Dancing with My Father: How God Leads Us into a Life of Grace and Joy [Paperback]

I am pretty sure that I am related to Eeyore somehow. If things do not go the way I expected or hoped they would, I get very discouraged and think "Woe is me." I am not the kind of person who sees the silver lining. I get overwhelmed very easily by life, and struggle to find the good in all the bad out there. I have fleeting moments of joy, but not an every day happiness.

And I especially have a hard time finding joy in the mundane and routine of being a wife and mother. Where is the joy in scrubbing toilets and floors?

Many times I get to the point where I have spent so much time and energy making other people happy, that my tank is empty. And so it was when the opportunity came up to review Sally Clarksons' latest book came up, I jumped at the chance.

Do you sometimes feel victimized by circumstances? Yes.

Are you overwhelmed by weariness, fear, or discouragement? Yes, yes, and yes!

When the book finally arrived in the mail, I dropped my other book to begin reading it. I had never read a book by Ms. Clarkson before, and I can see why she is a popular author and speaker. She is a very gifted writer and storyteller. Reading the book was like sitting there talking with a good friend.

There were two topics she discussed that really touched home with me...not basing our joy on the circumstances in our lives and the trap of thinking "I'll be happy when..."

Especially that last one. I always find myself thinking "I'll be happy when my husband gets a raise..." or "I'll be happy when when we can take another vacation..." or "Things will be better when I go back to work...."

I am always thinking about future happiness and joy and not the present.

Overall, it is a well-written and thought provoking book, but I think she only scratched the surface of a topic that many, if not most, women struggle with today. To me, most of the book was written as a memoir. She sometimes spent more pages sharing her memories of friends and vacations, than she did delving into how we can obtain joy in difficult seasons of life.

Which brings me to my second disappointment in the book. She didn't delve into the truly difficult times women face today...loss of jobs, loss of health, loss of children and spouses, and so on. For example, she spent much time talking about the difficulties she and her family faced in finding a place for her son to live when he moved to New York, but to me that is not a good example. Not something every woman can relate to. She didn't really delve into the moments in a womans life when she thinks "God, where are you right now? Why have you forsaken me?"

But this book has encouraged me in several areas of my life, and I am interested in reading her other books about motherhood.

I would also like to point out she has a blog, I Take Joy, found at [...] . It is definitely worth reading.

Please note:

This book was provided for my review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

The second book,"Dancing With My Father", talks about having a life of joy through all the different aspects of our lives. That joy may be in memories, it may be in friendships, it may be in trials, or just in our everyday mundane lives. The key is keeping eyes and ears open in all circumstances and looking for that joy. She gives examples with her own life circumstances which were relatable. It's a great book to read when you are feeling down and need encouragement to look at the joy of life under the dark cloud.

Sally Clarkson is the author of one of my all-time FAVORITE books "The Mission of Motherhood" so needless to say, I was ecstatic to have a chance to review her latest book. And as a bonus, the topic of the book is one that I feel the Lord has really laid on my heart this year - JOY.

Unlike the previous book I reviewed, this book was chock full of wisdom from the Bible. Sally's warm writing style combined with her vast life experiences (she was a single missionary in Communist Poland for several years before starting her family) and her deep knowledge of Scripture combined to make another excellent read.

She tackles the topic of how we can have joy in spite of our circumstances - not just in the extremely difficult moments like loss of a job or a loved one, but also in the everyday, boring, details of our lives that we often tend to view as drudgery. She writes:

"I often meet with women who are distraught, upset, and feel distant from God. Though usually very sincere of heart and wanting to walk with God, they find great disappointment and disillusionment because they have believed in the religious formulas they've been taught. They don't realize that their prayers and lives have been more about...what they hoped life would be and then telling God how He should act on their behalf: `God, since I'm a reasonably mature adult and I think I know what would be the optimum way for you to work in my life, I want you to bless my plan. Please give me healthy kids, when I want them - I'll use birth control until I'm ready and then I want you to work a miracle. And I'd like a good marriage, a nice salary, a lovely home..."

Ouch! I could relate to having subconsciously thought similar things in my own life. But as Sally points out, real joy doesn't come from living a perfect set of circumstances :

"...joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit; it comes not from outside circumstances but from within ourselves as we learn to appreciate the value of God's kingdom."

and:

"I have realized that often the difference between two people who both are in difficult circumstances is that one believes in God's presence and provision in the midst of her circumstances, while the other has allowed the intensity of the situation to determine the state of her heart."

Good stuff. Hard, but good. I would recommend this book to anyone because I believe that this is a subject that almost all of us have struggled with and almost none of us have mastered.

This book was provided for review by Waterbrook Multnomah.