The More of Less by Joshua Becker

The minimalist movement is nothing new but a way of life that has been forgotten.  With today’s commercialism and consumer marketing strategies we have lost our way.  The author takes time in the beginning of the book to really explain why and how we are driven to want and think we need more materialistic things.  Once we understand why we think we need these things then we can change that way of thinking.  This helps to simply our lives, saves money and we now have time to do the things we always wanted to do.  While the practical application of this is simple enough each person is different.  Most of us will find we will need to do it in stages by eliminating a room at a time, a set of items like books or even as simple as the junk drawer.  Each goal will help to reach your goal of not being driven by materialistic wants and needs.  Many of the suggestions I have done in the past and they do work but find a method that works for you.  This is not a race to get rid of everything as quickly as possible.  The book also takes on a religious theme that helps to relate what you trying to do to faith based teachings.  The quote that sums up this book about minimalism, materialism and faith is a quote from Jesus “Where your treasure is, there your heart will also be.”  As the book points out notice the order of his phrasing: our heart follows our treasure, not the other way around.  Is your treasure the house, car or jewelry?  Or is it the people you love, the mission to help others or your faith.  These treasure you cannot see but they are far more valuable. 

 

I received a free copy of this book from WaterBrook Multnomah in exchange for my honest review of the book.

Raising the Perfectly Imperfect Child by Boris Vujicic

While I have read Nick Vujicic books Life without Limits and Unstoppable, as a parent I was interested in the book his father wrote.  His father goes into the early days of Nick’s childhood and describes the struggles, issues and difficultly of raising their son but within the book are great advice and wisdom.  The spiritual based, no nonsense approach to how they raised their family can apply to anyone.  Their whole story centers around one key thing…their faith.  My favorite quote from the book is “King Solomon wrote that life becomes meaningless in the absence of God.  When you believe that a new beginning awaits in life after death, the struggle on earth make more sense.  Faith, then, gives meaning to what is beyond our capacity to understand, such as His Reasons for allowing His children to suffer disabilities.”  While the main focus of the book is his son the author shares the foundation of a balanced family is their faith but there is also one other important element.  In the ninth chapter the author shifts from the child to the parent, a child’s most valuable assets and greatest advocates.  The basic message is this “take care of your child by taking care of your marriage.”  While your faith is the bedrock of your foundation, your marriage is the structure you build, care for and maintain.  If neglected it will fall apart.  While the book is about children with disabilities and special needs the advice can and should be applied to any family or person.  An inspirational book for any parent.   

I received a free copy of this book from WaterBrook Multnomah in exchange for my honest review of the book.