About the Author

Bonnie Gray is the author of Sweet Like Jasmine, Whispers of Rest, wife, and mom to two boys. An inspirational speaker featured by Relevant Magazine and Christianity Today, she’s guided thousands to detox stress and experience God’s love through soul care, encouragement, and prayer. She loves refreshing your soul at...

(in)side DaySpring: things we love
& you will too!
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(in)side DaySpring:
things we love
& you will too!
Find more at
DaySpring.com
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    • Thank you so much, Susan! I’d love to continue to encourage you in the Sweet Like Jasmine book club! You get a free Audiobook, a Stories of Faith journal and you can start reading the early digital copy, supported in a loving community, together with me! I’ll do weekly live videos to encourage you and empower you in finding your true worth in God’s love and how God makes beauty out of brokenness! Please join, friend! Sign up for the bonus gifts & book club at http://SweetLikeJasmine.com — we’re starting August 18! I can’t wait to learn more of your story!

  1. Thank you for being so vulnerable and giving us a glimpse into such an intimate moment. You are like a rose, budding before our very eyes; such incredible beauty! God bless you and your family. Hugs.

    • Thank you so much, Susan! Let’s blossom together in. God’s love! You’re His fragrant rose too! I’d love to continue to encourage you in the Sweet Like Jasmine book club! You get a free Audiobook, a Stories of Faith journal and you can start reading the early digital copy, supported in a loving community, together with me! I’ll do weekly live videos to encourage you and empower you in finding your true worth in God’s love and how God makes beauty out of brokenness! Please join, friend! Sign up for the bonus gifts & book club at http://SweetLikeJasmine.com — we’re starting August 18! I can’t wait to learn more of your story!

  2. In high school I was hesitant to share my testimony because it wasn’t dramatic. I had not been rescued from drugs, sex, rock & roll or had a Damascus Road conversion. But God rescued me from the wages of sin so I stopped looking at MY story & focused on HIS story. He became/becomes greater & greater even in my less than dramatic story. Thank you for sharing & magnifying our great Savior!

    • Amen! Thank you for sharing your testimony of seeing His story in yours, Ruth! It’s such a powerful experience when we see God’s goodness in our lives! His love is like a quiet rose budding or a tree growing planted by daily life and doesn’t always look dramatic, as you wonderful shared.

      I’d love to encourage you in the Sweet Like Jasmine book club! You get a free Audiobook, a Stories of Faith journal and you can start reading the early digital copy, supported in a loving community, together with me! I’ll do weekly live videos to encourage you and empower you in finding your true worth in God’s love and see how God makes beauty out of brokenness! Please join, friend! Sign up for the bonus gifts & book club at http://SweetLikeJasmine.com — we’re starting August 18! I can’t wait to learn more of your story!

    • Thank you so much, Liz! Have a beautiful day! I hope you can join the Sweet Like Jasmine book club with me! I’d love to continue encouraging you on the journey of seeing God’s goodness in our stories of faith with support in a loving community! We’re starting August 18! Learn more and join at http://sweetlikejasmine.com

  3. You were brave and God blessed you. While my story is not as tragic as yours, it has many downs as well as ups. My Grandson who is majoring in Video at a Christian college encouraged me to write my story as we had talked some about it. I did and dedicated it to him (he was 21 a the time). I made copies and shared with my 3 children and let them decide to share with rest of our grandchildren and greatgrandchildren as they saw fit. I also got to share it in our church. It was freeing and theraputic for me and I pray it may have helped someone. I think our children need to know what we’ve been through and how God got us through it in His perfect timing. Also to see life isn’t easy or perfect but with God on our side we are safe in His care and can get through anything,

    • Wow! Betsy!! That is SO amazing that you were brave to open your heart and your story to your Grandson — which led to sharing copies with you children, your grandchildren and the church community! Praise God! Thank you for adding your story here to inspire all of us! I love “I think our childrnen need to know what we’ve been through and how God us through his perfect timing.”

      I think it would bless our Sweet Like Jasmine Community and book club to have you join us, as we explore or faith stories to see God’s goodness and encourage each other! I’d love to hear more of your story, friend!

      You get a free Audiobook, a Stories of Faith journal and you can start reading the early digital copy, supported in a loving community, together with me! I’ll do weekly live videos to encourage you, as reflect on the many ways God leads us through valleys and mountaintops. I’d love to empower you as we explore finding true worth in God’s love and how God makes beauty out of brokenness! Please join, friend! Sign up for the bonus gifts & book club at http://SweetLikeJasmine.com — we’re starting August 18!

  4. I think it is good to share our stories with our children; I started writing mine but haven’t finished it but need to since I am getting pretty old!! Loved your story.

