Refreshed: Devotions For Your Time Away

by John Hindley

Vacations often give us an opportunity to rest and reflect. However, when our normal routines and habits are suspended, it can be hard to spend time with God.

These 30 devotions have been specifically designed to help you to rest in the Lord's goodness and glory during your time away so that you can return home feeling refreshed spiritually as well as physically.

Author John Hindley, who also wrote Serving without Sinking, says

"I want to help you find rest, peace, joy, hope, and renewed zeal. We go away to be refreshed. Christ is the one who sets his Spirit in our hearts to cause streams of living water to well up within us and flow from us. Sometimes we rest away from Jesus, but how much better to rest with and in him? He is where our true refreshment is found."

You can pick and choose which devotions to read depending on the type of vacation you are on (for example, city break or beach) and there are optional family activities and questions linked to each devotion giving other family members an opportunity to reflect alongside you.

155 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 1, 2022

About the author

I really enjoy writing. I discovered this when I was working on Serving without Sinking, the first book I wrote. I am delighted to be a follower of Jesus, a husband and a father. I find my work as pastor of Broadgrace, a church in Norfolk a blessing (www.broadgrace.org.uk). To also have the opportunity to spend time writing feels like the icing on the cake.

The books I have written come out of struggles and tensions I have found as I have read the Bible, served in churches and followed Jesus. When I have observed others with similar fears, concerns, hopes and dreams it has encouraged me to pray, think and then write. I hope the books that result will bless the church.

Reviews

[Bradley Somers · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a unique little book. It’s a great family resource to refresh your family spiritually as you take time away to recharge physically and emotionally on a vacation. Each devo is founded in scripture, an easy five minute read and has some helpful reflection questions and activities that you can interact with together with others. Each day takes a little piece of a typical vacation adventure and points you towards Christ. There is no need to read all of the devotions. I picked three or four that went along with our vacation focus and timeline, they proved refreshing for our family (7kids from ages 10 to 24). I do think a single person would find the reflections helpful but the questions and activities are more geared for families. Might be great if you’re travelling with peer friends as well. It’s a great choice if you want to mix up your devo focus for vacation or have a hard time keeping the discipline of Bible study during vacation. I’d give it a 4 and 1/2 stars if I could.

[Andy Ardern · Rating 2 out of 5]

A nice read, but I had a challenging time connecting with Hindley's writing style. It isn't really a book to read through at once but take with you if you go on a specific vacation and read those specific chapters there, and then do the exercises - which for me, would make vacations feel like a chore.

[Mirandashel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Took this to our family reunion beach vacation, and I loved it. Will definitely use again.

[Heather Storey · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a lovely and clever little book. I appreciated the reflective questions and the hands on activities useful for adults & kids alike!
I expect to return to this book over the years.

[Rob Seabrook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Refreshed is a book of devotions specifically to take away to read when you are on holiday. Most people take some holiday reading with them, and this is such a delightful idea.
Holidays are meant to be a time of refreshing, but I know that I have always treated them as a holiday from everything, including spending time with God. How wrong this is, and in fact how much more refreshing a break would be if I spent some quality time with God.
This is a well-planned devotional that is a must pack in your holiday hand luggage.
It is well written, gentle, designed to bring peace and rest. It is structured in a way that you can dip in to the appropriate sections, or just pick those topics that you feel are appropriate to your particular break.
They are a good length to read each day – enough to have the calming, soothing words spoken over your day, to lead you to a deeper rest. Taking the initial lead from the principles laid down in Psalm 1 (“like a tree planted by streams of water”), the Bible passages selected are appropriate for different stages of a holiday...
Read the full review at https://www.robseabrook.com/refreshed...