiled in her book Pack Your Baggage, Honey, We’re Moving to Paris! Anne introduces readers to two kings from the Old Testament who made decisions about the baggage that ultimately affected their futures. She also introduces readers to women who have experienced baggage and have joyfully found freedom. Anne hopes her book will give women the tools needed to become free from the emotional baggage they carry and to help them learn to use their gifts that are sadly being clouded by their inability to release their baggage.

 

You can add Pack Your Baggage, Honey, We’re Moving to Paris! to your Goodreads HERE and you can learn more and find purchase links HERE. This book is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook!

 

#Throwback Thursday: The Titanic’s Last Hero by Moody Adams

posted on

As we reminisce on the over forty years that God has blessed Ambassador International to remain in business, we are highlighting a different #backlistbook each week in a series called #ThrowbackThursday.

This week’s featured book is The Titanic’s Last Hero by Moody Adams. The testimonies and tributes in The Titanic’s Last  Hero were originally printed under the title John Harper: a Man of God by John Climie in Glasgow in 1912. John wrote the 1912 preface, the second chapter, and compiled the comments of acquaintances and converts who knew John Harper. Their writing was done at the request of Pastor George Harper, the brother of John Harper.

The Titanic's Last Hero Throwback ThursdayThis modern edition, The Titanic’s Last Hero was published by Ambassador International on February 1, 2012, and is an inspiring love story that will change your life!

Over one hundred years ago, an “unsinkable” luxury liner sank on its maiden voyage. More than 1,500 men, women, and children tragically lost their lives after the RMS Titanic struck an iceberg on the night of April 14, 1912.

But from that dark disaster shines an inspirational love story—the true story of one man’s great love for his Savior and for humankind. This is the story of John Harper, the Titanic’s last hero, who set his only child in a lifeboat before setting his sights on the salvation of the lost souls around him.

Re-live John Harper’s last hours as the ship took on water and passengers swarmed the decks. “Let the women, children, and the unsaved into the lifeboats!” was Harper’s cry.

Discover, through the testimonies of those who knew him, what inspired this man to go down with the ship and flounder in icy waters under a starry sky as he searched for doomed souls who needed his message of love and salvation.

The Titanic’s Last Hero presents a hero whose courageous story you will never forget.

 

You can add The Titanic’s Last Hero to your Goodreads HERE and you can learn more and find purchase links HERE. This book is available in hardcover, paperback and ebook! Coming soon in audio!

 

#Throwback Thursday: The Easter Donkey by Donna Thornton

posted on

As we reminisce on the over forty years that God has blessed Ambassador International to remain in business, we are highlighting a different #backlistbook each week in a series called #ThrowbackThursday.

The Easter Donkey by Donna Thornton and illustrated by Lynne Pryor, published by Ambassador International on April 7, 2014,  is a children’s illustrated book that brings the story of Easter into the modern day and introduces the topics of Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, the heaviness of Maundy Thursday, the sorrow of Good Friday, and the joy of Easter Sunday. Today marks the 9-year anniversary of this book being released into the world at large!The Easter Donkey

In The Easter Donkey, Author Donna Thornton uses the animals on her mother’s berry farm to re-tell the greatest story ever told. She wrote The Easter Donkey not only to offer a fresh telling of the Easter story but to remind everyone of its wonder. This work, along with The Christmas Donkey, tells of Drupelet’s journey to understand the gifts God has given to those who accept them. She hopes her readers will also experience that wonder.
Along with her farm pals from the 2011 hit The Christmas Donkey, Drupelet learns the message of Easter with the help of a cat in in a simple but profound way to help children understand the meaning of this most-significant day.

 

You can add The Eastern Donkey to your Goodreads HERE and you can learn more and find purchase links HERE. This book is available in paperback and ebook!

