Friday, July 1, 2016

Dwelling Places by Lucinda Secrest McDowell: Season of Refreshment GIVEAWAY


Drown out the busyness and noise of everyday life and find a deeper faith with something as simple as a single word in Lucinda Secrest McDowell's new book, Dwelling Places. Through short and inspiring readings, McDowell unpacks a single word—such as mercy, beauty, gratitude, or grace—to reveal a biblical blessing or challenge relevant to where you are. Full of stories and illustrations to empower you to live the word you have just read, each devotional ends with a benediction, written as if God were speaking directly to you.

Join Lucinda in celebrating the release of Dwelling Places by entering to win her Season of Refreshment giveaway.

dwelling places - 400 

One grand prize winner will receive:
  • A copy of Dwelling Places
  • Dwelling Places necklace handmade by Lucinda
  • A kit full of goodies you'll need to make refreshing lemonade this summer
One second place winner will receive:
  • A copy of Dwelling Places
  • Dwelling Places necklace handmade by Lucinda
dwelling places - collage 

Enter today by clicking the icon below, but hurry! The giveaway ends on July 5th. The winner will be announced July 6th on Lucinda's blog.

dwelling places - enter banner


My Review...


If you are looking for a way to deepen your spiritual walk but only have a few extra minutes in your day, then this is the perfect book for you. It contains short, inspiring devotions which focus on a single word (such as trust, light, restore, guide, community, friends, and transformed).

Secrest’s book is organized into four seasons: Fall/Dwell, Advent/Shine, Lent/Renew, and Summer/Grow.  Each section contains thirty to forty readings, so the reader can spend more than a day focusing on each word, if desired. Each reading contains a word (title), Bible verse, story, a “message from God,” and is one to two pages long.

I am choosing to focus on Summer/Grow for this review. A few of the words the author focuses on in this section really jumped out at me.

·         Worry: Through Matthew 6:25-26 and a quote from Corrie ten Boom, Secrest reminds the reader that, “Choosing to worry is pointless and makes us weak.” There is no point in borrowing trouble from the next day, as it pulls us away from God.
·         Always: Secrest uses Matthew 28:20 to point out the wonderful truth that God is always with us. This knowledge should make us stronger, braver, and comforted.
·         Listens: Proverbs 15:31 reminds the reader the importance of listening to God’s voice. This requires patience and quiet, which is not always easy but is necessary.

This book would be useful for individual or group study and would make a wonderful gift, as well.


Disclaimer: I received a free copy from the publisher/Litfuse Blogger Program in exchange for an honest review.





2 comments:

  1. Leslie, Many thanks for taking time to read the summer portion "Grow" of my new book "Dwelling Places." I love the words you chose to highlight in your very kind and encouraging review. And may you enjoy the rest of the seasons... Summer Blessings! Lucinda

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for stopping by, Lucinda.

      You're very welcome! I actually have read the whole book, but we were asked to focus on one season for the blog tour. I really enjoyed it, and I love how you have it set up per season. It makes this quite an original devotional.

      Delete