devotional – Beth Jones, International Speaker & Author

Bible Studies, Blog, Faith, Marriage, Parenting, prayer, Writing

Harvest of Hope 50-Day Devotional

Harvest of Hope 50 Day Devotional by Dana Arcuri

I don’t usually do book reviews on my website, even though I am a voracious reader.

This blog post isn’t really a review, but a recommendation to read Dana Arcuri’s just-released Harvest of Hope 50-Day Devotional book.

Dana was my client last year, and she hired me as a coach to motivate her to finish her book Harvest of Hope: Living Victoriously Through Adversity. She completed it with God’s help, making her big dream of being an author come true.

It’s one of the best books I’ve ever read. Dana is a natural writer, and her writing just flows. I read it all in one day, unable to put it down.

Sharing her harrowing journey of date rape, marriage problems, a diagnosis of ADHD and fibromyalgia, and toxic prescription interactions that led to a suicide attempt, Dana walks you through her darkest moments that she overcame by a strong faith in Christ. Her book and message are one of hope.

Now she’s done it again with her devotional. It is a great book on topics relating to deeper faith, restored health, leaning more on God through trials, having a God-sized dream, living an abundant life of purpose, reaching goals, and more.

With this book you get:

an inspiring message
Scriptures pertaining to each topic
a 15 minute reading
encouragement to pray or take action steps

“Dare to believe in yourself, your dreams, and your strengths. Consider realistic steps of action that may lead you onto the right path to draw you closer to your dreams. Persistently overcome your fears by following a new vision. Remain focused, keep moving, and be determined to plug away by completing one goal at a time. When you achieve your deepest dreams, you not only accomplish what you set out for, but you have something valuable to share with others. You give them hope, inspiration, and meaning to their life. Not only that, but you pave the way for others to chase after their own God-sized dreams.” – Dana Arcuri, Harvest of Hope: A 50 Day Devotional

I give this book two thumbs up and highly recommend it for inspiration and encouragement.

November 12, 2014 by Beth Jones

Blog, Faith, prayer

Wild Delight: God’s love, purple tiger stripe duck tape, and a sunroom

I’m purging and packing, getting ready to move into our new rental home. This morning I ran out of boxes and sent Ray out in the rain to get some more. He came home sans boxes and when I came into the bedroom, he had on his Captain America pajama pants and was about to climb back into bed.

“What are you doing?” I asked, instantly up in arms.

“Nobody had any boxes. There’s nothing to do.”

“There’s PLENTY to do, like the garage! I’m going to find some more boxes for us!”

Don’t you love my sweet, gentle spirit? But I figure like the Proverbs 31 woman, if I can set about my work vigorously, my arms being strong for the task and holding the distaff (what IS a distaff?), it’s my job, too, to make sure my family isn’t being lazy and are getting rid of things they don’t need.

You need the right tools

Instantly I raced off in the car to make one of the stores in town give me their boxes, lol. The Family Center staff was generous with their broken-down boxes. An elderly man named Bill, walking with a slight limp and reminding me of Jacob who had wrestled with God, helped me. (Then the man said, “Let me go; it’s almost dawn.” But Jacob answered, “I won’t let you go until you bless me.” – Genesis 32:26)

“You got something to put these boxes together?” Bill asked, sorting through the pile on the floor to find me the best ones.

“Yes, good ol’ duck tape,” I said. He smiled approvingly. Everyone knows that duck tape is a miracle worker. You need the right tools for the job.

Duck tape

I’m moving in style

Bill loaded the boxes for me on a platform cart and told me to come back for some more boxes Friday around 11 a.m. after their delivery truck arrives. I thanked him and went back home to spur on Ray to work.

Of course, I ran out of duck tape and had to go back to the dollar store for more. I was delighted to find fashionably colored duck tape, instead of the normal, boring, silver tape – colored hearts, paint splotches, bright pink, and purple tiger stripes. Now I can move in style. 🙂 If I run out of tape again, I’ll get the purple tiger stripes. Yes, I am easily amused.

Colored heart duck tape

I noticed one of the boxes had the words on it Wild Delight. Did you know this is how God feels about you? He loves you so much!

God has wild delight for you!

God even cares about the little things you love, like the colored heart duck tape I found today and the sunroom at our new rental home. I’ve been praying for years for a home with a sunroom!

This sunroom has black screen on the windows, much like the screened-in porches of southern homes, but I could envision removing the screen and replacing it with beautiful glass windows to look outside at the birds.

I can’t wait to move and have a cup of coffee with God in my sunroom, watching the birds, that first morning. 🙂

coffee cup by sisterlisa, on Pix-O-Sphere

“He persists in loving us with unending, outrageous love.” – Francis Chan, Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God

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Want to know more about prayer and God’s love for you? Just click here for my ebook Walking With God.

May 8, 2013 by Beth Jones