Pursue the Intentional Life

by Jean Fleming

Do you ever wonder what your future holds? As ministry leader Jean Fleming began pondering how she could serve God with more purpose, she created Pursue the Intentional Life, a book that will help you discover how God's promises and instructions contain just what you need for the unknown days ahead.
Whether you are facing the end of something in your life, or embarking on a new beginning, this book will help you live meaningfully and intentionally in the present while preparing well for the future.

Genres: Christian, Nonfiction, Christian Living, Faith, Christian Non Fiction, Christianity, Devotional

224 pages, Paperback

First published November 5, 2013

About the author

Jean Fleming grew up in Maryland, came to Christ in her senior year of high school and met a Navigator-trained fellow student in college. She married Roger in 1965 and they went to their first staff assignment with The Navigators in San Diego, California, followed by assignments to South Korea, Okinawa, Tucson, Seattle, Colorado Springs, and Montrose, Colorado.

Jean's primary ministry focus has been one-to-one ministry with a passion to touch the generation behind her for the future of the work of Christ. She has also written A Mother’s Heart, Between Walden and the Whirlwind (reprinted as Finding Focus in a Whirlwind World), Homesick Heart, Feeding Your Soul, and magazine articles.

Reviews

[Becky Pliego · Rating 5 out of 5]

2023: Beautiful. Jean Fleming’s writing style reminds me of Elisabeth Elliot’s. Reading Fleming’s book, is like sitting down with an older and wise friend. You come with your ears and heart open to glean wisdom from their years of experience walking with the Lord.

2017: Still love it <3

2016: Wonderful.

2014: Excellent. A book I will need to read once a year from now on.

[Bambi Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book although the use of so many metaphors took be aback some. So glad I kept going!! Although finished, I am leaving this book out to read again as devotional reading.

[Brenda Warren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always grateful for this gracious & intentional author who has been a blessed mentor to my heart through her writing. This is another good one & esp relatable to being purposeful in my later years.

[Janie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am sure that if I weren't approaching my sixth decade and read this book when in my thirties, I would have given it five stars. Fleming has a lot of right and good thoughts here, so I'm sure my "liking" the book has something to do with age, experience, and exposure to these teaching earlier in my life's journey. I was initially drawn to the book by the title, particularly the word "intentional." I started this a year ago as a sort of preparation for me finishing my fifties; it might have taken me a year of on and off pickups, but I did finish this before I finished my fifties. :)

I recommend the contents of this book for 30- and 40-year-olds in particular.

Only a couple of quotes I marked:

". . . [E]very year I pass--unheralded--the anniversary of my death."

On being consistent with household tasks like making one's bed every day, you should consider those tasks as "an act of hospitality to yourself."

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of metaphors … Kind of a harder read for me but still loved the content, message & overall book

[Kelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a Christian book about finishing your life strong (as you get older!). I will be rereading this again when I feel older.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rambling book about living well in later life. Much wisdom. My favorite chapter was “The Ministry of Countenance: Glorifying God and Blessing Others”. From this I drew the words ‘radiant’ and ‘welcoming’ which I hope to reflect more and more now in my senior years!

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Jean Fleming I have come to know, now in her seventies, is not old. A vitality radiates from her countenance and posture. She always greets me with an exuberant “Hey!” With alert eyes and listening heart, Jean seems to catch everything — the hidden meaning in my words, the unspoken emotions in my spirit. Winsome, attentive, and energetic, she attracts people to Christ. She thinks strategically about ministry concerns with youthful fervor. If Jean were a tree, she would be “full of sap and very green” (Psalm 92:14, NASB).

If a woman like this writes a book originating in the questions: “What kind of old woman am I becoming?” and “Lord, how do You want me to think about the rest of my life?” then I am certainly going to read it.

Pursue the Intentional Life has future as well as immediate practical impact. Though you’ll find phrases like “old woman” and “ending wisely” and “fiftieth year in Christ” in the following pages, this book is not specifically for “old people.” Pursue the Intentional Life is for you who want to see the big picture of your life and God’s purposes. It is for you who don’t want to revert to default or live a haphazard life on cruise-control. It is for you who seek to live meaningfully and intentionally in the present while preparing well for the future. This book could be for the middle-aged parent facing transition or crisis, the elderly considering his last days, or the twentysomething excited about a full life ahead.

