It’s Not Your Turn by Heather Thomson Day is an encouraging book about when life does not go our way. From her own experience and research, Mrs. Day gets real about how life doesn’t always go the way we want and/or how there may be long years of preparation before we start doing what God’s laid on our hearts. This book really spoke to me because I have been there waiting for it to be my turn (and some days I am still there). At times this book was encouraging to know that I am not the only one waiting, and at times this book this book frustrated me because I am still waiting (but that’s just me). If you’re having trouble with it not being your turn, this book is for you and I believe it would encourage you. Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read this book. (My review is also on Goodreads.)

There are some seasons of life when it seems everyone other than you is finding success. And you? You are still waiting for that phone call, that breakthrough, or that promotion. In It's Not Your Turn, Heather Thompson Day teaches us that time spent waiting does not have to be time wasted. This author is not talking about waiting hypothetically; she shares times in her own life when she was the one waiting.

It's hard to see what is happening in our lives with clarity because we have so much access to the curated version of everyone else's lives. God wants to change our hearts and our circumstances, but that only happens when we remove ourselves from the competition no one else knew was happening. Alongside stories from her own life, Day reminds us that not getting our breakthrough right away might just mean we aren't ready yet--we need more time or experience or insight than we have right now. Trials and waiting are good, even holy, work.

The difficulty of writing a book like this is that it is hard to give one-size-fits-all advice on life. Some parts of this book feel like a Christian living book, while others are closer to pop psychology. In some chapters, Day urges readers to be content with the small things and then encourages them to network and expand in other chapters. But I think this book will be helpful for some people. Day does a good job of reminding us that God is still in charge and we can grow and be blessed in the process of waiting for the next breakthrough.



It's Not Your Turn
What to Do While You're Waiting for Your Breakthrough
By Heather Thompson Day
IVP June 2021
216 pages
Read via Netgalley

It’s Not Your Turn • Heather Thompson Day
⭐️⭐️/⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (2/5)

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“ And it's not that I wasn't happy for her, I was. I was just also so deeply sad for myself."

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👍🏼 Thumbs Up:

I was really looking forward to this book, because I highly enjoy the author's twitter feed! The theme of the book is important and I liked the overall idea that this book hits at.

👎🏻 Thumbs Down:

Unfortunately, I was disappointed in this book. The book felt choppy to me and I couldn't decide what genre it was trying to be. The author quotes a lot of other writers and data, and intersperses that with her own stories and for me, it just didn't flow. I wanted to know more about the seasons of "not our turn" but instead felt like the book talked about just the opposite. It felt like it was trying to be an advice book meets Christian living meets pop psychology book.

🤓 For Readers WHO:

Are fans of the author or are in a season of waiting for "their turn".

👉🏼 This is what’s WHAT:

This book discusses what it looks like to "wait for breakthrough" & how to work towards it in the meantime.

⏳WHEN I read this book:

I liked the idea of "it's not your turn" and will be thinking about that theme for awhile!

🚨WHERE you should watch out:

No triggers that I can remember.

📍WHY you shouldn't read this book:

I wish I had better things to say as I was really looking forward to it! But honestly I would skip this one.

📚 HOW I read this book:
eARC from Netgalley and IVP

In It's Not Your Turn, Heather Thompson Day fleshes out how comparisons can really be the thief of joy.

Today we're bombarded by media and information. Day mentions how tempting it can be to want what our neighbor has. In that, when a friend or neighbor gets good news, we really feel a sense of mourning, thinking, "Why can't that be me?"

However, she does mention the power of empowering others and how you can celebrate the gifts and treasures of others while patiently waiting and trusting, "It's not my turn yet."

I loved reading it. It's such a timely written book as we live in an age with instant gratification, access to information at the flip of a switch, groceries that come to your door, and communication responses come instantaneously. Day mentions that it's okay to wait. The waiting makes us steadfast, faithful people.

I really enjoyed Heather Thompson Day’s book. I think this text will be really helpful for students of mine figuring out what their next steps are and how to best serve the Lord in waiting periods. Her writing style is straightforward, and I really liked the questions for consideration at the end of each chapter!

I picked this book up after seeing a lot of Heather Thompson Day's tweets cross my Twitter feed. I really wanted to like it, based on what I had read on social media. Unfortunately, it did not live up to my expectations. There are some snippets that I found helpful, insightful, and encouraging. But as a whole, it felt like a strange combination of a completely secular self-help book and the typical book for Christian women telling them they need to do more.

I don’t know about you, but I compare myself to other people. A lot. There probably isn’t a single period of my life where I didn’t wonder why my friends seemed to be more successful, smarter, whatever. When I was a full-time musician and toured, I constantly wondered why we weren’t getting the same offers and attention. Nowadays, it’s more of noticing when my friends are utilizing their degrees in their careers (or when they get a job with SpaceX), when they can afford $400,000 homes in Johnson County, or hearing about their newest “God moment.”

