The Walk Back to Eden

Emileigh Ziebka, Melody Westbrook

Description

Helping Christians get back on a path to Eden, this spirituality book offers a clear, concise, creative, and practical guide written from Old Testament stories.
God’s word, his stories, surround us every day. We listen to podcasts, read books, and frequent our daily devotionals, but do we really allow our lives to change? Does God’s story become our story? Do we allow God to walk us back to true fellowship and relationship with Him? Or does our sporadic connection with God’s story lie beautifully on the surface impressing others around us without absorbing deep within who we are?
Even though the Bible is the greatest story written, it sits on our shelf positioned strategically allowing us to feel we are of the spiritual realm. But what if we pulled it from our shelf and opened it? Would we allow the stories of Adam, Abraham and Sarah change our lives? Would we see the God who saw Hagar? Or would we become frustrated reading a book penned centuries ago because it seems inapplicable and dry?
In The Walk Back to Eden, authors Melody Westbrook and Emileigh Ziebka take you on a journey through the Old Testament. You will walk through the garden of Eden, into the wilderness, and be locked inside a boat. You will feel the dirt between your toes walking the roads of Canaan, feel the heartfelt loss as Adam and Eve were kicked out of paradise, and sit in the quiet of the unformed universe. This book offers practical lessons for today taken from a book written centuries ago. You will not want to miss this journey!

Sujets

• Religion
• Christianisme
• Christian Living
• Inspirational
• Philosophie et théologie
• Women
• Woman
• Peace
• Christianity
• Truth
• The Women
• Hope
• Paix
• Bible

Informations

• Publié par: WestBow Press
• Date de parution: 29 mars 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781664294752
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

THE WALK BACK TO EDEN
GOD’S WORD, YOUR STORY.
HIS PARADISE, YOUR PURSUIT.
Melody Westbrook and Emileigh Ziebka


Copyright © 2023 Melody Westbrook and Emileigh Ziebka.
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.
 
 
WestBow Press
A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.westbowpress.com
844-714-3454
 
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
Scripture marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
 
Scriptures marked as NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
 
ISBN: 978-1-6642-9476-9 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6642-9477-6 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-6642-9475-2 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2023904558
 
 
 
WestBow Press rev. date: 03/28/2023
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
 
Chapter 1 A Walk to Remember…Will I Be Remembered? Hebrews 11:1-40
Chapter 2 The Quiet Walk…How to Shut Out the Noise. Genesis 1 and 2
Chapter 3 Walking WITHIN Eden…When Grace Began. Genesis 3:1-22
Chapter 4 Walking OUTSIDE Eden…Why Does Evil Exist? Genesis 4
Chapter 5 Walking Into the Dark…I Feel Trapped. Genesis chapters 6,7 and 8
Chapter 6 It’s A Long Walk Home…God’s Purpose, Our Pleasure. Genesis 12
Chapter 7 Take a Walk in Sarah’s Shoes…Making Decisions from Brokenness. Genesis 16:1-6
Chapter 8 Take a Step Back…Pausing Gives Us Power to Face Our Past. Genesis 16:6-9
Chapter 9 Before You Walk Back…Living With Eyes Wide Shut. Genesis 16:9-15
Chapter 10 Walk Before Me…A Blameless Pursuit. Genesis 17:1-7
Chapter 11 It’s a Circumcision Party…Punch and Cookies Will Be Served. Genesis 17:9-27
Chapter 12 Isaac’s First Steps, Hagar’s Final Walk…The Release from Rejection. Genesis 21:8-21
Chapter 13 Walking Up the Hill of Sacrifice…Why Did God Test Abraham? Genesis 22:1-19
Chapter 14 Walking the Road to Success…Can We Pray for Success? Genesis 24
 
