Have you ever felt like your life is slipping by without your permission? Like despite your best intentions, life is happening to you instead of you happening to it?
About a year ago, I started feeling like that, and believe me when I say it’s no fun. I was too busy, too rushed, too…well…just too everything to do anything well.
Ann Voskamp says about the busy life…”I cannot think of a single advantage I’ve ever gained from being in a hurry. But a thousand broken and missed things, tens of thousands, lie in the wake of all the rushing…” (One Thousand Gifts).
Rushing…well-intentioned rushing, but never catching up.
Thankfully, it doesn’t have to stay that way. We can make a choice today to live with deep intention, bold faith, and generous love. Our friend Sally Clarkson is showing us how in her new book, Own Your Life.
Erin’s Review
There are few authors who have influenced my life as a mother as much as Sally Clarkson. Someone recommended The Mission of Motherhood to me not long after my second child was born and I became a stay-at-home mom. It was inspiring and transforming and just what I needed for my new season of motherhood. Since I read that book, I have continued to treasure Sally’s words on motherhood in books and blog posts.
But I’m not just a mother. I am a wife and a writer and a ministry leader and so many other things. I still need guidance as a mother, but I also need advice and inspiration for living my whole life and doing it well. Sally’s newest book, Own You Life, was written with this exact mission in mind.
I’m sure I’m not the only woman who is tired of just surviving each day. And I know that is not how God intended any of our lives to be. In the pages of Own Your Life, I have found gentle, but courageous wisdom for taking back this God-given life, focusing more on Him, and living a life that is full of intention and love.
One of my favorite quotes comes early in the book:
When we own our lives, we choose to make love the priority in our homes, our marriages, and our parenting. From it flows the very legacy that God created us to fulfill.
When the world thinks of the phrase “own your life,” it involves thoughts of control and doing it all {whatever that may be}. In contrast, owning your life as a follower of Christ is about taking responsibility for living an intentional life of love as Christ calls us. It is serious and carries much weight, but there is also much more grace. And the power in which we act to own our life is not our own.
Not our strenuous efforts, but His life generously provides all we need for flourishing lives of ministry.
I’m carrying these freeing words with me, not just as a ministry leader, but in all areas of my life. I’m not working harder to own my life. I’m just getting more focused on Jesus and His ways and I have to thank Sally for putting it all in perfect perspective for me in this book!
Brooke’s Review
As a work-at-home mom, homeschool mom, and wife, I knew Sally’s book would be exactly what I needed. I try very hard to be intentional in my relationships, intentional as a mom, intentional in my ministry, with my time. But honestly, it’s not easy juggling all those things. Over the last year, I’ve gotten much better about controlling my time instead of letting it control me, but it’s still a challenge. I needed some deeper work to begin the process of really owning my own life.
Sally’s book has helped me ask myself important questions, like:
- What would happen if I faced the hard places of my like head-on instead of just hoping they’ll go away on their own?
- What if the most radical decisions I make for Christ aren’t the ones anyone can see?
- What can I do to make myself more productive, but less busy?
- What are the things that add to my chaos, and how can I keep them at a minimum?
As I’ve thought through the answers to these questions, and others like them, I’ve begun speak more life into my days, take more responsibility for my choices, and see the Lord giving me strength to say no to what’s not of him, yes to what is, and build boundaries around my life to help me own it.
When Sally Clarkson speaks, I listen, and I believe she lives what she speaks. The message of Own Your Life is her best work yet. If you’re looking for a book to help you regain the perspective on life you might’ve lost as you juggle kids, work, and family life, this book is for you.
My sweet friend just purchased this book for me it’s sitting right under Hands Free Mama! Thanks for the review, I’m really looking forward to reading it.