In 2017 I had an idea to create profiles of the characters in the Christmas story. It was meant to be a prompt to get me to combine two of my favorite subjects: Bible history and art.
And that was the birth of The Faces of the Christmas Story, a series I ran on this blog.
Years later, Householder Publishing reached out with a proposition: what if we created stories around these characters in the Christmas story? It would be an interesting take and the potential was too great to pass up.
So, of course, I said YES!
And that is the genesis of what has become my latest book, friends: The Faces of Christmas.
The Journey
From mid-2021 through 2022, I worked with Toluwanimi Babarinde, principal at Householder Publishing, in placing these characters in believable stories. There were periods when I was blank, I’ll be honest, and when I was scampering for ideas on what to write.
It was easier to write stories on characters the Bible did not go in-depth on, because that gave me some artistic license. But, believe it or not, it was Joseph and Mary’s stories that were the most challenging for me. How do I give readers a new experience in a story they are all-too-familiar with already?
They were the last two of the stories I got to write. I hope you like it when you read it.
Bound in hardcover and beautifully illustrated by Gideon Akor, the book is one I’m really proud of and that I think you’d love it too.
My Hopes
From the very beginning, this concept was birthed from an appreciation of the ordinary stories of the people that make up the Christmas story. It amazed me how God brought them into the wonderful story that He was telling. It mirrored, to me, what He can do in our seemingly ordinary lives too.
I hope that readers get to see that too. It is my hope that when you read this book, you come to appreciate much better what Christmas is really about, for you.
And Now it’s Out!
It’s been amazing, over the past few weeks, watching the book pop up in online stores across the world, some in languages I do not even understand yet, and it’s so exciting! I hope that everyone reading them gets to be blessed by them too. Jesus came for everyone!
For information on where to get The Faces of Christmas, check out the book page.
I’ll be sharing more about the whole story behind this book, with the setbacks and lessons I learnt along the way, real soon. Through it all, God has been with us.
And that’s the lesson of Christmas, the Gift of Immanuel.
Emmanuel Onimisi 