You Have A Calling by Karen Swallow Prior is a book that seeks to clarify what our callings are and clarify the difference between our jobs and our vocations (callings), which may or may not be the same. We have a romanticized view of calling and in today’s social media world there is much distortion. The author does a good job of explaining this and clarifying erroneous ways we’ve come to think about calling. This would be a great book for students just starting out after high school, but it’s also relevant to all the stages of life because calling is not about doing but being and with experience (age) comes wisdom and knowledge that bring much to relationships.
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I always enjoy Prior’s writing style. She reminds me what good reading feels like! This is a short book but there is lots to reflect on in the pages.
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Thanks to NetGalley and Brazos Press and Baker Academics for providing this ARC with my pre-order of this book. All opinions are my own.

I really appreciate Swallow Prior's approach to this topic. This book is not a "3 easy ways to discern your calling" how-to guide. Rather, it is an invitation to an approach to and way of thinking about our callings. And the turn to the transcendentals and their role in our calling - both the discerning and pursuit thereof - was an unexpected and very helpful shift.

I wish I could have read Karen Swallow Prior’s latest book, You Have a Calling, as a young adult, but it’s never too late to refine our understanding of the way our work reflects the image of God through truth, goodness, and beauty. This turns my attention to how my gifts and abilities can be used by God in the service of my neighbor. Rather than rummaging around in my emotional entrails to discover how I feel about the thing I’m doing, I’m free to find fulfillment in doing the next thing—even if I don’t get paid for the work I’m most passionate about.

Prior helps me to see that I am in partnership with God in my vocation or calling, and that even the way I perceive the brokenness of the world is a clue to the way God wants me to use my gifts. Since the church’s need for biblical literacy pains me like a pebble in the shoe, I’ll keep on writing and teaching, sharing good resources, and using every opportunity to help my readers become confident Christ followers and students of God’s Word.

Most fascinating to me was the author’s musings on truth, goodness, and beauty, and the inherent relationship among the three. We’re used to hearing people say, “All truth is God’s truth,” but when do we ever hear, “All goodness is God’s goodness,” or “All beauty is God’s beauty”? He’s behind all that’s true, good, and beautiful, and he has invited his image bearers to find our greatest fulfillment in adding to the truth, goodness, and beauty of his world. In this, we discover our true calling as we do, faithfully and well, the work we’ve been given to do.

I enjoyed this short book by Karen Swallow Prior as she lays out the reminder that even our everyday lives have a purpose and we can live out the higher calling as we preform the basic duties of out everyday lives even if we don't see anything spiritual in them. I have a good friend who has recently left full time ministry to take on teaching in a public middle school and I was thinking about him often when I read this book as he is now finding his purpose in feeding into young minds and there is a higher calling in that. I have also taken a step back in regards to ministry within my church for a variety of reasons, and this book reminded me that service in my local church body is not the only way to be living out my calling, that I do it everyday with my friends and coworkers. I will be looking to purchase this book when it is released for myself and a few friends.

I received an advanced copy of this book from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

If you are in a waiting season, If you don't know where to turn next or just need a reminder of your purpose on this Earth, pick up this book by Karen Prior. She points believers back to the truth of the gospel. It reminds readers that even what may seem mundane in our everyday lives now, is part of our purpose and higher calling while we walk each other home.