I Quit!

is the title of  a book that I am reading over my lunch breaks. The sub-title is: Stop Pretending Everything is Fine and Change Your Life. The content and conclusions that author Geri Scazzero draws are too important to wait for me to finish reading the whole book. 

I remember when I personally stopped pretending 14 years ago. It was a shock to everyone! But man did I meet and make a lot of friends through the process. 

The author says, "Jesus invited me into the Christian life to enjoy a rich banquet at his table. Instead, it often felt like I was a galley slave, laboring to serve everyone else at the feast rather than enjoying it myself.  In my relationship with Jesus, I'd gone from the great joy of feeling overwhelmed by his love to bitter resentment at feeling overwhelmed by his demands.  My identity had been swallowed up in putting others before myself.  I constantly thought of the needs of our four small daughters.  I worried about Pete's responsibilities. I filled in wherever needed to help our growing church.  These are all potentially good things, but my love had become a 'have to,' a 'should' rather than a gift freely given.   I mistakenly believed I didn't have a choice."

In the book, Geri gives us a gift called The Personal Freedom Toolkit.  It contains the essential truths that will enable us to take responsibility for our own lives.  Like the game of Backgammon; easy to learn but  a lifetime to master. Some of the tools include: The Fence of Separateness (practice boundaries), The Oxygen Mask of Self-Care, and the Yes/No Medallion. 

I really should have read this book when I first became a missionary in Borneo 33 years ago.  It would have saved us all some grief.

You can read I Quit  now and take the necessary steps to burn on, not out.

~~Becky

P.S Geri is also co-author of  Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, a book my missionary sister recommends.