Exciting News!
Sssh...! I'm mentioning the 'C' word...
It seems like the world is divided into two kinds of people: those who think Christmas should begin in September, and those who think it shouldn’t be mentioned until at least December 23rd. So if you’re in the last group, I apologise in advance. But I’m going to talk about it early this year, because my new book: Contemplating Christmas: An Advent Devotional For Finding Hope in the Dark, is finally ready for you! And YOU, dear reader, are the very first to get the news!
I wrote Contemplating Christmas because we all know what Christmas is supposed to look like. We’ve seen the adverts with the perfect family and the beautifully decorated house, the delicious food and the well-chosen gifts. We know which songs will be playing in the background and which Christmas films we’ll be watching again this year. We know exactly how Christmas is supposed to feel: all warm, merry and bright, with peace on earth and goodwill to all.
But what if Christmas is more complicated for you? What if you love Christmas, but you’re also grieving for someone you’ve lost? What if you have a chronic illness that doesn’t take a break for the holidays? What if, underneath the sparkle and the glitter, Christmas is also a yearly reminder of broken dreams, a dysfunctional family or painful loneliness?
As I dug down into the Christmas stories again, I found that they, like all of Scripture, make room for all our emotions. They embrace our sorrow as we all our joy, our despair as well as our hope, our pain as well as our celebration.
Contemplating Christmas is for those of us for whom Christmas is bittersweet. It’s a place where you can come as you are and find hope that doesn’t deny the darkness, but still looks forward to what God might yet do in our lives and the lives of those around us.
In the book, you’ll find a meditation for each day of Advent, alongside Scripture readings, a breath prayer and some questions for your reflection. I invite you to join me this Advent as we rediscover fresh hope, deep peace, lasting joy and the unrelenting love of God that will strengthen and sustain us long after the festivities of the Christmas season are over.
Contemplating Christmas: An Advent Devotional For Finding Hope in the Dark, is available from Amazon.
UK friends: click here.
US friends: click here.
To join in and support my work, I would love for you to do the following:
Buy the book.
Leave me a review on Amazon.
Share my social media posts.
Let other people know about the book on your own social media.
All these things help spread the word. And if you help me, I will be eternally grateful!
Finally, if you need any more persuading, I’m going to leave you with some of the very kind words other people have already written about the book. Being a writer is lonely work, and you need all the encouragement you can get, so I’m particularly thankful for these words. They are all good people, writers I trust, so go and follow them, too!
“The Christmas season can bring with it both great joy, and for some, great sorrow. Which is why I’m thankful for the work of Abby Ball, and the deep tenderness she leads with in her devotional, “Contemplating Christmas.” With compassion and wisdom, Abby reminds us that Emmanuel, God With us, meets us precisely where we are; both in our hope and our pain. Abby beautifully beckons us to remember that our sacred work is not to deny the reality of our humanity as we walk through Christmas, but instead, to recall that the One who created us comes near as we face whatever our lives hold. I am so grateful for this gorgeous resource.”
Aundi Kolber, MA, LPC
Therapist and Author of Try Softer and Strong like Water
“Abby has a beautiful, poetic style of writing that draws the reader in immediately. She has created a refreshingly different Advent devotional that is honest about the struggles and difficulties of life, but also invites us to push past the consumerism and cultural expectations of the season to draw closer to Jesus - even in the midst of our questions and hurting. Her reflection questions are insightful, helping the reader to really think and apply what they have been reading about, and the breath prayers are wonderful, easy takeaways to use throughout the day. This is a rich resource that offers a gentle yet powerful accompaniment to Advent.”
Claire Musters, author, speaker, editor and host of the Woman Alive book club.
“Advent provides a necessary alternative to the ways the Christmas season has become a time of consumption and excess. What Abby Ball offers in her new Advent Devotional “Contemplating Christmas” is just what we need: a beautiful reiteration of the simple and essential invitation to watch and wait. Inhale: There is so much darkness. Exhale: Jesus is coming.”
Christiana Peterson, author of Mystics & Misfits and Awakened by Death.
"Through meaningful reflection and thoughtful questions—delivered by caring hands—Abby Ball leads us heart-first into the season of Advent. If melancholy or painful memories have ever sat gift-wrapped beneath your Christmas tree, you will find in these pages an invitation to hold your story with honesty and grace and offer it all to the Saviour."
Jonathan Puddle, pastor and author of You Are Enough: Learning to Love Yourself the Way God Loves You and Mornings with God: Daily Bible Devotional for Men
“Christmas can be a time when life gets overwhelming as the world piles more and more ideals of perfection and happiness on us. Abby Ball's new Advent devotional is a warm and inviting counterbalance to these unsettling messages. It's a place to sit down in the silence and to find God there with us when our lives are less than perfect. Abby's words are lyrical and beautiful, and welcome us into a place of authenticity and vulnerability, where we can admit to the difficulties of life while finding hope in this great and enduring story of love come down. Contemplating Christmas is a lavish feast, a gentle rest and an enticing journey to joy, and it will soothe your weary places this Advent season.”
Liz Carter, author of Catching Contentment and the upcoming Valuable
“Abby Ball is a writer of rare fluency and clarity. She is a voice of authenticity in a world which can present itself as unattainably glossy and perfect at times. Her devotional for the Advent season is a welcome addition to a crowded marketplace. “Contemplating Christmas” has been written for those for whom the glitter, sparkle and relentless cheeriness of the season can be just too much. Gentle, reflective and insightful, this is a place where readers can come and be reminded of the true spirit of Christmas, the breathless wait for the Christ Child, the darkness before the revelation of the radiance of His love.”
Ruth Leigh, author of the Isabella M Smugge series.
Can't wait to hear your conversation with Nikki Wuu!! Looking forward to your book.