The Everyday Gospel Christmas Devotional was taken from Paul David Tripp’s larger book, Everyday Gospel: A Daily Devotional Connecting Christmas to All of Life. The 25 selections are only two pages, easy to incorporate in one’s devotional time. Each day’s reading begins with Scripture,and they cover a wide variety of topics related to Christmas. Excellent resource.

Some of my favorite quotes from the book:

The beginning of Matthew presents us with a majestic one-time moment in history that you shouldn’t run past in your desire to complete your daily Bible reading. God has recorded and preserved it for you because he wants it to leave you in gratitude and awe. And that awe is meant to capture your heart with such force that it changes the way you think about who you are and how you live your life.

The one who designed us to sing recorded and preserved songs for us. These songs are meant to focus our hearts, instruct us in the ways of the Lord, motivate our joy, and put words to our worship.

The entire biblical story is about a God who gives his creatures what they do not know they need, what they often do not want, and what they could never earn or do for themselves—but which they cannot live without.

The end of the reign of evil on earth began with the birth of Jesus. Later Satan would be defeated at Christ’s temptation, he would be defeated on the cross, and he would be defeated by the empty tomb. Jesus was victorious on our behalf and now reigns in glory. His reign guarantees the end of sin and death and an eternity of peace and righteousness for all who believe. The dragon is defeated. The Son reigns. Hallelujah!

The Christmas Hummingbird by Davis Bunn is perhaps the most unusual Christmas novella I have ever read (or listened to).

Ethan Lange lives in Miramar Bay, CA, and is awakened by banging on his front door. He finds a female police officer telling him an out-of-control fire is heading their way and he must vacate immediately.

A few weeks later, Ethan is in a rental property, having lost everything in the fire. When he runs into the police officer who saved his life, Ryan Eames, she asks if he would be willing to be deputized to help with a problem: people are robbing some of the vacation houses belonging to out-of-towners just before fire reaches them. In fact, police suspect the fires were started on purpose as a cover for the robberies.

As Ethan helps Ryan, he rescues a number of homeless animals, including a hummingbird overcome by smoke. Later we learn why hummingbirds mean so much to Ethan. Ryan’s mostly silent son takes an interest in helping the hummingbird, which he names Trevor.

Ethan contacts homeowners in the affected area offering to transfer their valuables to a vault in his bank.

Ethan has a side interest in art and often makes miniatures used in films to depict cities or neighborhoods. His contact in Hollywood calls to say a company is making a film series of his favorite childhood fantasy series, and does Ethan want in? Yes, of course.

Both Ethan and Ryan have been hurt before, so they are slow to consider another relationship. As Ethan gets to know Ryan and her son, Liam, he forges a special relationship with Liam. He finds that Liam is a gifted artist, though he rarely lets anyone see his work.

I love that there are so many layers to this book: the mystery of the fires and robberies, Ethan’s relationship with both Ryan and Liam individually and together, the hummingbird, the fantasy story Ethan’s latest project is based on.

Most of what I have read from Bunn has been Christian fiction. I don’t recall anything of a spiritual nature mentioned in this book, but I listened to the audiobook read by Graham Winton, and it’s impossible to flip back through pages. Nevertheless, this is a lovely story. I just discovered it’s also part of a Mirarmar Bay series by Bunn.

(Sharing with Bookish Bliss Quarterly Link-Up)