I’m not going to pretend that things are happy and peaceful in America, or around the world, right now. Like so many of you, I have been feeling discouraged, confused and, at times, just plain scared.

Yet, I know that our only hope is Jesus–the great equalizer and the ultimate source of joy, love and truth.

Today, I’m sharing with you (and giving away!) five new Christian books that show us how the light of God’s love overcomes the darkness of sin and death in every situation.

5 New Christian books that will renew your hope and faith

Finding Home with the Beatles, Bob Dylan & Billy Graham by Jess Archer

My new friend, and fellow Austinite, Jess Archer’s Finding Home with the Beatles, Bob Dylan & Billy Graham: A Memoir of Growing Up Inside the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association is a beautiful account of her nomadic childhood and the music that ultimately pointed her anxious soul to Jesus:

Because of Bob Dylan’s faith in Christ, the world no longer held his heart. I comprehended this, and it unsettled me. … I realized that the very music that had soothed my fearful heart as we traveled between cities with Billy Graham was now challenging me.

Dylan was proclaiming with relief, This world is not my home.

Four Letter Words by Krista Wilbur

My For the Love launch team sister and now dear friend, Krista Wilbur’s memoir, Four Letter Words: Finding Hope in a Tiny Wild Life, is a heartrendingly honest story of survival. Krista lays the abuse, abortion and sexual assault she experienced during her childhood and young adult life on the table and then reveals how the healing love of Jesus rescued her.

Liberating King by Stephen Miller

My high school friend, who is now a worship pastor, husband and father of five kids in Dallas, Stephen Miller’s second book, Liberating King: Breaking Free from the Tyranny of Sin, shows us that Christianity is so much more than a religion. Following Jesus is a complete transformation from bondage to freedom:

His call to you is not to do better and try harder. It’s not to pull yourself up by your bootstraps and fix yourself. No, the Savior beckons you to come and worship, to rest in his finished work upon the cross.

Unnamed Women of the Bible by Michelle Discavage

My For the Love sister and a life coach in Lubbock, Michelle Discavage’s Bible study, Unnamed Women: Lessons of Value, Belonging and Worth, takes a look at four unnamed women in the Bible, teaching us that God sees, knows and values us as his daughters, even when we are unnoticed by the world:

Women want to feel connected, a part of something outside ourselves. We have a need to be adored and loved, cherished without conditions. We desire someone to draw us out of the crowd, someone to ensure we are safe.

Where Did My Sweet Grandma Go? by Lauren Flake

Last, but not least, my new children’s book, Where Did My Sweet Grandma Go?: A Preschooler’s Guide to Losing a Loved One, offers little ones and their families hope when a grandparent or another loved one dies by pointing them to the beauty of God’s Creation while gently introducing the concept of enduring legacy.

I wrote the text of the book for my young daughters after losing my mother to early onset Alzheimer’s disease, eventually adding my mom’s artwork alongside my own watercolor paintings as illustrations.

Books giveaway

Guess what, friends! We’re giving one copy of each of these books away to 5 different readers.

Please leave a comment below, letting me know which book you’d most like to read and why, for a chance to win.

U.S. only, must be 18 to enter. Winners and their prizes will be announced Monday 7/18!