Don’t get me wrong—I love my life. My wife is the most compassionate, caring, and patient person I know. Our children are wonderful and bring so much joy into our lives, even when they try said patience. We also have some wonderful friends, and joining the Anglican tradition (and our parish) has been, if I can be bold enough to say so, one of the best decisions we’ve made in our marriage.

But loving my life doesn’t mean I don’t find myself still comparing myself to my friends, looking at how they are succeeding and wondering, “Lord, when will it be our turn? When can we experience the financial and occupational freedom everyone else seems to be enjoying?” Being a used car salesman is not my passion, not my dream job, and with the current market, it’s growing harder and harder to not want to jump ship out of fear.

Cue Heather Thompson Day’s It’s Not Your Turn.

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When I was browsing NetGalley’s InterVarsity Press selection, this book stood out to me with the first sentence: “What do you do when it seems like everybody else is getting their dreams and you're not?” In fact, I started reading It’s Not Your Turn the day I found out a friend who, after being unexpectedly let go from his previous job, just found out he got a much better position with pay that, if I can be honest, is higher than I’ve ever made. Of course, I was happy for him, but there was a part of me that couldn’t help but wonder, sitting at a job that incessantly exposes me to anxiety and stress, “Lord, when will it be my turn?”

What I love about It’s Not Your Turn is the book is a confessional of sorts. Rather than solely being tips on how to not compare ourselves to others, Day pushes the reader to be honest about these temptations; temptations that she has faced daily for years. Whether she’s discussing her experiences or her husband’s, you can tell these stories have shaped not only their lives, but the ways they worship the Lord and serve others. One of the biggest pieces of encouragement Day suggests, something she brings up time and time again, is that we are to clap for others even when we may not feel like it. That is, as I mentioned above, just because I am not in my ideal job situation doesn’t mean I cannot recognize how the Lord is blessing others. Does this mean I ignore my feelings and pretend nothing is wrong? Of course not. But as she brings up in chapter five, “God cannot have a plan for your life if he doesn’t have a plan for your days.” When we hold onto the former, it means acknowledging the latter, which means we need to commit to a daily and continual renewing of our minds.

I also can appreciate the continual appeal to scripture throughout the book. While at times it feels like it could find its home in the “self-help” section, It’s Not Your Turn is ultimately rooted in biblical wisdom. For example, chapter three is all about our speech, which I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking and writing about lately. Rather than focusing solely on interpersonal dialogue, however, what struck me the most is the following, quoted at length:

"There are over 3,500 promises for us in Scripture. Remember what [Andrew] Newberg and [Mark] Waldman said: our brains can’t distinguish the difference between fact and fantasy. Our words are as real as the ground we are standing on. What if God is not just asking you to read your Bible because it will make you holy? What if he has been trying to arm you with over 3,500 promises that could change your mindset? What if God knows words have regenerative power? What if the God who created the brain knows what you’ll need to defend it? What if he wants you to be able to disarm the negative attacks of Satan with the promises of God?

But our brains cannot recall what we haven’t read. We cannot respond with promises we do not know. I don’t know what attacks you are daily living under. I don’t know what hope you buried in your desert, but I do know Isaiah 41:10 says, “Do not fear, for I am with you, do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you, I will uphold you with my righteous hand.”

“But our brains cannot recall what we haven’t read.” This is huge. Think about it this way: the only way my son knows he’s loved is because we tell him and show him. If we didn’t do these things, if we didn’t constantly remind him how much we love him, he’d have no way of knowing this. In the same way, if we are not immersing ourselves in the Word of God daily, how are we expected to stand firm in a world that tells us we are only as good as the things we buy, or the movements we back?

I also appreciate Day does not hesitate from encouraging Christians to be a part of communities. Years ago, I was preparing to become an associate pastor for a church near Chicago when, thankfully, the Lord convinced me to stay in Kansas City. Fast-forward to now, and both the pastor and his wife are doing the “individualist” Christian life. I’m not bringing this up to disparage them, but there’s a growing trend of trying to marry Christianity with individualism; something that does not work but also is detrimental to our flourishing. Again, to quote the author at length,

"I need Christian community. It’s what convicts me of my selfish heart, reminds me of my human nature, and inspires me to dig deeper in my devotional time. You may not think you need the church to help you be more spiritual. Perhaps you are rock solid in your faith and a prudent study of Scripture. I am not asking you to go to church because the building makes you holy. I am asking you to find a church because the community will keep you healthy. I’m not telling young adults they need church. I am telling young adults why the church needs them."

After a year (plus) of people being fearful, or unable, to meet together, we need this message more than ever. Making the decision last fall to commit ourselves to a community, even after we were hurt by our previous church, was incredibly hard, but has it been worthwhile? Has the Lord done some amazing work in our life as a result? You better believe it. And a lot of this has come from the continual act of confession, of acknowledging where we have gone wrong and belonging to others, allowing the Lord’s wisdom and insight, through their love and compassion, to speak truth and conviction into our situations.