    • Thank you so much, Sharon! I LOVE you started writing your story! You’ll love the Free Stories of Faith Workshop I’m leading August 18 to guide women to journal their stories of faith with support in a loving community!! I’d love to help encourage you! It’s never too late to write our stories! Please join, friend! Sign up for the bonus gifts & book club at http://SweetLikeJasmine.com

      You get a free Audiobook, a Stories of Faith journal and you can start reading the early digital copy, supported in a loving community, together with me! I’ll do weekly live videos to encourage you as we see God’s goodness in our stories! I’d love to empower you in God’s love, seeing how God makes beauty out of brokenness! I can’t wait to learn more of your story!

  5. Reading this opened my eyes and showed the importance of sharing and the value it has.
    Thank you for being vulnerable and honest.

    • Thank you so much, Dori! Sounds like God is planting a seed in your heart to share your story — I’d love to keep encouraging you, friend! You’ll love the Free Stories of Faith Workshop I’m leading August 18 to guide women to journal their stories of faith with support in a loving community!! I’d love to help encourage you! It’s powerful to share our stories. Please join, friend! Sign up for the bonus gifts & book club at http://SweetLikeJasmine.com

      You get a free Audiobook, a Stories of Faith journal and you can start reading the early digital copy, supported in a loving community, together with me! I’ll do weekly live videos to encourage you as we see God’s goodness in our stories! I’d love to empower you in God’s love, seeing how God makes beauty out of brokenness! I can’t wait to learn more of your story!

  6. Bonnie simply beautiful. How you told your story to your kids. You have it in book. For them to read and keep one day when you are not hear. To remember you and your life. Plus faith in God. My late Mum was not saved. She had always wanted to write a book about her Family before she Married my Dad. Then include in the book about my Dad and her plus about having us. But she never got round to doing it. So we just have the things to keep of what she told us. I today would have liked her to have wrote the book. To look read today now she not hear. Of her Family her Mum and Dad her brother’s and sisters. Then go on to say about her childhood. Then her school. Then her first job. Then meeting my Dad. Getting Married and having us 3 her three girls. As it would have been so lovely to read today. I did pray for my late Mum salvation. But you couldn’t tell her she needed to get saved. She would have said. Dawn please keep that or do preach to me. So I just lived my life in front of my Mum for Jesus. Plus prayed got her salvation. My Mum was good writer. Good at poems. She wrote this short one to do with me. It goes. “A Butterfly Is God Why Of Showing How Beautiful The World Can Be.” As my late Mum love Butterflies. I treasure that. She did my late Mum. Talk to God in her own way. Now and again prayed to God. But never told me she had said the saviour prayer to ask Jesus into her life. I have no kids. Bur the kids I looked after as Registered Childminder. For 19 years. I like to put memories into their heads to let them know and remember the good times. In my home while their parents were at all work. Plus I tell them about Jesus in a nice way so as the parents wouldn’t think I was preaching to their kids. Through nice story book about how God love you. You are special to him. Sing songs. Like Jesus loves me this I know. Get them to join in. Watching Psalthy the big blue book. Psalthy would say come on little Praisers. I made nice memories for them. The kids really enjoyed it. It was fun too. Just like you Bonnie telling you story to your kids and making memories for them. So today with my Dad who is also not saved. You can’t tell him. Or he say please keep that to yourself. Or something along those lines. So I just live my life in front of him. Tell my Dad I love him when going home from visiting him. Try to do as much as I can for him. Make memories by being with him. Spending time with him. Doing bits and pieces for him. To show him my love for Jesus. He knows I am saved. Knows I pray for him as I have told him. Then I look back as he 80. When the day comes he not here. The time I had with my Dad. Look back at those days as nice memories. Knowing what I did for my Dad to help him was done in love and on to Jesus. That will be a lovely memory for me. Like you are doing Bonnie making good memories for you kids. They are able to tell you they appreciate that. That let you know you love them and have left something for them to keep and read one day when your not here. All about you. They can then say when they read it. A what a wonderful person our Mum was. How she loved Jesus. Love Dawn xx In my prayers all you incourage.

    • Hi Dawn, what an encourager you are! Praise God for how you encourage and share your stories with the children around you! It’s very empowering to write your stories and see God’s goodness in it! You have your own story and may God illuminate his beauty and goodness in your heart within your story! I hope you’ll join the Sweet Like Jasmine book club! I’d love to encourage you on your faith journey. Sign up at http://sweetlikejasmine.com – we start reading together on August 18!

    • Yay!! That’s wonderful, Sylvia! Looking forward to encouraging you in our loving Sweet Like Jasmine private Book Club community! Be sure to sign up at http://sweetlikejasmine.com — to get an invite to the FB Group and also get your Free Audiobook, journal and the Stories of Faith Workshop beginning 8/18! 🙂

  7. Bonnie,

    God calls us to be witness & make disciples. One simple way is to tell others about God’s faithfulness through trials. How He was there for us & saw us through it all. Plus telling others lets them know they aren’t alone in their struggles. We shouldn’t be afraid to share our stories, but willing to tell others so that they too can be saved & have a relationship with Almighty God.

    Blessings 🙂