MORE THAN ENOUGH by Sandra Byrd, Reviewed by Kim #Devotional #ReleaseDay

90 Devotions for Loving Yourself as God Loves You

KIM'S REVIEW:

Prior to reading More Than Enough, I had already enjoyed two other devotionals by Sandra Byrd. In fact, one of my all-time favorites is Experiencing God’s Love, so when I heard about this new release, I knew I had to read it.

What I love most about Ms. Byrd’s devotionals is her writing style. She shares personal stories with such warmth, honesty, and vulnerability that they feel incredibly relatable. She has a gift for connecting her experiences to Scripture in a way that speaks directly to your heart. So often while reading, I found myself thinking, This is exactly what I needed to hear today.

I highly recommend More Than Enough, especially if you tend to be too hard on yourself. It’s encouraging, comforting, and a beautiful reminder of God’s grace.
*I received a complimentary copy of this devotional. All opinions are my own. 5 stars. 

BackCover Blurb:

Beloved daughter of God, you are more than enough!

Do you carry the burden of trying to be perfect so you can feel like you’re enough? Do you often feel like a failure as a wife, mother, friend, colleague, or caregiver?

It’s easy to finish each day discouraged and exhausted, feeling like you fell short of your own expectations and didn’t make time to take care of yourself. In the next 90 days, join Sandra Byrd as she shares stories, both biblical and personal, that will help free you from perfectionism and assure you that God already sees you as more than enough. 

Learn the importance of loving yourself the way God does in order to better love your neighbor, and draw near to God as you reject the temptations of hustle culture and negative self-talk. Say yes to a deeper understanding of how to live today with God’s free gift of grace and unconditional love!

Best-selling author Sandra Byrd has published more than 50 books, including Dwell. She lives in Seattle, Washington, and loves spending time with family and friends—real and fictional! 

Our Daily Bread Publishing, July, 2025

Available in digital ebook and paperback

Buy MORE THAN ENOUGH at Amazon, Christianbook .com, or Baker Book House

 

DWELL by Sandra Byrd #NonFiction #Devotional, Reviewed by Kim Ann #ReleaseDay

 

Dwell is the second devotional I've read by Sandra Byrd. I love her insights and how she takes every day occurrences, ones that we are all familiar with or activities that we all do, and relates them to Scripture. She has helped me to look for and see God in the every day. I can't tell you how many times I've messaged her and told her that I feel like you wrote this devotional just for me or how many times God has spoken to me directly through her words just when I needed them.

I highly recommend both Experiencing God's Love, which I have read through twice, and Dwell. They've both taught me to look for God in the every day moments.

*I received a complimentary copy of this devotional. All opinions are my own.

Back Cover:
Discover God in the details of your home and garden.

Join Sandra Byrd on a 90-day journey as she draws inspiration from do-it-yourself projects, gardening, home decor, and more, and then pairs each story with biblical insights that nurture gratitude and deepen faith. You’ll love the earthy look of this devotional with a scattering of full-page photos and full color throughout, this warm, inviting devotional will feature beautifully on a nightstand or coffee table and provide fresh encouragement for the soul.

See your home and day-to-day habits in a new way. 

OUR DAILY BREAD PUBLISHING, May 2

Available in paperback at Amazon or Baker Book House 

Guest Blogger Paula Moldenhauer: Ten Years and It’s Still True

Please welcome guest blogger Paula Moldenhauer to Inkwell Inspirations today, celebrating the release of her new series of devotionals, just in time for 2016. 

What I found was joyously stunning.

Recently I read through hundreds of devotionals I’d written over a span of more than ten years. I was deciding which devotional thoughts I wanted to include my latest book project, SoulScents ~ A Journey in the Son’s Embrace, which offers four volumes of devotional reading: Awaken, Rooted, Bloom, and Flourish. As I read, made my choices, and edited my heart rejoiced because I still believed it all.

The journey of the last ten years has been arduous, but the glorious truths our sweet Savior taught me along the way stand the test of time.

I may have been naïve in 2004 before the big storms hit. Back then I wrote in wonder as I absorbed new understanding of who Jesus is.  I may not have understood how deeply the concepts I penned would be tested. I certainly didn’t understand what I was praying as I offered my thoughts of praise and surrender, nor did I guess how God would take me at my word.

But I’m delighted to report it’s all true.

I edited word counts and clunky sentences, but the foundational concepts which I so naively typed many years ago needed no revision. And guess what? The devotionals I penned a few weeks ago are again written in wonder as I “absorb new understanding of who Jesus is.”

In 2004 I invited readers to go with me on a journey into the heart of Jesus. I declared we’d never run out of places to discover, and we never have. He shows us glimpses of His character then allows life experiences to solidify the understanding of the insight. Over time He takes initial understanding deeper and reveals new wonders of His Person.

