Donna's Books

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The Christmas Promise

Each Christmas we are given a promise from heaven. And each year on earth we make promises to each other. This is a story about how a promise from one person to another shows us the true meaning of faith, remembrance, and love.

Seven years ago Gloria endured a family tragedy that almost shook her faith to the core. Each Christmas she places a card in an envelope on her tree, restating a promise she made to her husband before he died. Now, having moved from her small town and all the painful memories it held, she is building a life by caring for people in need. Whether it’s a young mother who can’t pay her electric bill or a family who needs some extra food, Gloria always finds a way.

Miriam is a thorn in Gloria’s side. Miriam is a constantly critical, disapproving neighbor who looks with suspicion at all the good things Gloria does. When a twist of fate makes them roommates instead of neighbors, it’s the ultimate test of patience and faith.

Chaz has a good job as head of security at Wilson’s Department Store, but each nighthe returns home to an empty apartment. He longs for a wife and family of his own but realizes that the life choices he’s made have alienated him. He befriends a young boy whose mother has fallen on hard times, giving him a chance to have a life he thought impossible.

In The Christmas Promise, the lives of these characters collide and we learn that even as we move ahead, the past is never far behind. And when we are forgiven much, we love much. In this warmly humorous and deeply poignant story, we are reminded that the Christmas Promise is the promise of second chances.

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The Christmas Hope

Patricia and Mark Addison have long given up the hope of having a meaningful Christmas. But this year, Patricia's job as a social worker will lead her to a very special five-year-old. Against her better judgment, Patricia bends the rules and takes the little girl to her own home.

Through the presence of Emily in their house, and her penetrating questions about heaven, the Addisons learn that there is no sorrow so great that faith cannot help you find your way through. And Christmas will once more be a time of joy in their home.

The Christmas Hope is a story of love in the face of loss, joy when all seems hopeless, and how light can shine into the darkest places.

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The Christmas Blessing

In The Christmas Shoes, young Nathan Andrews was a child who lost his mother to cancer. Now his deepest wish is to become a doctor. When a stranger named Robert gave him the money to buy his mother a pair of shoes for her last Christmas, both Robert and Nathan learned the deepest lessons of love and giving. Now a medical student in his third year, Nathan realizes there are still things to be learned about faith, blessings, and sacrifice. Lessons he will learn from Meghan Sullivan - a young woman born with a hole in her heart that has not kept her from becoming a champion runner. And lessons learned from a young boy named Charlie, who teaches how to live a life of true courage. Together, they will help guide Nathan through the darkest period in his life.

The Christmas Blessing is an inspiring about hope existing in the darkest places, and love is always the greatest gift of all.

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The Christmas Shoes

Sometimes, the things that can change your life will cross your path in one instant-and then, in a fleeting moment, they're gone. But if you open your eyes, and watch carefully, you will believe...

Robert is a successful attorney who has everything in life-and nothing at all. Focused on professional achievement and material rewards, Robert is on the brink of losing his marriage. He has lost sight of his wife, Kate, their two daughters, and ultimately himself.

Eight year old Nathan has a beloved mother, Maggie, whom he is losing to cancer. But Nathan and his family are building a simple yet full life, and struggling to hold onto every moment they have together.

A chance meeting on Christmas Even brings Robert and Nathan together-he is shopping for a family he hardly knows and Nathan is shopping for a mother he is soon to lose. In this one encounter, their lives are forever altered as Robert learns an important lesson: sometimes the smallest things can make all the difference.

The Christmas Shoes is a universal story of the deeper meaning of serendipity, a tale of our shared humanity, and of how a power greater than ourselves can shape, and even save, our lives.

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The Angels of Morgan Hill

It’s 1947. Nine-year-old Jane Gable first lays eyes on young Milo Turner the day that her alcoholic father is buried. The Turners are the first black family ever to live in Morgan Hill, and Jane can’t understand why some people are bitter.