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When we log into social media, we are being continually bombarded by other people’s successes and victories. Even when people post about their losses and tragedies, it can be hard not to long for the affirmation they’re receiving when their posts and tweets go viral. It’s important to remember how curated all of this is, however, and that we need to redefine how we view success to begin with. “John the Baptist dies in prison, but his eternity is secured.”

This is why I think It’s Not Your Turn is an important book for contemporary Christians to spend time with. I may have disagreements with Day about the role social media should play in a Christian’s life, and her opinions on the matter do factor into some of her arguments. That isn’t enough for me to not recommend it; in fact, if more Christians approached social media as Day does, I wouldn’t feel so inspired to write a book about the subject. All of this aside, in a day and age where Christians are continually faced with the temptation to judge our lives off of arbitrary and nonsensical standards, when we find ourselves longing for what others have instead of what God has put in front of us, any reminder to take life “little by little” is desperately needed. To take a page from Anne Lamont,

"Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he’d had three months to write. It was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother’s shoulder, and said, ‘Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.’”

***A copy of this book was provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review, with no expectations about how I would critique it. If there are any errors in how I have represented the author’s argument, those faults are mine and mine alone.***

This is definitely not one of my favorite books. I found the amount of politics mentioned in this book was just too much. I did learn from all that Heather Thompson Day wrote about in this book, from her perspective, but also found myself disagreeing with some of what was presented.

This book goes through the each chapter explaining "it's your turn" to do something. Your turn to wait, say it out loud, see, think small, set the goal, network, take a second look at power, find community, re-envision God, move on maybe, and make your move. Ultimately, "While you are waiting, grow. While you are waiting, learn,. While you are waiting, listen. It's your turn to become who you've always wanted to be."

This book was not for me, but maybe you will get something out of it.

I’ve followed the author on social media for many years and am often encouraged, inspired, and challenged by her thoughtful posts. I anticipated the same here and planned to share the book far and wide, but am sadly very disappointed. Though I’d recommend her social media accounts, particularly Twitter and Instagram, there are some pretty big issues with the message of this book.

Day writes about paying attention to the “least important people” and then shares how she spent time investing in her assistant (apparently the assistant was deemed a “less important” person). In that same chapter, she talks about the success of someone’s ministry… but it’s all tied to numbers. The ministry is “successful” because the numbers are impressive/good. (This, in a chapter about small things.) She says that God can only work with what we have surrendered to Him and later writes “God will do what you cannot, as long as you do what you can.” So — if you don’t surrender something, God isn’t capable of working? And God is stuck until you do XYZ? Neither is Biblical, which does matter here as the author is a Bible teacher. Additionally, almost every example in the book seems to pain her as the hero or the one who knows the most/knows what’s best... it felt prideful and became uncomfortable to read.

Lastly, for a book titled “It’s Not Your Turn,” it’s confusing to find that the entire book is about how it IS your turn to set a goal, network, make a move, all with the promise that your turn is coming. That isn't guaranteed and it's misleading.

Raise your hands if you have ever compared yourself and screamed out to the heavens exclaiming "when is it my time". This is a timely book that will inspire you ,motivate you and encourage you to wait for your time.Its quite inspiring tho as she reminds us that we are ought not to be passive waiters. Huge thanks to Inter Varsity Press for my ARC

It's Not Your Turn
What to Do While You're Waiting for Your Breakthrough
by Heather Thompson Day
InterVarsity Press
IVP
Christian
Pub Date 29 Jun 2021


I am reviewing a copy of InterVarsity Press and Netgalley:



In It’s Not Your Turn Heather Thompson Day reminds us that we need to stop hindering our prayers by blocking someone else’s blessings, we need to stop trying to compete with those who aren’t in completion with us.



We are reminded too that God is more worried about changing us, than changing our circumstances.




It is pointed out too that our once perfectly happy lives can start to crumble when we start to focus on what we don’t have instead of what we do.


The author points out too that some comparison as well as social media can be positive


This book reminds us too that our words change how the world sees us.





In It’s Not Your Turn we are reminded that our turn will come, and the Author gives tips on how to get there.



If you are waiting for your breakthrough I’d highly recommend It’s Not Your Turn.



Five out of five stars!



Happy Reading!

3.5. There were things I liked about this book and things I didn’t. The self-help sections were practical and engaging. The author gave clear steps of how to move forward. It was an easy read.

But at times, it seemed to ramble a bit. I would start wondering how the topic she was talking about would tie back in. It was distracting. I also wish that it was grounded in Scripture more. For example, she talks about “success” a lot. What is “success”? Biblical “success” is very different than the normal definition. Some of it felt disingenuous- like with networking and asking people favors to get them to like you. It felt a little manipulative.

My biggest issue is the last line of the description: “here’s what you can do to get there.” But WE don’t do anything - our works will get us nowhere. The glory and the credit goes to God. And the author does mention God moving. And we aren’t called to be passive, either. But if you check off all these boxes she’s setting up for you, you’ll have to be really careful to not pat yourself on the back once you’ve “arrived.”

I hate writing anything negative about books because I know they are such a labor of love. I did enjoy things about her book - she’s a great story teller and she doesn’t hold back. That was refreshing.