To be vulnerable, our family rode some difficult waters after the earlier devotionals were written. In spring of 2015 I tried to write about the really hard years, but I often dissolved into tears at the computer.

The Lord called me away from those efforts and invited me to spend time with Him. I journaled, did some more Bible study in the Song of Solomon, and rested. Truth be told I spent a lot of time talking to my plants last summer! And the Lord, always the Healer, did what He does best and healed me.

In the fall the Lord released me back into focusing on development of Soul Scents. I wasn’t really surprised (although I was very pleased) when those months of seeking God resulted in devotions for volumes 3 & 4 of this collection. Even though I believed I was not productive last year, I was writing the rest of this series without knowing it.

I love how organic that is.

I’m excited to offer fellow travelers a year’s journey in the Son’s embrace. It begins with volume 1, SoulScents: Awaken, and continues with a new devotional book releasing each quarter of 2016.

Author, speaker, and mom of four, Paula Moldenhauer encourages others to be released into full potential through freedom in Christ and the empowerment of God’s grace. Published over 300 times in non-fiction markets, her first devotional book series, Soul Scents, releases in four volumes beginning with Soul Scents: Awaken. Paula’s first two novels released in 2012. Sometimes empty-nesters, Paula and her husband, Jerry, enjoy four adult children and a wonderful son-in-law. Paula loves peppermint ice cream, walking barefoot and talking to her flowers. For inspirational articles, book information, and speaking topics visit: www.paulamoldenhauer.com

Small Press and Indie Publishing Tips

Five Things I Learned From Publishing “Smaller” Works

By Carrie Fancett Pagels

  

By the time October rolls around, my fourth publication in six months will be released--my short story, “Snowed In: A Northwoods Christmas,” with Guidepost Books. My debut fiction release, a novella, was published in late March: “Return to Shirley Plantation: A Civil War Romance” with Helping Hands Press.  I also contributed a story to “God’s Provision in Tough Times” by Cynthia Howerter and LaTan Murphy with Lighthouse of the Carolinas and my nonfiction psychology article for the American Association of Christian Counselors was published last week in their beautiful print journal.  I published in nonfiction (co-author of a chapter in a book and in journal articles) in the past, also.

Here are my thoughts and experiences, for what they are worth, and I hope they may be helpful to the Inkies’ readers.

1)     Habits.  All that practice of blogging and writing articles for ezines (with no financial compensation) can pay off.  This is why having experienced deadlines, and meeting thos,e and getting in the habit of not shirking deadlines matters: when you get to the real, i.e., paying, deal, you will have less stress than someone who never has done so.

2)     Differences. All editors are not created equal. Nor are writers, etc. Having had the pleasure of working with a handful of wonderful freelance editors I was familiar with this fact (which goes back to point #1!)  But the differences can vary so wildly that it can be mind boggling. And if it is the first time working with that particular editor, you have to learn her/his ways. When I was a psychology intern writing psych reports, I though there was one way to do it “right.” I ended up working under every professor during my three year internship. Each one had a totally different way of editing my reports. And each was “right,” in other words—I better produce a report that was exactly his/her definition of what it “should” look like. Enough said.

3)     User-friendly. Setting up an Amazon account was nowhere near as difficult as I thought it might be.  Goodreads was a tad harder—worth it but not super easy.

4)     Marketing. Budgeting time for marketing is an important part of having one project out and working on the next one. Although I’d been in the habit of marketing for my two group blogs, Overcoming With God and Colonial Quills, it was a bit of a different game when it was for my own book. Now I had an additional layer of marketing I needed to do.  Also, some publishers have their own publicity and promotional teams that you end up on and these add another activity that you must add to an already packed calendar.

5)     Acceptance. This one is tricky. Although I had completed two full-length polished manuscripts (over 95K), two full manuscripts through the second draft, a polished novella (20K), had a half dozen incomplete manuscripts plus other writing credits and a thesis and dissertation, one new 20K novella gave me an entrée into the published fiction world.  It opened a lot of doors that had been closed before.  Not all of them. I still don’t have a published novel in the CBA market. But when I do, I hope I’ll be back on Inkwell Inspirations sharing some more of what I’ve discovered!

Giveaway: Leave a comment about something you’ve learned and how it compares with my experiences. Winner will receive a signed copy of “God’s Provision in Tough Times” and an ebook copy of “Return to Shirley Plantation: A Civil War Romance” or the brand-new paperback copy of the novella!

 Carrie Fancett Pagels (www.carriefancettpagels.com) is author of Amazon top-rated Civil War novella Return to Shirley Plantation: A Civil War Romance. Carrie also contributed to God’s Provision in Tough Times, Lighthouse of the Carolinas (July, 2013). Her short story, Snowed In: A Northwoods Christmas, will appear in Guidepost Books “A Cup of Christmas Cheer” (October, 2013). With a Ph.D. in School Psychology, Carrie served as a psychologist for twenty-five years. She has two popular group blogs: Overcoming With God (www.overcomingwithGod.com) and Colonial Quills (www.ColonialQuills.org). Carrie is the former ACFW Zone Mid-Atlantic Zone Director and Virginia/West Virginia Area Coordinator and continues to serve as co-hostess of the Tidewater Area Christian Writers group. Married for over 25 years to the love of her life, she resides in Virginia’s historic triangle. She has an 11-year-old son and a 24-year-old daughter. 

 

Contact info

Carrie Fancett Pagels

www.carriefancettpagels.com

Facebook Author Page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Carrie-Fancett-Pagels/317053071710640?fref=ts

Facebook Personal Page http://www.facebook.com/carriefancettpagels

Twitter https://twitter.com/cfpagels

Pinterest http://pinterest.com/carriefpagels/

GoodReads http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7043690.Carrie_Fancett_Pagels

LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=131454255&trk=tab_pro

Links to purchase Return to Shirley Plantation: A Civil War Romance 

Amazon  http://www.amazon.com/Murray-Puras-American-Series-ebook/dp/B00C2EZ5L6/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1370264197&sr=1-1&keywords=carrie+fancett+pagels

Barnes and Noble http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/murray-puras-cry-of-freedom-volume-1-return-to-shirley-plantation-murray-pura/1114941171?ean=2940016542836

God’s Provision in Tough Times

Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Provision-Cynthia-Howerter-La-Tan-Murphy/dp/1938499441/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1358266747&sr=8-1&keywords=cynthia+howerter

So easy to judge, so hard to love...

By Niki Turner

Do you ever have those "easy to judge" moments?

You know, those moments when every person you encounter is irritating, stupid, or just "pushes your buttons"? (All right, stop the holier-than-thou stuff and admit it... you don't love every one, all the time, with  the perfect love of Christ.)

Those judgmental moments in my own life are often triggered by visits to Walmart and while picking up my youngest child from school (mommy road-rage). Seriously... the dean of students came out at the beginning of the school year and explained the pick-up process to each of us. It's not complicated, so why does it seem like I am the only parent willing to comply?

It's SO easy to judge. SO easy to condemn and criticize.

After picking up the youngest at school Tuesday I had to make a Walmart run. Do you know what I mean by a Walmart run? A quickie trip to snatch up three or four things on our grocery lists that are cheaper at Walmart, as opposed to the double-cart stocking-up-for-the-apocalypse trips those of us with multiple teenage boys still at home are inclined to make.

Anyway... everyone at Walmart seemed to be operating in slow motion that day. Moving through the aisles with my under-loaded cart became eerily reminiscent of a video game quest with my fellow shoppers as obstacles to my goal.

I was halfway through the checkout line when I felt the Holy Ghost nudge me...
"Jesus loves these people. All of them."

My gaze flickered from face to face... the checkout girl, the obese person in line behind me driving the handicapped cart, the family in the aisle over with lots and lots of children and a card for food stamps, the uptight businessman stalled by a computer error in the self-checkout lane...

"I love them. Do you?"
All of a sudden, my aggravation and irritation ebbed away.
Jesus DIED for these people.
He loved them, each one of them, with all their faults and failings and  foolishness, so much He was willing to endure the cross for them so that they might live, might know Him, might enter into eternal life by faith.

MIGHT.

No guarantees, no promises... just an abundant measure of hope and faith and love. Just a "might."

My prayer? That I might go through life, day to day, with that same attitude. Not expecting anything from those around me, not demanding their allegiance to my doctrine, not hoping they'll "come into the fold." Instead, going through the motions of my OWN life as though all those around me were already worthy, already included in the flock, already part of my own family, already chosen, already loved.

"This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life.
God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again.
Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person's failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him."
John 3:16-18 (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

Greetings to the Inkwell Readers Across the World

by C.J. Chase

To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people:

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. God, whom I serve in my spirit in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you.

I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong—that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles. (Romans 1:7-13 NIV)

When Paul wrote his letter to the church at Rome, he’d never been there. He was essentially writing to strangers. One of the fascinating aspects of email and Internet is that it facilitates communication among people who will never meet each other this side of eternity. And unlike Paul’s poor letters, our words can be read (and through the wonders of Youtube, spoken even) almost instantaneously all over the globe.

