Book Review: CALLED to Inspire Journal by Marsha DuCille

About the Book:

Do you sense God prompting you to do something special with your life? Do you feel totally unprepared to answer his call?

Get ready for your heart to be emboldened and your faith strengthened! In CALLED to Inspire, Marsha DuCille, founder and publisher of CALLED magazine, leads you through a 52-question devotional experience to help you discover a rich, victorious life guided by God. With each weekly devotion, you’ll find compelling answers to life’s most significant questions. Each reading is accompanied by a powerful prayer, a meaningful verse to hide in your heart, a declaration to defend and fortify your faith, and journaling space to record your thoughts.

Let CALLED to Inspire encourage you to step outside your comfort zone and give you the strength and confidence to hear God’s calling in your life. Cling to this companion week after week—and dare to render your answer.


My Thoughts:

Just last week I told some friends how journaling has been a life-giving experience for me. When CALLED to Inspire by Marsha DuCille arrived in the mail and I held this gorgeous journal in my hands, I had a bit of instant love. It’s a beautifully designed, smooth surface, hard cover journal. The built-in bookmark, floral images, and gold foil letters lend a touch of elegance.

Being practically in love with the cover and excited about the prospect of journaling, I didn’t delay in reading through the devotions and accompanying prompts in CALLED to Inspire, though I didn’t attempt to respond to them all right away. Each topic comprises a set of four pages. The first two pages ask a question and provide a devotional thought. The third page has a prayer, a Scripture, a statement to declare and limited writing space. The fourth page features a short journal prompt to respond to and a larger writing space. Personally, I wouldn’t want to attempt a topic each day. It seems more suitable to contemplate the topic and respond over the course of 3-4 days, letting its message really seep into one’s mind and heart. A week on each might be too long, but there are 52 topics, so one per week would make for a year-long journey.

As far as content, I liked and agreed with most of the topics. I especially liked #24 – Is the Baby Protected? (Protecting your dream), #28 – Does It Hurt? (The power of your mind), and #49 -What is Joy (True joy versus happiness). There were a few that I didn’t care for, but I would still take the time to consider and respond if only to examine and affirm or alter my own position.

CALLED to Inspire by Marsha DuCille could be used by any one seeking to move forward in their personal calling. However, it is definitely slanted toward women with career-style callings. Those, like me, who consider mothering their primary calling for this season, can still benefit as there are plenty of applicable topics and I’m aware there may be other callings from God on my life that I’ll pursue at another time.

Visit the publisher's website to view an excerpt from CALLED to Inspire by Marsha DuCille.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher. All opinions in this review are my own.

Balanced by Tricia Goyer

About Balanced: Finding Center as a Work-at-home Mom:

How can a work-at-home mom raise kids, juggle a career and take care of family responsibilities with only 24-hour days? Working at home while raising kids and juggling a career and family responsibilities is no easy feat. Author and homeschooling mom Tricia Goyer shares her tips for finding balance among all your many hats as a mom. Balancing is a process and a journey, one that Tricia herself has yet to perfect. But between writing more than forty books, raising and homeschooling six kids, being a wife, and being active in her community, she has amassed valuable tips she shares in “Balanced.”

The book includes tips on:

—how to create focus themes for your family
—how to prioritize your schedule
—how to utilize your job so it also benefits your kids
—how to keep yourself out of the comparison game
—how to make working at home work for you
—and much more!

Purchase a copy, get a free downloadable workbook, and learn more at Tricia’s website.

My thoughts:

Now, a confession: I'm a stay-at-home mom, not a work-at-home mom. Nevertheless, I struggle to balance my time between my child, house cleaning, errands, church activities, etc. I found that many principles in this book still applied to me: finding priorities, seeking God's wisdom, resisting certain societal pressures, being fully present in what I am doing at the moment, dependence of God, setting an example for my children, forming my schedule, not feeling guilty when I'm not supermom, inner freedom, and knowing God intimately.

In addition to the aforementioned principles, Goyer encourages mothers to follow their dreams while still emphasizing the importance of mothering children and realistically acknowledging that time isn't free.  It may mean paying someone else to watch the children and relinquishing that time with them. But it can also instill dreams and aspirations as the children watch you pursue your God-given calling. Goyer's ultimate point in this book is the value of knowing God and doing His will.

This is a book I could see myself reading annually around New Year's to realign personal priorities and dreams. I highly recommend Balanced: Finding Center as a Work-at-Home Mom by Tricia Goyer to any mom who struggles complete the daily to-do list, needs to streamline her day, or just needs some encouragement and direction about priorities.

Read more reviews by fellow bloggers at Litfuse Publicity's website.

About Tricia Goyer:

USA Today best-selling author Tricia Goyer is the author of over 35 books, including the three-book Seven Brides for Seven Bachelors series and “Lead Your Family Like Jesus,” (co-written with Ken Blanchard). She has written over 500 articles for national publications and blogs for high traffic sites like TheBetterMom.com and MomLifeToday.com. She is the host of Living Inspired, a weekly radio show. Tricia and family live in Little Rock, Arkansas. They have six children.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this ebook free from the publisher via Litfuse Publicity. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."