Essentially a private journal made public, each chapter lets us listen in on Jean’s conversations with herself and with God. Though Jean is a gifted teacher, here she doesn’t teach so much as invite. “Welcome,” the front cover conveys. “Come in and see what the Lord is showing me.”

(This review is an excerpt of the foreword I wrote. --Monica Sharman)

[Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED this book! Filled with wisdom, strengthening words of encouragement, practical tips & deep insight. This book is Jean Fleming's gift to us.

My favorite quotes:

My life on earth has a time limit, a shelf life, an expiration date. When I number my days, each day rattles with sharp significance. What does this measured span look like as I weigh the brevity of my days? When I take those last breaths, how will I---and how will God---assess the days allotted to me?

It’s never too soon to contemplate, revel in, and be shaped by glory.

Too soon it’s too late to bless a fallen world.

Remind me that what You give and take is my biography, a story meant to bless me and bless others to Your glory.

In Heaven, I will see that nothing came to me from caprice or malice; all came from the hand of a good and wise God.

Even if no one else is physically near, I am as vitally connected as arm to shoulder, thumb to hand, to all believers throughout all of time — past, present, and future.

The spiritually disciplined imagination is a gift of the Holy Spirit to enable me to more fully enter into invisible and future realities.

I realize that my body is ministering to me in its limitations and idiosyncrasies. My bulging veins, my thinning skin, and my thickening torso remind me that I am surely moving toward death and a new body. I thank God for the reminder.

***I purchased this book as part of the Bloom Book Club at (in)courage & am so glad I did! I plan to purchase more copies & gift them to as many friends as possible!

[Cindy Rollins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jean Fleming is the author of one of my favorite books Between Walden and the Whirlwind. Here she tackles the art of growing old as a Christian. I enjoyed Jean's thoughts and felt like I was talking to a friend just a little further down the path from me.

[Laurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

On a long walk among the uplifted red-rock formations in Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, I prayed about what kind of old woman I would become and how I should think about my remaining years. I didn’t have any great aspirations for that walk; I just didn’t want to back into whatever was left of the rest of my life. • Delete this highligh
move into the coming years with vigor and focus. • Delete this
Concentrated thought on an aspect of life can infuse it with meaning and possibilities. • Delete this highlig
What choices made today will enable me to finish my course with spiritual vigor? • Delete this highligh
What does it look like to live a beautiful life in a fallen world? How can I prepare my heart and mind for the challenges, opportunities, and transitions that will come? What does it look like to live Christ to the very end? • Delete this highlight
“Lord, what content, what truth, what promises might help me to trust You and live for Your glory in this circumstance? • Delete this highlight
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Every life creates an atmosphere. • Delete this highlight

“I live in eager expectation and hope.” What would it be like to live in an atmosphere of earnestness and exhilaration? Of enthusiasm and gameness? Of anticipation and readiness? What atmosphere will color the rest of my life? • Delete this highlight
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Lord, I want to advance toward whatever You have ordained for me between now and death with a light and eager spirit. My hope is in You. Even if I walk in the dark and have no light, grace me to trust in Your name and rely on You, as we’re told in Isaiah 50:10. • Delete this highlight
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This can be my time of greatest growth in Christ, the final stretch to the finish line, a time to put away every stale and self-protective barrier and make a dash for the tape. My best years, my richest insights, a time of quiet fruitfulness, various and ripe — my deepest experiences of Christ are still ahead of me. This is my eager expectation. This is my time of ripened fruit and flight, living increasingly in the reality of the resurrection life, my heart and mind set on things above, earnest and ready, expectant and alert. • Delete this highlight

