Refreshed

Tony Merida

A brilliant book. The past two years have been exhausting for me personally, and I know I’m not alone. So I love the idea of a book helping others find refreshment and renewal in the midst of this weary world. Pastor John points us to the rest beneath all other forms of rest: the spiritual refreshment we find in the grace of Jesus. I highly recommend it for everyone, especially for the weary—and double-especially for the weary who are about to go on vacation!

Courtney Reissig

In these short devotions, John Hindley reminds us that rest and vacations are good, that God gave us this world to enjoy, and that there is value in thinking deeply about the world that God has made. It doesn’t matter whether you find rest in exploring the city or relaxing on the beach—there is something for everyone in this book.

“Absolutely perfect for a soul-refreshing vacation”

I bought this book for our upcoming family vacation to the beach, with the idea in mind to also use it while we go camping and adventuring elsewhere. There's a little tendency in me to be skeptical of "themed" books: Will they take Scripture out of context to make it feel applicable to their theme? Will it be wimpy, or cheesy?? But this book blew me away! I genuinely loved reading it by myself, meditating on the Scripture passage while watching sea waves. It was also lovely to do as a family. Everyone contributed to the discussion questions, no matter his age. My soul truly felt re-centered, refreshed, and filled with new wonder at our awesome God. I can't wait to take it on future expeditions!

“Vital for Your Next Holiday”

When we go on holiday, we often want something that's a little more relaxing. This book is an example of how you can refresh yourself with God's Word while also digging into some big biblical truths. It's a set of 30 devotionals so you could either read a few each day, use it for a few shorter holidays or just drop into specific chapters that you feel would be most helpful for you. It's clearly written by someone with a pastoral heart, keen for you to reconnect with God and experience the peace that comes from knowing him. While I've only used the first few devotionals, I'll be saving the next section for my next holiday!

“Find Your Rest in Jesus”

Have you ever felt spiritually dry even while on vacation? In Refreshed, John Hindley gives devotions for your time away. Made up of 30 devotional Bible studies, this book will help you steward your vacation.

Different Devotions for Different Destinations

I was called to slow down, notice those who are around me, and take my concerns and cares to Jesus. Parents will appreciate the questions and activities to keep your family worship while away from home.

What interested most were the different devotions offered for different vacations. Sections include visiting with friends and family, beaches and pools, hills and mountains, forest and farmlands.

Find Your Rest in Jesus

Even if you don’t have time to take a vacation, this book will put you in a peaceful mindset and help you remember to find your rest in Jesus. I enjoyed reading about the themes of God’s goodness and glory in creation.

Don’t waste your vacation. Looking at the mighty seas and major cityscsapes will only get us so far. We need our eyes to be lifted up towards God. Spend time in his Word during your vacation. He will give you rest.

I received a media copy of Refreshed and this is my honest review.

“A fabulous daily devotional”

I feel very blessed to have received a copy of a wonderful book by John Hindley, published just this month, titled Refreshed: Devotions For You Time Away to read and review. It’s an excellent book to take with you on your time away and on a family holiday. Even though I’ve just been reading this book whilst being at home, it’s been such a joy to read even though I’m not currently on holiday. Definitely a favourite thing of mine that I’ve taken away from this book is that even though it’s subtitled Devotions For Your Time Away, there is so much that you can take away from this book and apply to your day-to-day life.

The chapters of this book are brilliantly written. You can either read the book front to back, or you can pick a specific chapter based on a theme or location. For example, some of the chapters are named Arriving, Rest, Friends and Family, and Skies and Beach. There’s literally topics for wherever you may be. The contents page has all the titles of each chapter on, so they can easily be found within the book. I found myself fully engaged, inspired and reflecting on each page. I should note that at the end of each chapter, the author has set aside activities at the end of each daily reflection for individual use and for family time, along with asking questions, setting challenges, and involving each family member. This offers some fun activities for everyone, and helps families to spend quality time together, getting into God’s Word, and keeping their minds firmly fixed on Jesus.

“Key to a refreshing break”

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.
I do like the way it has been written to involve the whole family, with ideas for family time together each day, by way of some practical, creative and fun ideas to keep God's word with you through the holiday.
I have a feeling that if I had used this book on previous holidays, the time would have been so much more relaxing and fruitful.
There are some challenging thoughts, that are posed to help the reader gain a deeper and truer release into a place of rest... the sort of rest and peace that we should be able to expect.