My Christian Books
Bible Study, Children's Book, Devotionals, and More
A book is always a perfect gift. Most of my books are available from Amazon. My recommendations as to who can be the perfect recipients follows each title. Then, I also provide a summary of each book.
Garden of Grace: A Daybook of Faith and Healing - gardeners and garden lovers
Casa Charis: A Daybook of Freedom - followers of Jesus into 24/7 Christian living
Ocean of Grace - an intimate and eclectic literary collection (short stories, poetry)
Path of Grace - a read aloud children’s book, grandparents to read aloud
Rise, Shine Be Woke - edited collection of “American” experiences about inclusion
All Things Work for Good - edited collection of a true story, for lovers of India
Stepping Stones - edited collection for those interested in living the good life
Rev. Barbara Buck, Associate Pastor at St. Peter’s By The Sea, Rancho Palos Verdes: “Anita’s scholarship shines. The introduction is right up there with Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Henri Nouwen, and Eberhard Jüngel."
Marilyn Tift, Irvine: “Each time I read the Daybook, I discover something different and gain understanding too. The photos, the garden experiences, the personal disclosure, I love it!”
Garden of Grace is a time-lapsed look at the grace of seeds and the common garden objects, and people in our lives.
Garden of Grace: A Daybook of Faith and Healing. 30 meditations. 30 prayers. 32 color photos. 75 pages. Uncountable blessings!
What can the faithful do when life throws them a curve-ball? Does faith in Jesus heal? How does it help with the losses, challenges and mundane realities of daily living? What part does church, the extended family of Jesus, play in the daily faith of an individual? These questions are explored in the Garden of Grace, a collection of 30 devotions drawn from the author’s garden and gardening experiences while studying Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians.
Garden of Grace is a new kind of devotional combining solid theology, rigorous research, personal narratives, and photographs capturing the everyday reflections of a woman. It covers a range of territory from uplifting meditations inspired by garden insects such as “The Invisible Spider Web and Spiritual Blessings” to winsome reminders for daily living in “Patience, the Body of Christ, and the Praying Mantis.” The colorful gardening metaphors and allegories are intricately woven with true life stories of spiritual friendships and authentic photographs of divine and human gifts. In “A Life of Resurrection and Zinnias” a friend’s gift of seeds for a butterfly and hummingbird garden brought forth long-stemmed zinnias in their due season. The lively zinnias emerging from dormancy became a reminder of the life God had prepared for the author even before her creation. “The Grace Received” includes the picture of another gift, an angel bird-feeder standing among bright red flowering salvia, a spiritual friendship nurtured God. The spectacular show of white hybrid iceberg roses and their enduring nature is captured in “Spiritual Athleticism and Iceberg Roses.” Biblical allusions and myths about the pomegranate are clarified with theological insight in "The Tree of Life and Knowing God." A bibliographical essay and theological background provide details of the author's Bible study and the gardening references used.
The perfect Bible study for busy people! Thought-provoking and deeply satisfying.
Casa Charis: A Daybook of Freedom. 123 pages.
Foreword by the Rev. Scott Bullock. Edited by Bette Fisher.
31 meditations. 4 essays. Questions for individual or group Bible study.
Casa Charis: A Daybook of Freedom is a collection of 31 meditations on the Apostle Paul's astonishing Letter to the Galatians. Introductory essays on Biblical Worldview, Freedom, Sin and Grace provide a robust theological framework. Contemporary issues faced by followers of Jesus are outlined candidly. Stories from the Bible, popular culture, history, and literature highlight the practice of freedom in Christ and the sources of unfreedom.
Ocean of Grace: Two Short Stories, A Few Poems and A Reflection. 39 pages. 2 short stories. A ballad. Songs. Haiku. A reflection. Plus some photos in the Kindle edition to relieve the magical monotony of always reading le mot juste. 2014.
Path of Grace. A read-aloud children’s book about water-wise gardening and building bridges that starts in Finland and ends in Southern California by way of India. 2015.
Rise, Shine, Be Woke. 2018. 136 pages.
Gentle new voices share about growing up Black, White, and Other in Christian middle-class America. 7 lived experiences from 3 very different generations: 4 leading edge Baby Boomer women, a Gen X (Baby Buster) woman, a new American woman, and a young second generation American Millennial man, tell striking stories of identity and inclusion.
Co-authors: Stephanie Patterson, Francena Willingham, Ash Coleman.
Contributors: Marvella Lambright, Susan Skoglund, and Sharon Wakamoto. An Anti-racism Glossary, an introduction to the Anti-racism Digital Library (endracism.info), and guidelines for study, discussions, and reading groups are included.
We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.
All Things Work for Good: Flora, Ananda Rao Samuel, and Pravaham. This is the intimate story of a pivotal incident. In 1978, Flora, the wife of the Rt. Rev. Dr. Ananda Rao Samuel, the “Baby Bishop” and Moderator of the Church of South India (CSI) died in an attempt to kill him. Anand was a strong leader whose changes weren’t welcomed by all leaders in the church. In 1993, Anand founded Pravaham, A Community for Peace and Justice in rural south India. Forty years later, Flora and Anand’s children Lucy, Solomon and Paul look back on their mother’s death and their parents’ self-sacrificial lives.
Nobody can claim Flora’s death was good, but the children’s reflections reveal the fulfillment of God’s promise: “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.”
The author’s sisters join to celebrate their original encounter under the tragic circumstances with Uncle Anand and his children, the reconnections decades later, and the author’s coming home to Pravaham. Anand’s CSI addresses, a published paper, and his vision of Pravaham complete the book. Anand who had been a student at the Union Theological Seminary, NY in his earlier years, spent some of his self-imposed exile from the CSI in the 1980s, spending time with his children, and speaking to churches and seminaries in Germany, the UK, and USA. Published in honor of the 25th anniversary of Pravaham, India. 2018. 205 pages.
Stepping Stones: Creating Communities of Peace and Justice. What does it mean to live the good life in the modern world? Young women’s stories, from Pravaham deep in the ancient hills of rural south India, shed light. Includes the experiences of Friends of Pravaham in California, and an overview by Pravaham leadership. Published in honor of the 25th anniversary of Pravaham, India. 2018.
Eyes on Christ: Reflections on being the people of God in the PC (USA) from my heart to yours. Editor.