God is not asking me to number my days to increase my pace but rather to examine my route, not to increase my efficiency but to see where I must make course corrections in heart, character, and actions. •
“Old Woman File • Delete this highlight
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PHASE 1 A BEAUTIFUL LIFE IN A FALLEN WORLD • Delete this highlight
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I will not live a beautiful life in a fallen world unless I live in the FULLness Jesus won for me at the cross: “In Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority” (Colossians 2:9-10). • Delete this highlight
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Nancy Lamar wisely said that doors of nursing homes should be decorated to remind those who pass that the infirm were not always so vague, nearly nameless: This woman raised eight children and got her GED at sixty-two years of age. This man fought in Sicily and North Africa, carried a wounded eighteen-year-old farm boy to safety, and got a Purple Heart. This man was married to the same woman for seventy years, is a recent widower, and put six kids through college (only three were his own). • Delete this highlight
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I am more than my parents’ child, my husband’s wife, my children’s mother. My accomplishments don’t define me; neither do my failures. I am more than my body and more than my intellect, my body type, my contribution. I am more than I know. Lord God, tell me who I am. Then, once You’ve told me, please give me grace to take it in and live in that reality. Even after all these years, the comments and attitudes of others still form part of my sense of who I am. You say that I am precious in Your sight (see Isaiah 43:4), that my old life is gone and that a new life has begun (see 2 Corinthians. 5:17), that You chose me to belong to You before You created the world (see Ephesians 1:4). You love me and care for me as an individual, but You have also placed me into a family, a body, a kingdom. I am never alone because You will never leave me. I am not an island because I am part of a living organism, the church. Even if no one else is physically near, I am as vitally connected as arm to shoulder, thumb to hand, to all believers throughout all of time — past, present, and future. I am blessed in Christ to have both an individual identity and a corporate identity. Hallelujah! • Delete this highlight
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My circumstance will change, but not my identity. I belong to Christ forever; I am His redeemed and adopted child even if I am unknown by all around me. Even if no one knows the story of my life, the Lord will not forget me. Even if I forget my own name, He will claim me. I am His. • Delete this highlight
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Now is the time to refuse outside voices and the persistent inner voice, time to keen in on His voice, to live ever more fully in the quiet joy and peace of belonging to Him. • Delete this highlight
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Father, I am a jar of clay with a treasure inside. I want to live wide open to the Spirit’s influence in my life when I sense His presence and ministry in me and through me, in plodding times when executing glamorless daily responsibilities, and in those deep-water times when life is crashing in and the bottom is falling out. Grace me, Lord. Unexpectedly, sometimes the hardest times to consent to the Spirit’s vibrant life within are days marked by no special grief or joy, days like most days, “every day” days. Fill me. • Delete this highlight
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to live in the fullness of the Spirit day after day is the work of a lifetime. Listening. Responding. Repenting. Surrendering. Listening. Learning. Changing my mind. Changing my plans, my actions. Listening … • Delete this highlight
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Lord, I want my face to minister to people, whether to someone delivering a talk or to the person sitting across from me. I know that the human face is a transmitter and a receiver, always sending and picking up messages. Will my expression encourage the speaker to continue and elaborate, or will it shut them down? Will my face serve the purposes of God? Will it communicate that the God of love lives in me? Lord, I’m too often so thoughtless in face-to-face encounters. In the years remaining, please express Your love and concern for people through me. I offer my face to You. Make it a channel of blessing. • Delete this highlight
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The LORD bless you, and keep you; The LORD make His face shine on you, and be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance on you, and give you peace. (Numbers 6:24-26, • Delete this highlight
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The Lord lift up His [approving] countenance upon you and give you peace (tranquility of heart and life continually). (Numbers 6:25-26, • Delete this highlight
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As I bask in the light of God’s countenance, something happens in me. I am changed as I linger. I look at the Lord, and His beauty shines on me and in me. • Delete this highlight
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the challenges of age don’t release me from responsibility to live for the benefit of others, the glory of God, and the advancement of His kingdom. • Delete this highlight
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Will my countenance communicate confidence in God’s goodness, satisfaction with His presence, promise, and provision? Will His light shine in me? • Delete this highlight
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Annie Dillard wrote, What then shall I do this morning? How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. What we do with this hour, and that one, is what we are doing. A schedule defends from chaos and whim. It is a net for catching days. It is a scaffolding on which a worker can stand and labor with both hands at sections of time. • Delete this highlight
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Life Well Lived Wears Deep Tracks A deep track can be nothing more than a rut, unproductive and perhaps even destructive. I ponder, Well-worn tracks in what direction? • The path to the prayer closet pounded hard, indented • The circuit from the Bible to the heart a sanctified-channel • A trail of faith-and-love choices to the glory of God • Delete this highlight
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I tried for a while to intercede for family when I turned on the lights at dawn and twilight, inspired by Exodus 30:7-8: “Aaron must burn fragrant incense on the altar every morning when he tends the lamps. He must burn incense again when he lights the lamps at twilight so incense will burn regularly before the LORD for the generations to come.” • Delete this highlight
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Just as creativity without discipline cannot be sustained, discipline without creativity can become tedious and dreary. • Delete this highlight
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It is one thing to be creative in the artistic sense, a craftsman with paintbrush or violin or hammer; it is something else to make your life art, a thing of beauty. • Delete this highlight
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Father, when life accelerates, be my perimeter protection as I strive to erect and maintain a scaffold for Your purposes and glory. When life falls in around me, when rubble pins and I breathe dust in darkness, suffuse my days with Your creative light and possibility. Please help me live well a string of days until I come to You. In Jesus’ name. • Delete this highlight

