From Teenage Runaway to Master Builder: Father and Daughter Share a Legacy of Faith in Go Further with God

GO FURTHER WITH GOD by S. RENEE SMITH

S. Renee Smith and William J. Smith, Sr. invite readers into a devotional memoir about faith, resilience, divine direction, and wisdom through generations.

NEW YORK CITY, NY, UNITED STATES, August 7, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Go Further with God, a new devotional memoir by bestselling author S. Renee Smith and her father, William J. Smith, Sr., invites readers on a deeply personal journey of faith, resilience, perseverance, and spiritual transformation.

Told through the true-life experiences of William J. Smith, Sr., and interpreted through his daughter’s reflective voice, Go Further with God is more than a collection of memories. It is a testimony to how God shapes a life through pain, provision, loss, redirection, grace, and the difficult moments when His guidance is often revealed.

William’s story begins in uncertainty. At sixteen, he ran away from home with no plan, no food, and no bag. What followed was a life shaped by hard work, difficult choices, unexpected favor, and a growing awareness that God had been present through every season.

Although he dropped out of school in the ninth grade, William became a business owner, master builder, and respected community leader, building homes, churches, commercial buildings, and monuments across Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania that still stand today. His life has been defined by faith, integrity, grit, humility, and perseverance.

Standing beside him through every season has been his wife of more than 65 years, Reverend Shirley M. Smith, whom William calls his partner in poverty, prayer, and progress. Her voice is woven throughout the book, and she writes the devotional interlude that anchors the closing chapter, offering her testimony of faith, steadfastness, and enduring love.

For S. Renee Smith, writing her father’s story was more than a literary project; it was a sacred assignment. As she listened, recorded, interpreted, and wrote, she began to see her father through a new lens—not only as a parent but also as a man shaped by silent battles, imperfect decisions, divine protection, and enduring faith. “I didn’t just write a book with my father; I have been transformed by the process. It matured me spiritually, and I carry a peace I’ve never known. My view of business, purpose, and legacy has shifted, now shaped by grace and conviction.”

Structured as a devotional memoir, Go Further with God features seven chapters and twenty-one lessons, each grounded in Scripture and rooted in real-life experience. The book guides readers through themes such as healing, provision, redirection, surrender, divine timing, faith under pressure, sacred relationships, legacy, and love. Each lesson includes true stories, devotional reflections, and prompts to help readers pause and recognize how God may be moving in their lives—especially during seasons of confusion, disappointment, transition, and waiting.

At the heart of the book is the reminder that spiritual transformation is not always about external success or immediate answers to prayer, but about becoming the person God is shaping through every experience. Through authentic storytelling and practical encouragement, Go Further with God reminds readers that struggle is not always a sign of failure; sometimes it is the very place where God shapes character, deepens trust, and reveals purpose.

“This isn’t just a book of stories. It’s a series of lessons drawn from a life that began with uncertainty, missteps, and a search for something more. What I lived through isn’t so different from what many people experience. Some of those choices made life harder, yet even then, God was already at work.”

Go Further with God is now available in paperback wherever books are sold.

S. Renee Smith is a nationally recognized leadership strategist, identity advisor, media contributor, and seven-time author whose work includes books published by Wiley and Sourcebooks. A former Paramount television host, producer, spokesperson, and QVC model, she brings media experience and more than two decades of leadership development and advisory work with Fortune 100 companies to conversations about identity, faith, confidence, reinvention, and legacy. She is the founder of the There Is More Inside^® brand and the creator of the Live in What’s Next™ development experiences. She has been named a “Mover and Shaker” by Fortune, named the first Honorary Command Chief at Dover Air Force Base, and honored with a nationally proclaimed S. Renee Smith Day by the City of Buffalo, New York.

William J. Smith, Sr. is a retired master builder, entrepreneur, and community patriarch. A teenage runaway, he built Smith Masonry, Inc., from nothing into a company that shaped homes, churches, and monuments across three states for more than forty years. His legacy includes the William J. Smith, Sr. Community Hall and the endowed William J. and Reverend Shirley M. Smith, Sr. Scholarship Fund at Delaware State University. He has been recognized by the local Links, Incorporated, and he and his wife have been honored by the Delaware House of Representatives and former Congressman Tom Carper.

The book is available at:
https://gofurtherwithgod.com/
https://www.amazon.com/GO-FURTHER-GOD-RENEE-SMITH/dp/1733021930
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/go-further-with-god-s-renee-smith/1148447470
https://www.betterworldbooks.com/product/detail/go-further-with-god-9781733021937

For review copies, interview requests, or additional information, please contact:

S. Renee Smith
BrightKey PR
info@srenee.com