Book Review – Not So Fast

Somewhere along the way we’ve come up with the idea that we were put on the Earth to accomplish every day as much as we possibly can and that the Parable of the Talents admonishes  us to not be seen as “poor stewards” of the time God has given us. The result is a bunch of folks who don’t live abundant lives but merely bounce from one “must do” activity to another.

Not So Fast provides a practical approach to living a life that’s full rather than filled up.

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Author Ann Kroeker draws from her own family’s experience of slowing down – a situation forced on them by a medical emergency – and the stories of others who live in “the Slow Zone,” to present a credible scenario for reducing the frenzy that has become a standard of normalcy for too many American families.

We’re entrenched in a society that can’t say no and resists setting limits or placing value on a slower-paced life. We feel that we have no choice in the matter. But we do.

Not So Fast is about adding intentionality to your schedule. It’s about saying YES to what’s important and NO to everything else. “It’s very hard to do,” Kroeker writes, but the benefits are huge.

And you probably will be different from people around you, but you might find that it’s a good different. Instead of being outcasts, your house may become a place of creativity, peace and calm.

Each chapter concludes with Slow Notes – a list of tips for making it work – and a personal case history provided by one of more than a dozen contributors. The tone isn’t preachy, but it’s packed with scriptural references. The writing is down to earth and straightforward, not simplistic.

The sad truth is that the people who really need it will be too busy to read Not So Fast. I hope the publisher releases an audio version soon, so that hurried moms and dads can listen to bits and pieces of Ann Kroeker’s wisdom as they rush from one activity to another, because they really need to hear what she has to say.

Not So Fast: Slow Down Solutions for Frenzied Families
Author: Ann Kroeker
Release: August 1, 2009
Publisher: David C Cook
ISBN: 9781434768889