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A Standard of Grace: Guided Journal
Are you standing in the middle of opportunity and being overwhelmed when you really need calm? Not sure where to start to simplify and bring grace and peace to your home? Inspired by Grace, Not Perfection and A Simplified Life , bestselling author Emily Ley has created a joy-inspiring guided journal designed to help you nurture your dreams, discover your hopes, and pay attention to those things you hold dearest to your heart. A Standard of Grace is a gorgeous four-color guided journal Both gorgeous and useful, A Standard of Grace will make a lovely gift and keepsake as well as be a powerful tool for both embracing where you are while reaching for your goals and dreams. This is perfect for women of all ages on birthdays, Mother’s Day, National Best Friend’s Day, or holiday gift giving.
224 pages, Hardcover
Published March 26, 2019
27 people are currently reading
347 people want to read
About the author
Emily Ley
23 books603 followersEmily Ley is the founder of Simplified® - a brand of planners and organizational tools for busy women. Emily has been featured in Forbes, Family Circle, Better Homes and Gardens, Glamour, and Good Housekeeping. She has been recognized with numerous awards, including Best New Product at the National Stationery Show as well as Top 10 Designers to Watch by Stationery Trends Magazine. Emily and her team recently collaborated with AT-A-GLANCE® to create gift and planning collections carried in Office Depot, Staples, and Target. Emily is the author of national bestselling books, Grace, Not perfection: Embracing Simplicity, Celebrating Joy and A Simplified Life: Tactical Tools for Intentional Living. Now as an author, entrepreneur, wife and mother to three, Emily lives in Pensacola, Florida with her husband, Bryan, and their son Brady (8), and twins Tyler and Caroline (4).
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
April 17, 2019
I really like this guided journal and devotional. Each week a Bible verse and a short devotional. My favorite part about this book are the guided journal entries. They are simple, yet powerful prompts that I can see being useful for almost anyone.
The book itself is simple, but also includes beautiful photographs and designs, along with the weekly devotionals and guided devotionals. This is actually the first guided journal I have ever read or written in and I am really excited to continue with the weekly writing prompts. I hope to read more from the author in the future.
Thank you to the publisher, Thomas Nelson, for sending me a review copy of this book.
The book itself is simple, but also includes beautiful photographs and designs, along with the weekly devotionals and guided devotionals. This is actually the first guided journal I have ever read or written in and I am really excited to continue with the weekly writing prompts. I hope to read more from the author in the future.
Thank you to the publisher, Thomas Nelson, for sending me a review copy of this book.
April 2, 2019
If you love Christian devotionals but don't have a lot of time to read and you like to journal but don't have time to do so every day, then A Standard Of Grace: Guided Journal may be the perfect book for you!
Through simple yet powerful weekly guided devotions and journaling prompts and beautiful full-color photographs, Emily Ley (the woman behind the Simplified Planners) encourages us to reflect on and answer questions that can redirect the course of our life.
What I like about Emily’s book is that it is beautiful, inspiring, and minimalistic in its presentation (this book will not overwhelm you if you’re in a busy season) – yet it is impactful in the questions it asks you to ponder.
If you're a fan of Emily Ley's you won't want to miss this book - and if you enjoy short but sweet devotionals and like to journal , you should check this out!
This excerpt is taken from the original review that is published on my blog. To read my review in its entirety, please visit Create With Joy.
Through simple yet powerful weekly guided devotions and journaling prompts and beautiful full-color photographs, Emily Ley (the woman behind the Simplified Planners) encourages us to reflect on and answer questions that can redirect the course of our life.
What I like about Emily’s book is that it is beautiful, inspiring, and minimalistic in its presentation (this book will not overwhelm you if you’re in a busy season) – yet it is impactful in the questions it asks you to ponder.
If you're a fan of Emily Ley's you won't want to miss this book - and if you enjoy short but sweet devotionals and like to journal , you should check this out!
This excerpt is taken from the original review that is published on my blog. To read my review in its entirety, please visit Create With Joy.
