Devotions for a Revolutionary Year with Lynn Cowell (and a giveaway!)

Know a teen girl? Then you are gonna LOVE today’s guest post and giveaway by my good friend and ministry partner Lynn Cowell.

Here she is now, sharing from her heart and about her new devotional for teens:

Sometimes I’m motivated to action by statistics. Like this one: 70 – 75 % of teen youth walk away from their faith after high school (see data from Barna ). As a mom of three young adults and teens, this is way more than a startling statistic. It is a fact I have to face it and choose to be actively doing something about it. As my friend, Erin Bishop of The Whatever Girls says, “I have to teach God’s word with intention and not hesitation.”

But that is easier said than done! Commitments and schedule gobble up my family’s time. Energy at the end of the day is all but gone, leaving me a mom who just wants to crawl in bed and call it a day. How can I make what is truly important a real priority?

I have to be intentional. I have to look for and take any opportunity to share God’s truth with my kids. On the way home from practice, while making dinner, and even waiting in line at the store; any time can be turned into a good time to talk about Jesus.

While making the most of those spontaneous times are great, I’ve learned that structured time to read God’s Word with my kids is a must.

Yet a look at our family’s schedule makes it appear impossible. I’ve found the morning is one of the rare open spaces in our days so I choose to read God’s word to my kids while they eat their breakfast.

The year I started this, it didn’t go over well too well! As teens, the last thing they wanted to do was get up earlier so that we could all be at the table at the same time. But with a little compromise here and a tweaking of the alarm clock there, we made the commitment and followed through.

Pouring small amounts of truth into my daughters before they hit their school halls has become a big priority. Am I fitting in a chapter of the Bible each day? No. But speaking even just a portion of God’s unfailing love helps prepare my daughters for the trials and temptations they face each day. My girls can’t quote large chunks of Scripture but, little by little, truth is sinking in; their lives are reflecting change. And God’s truth is sinking into my heart too!

You can teach a young person in your life God’s Word, too. It’s doesn’t take half an hour a day, but just a few minutes. Start with texting all of your kids a verse a few times a week. Keep a devotional book in the car, having one of your children read out loud on the way to school. Create a habit of reading right after you all brush your teeth. The time of the day isn’t important. What is important is finding time and making it a priority.

To help you get started, I am offering a free 7 Day Faith Builder. These devotions are straight out of my new book, “Devotions for a Revolutionary Year; 365 Days of Jesus’ Radical Love for You.” When you sign up, each day you will receive a short devotional to read to your girl. It only takes 2 – 3 minutes!

Should you find you want more than 7 days, you want 365, just send me your receipt for “Devotions for a Revolutionary Year” before October 1st to [email protected] and you’ll receive a link with over $75 in free resources including three sessions from my “His Revolutionary Love” conference never before released!

And, one of you who comments on this post will get a copy of Devotions for a revolutionary Year. Just tell us about a teen girl you’d love to give the book to. Winner announced Monday. :-)

74 Comments

  1. I would love to be able to give a copy of this devotional to my youngest sister for Christmas. She is 19 years old. Although she made a decision to accept Christ when she was younger and has been baptised, for the past two years, she has been very antagonistic towards anything do with the Lord. She says she doesn’t believe any more. I’ve been writing to her for some time now–just loving her and praying that God will work on her heart. Just last week, she wrote me and said “although I am not totally enthused towards God, I am not feeling the animosity really at all that I was feeling before.” Praise the Lord! He is at work in her heart!

  2. What a great book to give to my 15 year old niece. A great idea for a Christmas gift!! Lots of girls could use this book.

  3. I would love to give the book to a dear teenager who was part of our church before. She loves the Lord so much. This year she’s in a very stormy situation in life. Her siblings and she were transferred to different foster homes due to abusive parents. That’s why she’s not with us at church anymore but we still keep in touch with her often. For sure your book would be a great help for her spiritual growth. Thanks so much in advance!!!

