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Inner Enlightenment
Blessings Abound is a short, sweet inspirational guide designed to help readers stop and take notice of the blessings already in their lives and how to identify them. Why was this an important book for you to write?
Blessings Abound takes the reader to a deeper level of gratitude that benefits them and the surrounding world they live in. More than just saying thank you for gifts received, it opens the door to a deeper appreciation for friends, family, and blessings we too often take for granted. A grateful person focuses on goodness, and goodness is what God is all about. The more we focus on appreciating goodness, the more goodness we receive. The more goodness we receive, the more we feel loved.
What were some ideas that were important for you to share in this book?
The secrets of the universe that evoke a sense of wonder and curiosity.
All life is interconnected.
Profound truths carried down through the ages.
Sacred spaces of quiet exist with vast reservoirs of wisdom.
New pathways to inner enlightenment can be found through gratitude.
What advice do you have for readers who want to shift their mindset from complaining to appreciating but struggle with making the first step?
Reading opens our minds to new worlds.
Understanding is the capacity to interpret, feel, and experience.
Love is the ultimate pathway.
Find one thing a day to be grateful for. To appreciate is to love.
What is one thing that you hope readers take away from Blessings Abound?
Life is a privilege, a precious journey, and a blessing. Blessings Abound has the potential to inspire everyone to see everything in a new light of love and understanding.
Author Links: GoodReads | Amazon
With this book, Katherine Scherer and Eileen Bodoh serve as our guides to revealing them, glorifying them, and super-charging them. Drawing upon inner experiences and wisdom, from ancient and contemporary sources, including Native American lore and the Christian Bible, and from a diverse selection of many who have gone before such as Wordsworth, Thoreau, Whitman, Tagore, and others, the authors guide readers as they embark on a journey to discover and appreciate their own inner and outer blessings. With a connection to spirit and their personal divinity, Katherine and Eileen empower readers with the truth, magic, peace, and gratitude inherent in the words.
Discover blessings in human and divine love, in unassumed places, in the natural world, in music, and in our everyday lives. The power and awe of blessings comes forth in waves as the book allows us to realize the unlimited nature of all that we encounter, even aspects of our lives we may think of as painful or trite.
Move away from the mundane if only for a few moments as you read these passages and learn to appreciate the joy that all of our blessings contain and proliferate.
Blessings Abound does that for you.
Joe Gross is Dead
Helen DeBell’s Joe Gross Is Dead is a raw and deeply personal memoir chronicling her battle with depression, bullying, and self-worth, and how her life was radically transformed through her faith in Jesus Christ. Growing up as the youngest child in a large Iowa farm family, DeBell weaves memories of her loving home life with the intense isolation and cruelty she experienced from peers. The nickname “Joe Gross,” cruelly given to her in high school, became a symbol of deep shame and self-loathing. But over the course of her story, we witness a spiritual awakening. DeBell shares how the voice of God intervened in her darkest moments, eventually leading her to a life of purpose, joy, and ministry. Her journey from the pain of near-suicide to becoming a mother, writer, and Christian leader is both heartbreaking and inspiring.
Reading this book was like stepping into someone’s diary and watching the pages of hurt slowly turn into a hymn. What struck me most was Helen’s ability to balance poetic honesty with gritty memories that don’t sugarcoat anything. The way she describes the moment she nearly took her own life felt like time stopped. Her writing is simple but full of emotion. It never felt distant or rehearsed. She made me feel like I was there beside her, in her childhood barn, in her quiet heartbreak, and later, in her healing. I admired her strength in exposing wounds that many people would rather forget. There’s something rare and brave about the way she holds nothing back.
But what really moved me wasn’t just the pain. It was the change. The book doesn’t just say “things got better.” It shows it. Her love story with Randy, her discovery of worship music, and the moment she gave her life to Christ, those pages glowed. You can sense her joy, not just in the words but in the way she lifts the weight off the story. There’s a powerful beauty in the way she reclaims the insult “Joe Gross” and turns it into “Jehovah’s Gardener.” It’s rare to read something that feels so personal and still leaves space for the reader to reflect on their own story.
Joe Gross Is Dead is for anyone who has ever felt invisible or broken, for anyone who’s been labeled and left out. It’s especially meaningful for people of faith or those curious about finding hope in God during deep pain. This isn’t a perfect, polished redemption arc, it’s a real one. I wouldn’t call it light reading, but I would call it necessary. If you’ve ever needed proof that people can come back from the edge and find life again, this book is it.
Pages: 42 | ASIN : B0F7C9F4BM
LITERARY TITAN 