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Balance, Busyness, and Not Doing It All
Busyness is epidemic, and the Christian family isn't exempt. Women caring for today's families are pulled in every direction. Balance, Busyness, and Not Doing It All is a practical, faith-based book equipping moms to say yes to what's most important in life during the busiest years of parenting.
Whether you're a working mom or a stay-at-home-mom, this book is filled with answers for your physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion. The suggestions will surprise, challenge, and free you to do less, while embracing more out of life both personally and in your family. From practical housekeeping tools to personal growth, this book will equip you with things to use today to manage your family well, while taking care of and honoring yourself, and deepening your faith.
Whether you're a working mom or a stay-at-home-mom, this book is filled with answers for your physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion. The suggestions will surprise, challenge, and free you to do less, while embracing more out of life both personally and in your family. From practical housekeeping tools to personal growth, this book will equip you with things to use today to manage your family well, while taking care of and honoring yourself, and deepening your faith.
165 pages, Paperback
First published August 10, 2015
1 person is currently reading
12 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 4, 2015
I'm so glad I read this book as I'm on the brink of a super busy few months. As I read I felt encouraged and gleaned practical ways of balancing life as a working mom.
The thing about this book is that it doesn't lay on guilt or make the reader feel hopeless to measure up. Instead, the author says with sincerity, "You can do this." And she leaves room for the reader to take guilt and toss it out the window. Yoder writes with vulnerability, making the reader realize that she's not alone. Instead of dividing, as many mom books do, this book unifies. I love that.
The thing about this book is that it doesn't lay on guilt or make the reader feel hopeless to measure up. Instead, the author says with sincerity, "You can do this." And she leaves room for the reader to take guilt and toss it out the window. Yoder writes with vulnerability, making the reader realize that she's not alone. Instead of dividing, as many mom books do, this book unifies. I love that.
September 8, 2015
The hardest thing for a Christian woman who’s trying to do it all is that, deep inside, she knows it’s not working. She’s stressed and unhappy. But one of the last things she wants to do is pick up a self-help book that’s going to tell her she’s doing it all wrong. Because then she’ll be stressed, unhappy, and guilty.
Fear not, potential Balance readers. Brenda Yoder—mother of four, former educator, and counselor—won’t tell you that you’re doing it all wrong. She’ll tell you that she did it all wrong; what she learned from the process of getting it right for herself; and how you too can achieve freedom from the “shoulds.”
And she starts right at the beginning: with our identity in Christ. Not our identities as mothers, the key audience for this book.
What steals joy most often from us women? Not understanding our identity and passively submitting to helter-skelter lives. God has a much better plan in mind for us that Brenda has discovered. In this book, she connects our identity in Christ with the subsequent pursuit of balance in our lives. By doing this, she helps her reader achieve the goal of true balance—not one that will come unhinged next week.
Consider this image as one to summarize the book. If you’ve ever used an antique scale, you know that the two dishes have to have equal weights. If they don’t, the scale is unbalanced. The lighter dish is up in the air, while the heavier dish is further down. Once the two weights are balanced, the scale is even.
Brenda helps you to take the heavy weight of your busyness and exchange it for your right identity in Christ. But to stop there would mean the scale would still be unbalanced, one dish down and one dish up. Throughout the book, she works with you to figure out the right priorities for your life. And there are some things that she states need to be given up to God. In other words, there are some things that you and I are trying to balance that should not be on our scales at all! Through personal examples, reflective questioning, and prayers, she helps you surrender those weights to God.
Whether you think you’ve hit upon the right balance for yourself and your family, or your life is truly chaotic, Brenda’s words will challenge you, uplift you, and give you a vision for a joyful, balanced life grounded in Christ.
Fear not, potential Balance readers. Brenda Yoder—mother of four, former educator, and counselor—won’t tell you that you’re doing it all wrong. She’ll tell you that she did it all wrong; what she learned from the process of getting it right for herself; and how you too can achieve freedom from the “shoulds.”
And she starts right at the beginning: with our identity in Christ. Not our identities as mothers, the key audience for this book.
What steals joy most often from us women? Not understanding our identity and passively submitting to helter-skelter lives. God has a much better plan in mind for us that Brenda has discovered. In this book, she connects our identity in Christ with the subsequent pursuit of balance in our lives. By doing this, she helps her reader achieve the goal of true balance—not one that will come unhinged next week.
Consider this image as one to summarize the book. If you’ve ever used an antique scale, you know that the two dishes have to have equal weights. If they don’t, the scale is unbalanced. The lighter dish is up in the air, while the heavier dish is further down. Once the two weights are balanced, the scale is even.
