From Thanksgiving and Christmas to rolling in the New Year, the Yada Yadas are "decked out" to celebrate the holidays! Turkey dinners, tree trimming, and decking the halls--it's that time of year again! And I, Jodi Baxter, can't wait to celebrate. My kids are coming home for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and then all of us Yadas are getting decked out for a big New Year's party. But God's idea of "decked out" might just change the nature of our party plans. A perplexing encounter with a former student, a crime that literally knocks me off my feet, a hurry-up wedding, and a child who will forever change our family...it's times like these that I really need my prayer sisters. This holiday season, we Yada Yadas are learning that no one can out-celebrate God. So let's get this party started!

When the Enemy attacks and everything seems to be falling apart, the sisters of the Yada Yada Prayer Group enter the War Zone.

What do an ex-con, a former drug addict, a real estate broker, a college student and a married mother of two have in common? Nothing, or so I thought. Who would have imagined that God would make a prayer group as mismatched as ours the closest of friends? I almost didn’t even go to the Chicago Women’s Conference—after all, being thrown together with five hundred strangers wasn’t exactly my “comfort zone.” But something happened that weekend to make us realize we had to hang together, and the Yada Yada Prayer Group” was born! When I faced the biggest crisis of my life, God used my newfound Sisters to show me what it means to be just a sinner saved by grace.

Gabby knows God is the God of second chances. But can she give one to the man who betrayed her? When she was thrown out of the penthouse she shared with her husband and their sons, Gabby didn’t know if she’d ever find a soft place to land. But after seeking refuge at the shelter where she works, extraordinary things happen as she is reintroduced to God. From the ashes of her marriage comes the House of Hope—a safe haven for homeless moms and their children. But now those ashes of her destroyed marriage are being stirred again. When her long-gone husband’s life hits rock bottom, he reappears and asks for one more chance. And Gabby faces what feels like an impossible choice. Take him back. Or keep moving forward without him. Toward someone new who hasn’t betrayed her. Is God redeeming what Gabby thought was gone forever? Or is He leading her down a different path and giving her something—and someone—new?

When Jodi Baxtor's nemesis, Leslie "Stu" Stuart, moves in upstairs, Jodi's oasis is turned upside down, and when Stu's secret is revealed, the Yada Yada group will have to decide just how far forgiveness goes.

You can only walk forward when you learn how to lean. Just months after her husband threw her out of their penthouse and sent their two sons away, Gabrielle Fairbanks is finally getting back on her feet. She has a job she loves at the homeless shelter, an apartment for her and the boys, caring friends, and even a new love interest. Best of all, an unexpected windfall has given her a brand-new dream--a House of Hope for homeless mothers and their children. Piece by piece, Gabby's new life is coming together--but the old one keeps dragging her back. First her husband Philip hints at a reconciliation...then hits her up for a loan to pay his gambling debts. And when Gabby tells him no, he makes a desperate move that puts them all in harm's way. How can she even think of embarking on a new venture when so much is up in the air? Gabby is realizing that she needs something far greater than her own strength or even that of her friends. That to move forward, she must first lean on the only One who knows what the future holds.

RISKING GRACE, Loving Out Gay Family and Friends Like Jesus by Dave Jackson As someone who helped write a book advocating reparative therapy for gay people back in 1987, it was with gut-wrenching love that my wife and I did not let our daughter go when she came out 16 years ago. We fi rst prayed that God would change her, then that he would work out his purpose in her life, and fi nally, "Lord, what are you trying to teach us?" God answered with insights that led me to write RISKING GRACE, Loving Our Gay Family and Friends Like Jesus. It's a father's story about my agonizing personal journey of coming to realize that we evangelicals have lost our way when it comes to gay people by substituting a works/righteousness requirement for the clear Gospel message that salvation comes by grace through faith alone. I explore alternative interpretations to the "prohibitive texts," but the main foundation for my change of heart is the life and ministry of Jesus, how he embraced marginalized people, and the way he and the early church dealt with diffi cult issues. I share our story with you, our church family, because many of us have family members or friends who are gay, and we all need help learning how to love like Jesus. I've written with as much transparent vulnerability as I can, wrestling with the questions and presuppositions of the average straight dad (or mom) . . . who loves his daughter and his church but discovers that we have been driving gay people away from Jesus.