User:Barbaragt/Stumbling Over A Quarter To Pick Up A Penny

Stumbling Over a Quarter To Pick Up a Penny: Understanding Your Life’s Six Spiritual Periods, published in 2009 by Hayward C. Townsend Sr. written in experiential storytelling style. It is a Christian motivational book whose goal is to teach individuals how to remain in God’s Power while dealing with life’s everyday challenges.

Synopsis
The phrase Stumbling Over A Quarter To Pick Up A Penny is a metaphor for how individuals deal inappropriately with their life’s challenges---whether they are related to relationships, illicit behavior, wealth or spiritual piece of mind.

The Six Spiritual Periods: Probation, Preparation, Conquest, Power, Decline and Servitude are the different stages of life that individuals find themselves in when dealing with their life’s challenges. The authors suggests that for a person to get to God’s Power or to remain in it, they need to understand the principles of the Six Spiritual Periods that are discussed in the book.

The stories in the book are built around unlocking an understanding of a person’s Six Spiritual Periods. They are an accumulation of the author’s personal “stumbling” experiences blended together with Biblical stories and Scripture references that are used to reveal to the reader the importance of having a correct understanding of the Spiritual Period that they are living their life in.

Some important suggestions that the author raises about the Six Spiritual Periods: Probation, Preparation, Conquest, Power, Decline and Servitude are:
 * There is no set order that an individual will experience the Six Spiritual Periods. For example, they may be in Preparation in their youth and also in their middle age.


 * An individual experiences a particular period based on their awareness and understanding of what is currently happening in their life. For example, if they are in Power and don’t realize it their experiences won’t be as rewarding for them as they could be.


 * An individual moves from one period to another or remain in the current period that they are in based on the actions that they take. If they take the correct action they can move into the positive periods of Preparation, Conquest or stay in Power. In these three periods God allows mostly positive tests into their life to get them to accomplish His Will.


 * When an individual is in Preparation, Conquest or Power and take the incorrect action they won’t be able to avoid one or all of the periods of Decline, Servitude, and Probation which are the periods where God allows mostly not so positive tests and trials to occur for them in order to get them back on track to accomplish His Will.

The author writes in his book that the majority of the time when an individual is Stumbling Over A Quarter To Pick Up A Penny they are: 1) Out of synch with God’s sovereign plan for them; 2) Acting or reacting improperly according to the Spiritual Period that they are in at that time and; 3) Have turned their back on God’s blessings and favor. They may not be completely outside of His Will … just responding and reacting improperly to it.

Written for individuals of all ages, this book provides unique insights that can last a lifetime. There is a Determining Your Life’s Spiritual Period Worksheet at the end of the book that readers can use to determine the Spiritual Period that they are in.