Brenda helps you to take the heavy weight of your busyness and exchange it for your right identity in Christ. But to stop there would mean the scale would still be unbalanced, one dish down and one dish up. Throughout the book, she works with you to figure out the right priorities for your life. And there are some things that she states need to be given up to God. In other words, there are some things that you and I are trying to balance that should not be on our scales at all! Through personal examples, reflective questioning, and prayers, she helps you surrender those weights to God.
Whether you think you’ve hit upon the right balance for yourself and your family, or your life is truly chaotic, Brenda’s words will challenge you, uplift you, and give you a vision for a joyful, balanced life grounded in Christ.
August 24, 2015
In 2015 women may struggle with - displaying the "house wife" image and yet aggressively competing in the "work force." In that outer struggle, we reveal a much deeper and emotional inner struggle, who Am I... and what Am I doing?
This phenomenal book really organizes the thoughts and patterns that each mother may struggle with.
Identifying herself as first and foremost a person, with strengths and "lesser-strengths", and then as a wife/mother.
It was inspiring to read a transparent, realistic account of a very accomplished and in-tune professional.
I am grateful to have a relationship with Christ, which is HUGE for finding self-identity, so that my lesser-strengths and self-failures can still be turned around for the benefit of my calling on this earth.
This book is vital in replacing frustrations and failures with wholeness and strength.
This phenomenal book really organizes the thoughts and patterns that each mother may struggle with.
Identifying herself as first and foremost a person, with strengths and "lesser-strengths", and then as a wife/mother.
It was inspiring to read a transparent, realistic account of a very accomplished and in-tune professional.
I am grateful to have a relationship with Christ, which is HUGE for finding self-identity, so that my lesser-strengths and self-failures can still be turned around for the benefit of my calling on this earth.
This book is vital in replacing frustrations and failures with wholeness and strength.
August 31, 2015
Author Brenda Yoder hooked me with her first few sentences: "I remember waking up, dreaming of retirement. Not that I wanted to be sixty-five, but I wanted time, space, rest, and quiet." My thoughts? YES! Here's a woman who know what the hustle of parenting truly feels like.
As a mother, I used to think the only way to make all of the running and busyness of life stop was retirement (or I could just quit working!). This idea is totally false.
As Yoder points out, "…the quality of our lives don't hinge on working or not working outside the home. They rest in prioritites, intentional living, and making choices for each stage of parenting."
This book is perfect as a group study or for individuals, and I especially liked the sections for reflection and the prayers which concluded each chapter.
As a mother, I used to think the only way to make all of the running and busyness of life stop was retirement (or I could just quit working!). This idea is totally false.
As Yoder points out, "…the quality of our lives don't hinge on working or not working outside the home. They rest in prioritites, intentional living, and making choices for each stage of parenting."
This book is perfect as a group study or for individuals, and I especially liked the sections for reflection and the prayers which concluded each chapter.
August 19, 2015
I loved this book, what a wonderful, easy to read book about a topic that most women in
America struggle with, business. I loved the way Brenda used her life experiences to help make points and make realistic helpful hints. Her use of biblical truths and common sense approach to life was very helpful to my busy and chaotic life. I will use this book as a resource for many years to come and will give it to all of my friends that are new mom and old moms that are struggling to get everything done like me. It is a must read for all women, with or without children. Even though the ones with children really really need it. (less)
September 22, 2015
In her new book, Balance, Busyness, and Not Doing It All, Brenda Yoder begins by asking her readers to to consider their identity, and to put it in perspective of who we are VS. what it is we do. Life can quickly become a checklist of things to get done, tasks to complete, and meetings to attend. But what happens when what we do becomes our identity is costly to our souls.
Brenda skillfully weaves strength into her readers with empathy, common sense, and Godly truth that is refreshing and inspiring.
Brenda skillfully weaves strength into her readers with empathy, common sense, and Godly truth that is refreshing and inspiring.
September 2, 2015
This book is written by a Mom who is in the trenches, living the everyday life that requires balance. The author shares practical wisdom gleaned from her own experience as a Mom of four, counselor, teacher, speaker and ministry leader. Throughout the book, advice is always rooted in scripture. Brenda Yoder's vulnerability and no-nonsense approach combine to make this inspiring book a pleasurable read and a practical tool that can be referred to often for timely counsel. Highly recommended.
August 29, 2015
You know how sometimes you pick up a self-help book and you end up feeling even worse about yourself? This is NOT one of those books. This was such a freeing and refreshing read. I feel ever more empowered to be the woman God wants me to be and able to give up comparing myself to other woman. A great read, I can't recommend this enough.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews