review: Growing Slow by Jennifer Dukes Lee
I vowed I wouldn’t join any book launch teams this year.
I really did. I promise and pinky swear.
…but then(the best stuff starts there sometimes, yes?), Lisa Jo Baker shared in an Instagram story that Jennifer Dukes Lee had opened up her launch team applications.
Nosiness set in. I clicked the link. The title was Growing Slow. I tried to resist, but my gut said to fill out the team application.
***(If you ever get a chance to participate in a book launch team, I wholeheartedly think it’s a wonderful experience. You really get a backstage pass to witness an author’s heart and understand a bit more about the lessons they learned that prepared them to craft the words which they share.)
2021 was going to be the year that I put my nose into my own writing-not in a “this is my year” kind of way, more of an intentional forcing out of my comfort zone. I knew I needed to dust my editing hat more, prepare the oldest for university, school the younger guys. I thought the easiest way to do that would be to cut out all the extras and staunchly stay on task to complete multiple to do lists. I’d spent month of stacking journals into chronological order, color-coding themes with post it notes, trying to ignore the stomach churning over two areas that I just couldn’t put the soulwise words into yet.
But, I was wrong. 2021 isn’t the year to curate color-coded journal into pixels. In my gut, I knew it. It was the year to grow in the pause. It wasn’t the answer I wanted. Nature demonstrates time and time again that if we overly force something to harshly bend to our will, one of us is going to break.
An email arrived later that evening with launch team links to the book. I sat in a chair on the front lawn reading, soaking in the words, seeing the message unfold before me, nodding my head over and over. The outdoor evening sounds emerged from the seated hush and caused a bit of a gasp (go directly to page eight, you’ll likely gasp too). It was one of those moments that stick with you.
In a world that applauds those that go at a fast pace, we’ve been fed the lie that hustling more(or in my case, completing color-coded checklists) is where we will find happiness. Reality is that a hustling more life deludes us into thinking that a faster race will bring us to faster joy.
Jennifer gives a gently firm wake-up call and reminds us joy won’t be found in speed, but rather in the daily moments we might ignore when we rush through life. It was the confirmation I needed to stop, pause, reflect, and breathe a bit more, allowing growth.
Things I think that set this book apart:
The format is approachable, like a friend has pulled up a chair and is sharing her experience.
Each chapter could easily be read in one sitting.
The short open-ended questions at the end of each chapter offer space for you to jot down your thoughts.
I can see this as being a great book club read for nonfiction readers. There is a Bible study companion guide as well that I think would mesh well for small groups. The book itself is visually lovely and comfortable on the eyes while reading.
While the book is not a “feel good” book, I definitely felt peace after reading. I think that makes for a good book-one that will provoke you to think, one that shares thoughts that make you want to dig further.
I ended up carrying the book around everywhere, absorbing chapters like a harvest reaping. I’m still ruminating on its words weeks later, ideas and thoughts that I just can’t shake. The wait, the pause to look for the next step in your life may very well be the opportunity God is giving you in this pause to work those things out. The “working things out” work changes you, the kind of work that causes you to pause…and when the night sounds of the crickets begin to sing, your heart has learned to sing in the wait a bit more, too.
* Non-affiliate link to Growing Slow book
* Link to Bible study Growing Slow Bible study
