Every so often, I want to use this space to share about a book that may not necessarily be written with a military audience in mind, but offers practical insights that can apply to the nuances that military members and spouses certainly face.
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I want to recommend Sally Clarkson’s book, Own Your Life: Living With Deep Intention, Bold Faith, and Generous Love.
If you’ve never read Sally Clarkson, her words are like a welcoming balm to your soul. She shares in this book (and all of her others) learned truths from her own years of finding her way.
In Own Your Life she encourages readers to consider taking action for fulfilling the calling God has placed before them…something I think military spouses often struggle with as our circumstances and surroundings change so frequently.
The book is divided into sections like:
- Barriers to Owning Your Life: Don’t Settle for a Mediocre Life
- Owning Your Vision: Mapping Your Life Purpose
- Owning Your Life by Giving God Control: What Only He Can Do
- Owning Your Life by Partnering with God: Attitudes and Actions That Transform
- Owning Your Life by Loving Well: Create a Lasting Legacy
One of the many encouraging thoughts from Clarkson’s book reveals this:
“Stewarding your life wisely can bring great confidence, excellence of character, and peace of mind–and lead you to create a legacy, a story worth telling. But it begins with determination on your part to make a wise plan, to forge reasonable goals, to listen to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, and to trust God to lead you on a path of spiritual renewal and strength…
…Each day, you are writing the story that your life will tell throughout eternity. As you recommit to God’s values and priorities, every choice you make and every action you take will move you toward the exceptional life for which you were made.”
Clarkson uses Truth, her own struggles in marriage, parenting, and self-discovery, and her steady but calm cheerleader voice to tell readers that it’s time to quit watching life pass you by. It’s time to be intentional and figure out what good and wonderful plans God has in mind for you and to walk in them.
The idea that we are living a story is one that is firmly planted in the mission of Dependent Diaries. In your daily routines and habits, you are writing a story of your own. What is the legacy others will read about when they read the story of your life?
Dependent Diaries would love to hear from you. How do you “make wise plans” or “forge reasonable goals?” What are your “values” and “priorities?”
Dependent Diaries 