  4. I have a couple of girls in my small group that I would love to give
    this devotional to. One girl just opened up last night in small group
    about her mom and the lies she tells…that there are a lot of
    disagreements between mom and dad (who are divorced) which makes
    her and her sister very sad. Another girl is the oldest of 3 siblings and
    talks about disliking her siblings. We were talking about compassion last
    night and the girls were having a hard time with the concept of
    having compassion for others. We talked about Jesus feeding the five
    thousand because He saw a need. We also talked about Jesus dying on the
    cross for us as a show of compassion. It broke my heart that the girls didn’t seem
    to understand the concept of compassion. My prayer is that God opens their
    hearts to compassion. They are a great group of girls and this was only our third time
    for small groups so I’m encouraged that we will come back to and conquer
    compassion. :)

  5. Reading this brought tears to my eyes. My 13 year old daughter has struggled so much the past two years. She was bullied for a year and half in middle school by the same group of girls. I was so absorbed in my own health issues to even see what it was doing to her. Her grades slipped, she became withdrawn…this eventually led to her trying to take her life. This was a girl who loves God…but as a parent, I had failed to make time to teach her that God loves her too. Things are improving, we are taking it one day at a time. I would love for her to have this book. Even if I don’t win a copy, I will still purchase it. Thank you so much!

  6. God has given me 5 beautiful, wonderful daughters to raise for him. I believe a devotional book like this would be awesome for them!

  7. I have a teenage daughter, who I thank God for daily, she is still not dating because she believes that God has a man for her, although being in a public school is difficult when everyone else is going out on dates and double dates, and here she sits at home, or hangs out with her girlfriends. It is hard at times, and she says that we have a wall between us most of the time, but we are trying to get past the wall and get back to enjoying each other again, this would be great for her.

    Thank you,
    Jenny

  8. We have 3 teen daughers and 1 almost teen daughter (12 going on 19!). I would love to share this devotion with all of them! :)

  9. My daughter would love this. She went to Wednesday night church a few weeks ago, but felt lost because the teachers were using words that she wasn’t sure what they meant (she is dyslexic) and now she is discouraged and doesn’t want to go any more. I told her this past weekend, maybe we could look for a devotion book for girls that she could read.

  10. I would love to give this to my two nieces who are 16 and 14. They are also sisters so they could read the devotional together.

  11. I started the Good Morning Girls Bible study this week and my 13 year old daughter asked me if there was one she could do. This is just what we were looking for!

    Thank you for your ministry.

  12. Thank you, thank you…with two teenagers at home, I needed this. I do send daily scriptures, so thanks for the encouragment.

  13. Awesome….Would love to give this to my oldest baby. She is a junior in high school and before you know it she will be leaving to college. She battles so much with self esteem and identity. We’ve talked so much about this. We encourage her through God’s word and speak life into her. Some days are better than others for her but God is good and continues to give us wisdom with her. I know this would be an awesome blessing for her!!!

  14. This is a wonderful book to give to my daughters. It sounds like the book would be a great guideline and opportunity to talk about Jesus.

  15. I am so looking forward to the 7 day faith builder and to start being intentional with my kids. I have a 13 year old (and 11 year old) daughter that I would love to bless with this book.

  16. I’m going to go ahead and order one for my daughter and a friend. Would love to win one to give to another friend! :)

  17. My friend’s daughter is almost 12. She used to attend church with a neighbor but has been visiting her mom on the weekend lately, and can’t go with her neighbor. I would love to give her your book. She is already headed down the wrong path.
    Blessings

  18. I would love to have this book to give to my granddaughter who is struggling with her first year in middle school. She has already experienced other kids bullying her, which in turn she has not wanted to go to school. I have gave her several Bible verses and told her to turn to God when she thinks this is starting that He is there for Her!

  19. What a wonderful plan for devotions! Thanks. I would love to give the book to my oldest granddaughter who graduated from high school in June.

Leave a Reply to Deena Burnham Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *