Book Review: What to do with an Idea?

Why I picked up this book:

This is the first time I have featured a children’s book on the blog. I often read with my daughter. It is one of my favorite things I do with her. She reads with excitement! I enjoy watching her learn and get caught up in stories. Sometimes we go to the book store to explore, and that’s how we came upon this book.

Who Should Read What to do with an Idea?:

I think I enjoyed this book much more than my daughter. She just turned eight years old, and I don’t believe she captured the full essence of the story the first time around. I bought it because I fell in love with it right away, and I want her to understand the significance of the story. I want her to read it over and over, and commit to caring for and nurturing her ideas until she sees them realized and used for good in the world.

In case you haven’t noticed, this is not just a lesson for little ones. This is a lesson adults too often forget.

What’s in Store for You:

This book is an invitation to remember. Remember the ideas, the hopes, the dreams God has given you over the years. Maybe God is speaking to you right now about something specific he wants you to do.

The book encourages us not to walk away from our ideas. Don’t worry about what others think about your idea. Don’t listen to them. Don’t hide it. Don’t let fear paralyze you from pursuing your idea. Nurture your idea and give it the attention it needs to grow. Love it!

My personal take-aways?

This book makes for a great Saturday morning or Sunday evening read. Stop by your favorite book store and enjoy it for a moment, and then maybe share it with some of the little ones and the adults in your life.

Sometimes the simplest things like the stories of children can bring us back to the place of wonder and dreaming again. I pray this book is an encouragement for you to see the wonder of God and his invitation for you to create goodness in the world.

I know that God always gives me ideas. I sometimes get in my own way of having those ideas realized because I haven’t persevered, sought wise counsel, asked my community for help, or maybe I haven’t applied myself, or worst, I simply quit. But the number one thing that keeps me from pursuing an idea is the fear of failure – What if I fail? What will other people think if I followed through?

I’m so glad that this book says to all children, “Forget about it. Don’t worry about what others think or how they feel about your idea. It’s your idea, so go and pursue it anyway. After all, it just might change the world!”

I want to see my daughter, myself, and those we love flourish in this way. I want to see us image God in our ability to create, and hold fast to these biblical truths:

Genesis 1:1 NIV –

“In the beginning God created…”

Genesis 1:27-28a NIV –

“So God created man in his own image in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it…”

Ecclesiastes 3:11-13 NIV –

“He [God] has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God.”

1 Timothy 6:17-18 NIV –

“Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.”

2 Timothy 1:7 KJV –

“For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

What do you do with your ideas?

© Natasha Sistrunk Robinson 2015