The Life Giving Leader Review

<Disclosure:  I received a copy of this book from the publisher as part of their launch program.>

The Life Giving Leader:  Learning to Lead from Your Truest Self by Tyler Reagin, available September 18, 2018

3.5/5 stars.  Doesn't cover a lot of new ground, but very accessible.  Worth a read.

Leadership matters.  Reagin, the President of Catalyst, starts his book by addressing the importance of leadership.  Bad leaders can hurt others and turn them away from the faith.  We have a responsibility, therefore, to lead well.

Reagin suggests of the model of a life-giving leader.  In any organization with a life-giving leader, grace, encouragement, and empowerment should flow from the leader to the followers.  Many of us have experienced organizations where the employees must show grace and encouragement to the boss.  Reagin's model turns that around.  Reagin theorizes that God has chosen us to be leaders.  Therefore, the path to becoming a life-giving leader revolves around learning to embrace your God-given skills, and leading out of your strengths and calling.

Reagin is well-organized and well-read.  Most of the chapters include bullet points or checklists to evaluate your leadership and outline a way to improve.

If you regularly read leadership books, The Life Giving Leader does not cover any new ground.  However, this book was written in an easily accessible way, and may be a great help to those finding themselves unexpectedly in leadership.  For myself, it was worth a read, but I may not refer back to it often.  However, a copy of this book would be very helpful for members of my staff, who are not used to leadership and are still discovering their place.  In the right audience, this would be an excellent resource.

The Most Beautiful Thing I've Seen Review

My Review of The Most Beautiful Thing I've Seen, by Lisa Gungor
Available June 26, 2018

****/5, meaning it won't make my Ten Books Every Person Should Read list, but definitely earned a place even among the limited space of my bookshelf

(Full disclosure:  I am a member of the Launch Team for this book, meaning I received a free copy of the book before it was released, in exchange for the promise to review it and share some information about it.  At no point have I felt pressured to give a positive or insincere review.  I mean, it's not like Lisa Gungor is reading this and calling me afterwards.  But I want to have the integrity to reveal I did get a free copy up front).

This is a book about a journey.  About finite humans trying to understand an infinite God.

Gungor writes this memoir, according to the introduction, as a letter to her mother, trying to explain their separation over the years.  Gungor describes her upbringing in what would probably be described as a fundamentalist, charismatic church, to her questions about faith, and growing understanding of love.  This story is framed ultimately around the birth of Gungor's second child, Lucie.  Lucie's birth, diagnosis of Down's Syndrome, and the soul-searching it provoked, focuses Gungor's faith wanderings, and ultimately brings her to a new understanding.

While my journey is definitely different from Gungor's, there is enough here that universally connects.  I laughed out loud (for longer than is socially acceptable) at her reflections on "dating Jesus."  My heart broke with some of her struggles with Lucie, and I reflected on some of my struggles as a foster parent (especially with the comments from others meant to be positive, but ultimately hurtful).  Much of Lisa Gungor's journey centers around learning to live with an open hand instead of a closed fist (appreciating what is rather than demanding what should be), and learning to be present.  As someone who has been described as a "control enthusiast," Gungor's journeys hit home.

I made myself a mental checklist of people I wanted to share this book with, who might find hope and company in the journey.  My wife, as she struggles feeling inadequate in parenting.  The friend trying to find a new concept of faith out of a very conservative religious upbringing.  The friend looking at her life and feeling the pain of unexpected difficulties and conflicts.  So, even though I received a free copy of this book, there is a good chance I will purchase several copies. 

Check it out.  It's worth the read.