To Speak Love: A Legacy & Opportunity

About six months ago, I had a conviction that it was time to go back to paper. Yes paper — that flimsy material that so easily leaves a nasty cut on my finger and reminds me for days about my carelessness. It wasn’t just any paper, however. See this little conviction in my soul was about giving up my beloved Bible app in exchange for one bound in imitation leather with see-through thin pages. 

It was time to go old-fashion so that I could leave a legacy of marked up Bibles for my kids.

As much as I love the conveniences of the digital age, there is not a note in my Bible app that will ever be perused by anyone but me. And as I think of the generations to come, I want them to know their mom, grandma, and great grandma grew boldly in her faith by digging deep into the Word.

 

Will you grow bodly in your faith?

It’s not just my Bible that I want in paper form, too. I have boxes of journals filled with prayers and praises, petitioning God to work and giving Him glory when He does. This journaling-prayer-thing isn’t because I love to write. It is because I want to leave a record of my transformation behind. How am I isn’t how I was. God has changed me, and it’s been in the quiet places of prayer and study of the Word that His work is accomplished.

So as much as I love my Kindle app and the super conveniences of reading my favorite new books on multiple devices, there is something in me that still longs for having a traditional paper-back book in hand — and even something more precious about putting the ones I esteem into the hands of my children.

I want my children to know how to sit with the Lord without a screen.

I want them to feel the pages of God’s written words in their fingertips. I want them to experience the accomplishment of creating another page of a treasured devotional book. I want them to have journals filled with scribbled down prayer lists and answered praises! And that, my friends, is why I’m so grateful Zondervan has produced Annie Down’s latest book, Speak Love, in paperback (along with a digital version) and went the distance with this product by creating a beautifully bound companion devotional journal, especially for teenage girls. 

Just looking at this book and journal makes me want to be a teen again so that I can call it mines — and yet I never, ever want to go back to those days! As I open the pages and fall into Annie’s words, I’m wishing she lived a whole lot closer, too.  I only had a few minutes to connect with Annie at Allume ’11, but it was long enough to know this kindred spirit is the real deal.

Annie’s spoken words slip off her lips with the same humility and humor as do the ones laced through the pages of Speak Love.

She’s easy on the ears, which is why my 14 year old tore through the pages of Annie’s previous book, Perfectly Unique, in a weekend of downtime and will do it again with Speak Love over this coming break.

When I asked my daughter what she liked about Annie’s writing, she said, “Mom, she sounds like you when you speak and she’s saying the same thing you say — but it’s so good for me to hear it from someone else.”

Hearing the truth is what this generation needs, so thank you Zondervan and Annie for the gift of Speak Love that will undoubtedly spur my daughter on in her faith. I hope and pray she’ll inherit the legacy of a woman who walked in the Word and becomes a woman who does the same, too.

Let Me Tell You More About Speak Love {From the Publisher}

You’ve heard, ‘Think before you speak’ a hundred times, and probably shrugged it off just like that other insightful phrase, ‘Your face will freeze like that if you’re not careful.’ But unlike a facial expression, our words do stick around. Which means everything you say—from what tell your friends, whisper about your enemies, post online, mutter to yourself, or even say to the celebrity you ran into at the coffee shop—carries a whole lot of power.

The question is, are you ready to use that power to make a real difference?

Because the truth is, you could be part of the first generation who uses their words to build up and not tear down, and even kill the mean girl mentality.

Through very funny stories, Scripture, and a real understanding of the good, bad, and ugly ways we can use our words, Annie Downs explores the difference you can make when you speak love to others, to God, and even to yourself. Because when you speak love, you speak life. And that’s what matters.

 

Speak Love by Annie Downs

Purchase Speak Love for Your Daughter

 

 In this thirty day devotional and journal, join the Speak Love Revolution and discover how you can use the words you speak and write every day to create positive change in your world.  With short reading tied to the book, Speak Love, as well as “revolts” — easy things you can do online or with those around you — and a place to record your journey, you can begin an uprising of love today.

Speak Love Devotions

Purchase Annie’s Devotional for Her, too!

 And wouldn’t this make a perfect Christmas gift, too!

To learn more about Annie Downs, visit her at http://www.anniedowns.com/.

2 thoughts on “To Speak Love: A Legacy & Opportunity”

  1. I will have to check out this book. I only wish I had my grandfather’s marked up Bible. I remember him sitting in his chair every morning and evening praying and reading his Bible. Every time I stayed overnight at my grandparent’s home this is what I remember most. I have several Bibles that are marked and highlighted and I treasure them. I can see what I was praying for and where my focus was at certain times. I tend to date in the margins. I also use my digital apps as they are quite handy but I agree with you. There’s something about a paper one too.

    Blessings and love to you,
    Debbie

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