Wednesday, September 23, 2015

"The Finishing School" Blog Tour

The Finishing School: How One Book Nerd Began Living What She Learned (Nyree Press, August 2015)

Are you tired of waiting for change to happen in your life? Do you feel stuck, even though you want to live more intentionally?

In today's world, our most precious pursuit of a life well lived gets squeezed out by the silliest of things: binging on Netflix or ice cream, shopping trips for things we don't need, bad habits we can't seem to get a handle on, and so much more. Valerie has been there despite knowing what she wanted for her life. Actually do it? That's the challenge.

After gobbling up all the non-fiction and self-help books her donut-filled belly could handle, she decided it was time to put her knowledge to good use and start actually living it out. You will hear about her journey through victories and plenty of failures and find practical tips to apply to your own pursuit of holiness. You will find homework at the end of each chapter that includes a worksheet to put real change in motion for your own life as well as recommended books to further study those topics that really test you.

Purchase a copy:
http://bit.ly/1K9ghpY
 
 
 
 
 
About the author: Valerie Woerner is owner of Val Marie Paper. She and her husband, Tyler, live in Louisiana with their daughter, Vivi Mae. The Finishing School is her first book.

Connect with Valerie: websiteTwitter, Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
My Take:
 
I think we all struggle with getting things done and just not having enough hours in the day. My six-year-old daughter even commented on this the other day. She was disappointed that she just didn't have enough time to do everything she wanted to do in one day!
 
So what do we do about it? Make lists? Tell ourselves we are failures who will never do better? Give up and watch Netflix all weekend? Maybe. But what's the best thing we can do?
 
Be intentional.
 
That's what I got from this book, The Finishing School. The most important thing to think about when trying to "get your life together" is to be intentional. Intentional with what you do, intentional with whom you have relationship, intentional in your time spent with God.
 
Woerner covers many different areas in this book including joy, hospitality, friendships, health, rest, and contentment. There are a lot of topics covered, which may seem overwhelming. I would recommend taking it slowly and doing a little bit at a time - being intentional but also not stressing yourself out!
 
At times this book read more like a memoir than a self-help book. It's nice to have examples and feel as if other people are in the same boat. It just needs to really be balanced in a book like this.
 
I do find it ironic that the author says that she has read all of the books, and her answer to that is to -- write another book! It was helpful to have so many books narrowed down in this book, though. And of course I appreciated how she always referred back to the only book that we really need to follow - the Bible!
 
 
 
 
 
 
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Nyree Press through Litfuse Publicity. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this is accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."