Book Review: The Fringe Hours

I recently finished reading the book The Fringe Hours by Jessica Turner. She is well known for her popular blog called The Mom Creative. The book was on sale for $2.99 on Amazon Kindle, and I snagged it up as soon as I could. It was on my book list for this year which made the deal even better in my eyes! I have mixed feelings about this book. I love most of what she says, but there are a few things I disagree with. When I finished the book, I felt inspired. Here are a few of my "take-aways."

1. Take Care of Yourself- I know this seems like a weird and obvious thing to take away from a book, but it's true...Drink water, floss your teeth, go to REGULAR Dr. appointments, when something doesn't feel right--go to the Dr...Once babies, jobs, husbands, etc... come along, it somehow becomes easier to put all of these things on the back burner. There is ALWAYS time to do these things. 

2. There is ALWAYS Time to do What you Love-Jessica really challenged me to figure out what things I enjoy doing and what things I want to learn. After that, she challenged me to figure out a time frame where I can make those things happen. Because of this thought process, I've decided to wake up 30 minutes earlier than I have been this past month (6 am) and use that time to study the Bible more. I also decided that I want to learn how to sew. I've said for the longest time, "I wish I could sew, I just don't have time to learn." No more excuses. There is time. I just finished a Bible study with my friend, which frees up my Tuesday mornings. I'm going to ask my Grandma if she can teach me. If my Grandma is unable to teach me, I am going to ask for a paid class at JoAnns for my birthday. It's never too late to learn and make time to do things we are interested in. 

3. Use your Fringe Hours- Use the little minutes we have here and there to finish a task, and do something we enjoy. I put this into practice this week while I was cooking dinner. While I was waiting for the water to boil, I pulled out my kindle and got extra minutes of reading in. That was a full chapter. I was so thankful I didn't pull out my phone and aimlessly browse. 

There were a few things in the book that I didn't love, and I believe they are my own personal conviction...not anything the author is doing wrong. Overall, I felt like this book gave me a renewed vision on figuring out what I love and making time to do those things. God, my husband and Cora come first, but there is always time to do something I enjoy...even if it's just for a few fringe moments.