Thursday, January 21, 2016

The Way of Hope ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Blog Tour* & Review








Weikel, B. and Weikel, D. (2015). The Way of Hope: Growing Close to God through Loss.   Indianapolis, IN: Wesleyan Publishing House.

Adult / Self-Help / Christian / Loss Counseling

I gave this book 5 out of 5 Stars 

Publisher's Blurb:  Passing through the valley of the shadow of loss can appear to be an unending gray, dry, barren journey from which you would never return. It seems impossible that spiritual life could even continue in such circumstances, let alone grow. Yet it is especially there, in your darkest hour, that God will bring you light and new life like you’ve never known before—if you will see that He is there with you.

Follow The Way of Hope with Beth and Dave Weikel as they lead you along your own dark paths toward the true light, found only in God’s Word. They themselves have passed the way of tragic loss several times and have found always that, through the pain and brokenness, God’s promises in Scripture become so much more meaningful. 

Discover personally what it means to be blessed because you mourn — what it means to be comforted by God. He promises you there still can be hope, still new life.

BETH AND DAVE WEIKEL have been using their seasons of multiple losses to provide biblical hope and healing through their international ministry, by His design, which provides workshops, resources, and spiritual support to churches and communities worldwide.
The Way of Hope and Hope In The Midst of Loss 
are available through their publisher,
************************************************************

HALL WAYS REVIEW: 

The Way of Hope: Growing Close to God through Loss is an outstanding book that guides readers through dealing with loss. The authors, Beth and Dave Weikel, remind us that "God is capable of bringing life from loss" if we will only let Him.  



As the authors share their own walk through a series of devastating losses, they offer tools, questions, and activities for readers to use in their own recovery journeys.  As I read this book, I found myself jotting down quote after quote that touched me in some way. Each time the authors addressed an aspect of loss, they referenced scripture to illustrate their points and show how much can be learned in the process of living through loss. 



This book is interactive and best read slowly-- allowing for reflection -- and with quick access to a Bible and journal.  Chapters include activities and questions to help readers focus on a "God-centered reality." The Way of Hope is very well written and the authors make use of numerous analogies to get across their points.  One of the two appendices at the end of the book crystallizes the main topics in the book by listing sections for readers to take inventory of their personal areas in need of growth.  


Though it's been almost six years to the day since I lost my mother - to a fast moving disease that took her much too young -- there are days that I am still deeply affected by the loss. There are days that I fight it and decry the unfairness of it and question, question, question God about it.  The Way of Hope absolutely provided me concrete steps to take in dealing with my loss and above all else, the authors encouraged me to remember that "Nothing gets healed if the Lord is not involved."

Thank you to Buy The Book Marketing and the authors for providing me a print copy of this book in exchange for my honest review -- the only kind I give.  


ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
Dave and Beth Weikel have worked in full-time ministry, business, and public education for over 30 years. God is using their season of loss to provide hope and healing for others. About 6 years ago, the couple underwent an intense period of loss - a  life-threatening illness, the death of their son serving in Iraq, strained family relationships surrounding this event, elder care and the home-going of three parents in less than a year, a near-fatal car accident of their other son and a few others.

Trained as a disaster relief chaplains, and former career educators with experience in full-time ministry, Dave and Beth have walked through their own intense season of loss. Its heartbreak and upheaval has taught them to cling to what cannot be taken away and has challenged them to wring purpose and meaning from those times of suffering. 

“God has afforded us opportunities to proclaim a clear message of hope and redemption through discipleship, partnering with local, national, and international organizations that reach out to desperate populations looking for answers and help.”

Dave’s Biography: After being discipled into ministry through Peninsula Bible Church’s Intern Program, Dave Weikel has been a pastor in the Colorado Springs area and also served as a church administrator in California. His ministry could be categorized as verse-by-verse Bible teaching, creative outreach ministries, and in-depth discipleship of men. Dave also was a teacher and school administrator focused on leadership skills to aid organizations.

"When God calls us into a season of loss and grief, He becomes our all and all. He meets us and builds into our lives a dependence on Him, so “that we do not rely on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead” (II Corinthians 1:9). My desire is to share this message of dependence on the sufficiency of Christ."

Beth’s BiographyBeth has been the mother of two talented and godly sons, and is the grandmother of a curious and outgoing seven-year-old, Ian’s son, who was nearly eight months old when a roadside IED killed his daddy during his second tour in Iraq, while doing his command with Ghost Troop.

Beth been a pastor’s wife, published writer of articles and features and editor of a Christian news magazine, a secondary English teacher in public school for over twenty years, a volunteer in ministry efforts and civic affairs that support healthy community. Since her retirement from full-time employment, she has rediscovered time to enjoy her continuing interest in art, photography, music, gardening and design. Dave and Beth each facilitate small group discipleship studies, travel to teach workshops, and provide resources and training online.

Learn more about Dave and Beth Weikel:
WEBSITE    FACEBOOK    TWITTER 

Visit the other stops on the blog tour:
1/6/2016
Rockin Book Reviews
1/7/2016
Shelf full of Books
1/8/2016
To be a Person
1/11/2016
Huithiang!
1/12/2016
Beck Valley Books
1/14/2016
Cassandra M’s Place
1/15/2016
Epic Book Quest
1/18/2016
Book Reviews and Giveaways
1/20/2016
Gabina’s Blog
1/21/2016
 Hall Ways
1/23/2016
Rockin Book Reviews
  
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Sorrows visit all of us in many forms: job layoffs, doctor reports, divorces, foreclosures, prison sentences, natural disasters, or deaths of loved ones. Whatever the circumstance, it is in these places that our souls long for a light that will pierce the looming hopelessness. Author Beth Weikel compassionately leads her readers along the pathway of loss--one that she herself has traveled many times--and into the hope that passes all understanding. Through engaging stories from her own and others' experiences, she shines the light of God's Word upon a well-worn path of suffering. Her poignant and moving devotionals allow readers to press through their darkest journeys, sometimes asking themselves and God the hard questions, and finding the answers that only his Spirit can reveal.


 


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