Christmas with Ann Voskamp

Some of you may not know Ann Voskamp, some of you adore her. Years ago I made contact with Ann through my blog and I have watched her blog and then widespread acceptance of her book One Thousand Gifts and I am happy to commend her Christmas book from last year called  The Greatest Gift: Unwrapping the Full Love Story of Christmas, a collection of Advent readings connected to the celebration of the Jesse Tree. From the back cover, we read this:

“I don’t want a Christmas you can buy.
I don’t want a Christmas you can make.
What I want is a Christmas you can hold.
A Christmas that holds me,
remakes me, revives me.
I want a Christmas that whispers, Jesus.”

Twenty-five devotions — a kind of lectio divina, beginning with her selections from Scripture, dipping into the grand story from Genesis to Luke 2’s story of Jesus’ birth, and then a reflection, the latter always graced with her poetic gifts. You can’t summarize Ann; you must read her or not read her. She’s not a professor; she’s a poet. Then a brief meditation, and a clip from another writer (from Buechner to Corrie Ten Boom). Then time for reflection …

All in all, an Advent book to lead you into participation in the Advent story. But it will take your devotional time for each day.