Worry Less So You Can Live More

Dealing with Worry

Are you a worrier?

I think all of us have things that keep us up at night, at least from time to time. Hopefully, those things don’t overwhelm us and cause us to worry all the time. Worry is unhealthy. It leads to stress and causes anxiety, exhaustion, and a host of other health problems.

Tired (literally) of living with constant worry, Jane Rubietta finally realized and accepted that God provides freedom from worry. She shares her experiences with readers in Worry Less So You Can Live More: Surprising, Simple Ways to Feel More Peace, Joy, and Energy.

Jane’s writing style is like sitting down with a friend. Rather than reading like a self-help book, Worry Less So you Can Live More is written in a beautiful prose style as Jane shares her life lessons with readers. Her stories are compelling and relatable, and the accompanying questions and journal prompts provide tools for really meditating on the material and getting the most out of the book. Each chapter concludes with a Votum and Benedictus–a conversation with God. These poetic verses are worth revisiting over and over again.

The struggles Jane writes about and the examples she shares serve to show how God works in our lives. In one chapter, she talks about how being on a tight budget caused her to deprive herself of what she considers trivial extravagances. A red pair of shoes caused her to step out of her comfort zone and treat herself, and after needless worry, she realizes how much God delights in our delight:

. . . you’d think I was raised in the Great Depression, where it cost too much to smile. I worry; I work. And part of my soul withers away. In the deepest of places, I knew this struggle wasn’t about red shoes (p. 41).

It was touching to read how the red shoes symbolized so much more in her life, and the places they have taken her:

Right there, on a boulder along the shore of Lake Erie, a group of young foxes played peek-a-boo with me. I was entranced. No one else in the world saw this spectacle. God and I were the only audience. The morning play of these kits, safe in their burrow from predators, spoke to my soul in ways only God would understand, and love. That God cared enough to allow me to see that joyful play moves me. Without the red shoes, I’d have stayed in my room and worked before breakfast, missing a significant encounter with Jesus (p. 46).

Worry Less So You Can Live More is especially suited for women, and as a busy work-at-home homeschooling mom, I find the “tools” Jane Rubietta shares to be completely attitude-changing:

• play
• nurture
• memory
• breaking free
• constancy
• movement
• tears
• empathy
• spontaneity
• identity
• trust
• progress
• anticipation

When Bethany House sent me a review copy of Worry Less So You Can Live More, I had no idea how much the book would resonate with me. It you need encouragement to embrace joy and allow delight to enter your life, I recommend Jane Rubietta’s reminder to “exchange your worries for delight in God . . . and God’s delight in you.”