Answer Your Call: Reclaim God's Purpose for Faith, Family, and Work

by Dick Lyles, Martha Lyles

Answer Your Call helps Christians discern their purpose from a Catholic perspective—think of it as a Catholic response to The Purpose Driven Life . Building on the premise that every person has a unique set of natural gifts meant to be used in concert with God's supernatural graces, readers will find practical insights on what prevents someone from hearing and responding to God's call, as well as how to reclaim and live their calling in the home, workplace, and community. Answer Your Call goes beyond mere theory, using key questions, short quizzes, and practical exercises to help the reader implement the material. You'll Interspersed with Scripture and Catechism quotes, as well as wisdom from popes and saints, Answer Your Call will guide you to carry out God's purpose in every dimension of your life.

The audio edition of this book can be downloaded via

174 pages, Paperback

First published February 25, 2013

Reviews

[Stuart · Rating 5 out of 5]

With the tagline of "Reclaim God's Purpose for Faith, Family, and Work," Answer Your Call is a both a call-to-arms and a self-help book for the Catholic person. This book is divided into three parts, which include six ways we lose sight of God's Presence in our lives; four ways we lose touch with our God-given gifts; and how to reconnect in our faith life, family life, and work life. The reader is urged not to skip ahead to part three, as the first two parts are designed to "remove blinders and influences that may have constrained you in the past."

I will be honest when I say that I felt the first part of the book dragged while reading it. Luckily, it was only 26 pages, or else I would have been tempted to skip ahead against the authors' wishes. The second part, however, hit home with me. I could definitely see how influence from others, education, path-determinate choices, and stagnation led me to losing touch with some of my natural gifts. It definitely made me feel even stronger about homeschooling our children. I want to encourage their individual gifts and not turn them into cookie-cutter people who pursue education that results in merely financial fulfillment.

Part Three was easily my favorite part, and I'm sure most people reading this book would agree. There is a ton of information and useful graphical representations. For example, there are Venn diagrams showing the three components that make up human perfection - our life, our natural gifts, and God's graces. In one graph he shows how little overlap between the three is, but he then explains that ideal integration should be a complete overlap. That's hard to accomplish, but it is truly a worthwhile goal. There are other such diagrams that show what make up our natural gifts and God's graces.

For me, the most beneficial, eye-opening, and humbling sections were the three self-audits of faith, family, and purpose. A list is given to you in each of the three categories, and you then check whether you are "excellent" or "could improve" with each aspect. Believe me, there were very few boxes I checked "excellent" on. That was disappointing, but at the same time it means that I now have clear and tangible aspects in my life to improve. Overall, I would give this book 5 stars. It is definitely a book I would recommend to high school graduates, college graduates, people starting their career, people burnt out in their career, or anyone looking to answer God's call for their life.

[Sarah Bolin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this because Matthew Kelly recommended. It was not for me, or for this stage in my life. This is more of a book that would be best suited to a church study group for young couples maybe. It is very detailed on exactly the title; discerning your purpose for your own faith life, your family, and work. However, I found some of it to be against the things I was taught as a young working parent. And there is no reference to friends at all. The older I get I realize that we need to make an effort there too.

The couple who wrote the book are also VERY involved in a lot of things and have a lot of credits under their belt. I am just not that person. Honestly it was like the book made you felt bad for not being them. There is a 9 day Novena at the back of the book I haven't done yet. I might.