In Arms Open Wide: A Call to Linger in the Savior's Presence, author Sherri Gragg gives us a pretty cool way to see some of the more familiar stories from Scripture through the eyes of the people in the stories, with particular emphasis on the cultural significance of some of the elements you may not have understood before.This is a book of 34 devotional stories that starts with a brief introduction and ends with a glossary of terms that may be necessary to better understand some of the terms that may be unfamiliar to the reader.
The introduction is where Gragg explains why she wrote the book and how her stories are "fictional narrative based on research." Having read the devotionals, her cultural research shows in the little details of each story.
The devotionals are all set up in the same manner, the devo title, an OT scripture related to the story you are about to read and then "read first" section that gives you the Biblical account of the story you are about to read. The stories range from 4 to 7 pages long, and are very easy to read and imagine yourself either in the scene, or almost as if you're watching it on TV.
Each story ends with a prayer written by the author called "cry of my heart," but I would venture to say those prayers are relatable to most readers.
Overall I liked this book, but I enjoyed it more from the point of view of learning about the culture Jesus came into, and how what he did and how he did things impacted the thoughts and attitudes of the people around him. As a devotional, I personally didn't get a ton out of it, but that's not to say other people wouldn't. I just tend to prefer my devos a little more "head" centered than "heart" centered. I do, however, think this would be a great gift for the "feelers" in your life!