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In this episode, Val Brown interviews author Barbara Isaac Croce about her book 'A Journey into Hope: An Interactive Journal for Women.' They discuss the importance of processing thoughts and emotions and training the heart to look at life from a "Hope in God" perspective.
Barbara shares the Biblical pattern for training the soul found in Psalm 42:11. The Psalmist acknowledges the current state of his soul--despairing and disturbed--then he directs his heart to God, to trust in Him, and to worship Him as his Help, his God to whom he can run.
“What you focus on, grows. That’s the truth. If you focus on all the darkness in your life, that’s all your eyes will see—because we’re trained. This is how God made us: He made us to become what we look at. If you look at God the whole time and His goodness and His character, that’s what will grow in your life. And that’s a matter of perspective. And so we train ourselves; we train our hearts to look a certain way. There’s no magic…Hope is something that you train yourself to walk into.” Barbara
Purchase the journal on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3NxwPTE. [The Move Your Heart Ministry may receive a small compensation through this affiliate link.]; or if you are local to Indiana, PA, various small businesses stock her journal. Email Barbara for more information: barbsfitu@gmail.com.
In this episode, Val Brown interviews author Barbara Isaac Croce about her book 'A Journey into Hope: An Interactive Journal for Women.' They discuss the importance of processing thoughts and emotions and training the heart to look at life from a "Hope in God" perspective.
Barbara shares the Biblical pattern for training the soul found in Psalm 42:11. The Psalmist acknowledges the current state of his soul--despairing and disturbed--then he directs his heart to God, to trust in Him, and to worship Him as his Help, his God to whom he can run.
“What you focus on, grows. That’s the truth. If you focus on all the darkness in your life, that’s all your eyes will see—because we’re trained. This is how God made us: He made us to become what we look at. If you look at God the whole time and His goodness and His character, that’s what will grow in your life. And that’s a matter of perspective. And so we train ourselves; we train our hearts to look a certain way. There’s no magic…Hope is something that you train yourself to walk into.” Barbara
Friends, Hope that originates within a loving relationship with God transcends our circumstances! In Him, we can find Hope; i.e., a legitimate expectation of good.
Indeed, He is the God of Hope, who wants to meet us right where we find ourselves.
“If you just open your heart a tiny bit, He’s going to rush in like a river.” Barbara
In this conversation, Barbara gives personal instances of when she's reframed her life's challenges and found Hope that sustained her. In these challenges, she's learned the importance of trusting God and worshiping Him; furthermore, she's found true riches in great loss.
Purchase the journal on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3NxwPTE. [The Move Your Heart Ministry may receive a small compensation through this affiliate link.]; or if you are local to Indiana, PA, various small businesses stock her journal. Email Barbara for more information: barbsfitu@gmail.com.
Join the Journey Into Hope Facebook community with the QR Code found in the back of the journal.
Takeaways from the broadcast:
*Processing emotions and finding hope in God's Word is essential for living well.
*Hope is not dependent on circumstances, but on our relationship with God.
*Leaning into pain and yielding to God's discipline can lead to growth and transformation.
Training our hearts to look at life through a hopeful perspective is a lifelong journey. Hope is a choice that we can make while in difficult circumstances.
Discovering peace and finding true riches can be a part of the journey through challenging times.
Podcast Chapters:
00:00 Introduction and Welcome
01:18 Barbara's Journey and Writing the Book
03:01 Processing Emotions and Overcoming Difficulties
06:15 Facing Pain and Processing Emotions
07:06 The Importance of Keeping a Soft Heart
08:20 Finding Hope in God
10:46 The Level of Difficulty and Overcoming Challenges
12:13 Asking Questions and Finding Hope in God's Word
15:06 Finding God and Discovering Hope
19:35 Training the Heart to Find Hope
21:31 Hope Beyond Circumstances
23:12 Finding Hope in Difficult Circumstances
25:04 God as the God of Hope
26:19 Drawing Strength from God
28:30 Barbara's Background and Journey
34:12 Barbara's Relationship with the Lord
35:32 Leaning into Pain and Yielding to God
43:51 The Journey of Going Through
44:11 Discovering Peace in Hard Life Circumstances
45:06 Worship and Trusting God
46:04 The Book's Audience: Women at Every Stage of Life
46:58 Empowering Young Women to Handle Challenges
47:28 Reframing Life's Challenges
48:06 Losing Everything and Finding True Riches
49:15 Walking One Day at a Time
50:37 The Power of Writing and Pouring Out Our Hearts
51:38 Opening Our Hearts to God
52:28 The Healing Power of Raw and Honest Communication with God
52:42 Finding Strength in Community
53:05 Creating a Supportive Community through a Facebook Group
54:59 Hope as a Choice
55:35 Prayer for Hope and God's Unconditional Love
56:54 Closing Prayer and Encouragement
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Thanks for listening. I appreciate you!
Val
Barbara Isaac Croce is a certified life coach and the author of several books, including her most recent devotional for women, A Journey Into Hope. She lives in Florida with her husband Rich and their great Dane, Mini.