Lord, please reveal anything in my life that might keep others from coming to You. Deal with the Pharisee in me. I want to live a welcoming life like Yours. For the rest of my life, I want to live in the light of “ • Delete this highlight
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On this journey, seeing is not believing; believing is seeing. • Delete this highlight
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The fruit of righteousness is not about being a good citizen, or living by high ideals, or even striving to be a good Christian; the fruit of righteousness is the observable evidence of the life of God in the soul of man. This is a life like no other — abundant life (see John 10:10). This is the Holy Spirit’s reign inside a believer welling up into an eternal spring, Jesus’ life flowing into a thirsty world. • Delete this highlight
“What is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy” (1 Thessalonians 2:19-20). • Delete this highlight
Note: Who is my legacy? Edit
Even in great age and frailty, may I bestow some faith-nourishing morsel on the young. Please, Lord, use me to help others become mature laborers for Your kingdom. Like with Paul, Peter, and David, grace me to invest in forever. • Delete this highlight
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Holy the Firm, Annie Dillard • Delete this highlight
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My body is a seed, a jar of clay, and a tent. Each image speaks of limitation, vulnerability, fragility, and transience. One day the seed will be planted in the earth, the pot will crumble, and the tent will fold. It is in this weakness that my body ministers to me. Built into life on earth is a faithful reminder that I am weak and this body will die. For the believer in Christ, the gloom of the pronouncement is more than compensated for in the truth that when I am released from this earthly body, I will receive a heavenly body (see 2 Corinthians 5:1-5): “Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come” (verse 5). The word picture in the Greek is that the Spirit indwelling is the “earnest money” and “engagement ring” assuring me of my secure and glorious future. • Delete this highlight
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What is a healthy attitude? How do I keep a youthful perspective without, foolishly, trying to act young or prove something? What are the issues? What are the guidelines? What attitudes glorify God? • Delete this highlight
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Reframing means keeping what is important but wisely reconfiguring as necessary. This skill and attitude serves us well at every age. • Delete this highlight
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Lord, when it is in my power to direct the conversation toward You and Your work in my life, grace me to do it. Remind me not to squander opportunities to fortify myself and others with bracing spiritual conversation. • Delete this highlight
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Watching is more than staying awake; it is anticipation and faithfulness. The One my soul loves may come today to gather me to Himself. That hope motivates me to be ready, vigilant and diligent, prepared. I must cultivate a watchful spirit. Lord, so many things press in on my attention, things so noisy and demanding. And You quietly linger. How long Your people have waited for Your coming. Lord Jesus, I want to live awake, expectant, my lamp full of oil, faithfully carrying out my duties. • Delete this highlight
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My Cup So far, I say with David, “LORD, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance” (Psalm 16:5-6). I believe that the Lord wants me to rejoice in and fully enjoy every pleasant cup. The unknown, difficult cup will not diminish my cup of joy. I don’t know what cup awaits within the lines of my story. All I know is that whatever God allows to flow into the frame of my life, it is for my perfecting and His glory. Lord, help me to receive it in that knowledge and spirit. Your will be done. How do I think about this? Is there any way to prepare for my cup? The Lord’s entire life was a preparation for His cup. Every surrender to the Father’s will readied Him to say in Gethsemane, “Your will be done.” Jesus’ prayers from the heart prepared Him for the Cross, His cup (see Hebrews 5:7). The sleeping disciples lacked the benefit of fortifying prayers, but they had eaten the Passover meal with Him just hours before. In ignorance, they had lifted the cup and drunk, the cup that is reminder and preparation. I drink the communion cup and remember that Jesus, in willing obedience, drank the cup of judgment for me, His blood shed for the remission of sin. I lift the cup and drink in gratitude. In this painless remembering and drinking as I sit elbow to elbow with others, God prepares me to drink my cup. Greatest blessing comes to me through the body broken for me and the blood poured out for me. Whatever lies in store for me, my cup, my portion, my story is forever informed and transformed by Jesus’ sacrifice. He drank the bitter cup for me. Now as I drink the cup of remembrance, I reflect that the cup of judgment is empty. I reflect too that “the life … is in the blood” (Leviticus 17:11). The communion cup affirms and reminds that Jesus lives in me. Because He drank the cup, the life I now live is His life in me. Whatever lies in store for me, I will not be alone when I drink my cup. • Delete this highlight
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To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.… When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. (1 Peter 2:21,23-24) Jesus is my example in suffering. Although everything He suffered was undeserved, resentment did not eat away His insides, nor did He lash out in retaliation. His teaching and practice is radical: “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse” (Romans 12:14). “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:44-45). “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). Jesus entrusted Himself to the Father’s loving care. He tells me to do the same: “Those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good” (1 Peter 4:19). Trust God and continue to do good. • Delete this highlight
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I notice a phrase squeezed in between “kind to everyone” and “not resentful”: “able to teach.” Even in life’s bitter times, the disciple is called to advance God’s purposes in the world. Paul taught Timothy in words, but, more powerfully, he taught by example. Paul did not cave in to hurt and disappointment. He did not withdraw to nurse resentment. Instead, he wrote a letter to encourage a young pastor to guard the gospel, to be kind and not resentful, to endure hardship as a good soldier of Christ (see 2 Timothy 2:3). This outward gaze, entrusting oneself to the Father’s loving care and seeking to do good, is an antidote to bitterness. • Delete this highlight
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shrinks down to four slimy, dripping walls? What did a man who walked and sailed all over the Middle East, Europe, and western Asia turning the world upside down do when life closed in on him? Mostly his options were ones of attitudes, of choosing the path that his mind would travel, of keeping his mind and spirit tethered to Christ, always Christ. Paul followed his own advice and thought on what was true, right, noble, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy (see Philippians 4:8). A disciplined mind kept Paul from the easy slide into self-pity and bitterness, debilitating anxiety and self-absorption, soul-saturated rage and despair. • Delete this highlight
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Remember that hurts can intensify, especially near the end of life. Just at the time you long to have dear ones close, you may feel alone, deserted. But Jesus will stand near you (see 2 Timothy 4:16-17). Remember that things are not always as they seem. Give people and situations the benefit of the doubt. “Deserters,” too, are fighting internal battles, just like you are. Resist resentment, and be kind. Guard your heart. When life closes in, what will you believe about God, and what will you believe Him for? My Father, my Example, my Advocate, loose my soul to see You and delight in You even in life’s bitterest times. Remind me, “The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged” (Deuteronomy 31:8). Stir me to faith: “The LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love” (Psalm 147:11). Turn my eyes outward to You in worship and to others in kindness. Guard me from soul-fouling sourness. Instead, may I know You in sweet connection, in ways impossible apart from sharing in Your suffering and comfort (see 2 Corinthians 1:5). Amen. • Delete this highlight
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Lord, I don’t know what losses may drive me to this chapter in the future, but it is “my intended wing,” my high desire, to surrender to Your “taking” and gratefully receive what You give. This chapter represents my “advance-work” to prepare my heart for future joys and sorrows. Light my way in loss and gain. Remind me that what You give and take is my biography, a story meant to bless me and bless others to Your glory. • Delete this highlight
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Father in heaven, please lay grace-strokes of preparation in my life so that if I’m a widow, I will courageously seek the shape of my new life under Your direction. Undergird me. Build into my life, in advance, the God-ward intent that will prepare me for whatever is to come. • Delete this highlight
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A word from God believed and acted upon, and God steps into a desperate situation. Lord, You chose a distressed widow to work through. Why? What do You want me to take away from this account? You gave her the privilege of colaboring with You by faith. You exalted her in her humble circumstance to be party to a mighty work. Use me, too. Bless me that I might be a blessing in that hour when all seems lost. • Delete this highlight

