I was a Stranger

Have you ever thought about the innkeeper who sent Mary and Joseph to the stable because there was no room in the inn?

When he stood before God, do you think he wished he’d slept in the hay and given Mary his own bed?

Imagine knowing for all eternity that you sent Jesus out to sleep with the cows and sheep!

In I was a Stranger, Marilyn Parker looks at Matthew 25 where Jesus, in His own words, warns that whatever we do to one of the “least” of His brothers or sisters, we do to Him. She draws on her forty years as the wife of a pastor—who regularly brought unannounced strangers home for a meal and a place to sleep, hosted ministers and missionaries, and kept the door open to his congregation—for both sobering and side-splitting stories about her family’s experiences.

Marilyn also addresses the heart of the Christian, the church, and the country towards immigrants and Muslims, people with different lifestyles and worldviews—the strangers among us, for whom Jesus so freely gave His life.

I was a Stranger is full of practical advice on how to entertain people in your home. AND it includes Cooking for Company, a cookbook full of stranger-tested recipes Marilyn used to feed all of those wonderful people.

Be sure to check out the Best-in-the-World Brownies recipe (it really is the best!), Cowboy Cookies, and authentic green-chili beef for burritos!!

Enjoy!

The Day My Brother Drowned

“The Day My Brother Drowned,” is the true short story of a tragic accident that changed a family forever.

The story begins in a mental hospital and reaches back to the dance hall where Marilyn’s parents met during The Great Depression, the potato farm where tragedy took their oldest son, and the little house on Iona Street where Marilyn struggled to live with her mother’s mental illness.

It’s a story of a little girl’s loneliness and confusion and her own struggle with depression as an adult. It’s not until she sees her mom in a dream after her death that Marilyn finally understands the sacrifice her mother made for her.

“The Day My Brother Drowned” is a moving story of hope for those affected by depression—their own or another’s.

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The Struggle for Love: The Story of Leah

The Struggle for Love is the story of the Old Testament character Leah.

Leah is the older, plainer sister of the beautiful Rachel. Leah longs for a husband who loves her, but her father cares only that she marries first, according to tradition, and that she marries a man of means.

When Jacob, grandson of Abraham, meets his Uncle Laban’s daughters, he admires Leah’s faith and forges a friendship with her but chooses Rachel for her beauty. When, through Laban’s trickery, Jacob finds Leah in his marriage bed instead of Rachel, he feels betrayed. He swears he’ll do his duty by Leah—but she will never have his love.

Leah faces a loveless marriage, an estranged sister, and unbearable tragedy. Can she keep her faith in such trials? And will she find love in the end?

The Struggle for Love is the story of an Old Testament woman, but its lessons are timeless. The modern woman will find herself crying with Leah in her pain and rejoicing in her victory as she finds the true source of love and self-worth.