April 2, 2019
"I will hold myself to a standard of grace, not perfection." This quote from the back of the book grabbed my attention. I smiled because I wish someone had given me this gorgeous A Standard of Grace guided journal by Emiliy Ley when I was a young mom.
A Standard of Grace is a journal designed to help readers to discover their hopes and dreams and to invest some time into themselves through prompts, short readings, quotes and Scriptures. It is divided into 52 weeks so the reader could do one a week through the year. However, it does not need to be started at any particular time and it could be done at any pace that works for the woman doing the work. Each of the 52 sections include a Scripture, a short reading and a question or prompt with space to write. There are also a lot of full color pictures throughout the book. A Standard of Grace is nicely bound with thick paper useful for using a variety of journaling pens. Each section includes ample space to write unlike some guided journals. There are also three colored ribbon markers to use to keep track of pages to refer back to. It is a truly gorgeous package all the way around.
I think a A Standard of Grace is a truly gorgeous guided journal. I like that it is so pretty and well made. I also like that the content matches the package. There are a lot of uplifting quotes in large letters with the pictures to see a quick note of encouragement when you need it. Then there is the thoughtful reading, Scripture and questions that could be so helpful to personal growth and encouragement. I truly wish I had had A Standard of Grace when my son was little. However, I think it would uplift and be a useful journal for women of any age. At the same time, I think this would make a nice birthday, personal bridal shower or personal baby shower gift. It would make a nice gift along with a pack of pretty pens and a few other goodies in a basket to remind the recipient to take time for herself. I highly recommend it. Everything I have seen from Emily Ley has been top notch in both content and quality design.
A Standard of Grace is a journal designed to help readers to discover their hopes and dreams and to invest some time into themselves through prompts, short readings, quotes and Scriptures. It is divided into 52 weeks so the reader could do one a week through the year. However, it does not need to be started at any particular time and it could be done at any pace that works for the woman doing the work. Each of the 52 sections include a Scripture, a short reading and a question or prompt with space to write. There are also a lot of full color pictures throughout the book. A Standard of Grace is nicely bound with thick paper useful for using a variety of journaling pens. Each section includes ample space to write unlike some guided journals. There are also three colored ribbon markers to use to keep track of pages to refer back to. It is a truly gorgeous package all the way around.
I think a A Standard of Grace is a truly gorgeous guided journal. I like that it is so pretty and well made. I also like that the content matches the package. There are a lot of uplifting quotes in large letters with the pictures to see a quick note of encouragement when you need it. Then there is the thoughtful reading, Scripture and questions that could be so helpful to personal growth and encouragement. I truly wish I had had A Standard of Grace when my son was little. However, I think it would uplift and be a useful journal for women of any age. At the same time, I think this would make a nice birthday, personal bridal shower or personal baby shower gift. It would make a nice gift along with a pack of pretty pens and a few other goodies in a basket to remind the recipient to take time for herself. I highly recommend it. Everything I have seen from Emily Ley has been top notch in both content and quality design.
November 30, 2018
This book is meant to be read as one chapter per week for 52 weeks, but because I love Emily Ley’s books so much, I read this book straight through. Many of the chapters pull from her previous two books, but with additional content and questions to ask yourself along the way. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will be going back to read it often. There are so many good reminders in the book to give ourselves grace and to extend grace to our loved ones, because God always gives us grace.
March 11, 2022
Loving this journal and the weekly prompts that help me slow down and have Grace with myself. I was finding it hard to journal everyday so this being weekly is huge. Every Monday I set a timer for 20 minutes, grab a cup of coffee, and put on music for my journal time.
October 1, 2025
Admittedly, I did not complete this book in the way it was intended. I started this devotional when I was in the throes of ppd after having a second child and BOY. Was this NOT a book to be doing while going through that.
A huge portion of this book was self-helpy and seemed just to be stuck saying “be less busy” on repeat. I realized this devotional was extremely unhelpful to me at that time and I put it away for a few years. When I picked it up again I couldn’t bear to go through it one lesson per week. It’s so slow and does not have enough substance to last for a whole week. The prompts are so open ended that it’s difficult to answer many of them and they feel repetitive.