While writing this post, I peeked at the Inkwell stats, and what a surprise! We have visitors from four continents. I hope when we reach heaven, those of you reading this in China or India or Germany or elsewhere around the world will look me up. (I figure you'll have the advantage, having seen my name and picture.) I so want to hear your stories. Were you a missionary in a foreign land? A native of your country reading my words in that crazy English language? (My hat's off to you!)

Of course, we mustn’t forget Jesus’ admonition: From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded (Luke 12:48 NIV). With the gift of easy communication comes the responsibility to use our words wisely. Yet all too easily we spread discord rather than encouragement. 

Last week I wrote about being offended, but how often our words cause offense! Words once said cannot be unsaid—particularly in cyberspace where an unkind comment can live forever. How many times have I blurted out harsh or hurtful remarks without considering the consequences, without thought to the pain I cause another person? And how much worse when those words reside on some far-off server, ready to be discovered over and over again.

Here at Inkwell, we are gearing up to celebrate our third anniversary this week. We thank God for all of our readers and hope He has used our words to encourage you and make you stronger in your faith. 

After leaving the corporate world to stay home with her children, C.J. Chase quickly learned she did not possess the housekeeping gene. She decided writing might provide the perfect excuse for letting the dust bunnies accumulate under the furniture. Her procrastination, er, hard work paid off in 2010 when she won the Golden Heart for Best Inspirational Manuscript and sold the novel to Love Inspired Historicals. Her next book, The Reluctant Earl, will be available  February 5, 2013. You can visit C.J.'s cyber-home (where the floors are always clean) at  www.cjchasebooks.com

I for Idolatry

by C.J. Chase

For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. (Romans 12:3 KJV)

On Thursday here at Inkwell, Niki wrote about our human propensity to take offence. She shared ways to recognize our triggers and manage our reactions. As it turns out, I’d been pondering pride, being offended, and our relationship with God for the past few weeks, so I decided to use her post as a jumping off point for this devotional.

One of the difficulties with the English language is that the same word can mean several different things. Webster’s gives us several nuances to the word pride. While “reasonable or justifiable self-respect” is a good thing, “inordinate self-esteem” or “conceit” damages our relationship with God and others.

Let’s start at the very beginning of the Bible, right after God finished creation and everything was good. Eve was picking a few fresh peaches for dinner (hey, that’s what I’d have been eating if I was in the Garden of Eden) when along came Satan whispering words of temptation: “You can be like gods.”

Thinking to become like God—now that’s conceit! The pride in Eve’s heart, this desire to be a god, led her to disobey God’s direct command.

God gave Moses a mere ten commandments on Mount Sinai. Just ten basic rules for living. Did you ever notice what the first one is? “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:3) Coincidence that the first sin involved wanting to be a god and the first commandment is to recognize the supremacy of the one and only God? I think not. My recent “ah ha!” moment came this summer when I realized that pride—or as Paul says, thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought to—is a form of idolatry.

Nicolas Poussin's The Adoration of the Golden Calf

Idolatry? I’d always thought that involved golden calves or temples to Athena or even the accumulation of money. Hey, there’s something to be said for becoming my own “god”—it’s the easiest form of idolatry out there. No images to carve or buildings to construct or long hours to work. All I have to do is reserve to myself the worship that belongs to God.

So what does this have to do with taking offense? Pride is at the root of our inclination to take offence. He dis’d (disrespected) me. She hurt my feelings. He made me look foolish in front of others. Me. Me. Me. We want to think highly of ourselves, and we want everyone else to think so too. Hey, if there's one thing better than being my own god, it's getting others to worship me too.
 
Being offended brings us so many perceived "benefits" that's it's no wonder we are often loathe to give it up. Just think of all the other sins we can rationalize when we feel we've been wronged--manipulation, humiliation, vindication... Justifying our behavior goes right along with the whole god-complex gig.

Unfortunately, this resentment destroys lives and souls. Consider the Pharisees, the perpetually offended religious leaders of Jesus' day. They allowed their resentments—their pride—to warp their relationship with the God they claimed to serve.

This week, let us instead look to the example of Jesus:

Make your own attitude that of Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God 
as something to be used for His own advantage. Instead He emptied Himself 
by assuming the form of a slave, 
taking on the likeness of men. 
And when He had come as a man
in His external form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient
to the point of death—
even to death on a cross. (Philippians 2:5-8)

After leaving the corporate world to stay home with her children, C.J. Chase quickly learned she did not possess the housekeeping gene. She decided writing might provide the perfect excuse for letting the dust bunnies accumulate under the furniture. Her procrastination, er, hard work paid off in 2010 when she won the Golden Heart for Best Inspirational Manuscript and sold the novel to Love Inspired Historicals. Her next book, The Reluctant Earl, will be available in February of 2013. You can visit C.J.'s cyber-home (where the floors are always clean) at  www.cjchasebooks.com