Today on the Thriving Beyond Belief podcast, Laura Smith!

In the new book, How Sweet the Sound: The Power and Promise of 30 Beloved Hymns from Our Daily Bread Publishing, author Laura Smith takes a fresh look at 30 classic hymns, sharing warm devotional stories and making meaningful connections between these songs of the past and our twenty-first century lives.

Do you miss listening to the sweet harmonies of hymns being sung in church? Do you recall precious life memories when a specific hymn encouraged your heart? Hymns will forever be God’s music packed with truth, redemption, and joy, no matter how the times or culture change. There is a reason they still speak to us, generation after generation. How Sweet the Sound marries the past with the present by showing how hymns unite, restore, and re-center God’s children.

Each chapter includes the lyrics to a favorite hymn, an interesting modern-day story of how that hymn continues to impact lives, and questions for contemplation. These stories will appeal to those who grew up in church singing from a hymnal, as well as a new generation seeking truth put to music. You’ll enjoy hearing the stories of how hymns have affected other people’s lives as you remember how the hymns you treasure have affected yours.

About the Author:
Laura L. Smith is a music lover. She grew up singing old hymns in her traditional church, then rushing home to count down the rest of the Top 40 on Billboard’s music charts with Casey Kasem. A best-selling author, Smith speaks around the country sharing the love of Christ with women at conferences and events. She lives in the college town of Oxford, Ohio, with her husband and four kids.

Visit: www.laurasmithauthor.com

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Today on the Thriving Beyond Belief podcast, Alli Worthington!

Alli is like many of us – a woman following her calling in ministry, work, and family – who found herself at a spiritual crossroads. God called her into something new, but she wasn’t sure she was strong enough to say yes. Standing Strong delivers a wealth of practical tips and Godly wisdom that will leave you encouraged to follow the dream God has planted in your heart.

You are enough” is a well-intentioned, encouraging message preached to overwhelmed, burnt-out women. Bestselling author Alli Worthington used to be one of them, but when faced with adversity, found herself searching for more. Being enough was no longer enough.

In her new book Standing Strong: A Woman’s Guide to Overcoming Adversity and Living with Confidence (Zondervan, September 2020), Alli encourages women to draw strength from their God-given identities, to overcome the obstacles that keep them from reaching their full potential and living out their dreams, and to walk confidently in the direction of their calling. With God, they are more than enough.

“God has made you strong, with the ability to survive anything that comes your way,” writes Alli. “Even when you feel weak and overwhelmed, you’re stronger thank you think. There is a strength within you that passes human understanding.”

Alli found herself at a spiritual crossroads—the Lord was calling her to step away from her comfort zone and into something new, but she wasn’t sure she was strong enough to say yes. What if everything fell apart? Why should she have to leave something she loved?

Alli is available for interviews and can speak to:

• A life-changing partnership: saying “yes & Amen” to God
• How to break through the 6 common roadblocks that hold women back
• Why self-empowerment can be just as crippling as self-doubt
• What you need to know about your inner critic
• The surprising secret to confidence
• What to do when you feel unsupported in achieving your goals
• How to become unshakable in the face of adversity
• The 5-Second Secret to push past self-doubt
• 6 keys to stepping into the future with strength

“Your calling won’t look like anyone else’s, ever. God chose you. He made you exactly who you are. He set your life in motion. He put you here on this Earth right here, right now because He wants you to partner with Him, and He has something special that only you can do in His kingdom.”

Alli Worthington is known for her straight-talking encouragement and practical tools that help women reach their dreams in business and life. She’s a business coach and co-founder of Called Creatives, where she coaches writers and speakers.

Author of The Year of Living Happy, Fierce Faith, and Breaking Busy, Alli is a well-known speaker and host of the popular podcast, The Alli Worthington Show. Her no-nonsense, guilt-free take on business, family, and balance have led to appearances on TODAY and Good Morning America. Alli lives with her husband, Mark, and their five sons outside of Nashville with the only golden retriever who refuses to retrieve.

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Today on the Thriving Beyond Belief podcast, Dawn Barton!

Dawn Barton has endured more pain and heartache in her lifetime than Hallmark can fit into a single movie: the loss of a child, divorce, cancer, rape, near-death of her mother from a brain aneurism, the death of her only sibling, and her husband’s substance abuse.

But because she experienced such incredible pain, she also knows incredible joy… so much so, this sassy southerner refers to herself as a “Joyologist.”

In her new book, Laughing Through the Ugly Cry:… and Finding Unstoppable Joy, Dawn shares her powerful journey to find hope, joy, and laughter in the midst of even the most unfathomable circumstances. And though her trials were heavy, her words are light—laced with the humor and perspective that keep you laughing, no matter what.

“Even in the face of all the things you can’t control – the announcements, the diagnosis, the calls you hoped you’d never get – there’s something you do get to control,” writes Dawn. “Choose to look for joy in the small spaces between fear and confusion, and make that the moral of your story.”

Dawn knows the adversity she’s experienced has enabled her to experience joy in a more profound and vibrant way. Laughing Through the Ugly Cry is a beautiful book that will encourage anyone facing difficulty to do so with humor and faith, and to mindfully seek joy no matter how bleak circumstances may appear.

“Finding joy in your life does not mean you walk around in a perpetual state of skipping and laughing. It doesn’t mean you are grinning and waving to every single passerby, although that would be fun. It means when you are sitting in the pain, you can take a deep breath and smile because you have one more breath to live.”

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• WEBSITE: DawnRBarton.com
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