Balancing It All by Candance Cameron Bure

Most people my age remember Candace Cameron Bure as DJ Tanner on Full House. Those a bit younger may remember her as Summer van Horne on ABC Family’s Make It or Break It. I was born almost exactly two years after her and got married almost exactly two years after she did. My oldest and her second child were born within days of each other. I grew up “with” her, watching her every week on TGIF. Now, I follow her on Twitter and Facebook and read her blog. I read her first book, Reshaping It All and found it to be very useful so I looked forward to the release of her new book, Balancing It All: My Story of Juggling Priorities and Purpose.

Balancing It All is part memoir, part self-help/motivation, and part Bible study. Most chapters are laid out starting with a Bible verse (she uses the Holman Christian Standard Bible) that relates to the topic for that chapter. Topics include marriage, parenting, friends, service, education, and more. Most chapters give a story from her life that relates to the topic. Then she ties it all together with ideas that have worked in her life for maintaining balance when you are being pulled in a hundred different directions and feel like it’s all going to crash down on you.

There is nothing new, no earth shattering ideas in Balancing It All. What there is is a lot of support and motivation and a few reminders to do things we know we should (like pray!) but often forget. Candace Cameron Bure is extremely honest in this book. She is not perfect, her family is not perfect (it sounds like her daughter is a little harder to handle like my daughter and just knowing that is comforting to me). Sure, she’s had life experiences that are unlike most people, but she still has a lot of the same struggles as everyone else. In short, she’s human and she doesn’t try to portray herself as anything but human. She is very clear that what works for her won’t necessarily work for someone else. We are all at different points in our lives, but I suspect that every woman can take at least one thing away from Balancing It All, apply it in her life, and end up happier and more balanced for it.

5 (out of 5) Stars

Book Number: 2
Pages Read: 464
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