My name is Elizabeth Richie and I am a senior day student here at Darlington. Through the Senior Ventures program, I was able to accomplish something I’ve been dreaming about for a few years now, writing my own devotional book! “The Path to Jesus” is a 31-day devotional for teens to encourage them to grow in their relationship with Jesus.
I have been working on this since the beginning of my senior year. I spent the entire first semester coming up with ideas, meeting with mentors, and writing all 31 devotionals. The process of writing each devotional took a while because I wanted to make sure that the message was thought out and from the Lord. Each devotional includes a handpicked Bible verse and worship song, a message, and a reflection question. My school mentor, Mrs. Smyly, helped me a lot with the English and grammar side of writing, while my community mentor, Nick Georgian, helped me come up with ideas and stories for each devotional. Both of these mentors were a vital part of the completion of this book!
One of my favorite parts of the book is that my sister, Emily Richie (‘25), designed and painted the cover of this book. My grandparents have a house in Lake Blue Ridge, which is where we stemmed the idea of the cover from. We took an image of the path that goes from the house down to the lake. I wanted to have the lake be the cover because I often find that that’s where I connect the most with Jesus. Emily captured the beauty and nostalgia of the image perfectly. She spent about three months working on this and I couldn’t be more proud of her.
The publishing process took a little longer than I initially anticipated it would. I had some hiccups with printing the cover, but I was able to call in some help from close friends and we were able to get it done. I also realized that I had to charge more per book than I had planned, but after consulting with my family, we agreed on the price and then we published! Though these were things that didn’t go how I initially planned them to go, I’m thankful for what I learned during the process.
This book has been the hardest, yet most rewarding thing I have ever done. I am so thankful for everyone that played a part in making this dream become a reality. Without the Senior Ventures class, and Mrs. Kinney, this would not have been possible. The encouragement I have received from my friends, teachers, family, and the community has truly blown me away. My hope for the future is to be able to continue publishing devotional books for all ages, and I cannot wait to see how God uses my words to give glory to His Kingdom!
You can purchase the book on Amazon, and I will sign it for you at the Senior Ventures Showcase on April 19 from 12-2 p.m. in the McCallie-Kennedy Library. There are also copies available for purchase in Mrs. Kinney's office in Porter 8.
Senior Ventures is a year-long academic program built on a framework of leadership, innovation and community engagement. Through a proven self-guided exploratory process, seniors whose proposals are selected for this program work independently to develop a project that’s interdisciplinary in scope and is connective, performance-based, investigative, or entrepreneurial. Click here to learn more.
