I just finished this book by Cynthia Ulrich Tobias. She has authored several other books including: "You Can't Make Me", "The Way They Learn", "Every Child Can Succeed" among many others. She has become one of my favorite authors and speakers over the years as she shares a great deal about strong willed children. I always can relate because I was a strong willed child myself and now have strong willed children. This book couldn't have been more fitting as it speaks to the strong willed woman. I was so excited to read it and have a chance to review it! Let's dive in...
One of the very first things I noticed when I began reading was this book is easy to read. Trying to finish a book with 4 young kids can feel like a chore. This book was easy to start, stay engaged, and finish! I have been going back and rereading my favorite portions and have really enjoyed all of the tools and resources I gained from her writing.
The Second, and probably my favorite part of this entire book, is how she describes the strong willed women. This is NOT a book of "Don'ts". If you are a strong willed woman, don't you feel like all your life you have viewed your strong will in a negative way? I know for me I often felt like being strong willed was a bad trait and that life would be easier for me if I learned to become more quiet and submissive. I am not saying that we can't all learn to be more quiet and restrained, but I have never read such a great book on the positive qualities of being a strong willed woman (or a SWW as she writes it).
Cynthia starts off in Chapter one with this:
"When honoring God is our top priority, our greatest triumph is succeeding without cheating, dishonesty, or any other tactic that would dishonor Him. As we're called upon to find unique solutions to problem or creative angles for attempting the impossible, we are fully committed to staying within the boundaries of God's law and direction and using our strong will to change the world for good. One woman put it this way: "A strong will doesn't have to have negative consequences, especially if it keeps us following in the footsteps God wants us to follow. It might be a lifesaver" (pages 4-5)
She really hones in on using your strong will for God's good purposes. This book really delves in to the "Do's" of being a SWW. I love hearing encouragement on how God can use your strong will for Good in His kingdom, after all didn't He give us our strong will?
Bringing God honor is something she also touches on a lot. She does share the things that can hinder us from doing God's will or serving in His kingdom as SWW. She also shares about when we give ourselves over to God's will and truly line up our lives with His will we can experience fruit and true purpose for our lives. I loved this quote as well:
"Our desire to conquer takes a back set to our desire to keep our life in line in His will and to bring Him honor." (page 76)
It's encouraging to see that we can still have the desire to conquer and triumph as SWW, but our first priority must always be bringing God honor and living in line with His will. In fact when we are walking in His will we can use those strengths to bring about His Kingdom purposes.
The third thing that is really neat about this book is it is filled with stories of other SWW. You aren't just hearing from Cynthia, but tons of SWW who have similar but different stories. It's neat to see things from different viewpoints and realize in the world of SWW there is so much diversity. No SWW is made the same.
One of my other favorite portions is the chapter on mentoring. I have a passion for mentoring and can see how beneficial it would be to have a SWW who may be ahead of you to pass down wisdom over the years. I have grown as a SWW and believer and am not the same woman today that I was 10, even 5 years ago! I think it's important that we make time for mentoring and being mentored. So much good can come from making time to connect with other women in different seasons.
There is a very nice question list in the back for each chapter. This would be perfect for a book club to get conversations started.
All in all I am so happy with this book, and glad I was able to glean from Cynthia's wisdom. You can find out more about the book and purchase it here.
I received this book from blogging for books My unbiased opinion of the book is all my own!
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