Book Release: Stories and Songs of Faith: My Journey with God

Alexis A. Goring, a member of Potomac Conference’s Restoration Praise Center in Bowie, Md., recently released a devotional book, Stories and Songs of Faith: My Journey with God. Each chapter is a weekly theme for the reader’s year.

The Visitor staff recently interviewed her about this new work.

Visitor: What inspired you to write a book of devotionals?

Goring: God. He gave me the inspiration to write devotionals since I was 16 years old. Since then, my devotionals have been published on various faith-based blogs (including my own “God is Love”) and in devotional books that feature original work by various writers. However, the prompting to write a book filled with my original devotionals, did not dawn on me until Spring 2019.  I realized it would be a good idea to have a set of my devotionals in one place and there’s nothing like writing a book and sharing it with your readers!

Visitor: Are all of the stories your personal stories? Is there another theme if not?

Goring: Yes, all of my true stories within my devotional book are from my own life.

Visitor: How do you think this devotional might be relevant to people right now? Especially in light of the coronavirus pandemic?

Goring: I think that my devotional book is relevant to people right now because God put it on my heart to write at a time when I was planning to write another fiction story. Since people have read my devotional book, they have told me how timely the messages within the book are for this time in human history. Here’s an example:

My author friend Victoria Bylin said, “It inspired me to trust God and lean on him for daily help. It brought peace in the midst of these difficult times. It reminded me that God is in charge (and I’m not).”

I believe that God wanted me to write this book and have it published during this time because He knew that we’d be facing this pandemic and He knew that His people around the world would need to be reminded that He is God and He is in control and He is there for us. The messages in my devotional book support those Bible-based truths and serve as a gentle, yet steady reminder that God is for us and He will take care of us, even when we feel like all hope is lost.

It’s also a reminder that we always have hope when we have Jesus Christ in the picture and the good news is, He is always in the picture. The Bible says that Jesus will be with us until the end of time (Matthew 28:20)!

Visitor: What is your favorite story? And Why?

Goring: My favorite story? I have so many! I cannot choose just one. But for the purposes of this magazine feature, I’ll share the one that resonates with me most at this time in my life. “Our Greatest Resource” is a devotional that was inspired by words that a sister friend spoke to me. I called her in emotional distress but couldn’t put my pain into words. She told me, “You know how to reach me” before hanging up the phone. Her words comforted my heart because it was a blessing to know that I have a friend who wants to be there for me whenever I’m ready to talk.

She is a great resource. Moments later, God used her words to inspire me with this devotional about how God is our Greatest Resource! God taught me that while He does place people in our life to help us, He is our greatest resource that never fails and we should go to Him for help first.

Read more about Goring and her other work here.