Calling/vocation is a topic in which I am very interested, so I was glad to be able to read and review Susie Larson's book, Your Beautiful Purpose. While I don't necessarily think a book about calling needs to be directed only toward women (my favorite book on the topic is The Call by Os Guinness), Larson speaks to women through her book who desire to find out what God wants them to do with their lives.
In her introduction, she states that she is writing to women with buried passion, women who have been beaten down, women who do not resonate with words like dream or calling. I think she does a good job of speaking to all of these types of women. While not everyone will relate to everything in the book, I think there is enough in it that anyone can get something out of it.
Larson writes about topics such as jealousy, waiting, fears, and discernment, among others. She includes a study guide at the end of each chapter to help the reader process what she has read and what it means for her.
Some of the inspirational parts, for me, were:
"Consider the desires in your heart. Pay attention to stories that stir up your passions. Dare to believe that He wants to use the gifts He's imparted to you. He's the one who put desires in you that He might fulfill His purposes for you. He can even use the worst things you've ever done, or the worst things that have ever happened to you, to change the world through you. He desires to transform you into a humble, bold, healed, and confident woman who trusts Jesus with her every breath" (page 19)."
"Deep within our souls there's a sincere desire for God to use us, a desire imparted to us from God Himself. Woven into our spiritual DNA is a beautiful calling and divine purpose for us to fulfill" (page 129)
"When we focus on our fears, the risk of stepping out feels greater than the potential reward of living by faith. Daring to dream is no small thing. And it's not for the faint of heart. But in Christ we're called, appointed, and equipped to live lives bigger than we are" (page 121).
I especially enjoyed chapter 11, about "active waiting", because it spoke to me as where I currently am in my life.
While there were a few times I thought what she was saying was cliche, and a few times I wasn't totally following her train of thought, overall, the good in the book outweighs it, and I'd recommend women who are wondering about their calling, or who need a refresher, read the book.
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