It's All Under Control by Jennifer Dukes Lee

A Journey of Letting Go, Hanging on and Finding a Peace You Almost Forgot Was Possible

The first thing I have to say about this book is just Go Read It!!  I really want to shout it at you in all caps, but I have the sense to realize that just because the book hit me between the eyes and I highlighted extensively on my Kindle version (I don't think I could highlight a paper copy), does not mean it will hit everyone the same way. I was reading this book at a time in my life when I really needed to surrender control, to be obedient to God's call, and to also be willing to accept help. These are all things that Jennifer talks about in this book.

Jennifer was a news reporter and loved it until God kept pulling on her control strings and asking her to give up that job, then she taught news reporting until God asked for that job too. Now she writes about the greatest story of all: Jesus and following Him and does an amazing job of it as well. I think this is the first book I have read by her and I will be on the lookout for her other books as well, though I think the first thing I really want is this book in paper copy. Which brings up an interesting point, I am discovering that I do better with fiction in the e-book format, because when I read nonfiction serious stuff,  I tend to just want to race through the book and have it done so I can move on to the next thing and I really don't get much out of the book.  I decided when I started this book that I would just try to read a chapter or so a night and well, it was just what I needed, but now I want to get a paper copy so I can see, feel, and touch it.

I marked so many passages in this book that I'm not even sure which ones to showcase, but I'll try to pick some that really spoke to me when I was reading it.

"God works in so many ways, and quite often, he does that work through actual human beings who are willing to show up when it's inconvenient. We can't afford to hide behind God's sovereignty when he's calling us onto the battlefield." She explained this statement with the story of a man whose house was flooding. He was offered help several times but refused it saying God was going to rescue him.  When he finally died, he wanted to take God to task for failing to come to his aid and God said, I tried three times and you refused. And she finishes the story with this: "God sends help through ordinary people called into service. Sometimes you will be the miracle for other people. Sometimes other people will be the miracle for you. They will show up with a car, a ladder, a foil-covered casserole dish, a hug. And in that moment, you'll be so grateful that someone cared enough to commit to the hard work of hanging on. For you." That is so true and people have done that for me this week, through flowers, a meal, texts, etc. and I am so grateful.

One final quote on obedience yet that stood out to me. Can you tell I loved this book yet? I could quote so so much more. "Obedience is not for wimps. At first, obedience can resemble the passive posture of letting God carry you where he will. It turns out that obedience is quite often a gutsy thing that will compel you to stand upright and march forward, even if it threatens your own security, your own longings, and your idea of success. Obedience is not an act of the weak, but a rising up of the strong. Obedience might embarrass you or inconvenience you. Sometimes it will leave you in the dark, and the only light you will see is the small patch pooling at your feet. You ask for a spotlight to see straight ahead into the next two years of your life, but instead, God gives you a 'lamp unto [your] feet' and lets you see no further than this hour."

As you have already gathered, I highly recommend this book. I received it from Tyndale Publishers through NetGalley and was not required to write a positive review.

And now, to my blog readers, if you made it this far, this is the other side of that loss of control I just wrote about. That obedience quote from the book hits hard. I haven't attained yet, not even close, but I want to. I have never appreciated the idea of being a wimp and so I don't want to start being one now. But quite frankly, we just want to go back to normal right now. I also don't like being embarrassed or inconvenienced and I certainly want to be successful. And for crying out loud, I'm a planner, don't make me just see two steps in front of me, I want to plan my next ten years out. And right now, the future, while clear in one respect also looks a bit murky. Someone has told me, don't try to plan out how the future will look, it won't work and I know this in my head, but...

I was also thinking on my word for the year: success. I had forgotten about it for a while, but I thought about it this week again. If I want to live out my word for the year, then I need to put my hand in God's, look at the step He has made plain and put my right foot forward and go one day at a time. And I can't compare with the person next to me, their success is going to look different from mine and that's okay. And someday I might blog about the ways that, looking back, I can see how God has been preparing us for this new phase in life without our even realizing it, but for now, it's too raw, too personal to share with the world wide web.