A Christian guide to following your call (or vocation) rather than just doing your job, Gary Barkalow’s It’s Your Call is an easy read, with short simple chapters, lots of memorable phrases, and an open, honest depiction of the author’s own journey through several callings. There are no recipes to finding your purpose (more often referred to by the author as glory), and there are no easy measures offered for the reader to evaluate or choose a path. But there’s plenty of sensible wisdom, together with inspiring Biblical knowledge, and I’m glad I was given the chance to read this book.

Reading the book is rather like a series of lectures from the author, with appropriate digressions, personal anecdotes, food for thought, and strong encouragement. For an artist (author, musician, etc), the book offers a convincing sense that pursuing our dreams is God’s desire for us, even if we may not be humanly successful. But there’s also the hint that glory will follow that honest pursuit.

My favorite reminder in this book is that God is always interested in me, wherever I am on my journey. My least favorite part lies in the fact that my achievements are so small compared to the author's… and that I lack influential connections. This probably tells you more about me than the author or the book. Perhaps it means I need to put into action more of the ideas in the book, paying better attention to my relationship with God.

Disclosure: A friend loaned me the book because she likes it so much. ( )

An interesting book about pursuing your God-given desires, purposes, and calling.

The author doesn’t give you a 1-2-3 guide on how to go about knowing what you’re to do with your life. He doesn’t help you discover your calling. But, he sheds light on how you can seek God for those answers, and explains that you already have your truest desires buried in your DNA… you just need to uncover them!

I liked Gary’s writing style, and found myself agreeing with a lot of what he said. He seems to see the “church” like I do, and that made me instantly want to hear what else he had to say. LOL.

There were times throughout the book where I did find myself a little hesitant, though… some of what he said raised red flags for me, but I’m not really sure whether that was just me, or if that was a serious warning. So, read this one with discernment.

I also didn’t care for Gary’s use of the term “your glory”… or “finding your glory”. But, when I substituted the word “passion” instead of “glory”, I found myself my more easily able to understand what he was saying, and accept the truths of it.

Overall, this is a good book, and I think there are some really important points inside. For example, I think we all need to stop being afraid of chasing after our “desires”… they aren’t all bad. You just have to consider their source to know whether or not they’re worth pursuing.

I’d recommend this one to anyone seeking to live more intentionally, and anyone desiring to find their purpose in life.

Rated: B- ( )