Epilogue
About the Authors
Acknowledgments
MELODY
Being a first-time author, acknowledgment to those who have supported this endeavor could be endless. But to save you the long list, I will try to keep it short.
My first acknowledgment must go to my co-writer, Emileigh Ziebka. If I could wrap up all my thanks to her in a big box and embellish it with the most beautiful bow, it wouldn’t begin to communicate my gratitude. The day we stood in a parking lot and I asked her to co-write with me, her look of confusion and disbelief will forever be etched in my memory. The fact that her first response was a hard no makes this adventure even more meaningful. Now that we have completed this book with unending conversations and relentless tears about God’s story, we can see that our obedience to one crazy adventure has come full circle. After years of writing and Emileigh birthing two more children, what we have accomplished is in the hands of our Creator.
To my husband, Paul Westbrook, his overflowing support has meant the world to my heart. The days when I had no confidence in my writing, he was able to say exactly what I needed in order to spur me on. He knows me well in that when I feel inadequate, pushing me to want to quit, his compliments and praise keep me going. I am grateful for his kind heart when he took me out to celebrate the completion of the book (even though I still wrote for six more months because it didn’t feel complete) to my favorite fondue restaurant and bragged to the waitress that his wife wrote a book.
To my wonderful sons and their precious wives, kids—I know you are grown now—I want to say thanks for your support. Sarah Westbrook, thank you for the time you put in to help me title the book. Caleb Westbrook, my son who is a literature teacher, thank you for editing so many crazy beginnings of this book. Luke Westbrook, Joshua Westbrook, and Elena Westbrook Montoya, thanks for believing in me and supporting me in this endeavor.
To the many others who read a page here and there or a chapter here and there, thank you! Your words of wisdom helped mold this book.
EMILEIGH
I am blessed with many who fill me to the brim with gratitude, but I’ll spare you the novel and focus on the short list.
To Melody Westbrook, my co-author, mentor, and friend, the challenge you presented to me to write and then write better and then write more is something I will be forever grateful for. Your refusal to accept my initial decline to write with you on this project has propelled growth and strength in me that I will carry the rest of my life. You saw something in me I not only never thought possible but never knew I needed to accomplish. You teach, inspire, and encourage me. Our conversations are a breath of fresh air, and our friendship is an irreplaceable gift. Thank you for walking with me both on this endeavor and in life.
To my husband, Steve Ziebka, I can’t imagine navigating the trenches of our life with any other person. You are my teammate and best friend. We are building a life together that is messy and altogether wonderful. Through writing this book, you gave me the time and space I needed amid the chaos of our home almost every time I needed it. Our gaggle has doubled in size from start to finish of this book, and it gets admittedly crazy at times. Along the way, your words of encouragement as writing material spurred me on, and the unending support you give helps keep my head above water.
To my children, Elizabeth, Lucas, Samuel, and Isaac, I have no idea why God chose me to be your mom, but there is no greater accomplishment I have or will ever attain that is better than the four of you. God uses each of you to challenge and inspire me. Thank you for unknowingly giving me writing material. One day when you read these words, I hope you are proud of the way God used you to apply His Word in my life. Thank you for loving me even when I don’t feel I deserve it. Thank you for both the loving and frustratingly perfect words you spoke to me during this writing adventure that inspired many words written within these pages.
To my family and friends who read chapters, experienced some of the events recorded, and walked with me on the journey of life, thank you. Thank you for the encouragement, love, and wisdom each of you provides to keep me going. Thank you for being family and friends who point me to Jesus.
Introduction
THE WALK BACK TO EDEN, GOD’S WORD, YOUR STORY. HIS PARADISE, YOUR PURSUIT.
“Life is a journey!”
A phrase we commonly use to remind us that there are very few destinations in life. Printed on posters, kitchen décor, and t-shirts, this phrase embodies every walk of life, every generation, and every religion. No one can escape it! But how we walk this journey determines its outcomes, results, and even its destination.
Easy journeys bring delight; hard journeys stop us dead in our tracks. But even if we stop, we must start moving again, putting one foot in front of the other.
OUR MYOPIC VIEW
On this path called life, our view is myopic. Imagine this with me: you are on a hike in one of the most beautiful settings in the world. Pick one. Whichever trail you choose, when you stop mid-trail, your view would limit you to whatever is in front or behind. The beauty captured would be the beauty limited within your range of vision.
What if we could widen our view, broadening our perspective? What if we could see the path we are currently standing on as only a small section of our journey? What if we stopped defining our lives by the current journey and defined it by eternity?
Defining our lives by eternity requires knowing the God of eternity. So, how do we get to know the God of eternity? We ask Him His story. His story written in His Word, the Bible!
So how well do you know His story? Our myopic view of life limits us to a myopic view of God’s story. We pick and choose scripture that is meaningful and comforting. But when we see and understand God’s word within the context it is written, it is like turning on the light in a dimly lit room. What were once shadows of truth become beacons of light guiding us on our walk of life.
God’s word, His stories, surround us every day. We listen to podcasts, read books, and frequent our daily devotionals, highlighting amazing verses from scripture, but do we really know the characters played out in His Word? Are our lives touched by theirs? Do we walk alongside them, or are they characters in a book from l