cover image Holy Hustle: Embracing a Work-Hard, Rest-Well Life

Holy Hustle: Embracing a Work-Hard, Rest-Well Life

Crystal Stine. Harvest House, $14.99 trade paper (208p) ISBN 978-0-7369-7296-3

In this call for quiet, Stine (Creative Basics) challenges Christian women to reexamine the motives behind a need for constant new and demanding endeavors. She begins by describing her early career in banking and how the ethos of hard work at all costs took over her life. After leaving the corporate world and focusing on her family, she realized that “we’re designed to work hard, to hustle after the holy things that bring God glory, and to connect meaningfully with others.” But that realization was tempered by the fact that finding peace “takes time. It takes boring, ordinary, everyday, unseen work.” To move toward peace and a true calling, Stine suggests three areas of focus: serving, as opposed to striving; potential, which comes from focusing on community; and purpose, as readers reflect on God’s intentions. Reminding readers that the Bible instructs them to give their best efforts but also to rest one day out of seven, Stine over and over again stresses the importance of rest, both physical and mental. Studded with short biblical passages to flesh out and back up Stine’s points, the book translates lessons from corporate life into a God-centered home in this enjoyable book of reflections on slowing down. (June)