 

Books for Celebrating Easter

posted on

Easter is a great reminder of not only God’s sacrifice for us, but of His powerful love for us. Whether you need a book to stuff inside a little one’s Easter basket, or a title to encourage your child’s walk with God, here are some books that are great for Easter:

Guess How Much God Loves You by Karen Ferguson for Easter basketsKaren Ferguson reminds children of God’s love for them in her book Guess How Much God Loves You. Guess How Much God Loves You is the story of seven-year-old Lucy Lu, a colorful, creatively curious first-grader, who is starting to have serious questions about God.

How old is He? Does He sleep? What does He do all day? And the biggest one of all—does God love me?

After one particularly hard day of being bullied by her classmates at school, Lucy feels like she doesn’t matter. She sits with Papa Joe, who has promised to answer her questions about God, launching them onto a journey to discover God’s never-changing, never-failing, never-ending love.

What follows is a wild adventure through the Bible, where Lucy and her papa find themselves in the middle of each page of the exciting story of God’s love and faithfulness for all people throughout all of history.

I Know the Plans by Jennifer Bosma for Easter basketsIn I Know the Plans, author Jennifer Bosma seeks to show God’s love for us through the perfect plan He has for each and every one of us. It is so important for children to have a firm foundation to build upon. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path(Psalm 119:105). This children’s book, with its beautiful illustrations, points children to that plan.

God has a plan for each child before they are even created. But in this noisy world, it’s easy for our children to not hear God’s voice and forget who they were created to be.

I Know the Plans presents God’s promises to young children with a fun, engaging rhyme, planting the seeds of Scripture into their hearts to help them grow in their love for Him. With vivid illustrations accompanying each passage, I Know the Plans captures a little one’s attention from start to finish and should be the first book in every child’s library.

The Easter Donkey for Easter basketsThe Easter Donkey brings the story of Easter into the modern day through a donkey named Drupelet, who gets chosen to play a role in a reenactment of Palm Sunday.  This heartwarming tale introduces the topics of Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, the heaviness of Maundy Thursday, the sorrow of Good Friday, and the joy of Easter Sunday without weighing down the story or character with too much information, making it the perfect addition to your Easter basket. Author Donna Thornton wrote this sweet book not only to offer a fresh telling of the Easter story but also to remind everyone of its wonder.

Don’t forget to check out our pinterest boards with more great ideas for your holidays and more!

#Throwback Thursday: A Shepherd’s Heart: A Devotional by Jim Brissey

posted on

As we reminisce on the over forty years that God has blessed Ambassador International to remain in business, we are highlighting a different #backlistbook each week in a series called #ThrowbackThursday.

A Shepherd’s Heart: A Devotional by Jim Brissey, published by Ambassador International on March 24, 2014,  is a unique collection of inspirational moments experienced over more than thirty years of walking with Jesus.

Jim and Jean Brissey are Senior Pastors of Higher Ground Ministries in DeLand, FL. Jim earned his Bachelor of Biblical Studies through Omega Seminary. They are ordained through Revival Ministries International in Tampa, FL, and they have spearheaded hundreds of outreaches throughout the U.S. and abroad and have witnessed thousands give their heart to Jesus. They have a passion for revival, evangelistic outreach and training outreach ministers.

A Shepherd's Heart by Jim BrisseyIn Jim’s book, A Shepherd’s Heart, you will relive the joy of The Sermon Mount and have your heart touched by a Miracle on Death Row. Be ready to laugh and cry as you share true stories of God’s love and grace from the mission fields to the dinner table. A Shepherd’s Heart will bless you and challenge you to share Christ with others. You will also receive helpful insights and tools how to effectively share your faith and win people to Jesus!

Endorsement:
“These stories inspired, encouraged, challenged, and blessed me . . .” –Gigi Graham

” . . . you just can’t help but sense the heartbeat of the Good Shepherd.” – Bob D’Andrea

” . . . like taking fresh vitamins for the soul.” – Dr. Kevin McNulty

“This wonderful book is filled with exciting testimonies and miracles of God.” – Bill Glass

You can add A Shepherd’s Heart to your Goodreads HERE and you can learn more and find purchase links HERE. This book is available in paperback and ebook!