The car came to a stop at the side of the road. How could I have gotten to such a low point in my life? In the pursuit of happiness and acceptance, I felt as if I had dug myself a murky pit and couldn't get out of it. The harder I tried, the deeper I seemed to sink. I was losing my mother, the only person I thought loved me for me. There in the dark, I tried bargaining with God. Take me, God, and spare my mother. She has done so much for the church. She deserves to continue living. All I have done is destroy my life. What good am I? Why would you want someone like me? As soon as those words left my lips, the words that had been spoken to me by a prophet started sounding so clear in my mind. A warm, comforting feeling began to envelop me. The desperation was leaving me. I knew how I could contribute. There in the dark, I found a way to give hope to all who didn't know how to find it.

Through illustrations, words, and song, You are a Gift from God promotes spiritual growth and healing, loving forgiveness of yourself and others, and strength and trust through God. Authors Deborah K. Thoennes Schlapper and Roxanne J. Schmitt Copeland communicate that each person is a masterpiece, fearfully and wonderfully made in God’s image. Affirming for people of all ages, this Christian book offers positive messages to help people find strength in themselves through God. This personalized, character-driven picture book inspires belief in yourself, your gifts, and your God-given talents. You are a Gift from God delivers the message that each person is special, unique, and loved by God, who is everywhere.

The NIV is the world's best-selling modern translation, with over 150 million copies in print since its first full publication in 1978. This highly accurate and smooth-reading version of the Bible in modern English has the largest library of printed and electronic support material of any modern translation.

With God you can be an overcomer! Are you unhappy and weary of the life you are living? Are you in need of a change? Do you need a savior? I have good news for you! God is still in control! Jesus is still our savior! Miracles are still accomplished by him every day! He has a plan for you! According to the ways of this world ... I thought I was popular and in control. I wasn't popular, nor was I in control of anything. I was very lost. I asked Jesus into my heart and life ... He did many miracles in my life. I'm a different person now, and Jesus is my best friend. He can do the same for you! Jesus has put many lessons in my heart, in poetry form. They are a precious and valuable gift.

Poems contained within My Treasured Gifts from God have sprung from both the broken past that haunts me and the loving Father who comforts and guides me. Hope, joy, faith, love, and laughter all grow from the depths of pain, anger, disappointment, rejection, and abandonment. These are the two sides of the coin that is my life. Depression and bipolar disorder have been my companions since diagnosed in 1997. Congenital heart disease and quadruple bypass surgery have added PTSD to the daily challenges I face. Knowing that two of four bypasses are already blocked keeps the promise of heaven constantly before me. Although, desiring to watch my two granddaughters grow up, I'm in no hurry to enter those gates! God is continually revealing to me the depths of his caring watchfulness over my life...long before I asked him into my heart. It's a delightfully joyous discovery and I find myself desiring to shout from the rooftops, sharing this triumphant testimony of grace, mercy, and love. That shouting appears in my poems.

A story of God’s love, a fear of the unknown, and secrets revealed, as four siblings discover their gifts from above. Andrew, John, Ben and Sarah are your typical children who don’t always obey their parents. On a hot summer day, the siblings find themselves in a place they’ve been warned never to go. While their journey is brief, it’s filled with twists and turns that make them wonder if they are hearing and seeing things that don’t exist. The children make a pact to never say a word about what happened that day but some 25 years later their secret is revealed. Was their journey a big mistake or a part of God’s plan?