When I first heard of Freefall to Fly, I knew I QIdeas- a forum for church leaders to "recover a vision for their historic responsibility to renew and restore cultures." I watched the trailor for the book, and my spirit leapt at these words:
really wanted to read it. The author Rebekah Lyons is familiar to me because of her and her husband's ministry
"Often it feels indulgent to say "Why am I here? Does my life matter? Does my life have meaning?" But it's actually just giving worthiness to the creation that God gave all of us"
That's so true, isn't it? To say that we want more out of life can feel like we are saying that what we have is not enough. I don't think that's true though, I think we have barely scratched the surface at living life abundantly. I think that we have no idea what is within our reach.
Rebekah shares her story of ups and downs and how it all forced her to take a good hard look at not just what she was struggling with, but why she was struggling. She is forced out of the pattern we so often find ourselves in- the pattern of struggling and then snapping ourselves out of it. God calls her to stay in the struggle. To continue to fall and to trust Him. She wonders who will catch her, but soon learns that she need not be caught because she is learning to fly.
Once she surrendered her freefall to the only One who could possibly catch her, she found that instead of the handout she was looking for, He was looking to give her a hand-up. I think this is God's heart for each of us. While He is our great provider, and He wants to give us good gifts, I believe that His heart is not to simply provide the fish, but to teach us to catch our own. He wants us to discover the gifts He has given us - to live as the creations He has always wanted us to be. Not that we will ever not need Him, or that we could ever be self sufficient, oh no - just the opposite. When we fully lean into Him, we learn that it is in our weakness, that His strength is made perfect.
Rebekah discovers this journey is far from easy, but once she has a glimmer of her calling - the purpose that God has intended her for, she has no choice but to follow through, and it is in that place that she learns to fly. Her struggles and circumstances have a redemptive purpose to them, as it all plays into the larger picture that God has for her life.
This story truly is breathtaking, and I found I couldn't put the book down. I read it in less than a week, which for anyone that knows me, knows that speaks to how much I truly enjoyed it! In my opinion, anyone and everyone would benefit from reading this book. Having a loose grip on what God is calling me to, I found it to be affirming and exciting. It made me want to write that book I keep teasing you all with. It made me want to move to new and exciting places. It made me want to get out and live more freely- knowing that my God did not create me to sit idly by as life rushes around me. I can only imagine that this story will waken the spirit of many who are just waiting for their time to fly.
Ok, now for the really fun part - contest time! I am so excited to be able to giveaway a copy of Freefall to Fly. There are 3 ways to enter to win your very own copy. If you do all 3, you'll get 3 entries into the random draw!
1. Comment below, telling me "When was the last time that you read a book in under a week?"
2. Like Gracefully Falling Down on Facebook
3. Share the Facebook post of the review and comment that you have liked the FB page and shared.
*UPDATE* - For Monday, June 10th ONLY - Flash Entries!! Simply Like the Facebook post to get one entry into the draw, and Share the post to be entered 5 times!
~Contest will close the morning of Tuesday, June 11th~
And as a sidenote...
EVERYONE who purchases Freefall to Fly will receive three awesome gifts: An original chalk art print by chalk artist, Dana Tanamachi, a $5 TOMS gift card, and a Freefall to Fly digital soundtrack. (I really did say everyone. Swoon!)
Disclaimer - I was not compensated to write this review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own.
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