When tragedy strikes the Turner household, the Gables are asked to make a decision that could rip their family apart. One path might open up a whole new world to them and bring them closer than ever. The other might bring them nothing but trouble and heartache. As Jane struggles to make sense of the changes in her community, she will soon learn about the angels who surround her, every day, in the most extraordinary—and ordinary—ways.

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* includes CD of the song "Sheltering Trees" by NewSong

Sheltering Trees: The Power Promise and Refuge of Friendship

Friends truly are like sheltering trees. When the weather of our life is calm and serene, we bask in the gentle breezes that blow through them to warm our souls. When the rain falls and the lightning threatens, it is to those sheltering trees we call "friends" that we run and find our protection and help.

This beautiful, sensitive book reveals real stories of friendships from the lives of men and women who've impacted our world. Beautifully intertwined throughout the book are the lyrics to the popular song "Sheltering Tree" and inspirational quotes that will warm you through and through. This is a book for you and your friends to share, because somewhere in a lifetime those friends will become your Sheltering Trees.

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They Walked With Him

What was it like to walk with Jesus? As you have read the different biblical accounts of Jesus' adventures with His chosen ones, have you ever wondered how it felt to know the Master, to live in those times? What were the sounds, smells, and surroundings, like when those special moments in Jesus' ministry took place.

With the use of a little imagination and a lot of attention to biblical details, Donna VanLiere has described in captivating story form some of those wonderful moments just as Jesus' followers would have witnessed them. Follow Peter, John, James, and the other apostles as they witness the power and majesty of God in the flesh.

They Walked With Him is a book that you will want to read over and over, and give to your loved ones. As you read, you will sense the presence of Jesus as He performs His acts of power, passion, and love. This is more than just a reading experience; it is an exciting adventure from which you will never want to return.

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High Calling: The Courageous Life and Faith of Space Shuttle Commander Rick Husband

Rick Husband wanted to be an astronaut since his fourth birthday, but it wasn’t always for the right reasons. Initially, he thought it would be neat . . . cool . . . a fun thing to do. It wasn’t until he came to a spiritual crossroads and was able to give that dream up to discover the true desires of his heart before he actually got into the space shuttle program at NASA. Three failed attempts didn’t daunt this driven pilot—and the fourth interview process, though lengthy and difficult, proved successful for him.

Husband’s years at NASA served not only to develop his integrity and character, but also to increase his faith in a Creator that could not be denied in the vastness of space. His story is not only inspirational but exhilarating and invigorating, as readers will witness the life of a man who consistently pursued the desires of his heart even as he served a faithful God.

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The Christmas Shoes - DVD

Two separate stories mesh - in the first, a young music teacher, Maggie Andrews, begins dying of a heart condition and her son Nathan tries to get a pair of Christmas shoes for her before she dies. In the second, lawyer Robert Layton and his wife Kate are slowly drifting apart and the matter comes to a head during Christmas when Kate takes over for Maggie for the school choir and declines a job in Robert's firm. When Robert's mother passes away, he begins to reconsider things and his and Nathan's paths cross on Christmas Eve as Nathan tries to raise the money for the shoes and Robert tries to get a present for his daughter.

Includes exclusive bonus interview with Donna VanLiere and NewSong.

Starring Rob Lowe, Kimberly Williams, Max Morrow, Maria del Mar

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The Christmas Blessing - DVD

A young doctor encounters romance and deals with his past when he returns to his hometown during the holidays.

Nathan Andrews, a medical resident, goes back home to his small town after he loses a teenager on the operating table. He joins his dad and his mechanic's business and becomes a basketball coach to some youths. Here he meets Charlie and Meghan. This is based on a novel by Donna VanLiere and a continuation of The Christmas Shoes. Meghan is trying to start up a day care business for single, working mothers and Charlie is ill. All their lives are connected and Nathan meets someone from his past.

Starring Neil Patrick Harris, Rebbeca Gayheart, Angus T. Jones and Rob Lowe.

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