Life After Homeschooling? {It’s Never Too Late book review}
I sometimes wonder if there’s life after homeschooling. Everyone faces an empty nest at some point, but for the homeschool mom who has devoted her life to being not just mom, but also teacher, retirement can leave us trying to figure out our identities.
Now, I’m not to that point yet. My girls are still 11 and 13 and will be homeschooling for a few more years. My oldest is 19, though, so I’ve had a taste of what it’s like to finish homeschooling. I also know firsthand how incredibly fast it zips by us.
Does anyone ever really feel “done” with motherhood? Obviously not because motherhood doesn’t have a time limit, does it? We don’t just launch our children into the world without a second thought or backwards glance. At least I sure couldn’t do that. However, our adult children might move on more easily than we do. What do we do when that time comes? Where does that leave us?
These are some of the issues and questions at the heart of Kathie Lee Gifford’s new book It’s Never Too Late: Make the Next Act of Your Life the Best Act of Your Life. She has written the book to remind us that God isn’t finished with us just because it seems like the final act of our life’s production. Or as C.S. Lewis put it:
You are never too old to set another goal, or to dream a new dream.
It’s Never Too Late
I tend to be forward thinking, always trying to envision the future and plan for it. I like setting goals and working for them. I’m energized by new ideas and new projects. This has been true all my life.
It’s only in the last few years that I’ve begun to notice a shift in my thinking. It struck me sometime around my 40th birthday — I’ve been alive longer than I’ve probably got left. With chronic illness/chronic pain and autoimmune diseases, I have certain limitations physically. I haven’t accomplished nearly all I thought I would. I’ve been blessed, for sure, but life hasn’t exactly gone as I thought it would when I was an eager high school graduate heading to college.
This is something I have to come to terms with and I don’t think I’m alone in that. So where do I go from here?
In It’s Never Too Late, Kathie Lee Gifford shares personal experiences along with encouragement for those who are in transitions in life, especially in the later years.
Description from the publisher:
Former Today show host Kathie Lee Gifford draws on stories from her remarkable life to weave together a beautiful reminder that whatever circumstances we face, God is still dreaming big for our years ahead.
When Kathie Lee Gifford stepped down as co-host of the fourth hour of the Today show with Hoda Kotb, you might have thought her best days were behind her. It turns out, she was just getting started. As Kathie Lee says, “I’m not retiring; I’m refiring!”
Taking us from her Chesapeake Bay childhood when she first heard God’s calling, to her skyrocketing fame with Regis, to her decision to leave television for Nashville, Kathie Lee inspires us to pursue what really matters. Because it’s never too late to forgive, to dance the cha-cha, or to make a difference in the world.
God placed His dreams in your heart for a reason. And like Kathie Lee, you might just discover that the best is yet to come. Whether you’re an empty nester, newly single, navigating a career change, or just eager for any change, Kathie Lee helps you hear God’s loving calling because It’s Never Too Late to…
Begin Again
Make Sparks Fly
Leave a Good Thing
Have a Party
Change the Ending, Then Change It AgainIs it time for you to rewrite your story, unearth your hidden passions, and live with a renewed purpose? It’s never too late.
Although I can’t relate to Kathie Lee’s high profile celebrity lifestyle, I can relate to the humanness in her honesty and feelings. She points everything back to her walk with faith, which is something I can definitely appreciate. This transparency and hopefulness can encourage all of us.
In the end, this book was a quick and uplifting read. I like the mission that she has — to reach people, women in particular, to remind them that they still have a purpose and a calling in life, even after the kids are grown or they’ve retired from a career.
Our culture tends to dismiss women in general, but especially older women who are deemed no longer useful or vital or the “ideal image” of youth and beauty. Kathie Lee Gifford points out in It’s Never Too Late that women don’t need to be “put out to pasture” or discarded when there is still life to be lived and goodness to be found in service of the Lord. We don’t need to surrender to stereotypes, we need only surrender to the Lord’s guidance in taking the next steps to live fully for Him.
You can find It’s Never Too Late on Amazon. You can also enter for your chance to win a copy here: It’s Never Too Late giveaway. It would make a great Mother’s Day gift!
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