Dana

God yells. There’s no doubt in my mind about that. And it was apparent to me as I sat and reflected on what my 2019 Word of the Year was supposed to be for this year.

Path.

Simple as that. I could hear it as clearly as a person speaking directly to me. This year’s word is Path. God was yelling that out clearly.

What does it mean? Honestly, I’m still figuring it out but it was apparent to me from the first day of this year that this year was going to be filled with multiple paths which we will be taking. By the end, I hope to have reached our destination.

And the word, Path isn’t just for me alone. It’s for my whole family. Our whole family is about to take an adventure of a lifetime. We are going to do things over this next year that we never expected and go places that we never thought we’d see, or in some cases return to.

The details of all of this will reveal itself as we move forward. We will be letting go of a lot and moving forward. We will be leaving behind the long overdue to restart again. And great opportunities will arrive from this journey we are heading out on.

But for now, the steps on our Path are short and small. They lead to a greater future and a happier place. And I, for one, can hardly wait to get there!

Until next time…
Dana

This year brought about a milestone. My oldest child, my baby boy, my Win turned 18. He is officially an adult.

The time honestly flew by. One day he was a baby and now here we are 18 years later. Where did it all go so quickly?

Win is a amazing young man. He is helpful and he loves his siblings… and his video games. He looks forward to his future and is taking his time on his own path.

He achieved a height taller than his bio-Dad and me as well. It’s pretty nice that he can reach things that I can’t now. That’s a bonus of having a son that’s grown.

I never imagined the immense joy this kid could bring to my life… but he did and I’m so extremely thankful for the past 18 years we’ve had together. I look forward to his future and the next 18 years of his life.

Until next time…
Dana

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

For this review, we were gifted a physical copy of the hardback book Beloved: 365 Devotions for Young Women. Like all Zondervan books, this one is beautiful in design. I was excited to receive it for review.

The cover of the book is hardback. It is smaller in size and easy to carry. It’s designed to fit perfectly in a small bag to carry along with you as you go.

The cover is a beautiful shade of light pink, featuring medium shades of pink in a faux binding. It also features a floral design in foiled pink with green stems. The word Beloved centers the front cover in foiled pink cursive font, followed with the words 365 DEVOTIONS FOR YOUNG WOMEN.

The inner pages feature the same floral pattern with pink headers and black print font for the main portions of each devotional page. As mentioned before, there are 365 short but well-written devotions. That’s one devotion for each day of the year.

The pages begin with the Day of the year written in a beautiful cursive like font in pink. This is followed by Scripture also written in beautiful pink but in print font so that it’s easier to read. The body of the devotion is written in black print font and is very easy to read as well. At the bottom of the page are lines for you to write a note, a thought or memory for the day’s devotion.

The devotionals are fairly short and shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes to complete. In the back of the book, there are suggestions of other Zondervan books available such as journals and the beautifully designed Beautiful Word Bible. These lovely items would go well with this devotional for additional biblical education.

I wanted this book for my 15 year old daughter, Emmalee. She loves Christian books and is often looking for Biblical insight in her days so I truly felt this would be a great book for her. And it has been.

At 15, Emmalee can easily follow along with this devotional and complete it on her own. She can doodle in the pages and make her own mark on the lessons she is learning. She can journal on the pages, make notes of things she wishes to remember and she can truly make this book her own. She’s enjoyed using this devotional the past few weeks and has gleaned a lot from the inner pages. I find her being nicer to her siblings as this has touched her heart, and sharing from the devotions with them. I’ve even seen her reading from the pages with Jack, who is very interested in all things to read right now.

Through these devotions, she has learned about many things from Genesis to Exodus and beyond. She’s read about her namesake, Sarah (her middle name) and about other strong women mentioned in the Bible. She’s learned about true womanhood as intended by God. She has learned about Faith and God’s promises to us as women. She has learned about becoming a Wife, a Mother and a leader among women.

I was offered this devotional through another team for review as well and I accepted because I felt this devotional would be wonderful for both of my daughters. Laycie is 10. She is in the between stages of a child and a young woman and she is growing quickly into a strong teen. Though her interest in this devotional is limited right now, I know it will grow as she does and become a faithful resource for her in the future.

She and I have read through many of the book’s devotions together, and I have helped her to better understand some of the devotions inside which have been a little over her head. Her sister has also helped by sharing in discussing what we are reading and though Emmalee is independent in her use of reading materials, she has helped with her younger sister’s enjoyment of this devotion, helping them to build stronger bonds and a stronger faith together.

Beloved: 365 Devotions For Young Women from Zondervan is a wonderful resource. You can use it with younger girls just entering womanhood to those who are older and further along the path of womanhood. It is a wonderful devotional to share as Mother and Daughter. It is an enjoyable study for Biblical education and can be easily put to use by your own young lady. You can add it into your homeschool studies by having your daughter read through each devotion and expand by having them journal about what they have gleaned from the reading as well.

Beloved: 365 Devotions For Young Women is available from Zondervan for $15.99 online or at fine retailers near you.

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