How to Be a Courageous Girl of God: An Interactive Journal Inspired by Extraordinary Women of Faith

Barbour Publishing has just released this new devotional for girls ages 8-12 called, How to Be a Courageous Girl of God: An Interactive Journal Inspired by Extraordinary Women of Faith.

From the Back Cover:
YOU CAN BE A COURAGEOUS GIRL! Yes... YOU!
Featuring brief descriptions of dozens of Bible women, you'll be inspired to become courageous too, as you learn from the examples of strong women of faith--including:
Abigail
Anna
Deborah
Dorcas
Elizabeth
Mary
and dozens more!

Each section will prompt you to read the complete story in your own Bible; draw a related picture; journal your thoughts about courageous women of the Bible; and think about how you can be a courageous girl too!
With each turn of the page, you'll be inspired to live out your very own courageous story!

My Thoughts:

This devotional has 35 different examples that are given of courageous women who followed God. I liked that each character has the scripture for your child to look up on their own and read the section from their Bible. The brief descriptions of the characters are just that.. very brief. This devotional is more about getting your child to read and comprehend what the Bible is teaching on their own than someone telling them what to think about the passage. I like how they encourage different outlets of learning with including drawing along with journaling.

The journaling section has plenty of room for your child to write their thoughts about what was read, and a writing prompt is given at that top of the page asking why that particular character was courageous. The following page encourages them to apply what the have learned to their own lives by how they too can be courageous like the character in their own lives.

This last page of the section gives a scripture verse that sums up what was learned about the character and gives more journal space for your child to write about how this verse would apply.

Overall, I think the idea is good in trying to help young girls to not only read the Bible stories but to ask the question, how can I apply the godly principles I see here in this character's life to my life? However, I would also encourage my child to not only look at the story of the person, but to first see what the passage is teaching them about God. This is the whole purpose of the Word of God. It reveals our God to us. I wish that would be more of the primary focus instead of the focus being on how to be like the people in the story.
One other thing I didn't feel was a good choice, was that this devotional does include Noah's wife as a courageous example and makes assumptions about her since not much is said in scripture about her. I don't think such an obscure character should of been included.
But, in conclusion,  I think this devotional is on the right track in trying to get tween girls to think for themselves and to study Scripture. And would recommend it along with parental involvement!

My Rating: ★★★★

***I received a complimentary copy of this book from Barbour Publishing and was under not obligation to post a review.