Mark Gilroy

Bringing Books to Life!

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Mark Gilroy June 20, 2014

What Makes a House a Home?

when does a house become a home?A home is a house with a heart inside.

Author Unknown

 

She was a single mother with a five-year-old son and a ton of bills. Just to stay afloat, she rented a musty, cramped camper at a local RV park. She was embarrassed and discouraged by her surroundings. She cringed one day as she overheard someone ask her little boy if he wished they had a real home.

But her grimace was replaced with a tear and a smile when she heard him give this reply: “We do have a real home; we just don’t have a house to put it in.”

Maybe you’re not happy where you are and want more. But no matter how bad things look or how long the journey to get where you want to be is, don’t get so focused on the future that you miss the good things you have right now.

God has a good plan for your future—but He has also sprinkled gifts and blessings in the life you have now.  Make sure your eyes—and heart—are open to see them.

Even if his house was only a trailer, the little boy saw what was real and what mattered. His faith, love, and optimism created something that was real in the here and now.

God sets the lonely in families.

Psalm 68:6

A Year of Devotions to Draw You Near to the Heart of GodExcerpted from A Daybook of Grace (published by Fall River Press, 2014). Created by Mark Gilroy. Available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other fine booksellers.

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Filed Under: Faith, Inspiration Tagged With: devotions, inspirational story, what makes a home

Mark Gilroy April 10, 2014

We Need Daily Grace

A Year of Devotions to Draw You Near to the Heart of God

The new Fall River edition of Daybook of Grace

I wrote and compiled most of A Daybook of Grace a couple years ago and “packaged” it for Fall River Press (an imprint of Sterling Publishing, owned by Barnes & Noble) as part of their exclusive in-store value line. After three years in the market, the publishing team at Falls River recently updated and upgraded it with an exquisite new cover for the trade. (Thanks Stefan and Betsy.)

This project will always be near and dear to my heart for a couple of reasons. Of course I like (and really need) a daily devotional book to help me focus spiritually and emotionally each morning. I also like the title and the theme of daily grace. There are certainly some mad-dash sprints in life, but overall it is a marathon that takes daily endurance.

But what really makes the project special to me is how many problems I had during the process of preparing it for publication. I can’t go into details, but one of my vendors had a personal crisis that spilled over into the development and timeline, which meant unplanned late night and early morning writing sessions, and a couple rounds of re-budgeting. (What I dealt with paled in comparison to what my friend had to go through.)

My wife likes to remind me that when strange, idiopathic challenges arise, “something good is about to happen.” And as Daybook went to press that was indeed the case. The new release is another good thing to happen. It is even better that it happened a couple years later – that means the book has done well.

Daybook of Grace is my lovely reminder that grace really is a daily need and blessing.

Daybook of Grace is available at all Barnes and Noble stores and B&N.com, Amazon.com, and other fine booksellers.

 

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Inspiration, Writing Tagged With: A Daybook of Grace, devotions

Mark Gilroy November 13, 2012

The Simple Blessings of Christmas – It’s Time to Order!

Christmas blessings devotions gift book

No – this isn’t another article on how early Christmas decorations go up in retail settings.

I would like to give a quick promo to a book of 31 Christmas devotions I wrote a couple years ago. If you want a book of daily readings that focuses on the Advent season, this might be just what you are looking for.

And I would quickly add it has sold out the last two years by the end of November. I’m not confident it will be available to order this December either.

It is available directly from Simple Truths, the publisher (a free gift card is included if sending as a gift), as well as Amazon and other online retailers.

Click HERE to enjoy a short inspirational “movie” that is on a DVD included in the book.

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Filed Under: Books, Christmas Tagged With: Advent, Christmas, devotions

Mark is a publisher, author, consultant, blogger, positive thinker, believer, encourager, and family guy. A resident of Brentwood, Tennessee, he has six kids, with one in college and five out in the "real world." Read More…

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