Synopses & Reviews
Our Daily Bread writer Dave Branon never expected to have valleys on the topographical map of his life. A trusting Christian, he was enjoying a life of blessing with his wife and four children. While life wasn’t always perfect, Dave and his family were traveling on the road to peace and contentment, toward the mountain and far from the valley.
Until a beautiful spring evening in June 2002 when his daughter Melissa—a vivacious, talented, happy seventeen-year-old—was killed instantly when she was in a car accident on her way home from a day at the lake with her friends.
Dave describes the effect this had on him and his family: “Our lives veered off the path we thought would be ours for the rest of our time on earth. We . . . went straight into the valley—an unfamiliar, dark, and deep ravine of near hopelessness.”
Beyond the Valley has grown out of Dave’s own journey and his desire to provide spiritual hope for the hurting. He writes honestly about the challenges he has faced, applying the light of Scripture to the darkest corners of life in the valley and providing questions for personal reflection that will encourage you on the path to hope.
“Walk with me, won’t you?” Dave asks. “Together, we can find hope, solace, comfort, and sometimes even joy—while seeking to go beyond the valley.”
Synopsis
Life is hard. Every Christian, no matter how rich or poor, how mature or young in the faith, faces difficulties that make him or her wonder where God is. Writer Dave Branon began to walk life’s difficult valley in 2002 when his 17-year-old daughter Melissa died in a car accident. This book grows out of his own journey and his desire to provide hope to the hurting. Each devotional chapter is based on a scriptural truth, is realistic in its approach, and is supplemented with questions for personal reflection. In an easy-to-read fashion, Dave helps to answer the need of the struggling Christian for certainty and assurance of God’s love.
Synopsis
This 40-day devotional offers assurance that you are not alone, that God delivers on His promises, and that He is the ultimate source of answers for trouble.
About the Author
Dave Branon is an editor for Discovery House Publishers and ODB Ministries and is a popular contributor to Our Daily Bread. He has written over two thousand devotional articles and sixteen books, including the Sports Devotional Bible, Heads Up, and Beyond the Valley. Dave and his wife, Sue, live in Grand Rapids, Michigan.