Is This It?
R140.00
70 in stock
A Personal Journey through the Angst of Adulting, Revealing the Difference Jesus
This book is for you if:
- You dread family occasions because relatives will ask you what you’re doing with your life;
- Social media leaves you with the miserable suspicion that most of your friends have more fun/a better relationship/more money/a better house/more friends than you do;
- Watching sitcoms from your adolescence on Netflix makes everything feel better;
- You’ve ended up in a job that has absolutely nothing to do with what you dreamed of doing when you were six (or eleven, or sixteen);
- You still keep loads of stuff at your parent’s house.
Sooner or later, most of us find that adult life is not all it’s cracked up to be. At some point we take a look at where we’ve got to and wonder: “Is this it? Why did no one warn me that adult life was going to be this… difficult?”
Rachel Jones is 20-something, trying to keep it together, and ready to say what we’re all thinking. Whether you’re just feeling a bit lost or having a full “quarter life crisis”, this funny, honest, hopeful book reveals the difference Jesus makes to the challenges of adulting.
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Grant Griffiths –
What does it mean to live in this world as a twenty-something year old? And what does it mean to live in South Africa as a twenty-something year old? Growing up in South Africa, traditions are still prominent: I need to excel in High School so that I can get into the best university, where I’ll study to enter a profession that offers both job security and financial stability, then I’ll search for a husband, settle down, and then the children come. But, what if I want something different? Surely that can’t be it to life?
When I was handed Rachel Jones’s book, I will admit at first I was somewhat frustrated that I had to put the likes of Piper, Grudem, and Carson to the sidelines to read a book targeting twenty-something year olds. As I turned to the contents page, I was blown away – nearly every single chapter spoke to issues and concerns that have been plaguing my mind for the past year. As a twenty-something year old Christian, who has grown up in the church, I often forget about the reality of growing up, and that it is okay to acknowledge that the changes that come with growing up are extremely daunting and overwhelming. At the best of times, these concerns simply dissipate over time, yet with the big changes of moving out of the schooling system and into the working place, moving out of home, and seeing friend after friend say their “I do,” life can become an anxiety-filled space to exist in at the best of times.
Jones’s book is one that speaks to issues that go across the twenty-something threshold, beyond cultures, and across borders. While your twenties are said to be the freest time of your adulthood life, this does not mean that it does not come with some challenges: dissatisfaction, rootlessness, regret and nostalgia, doubt in career choices, loneliness, singleness, dating and marriage, aging, and self-doubt. The brilliance of Jones’s book is that unlike any other self-help book being pushed at us on social media – it’s an unashamed acknowledgement that not-so-good thoughts litter our minds during times of big changes. But, even more brilliant is Jones’s reliance on God’s Word and His purpose for our lives.
If anything, the book allows you to laugh at your misfortune in attempting to make these big life decisions, believing that we’re alone in this battle. But, what a wonderful reminder that because our life is planned out by God, it essentially can’t go wrong! While I may not understand God’s plans, the final destination that I live for is completely worth it – living a life that will bring the most glory to God, so that one day these worries I fussed about in my twenties will seem like nothing when I’m in Heaven for eternity.
Yes, we can fuss and worry about what decision we need to make next, but if we want to truly enjoy life, then we need to live it to the fullest with Christ – then we will be “truly alive.”
Review by Lara Moyles