I was provided a complimentary copy of this book by FlyBy. I was not compensated for this review and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. I was not required to write a positive review.
Beloved Published by Zondervan on October 2, 2018 Genres: Christian, Devotional & Prayer, Inspirational, Inspirational & Personal Growth, Religious, Young Adult Nonfiction
Pages: 384
Source: FlyBy
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Beloved: 365 Devotions for Young Women is a topical devotional that uses the inspiring stories of girls and women in the Bible--such as Ruth, Esther, Mary, and Abigail--to encourage faith and confidence as well as provide insight into topics like relationships, inner beauty, and chasing your dreams.
Each day features an easy-to-read, relevant devotion paired with a scripture verse about a biblical girl or woman, as well as journaling space to help readers reflect on the day's message. With honest, poignant, and sometimes humorous text, every page will speak to the pressures and changes girls face, giving them real-world applications to find God in their hearts and in their lives. Perfect for everyday use, Beloved will resonate with girls searching for truth and guidance. Gift givers will love this highly designed book featuring a beautiful, foiled cover, two-color interior pages, and a ribbon marker.
When I saw this book come up for review I knew the perfect young lady to share it with. Bonus that she was interested in helping to review it as well! Jennifer is a young lady of fourteen, who is very engaged with her spiritual growth and walk with God. She is open to the world of possibilities that her faith has to provide to her and the enjoyment and joy she finds in life, and God, is contagious and engaging. She is a kind, gentle soul that is filled with encouragement and grace. Obviously, I’m pretty fond of this young lady and I am super excited to bring her to the blog today. We are reviewing a year long devotional/journal aimed specifically at young ladies such as herself. Obviously, we aren’t going to wait a year to do this review so we’ve agreed to each look at at least 5 random days and compare notes. Much like I have done with Minion review before, I’m going to share her thoughts and takeaways from this book as well as my own. The rating however? All hers!
Jennifer really enjoyed this book with her information following. I loved how the scripture was the example and reference point as so many other devotionals I’ve had were based more off the authors life experiences of that of a fictional character. There were a few times I got confused with what to write in the journal part. Sometimes with verses that I was familiar and comfortable with I felt like the provided devotion part covered my takeaway (Day 199). Other times I was introduced to scripture that I wasn’t as familiar with and they really spoke to me (Day 194).
From my perspective I also loved this book. I feel like the devotional and journal together is something that you can carry with you throughout life. The ability to go back and read where you were at, say 14, as an adult is intangible. To see your growth and perspective change with life experience and growth. Each devotional was rooted in the scripture but was also set up to encourage the reader to go back and explore more of the scripture than just the shared verse for that devotional. To be fair, as mentioned above, I didn’t read every single day. However, each time I opened the book to dig in a little I started at day 25, no matter where I was aiming it was day 25. Day 25 bothered me a bit. The scripture reference was based on Hagar when she was running from Abraham and Sarah and the angel appeared to her and told her to return and submit to Sarah. The devotional portion of this talked about how we should submit to those in authority such as our parents, teachers, leaders, government, etc but that we should not be bound to do things that did not follow God’s law. It also talked about how we should not submit ourselves to abuse. The thing is, when looking at that through younger eyes I feel like it’s a setup for possible disaster. When in an abusive situation (like Hagar) many times the victim believes they are the one at fault and therefore should submit to their abuser . . . See where I’m going here? Out of all the devotions in this book I kept ending up at this one and feeling like we weren’t setting clear examples and expectations to protect our young women (and even aged women) from the tentacles of abuse. However, of the many that I looked at that is also the only devotion that gave me pause. Overall, I feel like this is a great devotional for any young woman regardless of where she is with her walk with God. It’s a good way to provide scriptural depth to someone new to her faith while still being able to deepen spiritual depth for someone so very grounded in their faith. I would highly recommend this for any young woman in your life.
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