Hope Has a Ripple Effect

BOOM!!! I have been waiting for Delton’s book for quite a while and it did not disappoint. Definitely worth the time to read and dive deep into Delton’s world as he lost everything, except faith and family.

Greatness. Delton’s insight to prison life and its affect on he and his family is very helpful and should be an encouragement to all. I was honored to have been able to purchase a copy to give to a family in my office complex as a testimony of God’s faithfulness.

Highly recommend. A well-written autobiography from a man who faced challenging circumstances — a five year federal prison sentence — with inspiring courage, honesty, humor, and hope. The book provides moments that will surely encourage any reader in their own sufferings or tragedies, to encounter the God who is present with us and shaping us in the midst of life’s challenges, if we surrender to Him. Readers will laugh and cry learning about life in federal prison, with its oddities, absurdities, and commonalities that impact way too many of us.

The truths he speaks into are not cliched ones, but those lived out by not only Delton, but his wife, Pam and their three kids. They all live outside themselves and purpose to serve others! They could have turned inward in their tragedy and despair allowing it to marginalize their mindset to that of a victim, but they looked up and faced out. They surrendered to what they faced, they learned to survive by thriving in a posture of looking up and out rather than down and in. We all have been incarcerated in something that has trapped us mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and like Delton, maybe even physically. It’s not how we got to those places that matter as much as how we live in them and move beyond them. I could not be more proud of my friend for his vulnerability in sharing, but maybe more importantly his wisdom in how to surrender, survive and thrive in and through it all. This book is a good–NO GREAT–read! Get it today!

Thrive is a first hand account of the authors true story of juggling family, faith, and imprisonment. He handles a tough circumstance that could easily be view as injustice but instead walks through how he turned the experience into a testimony for meaning, faith and family. Using humor, prose, praise lyrics, and prose, Delton delivers a beautiful account on how to triumph through the mundane. A must for anyone who feels trapped or prisoner in aspect of their lives. Especially those finding it difficult to thrive in their current circumstances.

I’m not a reader, but I could not put this book down. Delton never imagined his life would lead to a prison cell. Broken by poor decisions, weighed down by guilt, and surrounded by silence, he felt forgotten—by people, by the world, and maybe even by God. But prison wasn’t the end of Delton’s story. It was the beginning of something greater. Behind bars, Delton encountered the mercy of a God who never gave up on him. What once was a place of punishment became a place of preparation. Now that Delton is free, he’s not just living—he’s living with purpose. Delton is proof that no life is too far gone, no heart too hard, and no prison too deep for God’s grace to reach.

So grateful for Delton’s vulnerability to share the story God laid out for him. It was such a gift to hear about his obedience and humble submission to the Lord. When trial comes, it’s so easy to become disgruntled or removed and refuse to see the Lord’s hand or the gifts along the way. This book is such a testament to Delton and the whole de Armas family’s willingness to look beyond their circumstances to the hope of eternity and how they can impact the world around them, whether in prison or in High School, for God’s glory, while also acknowledging with appropriate weight the real hardships they each experienced. I’m so grateful that Delton didn’t allow his story to end when he left prison, but that he has continued to say yes to the promptings of the Spirit to use his giftings and his story to serve those around him in the name of Jesus! What an incredible book to read and be spurred into action by!