“You don’t have to leave it all behind for rest. In fact, that’s going to be unrealistic. Yes, God’s definitely going to ask you to lay down some stuff, but he also created you to be an efficient, productive woman capable of doing great things.”

– It’s All Under Control by Jennifer Dukes Lee, p.63.

 

I was so encouraged by this book. As a highly motivated and active person who gets things done, I feel social pressure to do less and more, simultaneously, depending on the activity. Everyone is happy to tell me to run or read or write less, but no one is going to tell me to volunteer at church less***.  But if I’m trying to please everyone with my doing, there’s no winning. No matter how I look at it. I feel guilty for doing too much and for not doing enough.

In this book, Jennifer Dukes Lee takes on those of us with these strong achieving or helping or perfecting personalities and says it’s ok. We are ok, and good and created, just as we are. It’s ok to love the busyness of getting things done and it’s ok to be good at it. This is how we were created and that is such a gift.

To me this was the biggest lesson in the book: I don’t have to be more than I am, but I also don’t have to be less. Hearing this affirmation of how I am made first allowed me to be open enough to learn from the rest of the book.

If you’ve ever found yourself trying to control all the outcomes, feeling a little out of place because of how motivated you are, or constantly taking on way too much, this book is for you.

“During my own journey, I learned that I wasn’t a woman to be “fixed”; instead, I was a woman whom God wanted to redirect.”

– Jennifer Dukes Lee, It’s All Under Control (p.236)

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 A few more favorite quotes:

• “You will never know what you are capable of doing if you don’t say yes. Nor will you know what He is capable of if you don’t pass the baton to Him. This is the partnership of wild obedience.” p148

 

• “Waiting is not an in-between place. This is where real work is done in us if we slow down enough to allow it. We have already learned that surrender is not passive, but it is an active form of trust. Waiting is the same. Even in the stillness, waiting is not passive, but very active, requiring us to stay alert to what God is doing in and around us. In the waiting place, God gives us the wisdom we need for what he wants us to do when the wait is over.” p199

 

• “I don’t have to say yes just because I am generally capable of running at high capacity.” p224

 

• “You never know what might be growing, even now, in unexpected places.” p239

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I hope this book finds you where you are and frees you a little bit more. Be encouraged.

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***In case you need someone to tell you, here! -> You are free to volunteer at church less! Do what is right for you AND your family. Your church will be fine without you volunteering every time someone asks. If you are not able to sustain that level of activity and be a whole, healthy person, put the brakes on. Say no. Get back into a rhythm the brings more life and health and heart and less scurry worry and scramble. If that is what you need, do it.

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(Disclaimers:

I was so blessed to be able to be a part of the launch team for this lovely book thanks to Jennifer Dukes Lee and Tyndale House Publishers. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This post contains Amazon Affiliate Links meaning that, at no cost to you, if you click through and make a purchase, a few pennies will come back to me to support this site. Thanks!)