Additionally, the vast majority of the time, I found myself being encouraged to look at myself, look at my life, or look at my calendar, which I guess does have value, but is generally not why I am reading a devotional. I also found myself bristling against this book in the same way that I bristle against that Francesca Battistelli song “This is the Stuff.”
This really doesn’t strike me as a devotional for people who live real life, or people who are going through anything. It is definitely more of a self help book with a few nuggets in there.
Overall, it didn’t give me what I wanted, which was a space to focus on Jesus.
I think the book is probably fine, but I did not care for it and I’m glad I’m done with it.
A huge portion of this book was self-helpy and seemed just to be stuck saying “be less busy” on repeat. I realized this devotional was extremely unhelpful to me at that time and I put it away for a few years. When I picked it up again I couldn’t bear to go through it one lesson per week. It’s so slow and does not have enough substance to last for a whole week. The prompts are so open ended that it’s difficult to answer many of them and they feel repetitive.
Additionally, the vast majority of the time, I found myself being encouraged to look at myself, look at my life, or look at my calendar, which I guess does have value, but is generally not why I am reading a devotional. I also found myself bristling against this book in the same way that I bristle against that Francesca Battistelli song “This is the Stuff.”
This really doesn’t strike me as a devotional for people who live real life, or people who are going through anything. It is definitely more of a self help book with a few nuggets in there.
Overall, it didn’t give me what I wanted, which was a space to focus on Jesus.
I think the book is probably fine, but I did not care for it and I’m glad I’m done with it.
April 4, 2019
This book is just as stunning as her previous book. Sometimes I feel like it's almost too pretty to use as a journal! The journal is divided into weekly assignments that can be done within a year's time. I feel like that's a big investment for me since I usually have a hard time keeping up with guided journals for more than a month at a time. I also feel like the prompts are a little too open-ended for me. I really need multiple questions to help guide me through important topics if I'm completing this on my own. I think these are great conversational questions to use in a group setting which is what I will be using this for. These will really help bring topics to the surface that will help others grow in Grace. I'm excited to share this book with my community group through church! Thank you Thomas Nelson for gifting me a copy in exchange for my honest review.
April 4, 2019
If you love a great journals, but don't have a lot of time to write or aren't sure what to write, this is an amazing journal with prompts and beautiful pictures that is perfect for you!
This journal has weekly guided devotions and beautiful prompts with colorful photographs and inspiring quotes that make is simple yet stunning. I love this book and I know you will too. This book is purposeful and impactful.
If you haven't read any books by Emily Ley, I highly encourage you too, you don't want to miss her books. They are amazing! You should check out this awesome journal!
This journal has weekly guided devotions and beautiful prompts with colorful photographs and inspiring quotes that make is simple yet stunning. I love this book and I know you will too. This book is purposeful and impactful.
If you haven't read any books by Emily Ley, I highly encourage you too, you don't want to miss her books. They are amazing! You should check out this awesome journal!
January 11, 2024
Lots of thoughts. But the simplified version is that this is for a very specific type of Christian woman, namely the white, stay at home mother…emphasis on the white. And that very much so bothered me. I think it’s clear that the author didn’t think about anyone other than the demographic she is and for me, that’s an issue.
July 24, 2022
I didn’t find the prompts as helpful or thought provoking as I had hoped. Certain things were sweet or encouraging, but I felt it had too much of the “create the life you desire” to it. I was hoping it would be more practical in terms of grace for when my ideals don’t match with what God has.
July 12, 2023
I have a few of her books to get through and that’s truly how they feel. Like you need to push through them. I just don’t love her writing and feel like it’s mostly pictures, bright colors, and surface level.
January 7, 2019
A quick read that is easy to go back and pick certain portions to focus on. Helpful for focusing on family and simple but meaningful memories!
April 6, 2019
Read the full review here: https://viabella-thebeautifullife.blo...
January 20, 2026
She always produces beautiful books with so much approachable encouragement. Great writing/journaling prompts.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews