STORE HOURS: 10AM - 7PM Monday thru Saturday. Closed Sundays. 480-598-9191 / 888-598-9191

Our Story begins over a decade ago. In early 1995, Brian was working in the Engineering field and Sheryl was in education. Brian was becoming very discouraged that God was being taken out of the workplace. He was frustrated that he could not share any beliefs or do any ministry at work. After listening to a message at Bible Study Fellowship (BSF), he began to pray that “my job and ministry would overlap.” In addition, he also saw a need for a Christian bookstore in the southeast valley. (However, the bookstore idea didn’t have anything to do with us…..so we thought.)

In August of 1996, we had just returned from our summer vacation. It was a Friday night. Brian sat down on the bed and sensed the room beginning to spin. He also began to loose his speech. We called the paramedics and rushed him to the hospital. After many tests, the neurologist diagnosed it as a stroke. He had lost ability to walk, talk and coordination on his left side. While we were still in the hospital, we had a friend who was a surgeon that stopped by. The surgeon told Brian that the stroke was caused by his heart. He told us to get right to a cardiologist. We did. Sure enough, the cardiologist discovered that Brian had a hole in his heart, probably from birth. So in October of the same year, Brian underwent open heart surgery to fix the hole. We saw God’s hand throughout the entire ordeal….(which is another story in itself!)

Needless to say, life as we knew it had changed! We began to re-evaluate life and the things that are important. Brian began to feel like God was prompting him to be the person to open the Christian bookstore. He continued to pray that his “job and his ministry would overlap.” In January, 1997, Sheryl began to feel the call to open a Christian bookstore. Sheryl was on board, but her only request was “don’t quit your job.” Because neither of us knew anything about retail, we began to pray for “step one.” We asked God to show us what “step one” would be. And remember, “Don’t quit your job!”

On the last Friday of April 1997, Brian walked into the office and his position was terminated. “Okay God, that’s ‘step one’.” (He didn’t quit!) Over the next couple of days, Brian went to the library to research Christian bookstores. He found information on the Christian Booksellers Association (CBA). On Monday morning, he called CBA to ask about opening a store. CBA was very encouraging and told us that we needed to attend their annual convention and prospective retailers class. Each year the class and convention are held together. This particular year, they would be in Atlanta, Georgia during the third week of July. Brian got off the phone with CBA and called Sheryl. He said “You’re not going to believe this! The CBA convention is in Atlanta, GA the third week of July.” Less than one month prior to losing his job, we had purchased non-refundable airline tickets to spend our summer vacation with Sheryl’s sister in Atlanta, Georgia during the third week of July! Wow! That was “step two!”

Backing up a bit, we live in a wonderful neighborhood with several Christian families. These families were a terrific source of help and encouragement for us. We had one set of neighbors that had just moved in. He was a professional athlete and they were both Christians who wanted their kids to grow up in a regular neighborhood. We had only briefly met them. In the week following the CBA phone call, our doorbell rang. It was our new neighbor. She said that she had heard about our interest in opening a Christian bookstore. She said that her husband, who was a professional baseball player, thought that he might like to be in Christian retail when he retires. So, she said, “We would like to invest in the bookstore. Here is an investment check that we would like to give you.” Needless to say, she and Sheryl were crying like babies!! (That’s step three!)

Because God was working so fast, we thought we could have the store opened by fall of 1997. God had other plans. God knew that we didn’t have a clue about retail, so he let us have plenty of time to get things figured out. There were many times that we wanted to quit and asked God to choose someone else for this job, yet He remained faithful. Countless times we would have people call us and tell us they were praying for us. One specific time, we were on our knees and very discouraged. We were truly asking God to “take this cup from us.” As soon as we got off our knees, the designer that was doing our store called. He just wanted to say how excited he was for Amazing Grace to get opened and start ministry. We thanked God for the encouragement and pressed on.

The store finally opened in January 1999 with the incredible help of many friends. Brian and Sheryl had the unique blessing of knowing that, without any shadow of a doubt, this was exactly what God wanted them to do. God’s timing is perfect. From day one, we have had people tell us that they had been praying for a store in our area. We know that Amazing Grace is God’s store. We are only vessels which God used to get it open. We are here to serve the community until God calls us out, “Our business is ministry but our method is retail.”

God has truly blessed Amazing Grace. In 2003, Amazing Grace was awarded the international honor of Christian Bookstore of the Year.

We want to personally thank each of you that have supported Amazing Grace over the years. We would not be here without your support. We look forward to serving you and equipping you to minister to those God has placed in your paths. Thank you for partnering with us.

Brian and Sheryl Law
Store Hours: 10AM - 7PM Monday thru Saturday. Closed Sundays.