This morning…I’m tired.

Ever since I first learned what balance was – and that I possessed so little of it in my life that a code red light was probably flashing above my head – I’ve been working at being more balanced. This morning that means that I’m sitting on my bed curled up with a fuzzy blanket to blog instead of walking on the treadmill while tapping away on my keyboard or hurrying off to get shopping for Children’s Church done before my shift starts at work.

So here I am, listening to my favorite soundtrack (yes, The Greatest Showman is still what I listen to pretty much all the time), drinking lukewarm coffee, and gearing up to chat about a great book with y’all. Because really, what’s more fun than talking about books?

(Also, if we want to be completely honest here then I feel like I should tell y’all that on my Instagram Story yesterday I used then instead of than in a sentence and didn’t catch it until it was too late. The world didn’t end, I didn’t lose any followers, and I didn’t hear any howls of pain – well, except my own – so apparently I’ll survive.)

And now on to the book review, because, ya know, that’s what today’s blog post is about.

FIRST OFF, SOME STATS:

Find the book on: Amazon and Goodreads
Pages: 224
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Release Date: February 6, 2018
Title: Live Fearless
Nonfiction

About the Book

Dear friends,

I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty tired of the struggle. You know which one I mean—fear, loneliness, not knowing who I am or what I’m meant to do. . . . Sound familiar?

I struggled with insecurity, comparison, and isolation for too many years, from thigh gaps to eyebrows to the lifestyles I felt I had to live up to. I was so afraid of being “found out,” that everyone in my life would somehow figure out that I was fearful and small and that I struggled to make my faith a reality and to be secure in who I am. It took a major perspective shift from staring at comments on a screen to really digging into the pages of my Bible to see what God actually says about overcoming fear.

Setting aside the fear, anxiety, and comparison to become the joy-filled person God created you to be is exactly what God is inviting you into. To really be seen and known. To be an agent of change by choosing compassion, connection, and acceptance for everyone you come in contact with. Inside this book are ways to find your power, passion, and purpose—and reach for your dreams. Plus, there are places to jot down notes, fun lists, practical ways to make changes, and thoughts on how living fearless can change everything.

Are you tired of the awful comparison game? Are you exhausted from trying to keep up, from feeling small and afraid that people will find the real you and be disappointed? There is so much more for you. No matter who you are, where you come from, or what your fears are, freedom is available to you. It’s just a matter of saying yes. You in?

Hope you’ll join me on this wild adventure as we learn to Live Fearless together.

Love, Sadie

WHY I CHOOSE THIS BOOK

I’ve seen Live Fearless multiple times at stores and it always looked interesting. I don’t know a ton about Miss Sadie, but I’ve watched a few of her videos on YouTube and was properly impressed. Everything she stands on seems to be solid, so when I had the chance to review this book from NetGalley, I was excited.

WHAT I THOUGHT ABOUT THIS BOOK

Folks, I was blown away. Sadie has a beautiful voice where she shares her story in an honest, sometimes amusing, and very relatable way. It seemed like the book was written for teens, but I feel like it related well to other age groups as well.

I read the book in one evening not really wanting to put it down because the writing was so compelling and encouraging, and real. Sadie discusses how she lived her life with fear dictating her steps and consuming her. That’s a horrible way to live and one day she decided she was done with being a slave to fear so she went on a journey to discover what the Bible says about living fearlessly.

I recently read another book that was supposedly a Christian living book but focused almost entirely on people being strong enough on their own. Live Fearless was refreshingly balanced with talking about how we really do need to do the work to live the life we were meant to live, but that we have to be walking with God in order to do that. Sadie backs up everything she says with the Bible, pointing to God’s Word as the ultimate authority as to why we are supposed to move forward in confidence. It made me want to highly recommend this book – especially to teens.

CONCLUSION

Live Fearless is full of practical, biblical advice, real-life examples, easy-to-read writing, and encouragement to help you live a life that is guided by God’s truths instead of fear.

One last thing: The book talks a lot about Sadie’s journey with Dancing with the Stars, and I want to clarify that I don’t recommend watching the show. 😉

RATING

I’m giving Live Fearless 4 out of 5 stars and recommend the book to teens or anyone who wants a quick, encouraging read

*This book was given to me by NetGalley so I could review it. So sweet of them, right? All the thoughts shared in this post are my own