You are welcomed

You Are Welcomed: Devotions for when life is a lot, Trish Donohue (New Growth Press, 2023)

This new devotional for women has been both an encouraging balm and challenging prompt to me over recent weeks. It’s structured to last for 10 weeks and is for women feeling burdened, overwhelmed and that life is all a bit too full. Which these days, is most of us! Each day starts with a prompting question, has a short bible reading, two pages of comments, and three questions to consider in more depth. It’s a simple, yet remarkably effective format. It’s also a visually attractive book, which would make it a very nice gift.

Donohue is a skilled communicator, bringing God’s word to bear to our current experience. My daughters and I have previously appreciated her insights in Between Us Girls. In You Are Welcomed, it is clear she knows the challenges of women’s lives today, and is also is honest about our sinful struggles, temptations, and areas where we need to be pushed a little. The overarching message was of the grace and rest offered to us in Christ, coupled with a desire for sanctification and godly growth.

In God’s providence, I have found the opening question of each study to be quite pertinent. The first three days are:

“Which of the following feels overwhelming in your life right now: tasks to accomplish, emotions to manage, choices to make, or relationships to tend? Or is it all of the above? (11)

“Have you considered that productivity can be an idol when it promises peace and joy? Have you found that it delivers the joy it promises?” (15)

“What self-help strategies and books do you tend to rely on more that God and the Bible? What do they promise you?” (19)

I am only a few weeks into this devotional, so I cannot speak with knowledge to the rest of it’s contents, but so far (and with a skim forward), I am very impressed, and thankful for Donohue’s wise use of God’s word in helping us to examine our lives and consider areas for change and growth.

“A life meaningfully engaged with pursuing Jesus and loving others is rarely simple or tidy, but it certainly can be beautiful” (11). Donohue helps to point us again to the beauty of Christ. 

 

I received an ecopy of this book in exchange for an honest review.