Holding Onto Hope: 40 days of God’s encouragement through art and reflections

Holding Onto Hope: 40 days of God’s encouragement through art and reflections

£12.99

A hope-filled illustrated gift book to lift the spirits

Amy Boucher Pye and Leo Boucher return with a 40-day journey exploring the themes of hope and new life through vivid biblical images, Holding onto Hope can be used through Lent or during any 40-day period. We start with how all creation praises God, from the flowers of the field to the streams in the desert and the trees clapping their hands. We then explore the agricultural pattern of sowing, growing and harvesting before moving to the gracious promises and invitations God makes to his people, such as how he writes eternity onto our hearts. Next come compelling images of God as our help and refuge, including God being our shade and rear guard, before seeing how God changes his people – he clothes us, renews our minds and strengthens us. Finally, we focus on our new life in Christ through images such as new wineskins, the imperishable seed and the city to come.


Title Holding Onto Hope: 40 days of God’s encouragement through art and reflections
Author Amy Boucher Pye / Leo Boucher
Description

Amy Boucher Pye and Leo Boucher return with a 40-day journey exploring the themes of hope and new life through vivid biblical images, Holding onto Hope can be used through Lent or during any 40-day period. We start with how all creation praises God, from the flowers of the field to the streams in the desert and the trees clapping their hands. We then explore the agricultural pattern of sowing, growing and harvesting before moving to the gracious promises and invitations God makes to his people, such as how he writes eternity onto our hearts. Next come compelling images of God as our help and refuge, including God being our shade and rear guard, before seeing how God changes his people – he clothes us, renews our minds and strengthens us. Finally, we focus on our new life in Christ through images such as new wineskins, the imperishable seed and the city to come.

Details
  • Product code: 9781800392007
  • Published: 17 November 2023
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 192
  • Dimensions: 165mm wide and 155mm high

Amy Boucher Pye and Leo Boucher return with a 40-day journey exploring the themes of hope and new life through vivid biblical images, Holding onto Hope can be used through Lent or during any 40-day period. We start with how all creation praises God, from the flowers of the field to the streams in the desert and the trees clapping their hands. We then explore the agricultural pattern of sowing, growing and harvesting before moving to the gracious promises and invitations God makes to his people, such as how he writes eternity onto our hearts. Next come compelling images of God as our help and refuge, including God being our shade and rear guard, before seeing how God changes his people – he clothes us, renews our minds and strengthens us. Finally, we focus on our new life in Christ through images such as new wineskins, the imperishable seed and the city to come.

Amy Boucher-Pye 

Amy is a writer and speaker with a thousand devotional reflections in print, including with New Daylight and Our Daily Bread. She has previously written The Living Cross and Celebrating Christmas for BRF Ministries.

www.amyboucherpye.com

Leo Boucher 

Leo is a retired data systems analyst who paints in his art shack and volunteers with his church and other organisations, including teaching art to seniors at retirement communities.

 

Review by Anne le Tissier, writer.

Holding Onto Hope is a timely gift to a world that attempts to steal hope through conflicts, natural disasters, economic pressures, broken relationships, sickness, memory loss, disappointment, grief… and so much more. Written to be read over forty days, Amy gently encourages us to grasp hold of the hope God gives through his truth and promises, while Leo’s simple yet vivid and poignant paintings, draw us to another level of engaging with God’s love and reassurance.

Each devotion settles our heart and focuses our mind by starting with a painting and an engaging story. Both dovetail with insights that Amy then provides from scripture, conveying the hope we have in God through life’s varied experiences, before she concludes the day with a short prayer; prayers which often resonated deeply in my heart. There are also daily questions to reflect on individually or discuss as part of a group, plus a guide to visio divina to help readers pray with the paintings.

Holding Onto Hope is a beautifully crafted book to read and ponder, helping us grasp tight to God’s presence and truth when hope feels out of reach. As Amy says, ‘We can put our hope in [God], trusting him to follow through on the promises he made to his people centuries ago, because we know him to be faithful and true.’ (page 126)

Reviewed by Anne le Tissier author of  The Mirror that Speaks Back