[Tim Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A thoughtful, well-written muse on growing older and what a person should do to live intentionally with the time God grants in her remaining life.

In two opening chapters, Mrs. Fleming lays out her reasons for writing the book and its two big questions: “What kind of old woman will I become? (she wrote the book at 67) and “How will I live the rest of my life?”

These chapters are followed by her thoughts on living a reflective life, a prepared life, an eager life, and a de-romanticized life; ending the first section with thoughts on numbering her (and our) days.

She follows these opening reflections with thoughts on Phase 2–eternal life with God, and Phase 1–the life we have remaining here on earth.

The chapters are short and reflective; her thoughts on intentionality and “wise reframing” as age and time interfere with energy and capacity I thought particularly helpful.

She intersperses each chapter with short prayers addressed to God. These bothered me somewhat, not because they were thoughtless or disrespectful to God, quite the contrary. Rather, the author’s habit of inserting, for example “(see II Corinthians 1:4)” or “(James 1:17)” into an intimate prayer to her Heavenly Father made me wonder who the audience for the prayer really was. Surely God doesn’t need to be reminded of where to find something in Scripture, though I’m sure He delights in His word being repeated to Him in prayer. Though the author surely didn’t intend it, I found these detracted significantly from the value of her inserted prayers.

In whole, a useful book for thinking well about aging. But don’t wait until you are old to begin your consideration of her two excellent questions.

[elisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have not been through all the life stages in this book (obviously), so some chapters spoke to me; while others did not. There were great nuggets of wisdom sprinkled throughout.

My favorites:
*Tuning in may be my best preparation for living the rest of my life well. (pg 20)
*Numbering my days draws me up short and gives me an opportunity to resist the inclination to drift thoughtlessly. (pg 48)
*God is not asking me to number my days to increase my pace but rather to examine my routine, not to increase my efficiency but to see where I must make course corrections in heart, character, and actions. (pg 51)
*As I bask in the light of God's countenance, something happens in me. I am changed as I linger. As social creatures, humans read one another unconsciously. My body language and expression telegraph signals to those around me. What message am I sending? (pg 84)
*How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives (Annie Dillard). (pg 88)
*The physical dilemma is undeniable, but the greater challenge is managing the mind and spirit. Panic and despair are threats as dangerous as the weight of debris and the need for food and water. (pg 90)
*Perhaps the rest of my life is my funeral sermon. I will deliver it day by day. The rest of my life is preparation for death - and live forevermore. (pg 193)

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book for a friend and one for myself. But I am giving both copies away. I took some notes (6 pages) and that is my takeaway. I think it is great how this author takes aging seriously. She wants to "end well." So do I.

Her prayers (that are in italics) in the book are very meaningful. One of her theme lines is: Lord, save me from myself. I like that. I think as people age we get more self-focused: on our health, our time, our comfort, our money.

A lot of wisdom in the book

[Joy Kidney · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." - Psalm 90:12

When the author turned fifty, she began an "Old Woman File," wondering what kind of older woman she'd become, how best to prepare to live the rest of her life, what patterns she should set to shape those years. The book is the culmination of the wisdom she learned and thought about to live life intentionally, even reframing the losses inevitable in living a long life. Notes in the back list the resources she'd collected. Useful foresight at any age.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made great impressions on me. I found myself underlining and highlighting on nearly every other page. There were so many great insights into death and preparation and how God wants to use our lives fully until the very end. Some of the material was difficult to read because who wants to focus on death and if we’re ready for it or not? But this is all part of life and living with intention. A great reminder for loving and living with Jesus truly at the center of all of our days.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jean has a beautiful way of writing, with just the right descriptive words. This book was no exception. I like that she has included the Scriptural foundation for all of her thoughts. So that the book is deeply grounded in the Word. I want the desire that Jean has for God & the intentionality that flows from it.

[Cassie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jean Fleming has fantastic wisdom and advice when it comes to living life and following Christ throughout your lifetime. Though she did give me great advice and wisdom, her writing style was a bit disorganized and confusing to me.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am honored to call Jean Fleming friend and mentor. This wonderful book teaches us how to live our lives intentionally and finish well. Her prayers that she has written throughout are simply beautiful.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read

This book is encouraging and insightful. I would recommend it highly to my friends. I pray God reminds me of the prayers she wrote.

[LeAnne · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I could, i would buy every single one of my friends a copy of this book. It took me so long to read it because there was so much to chew on. Highly recommend.

[Jeanette · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn't finish.

[Kristin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Worth reading over and over. Reminding me of things as I am in the day to day to look higher.

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll keep returning to this wise and warm book again and again. This is a book my soul needs!

[Sadie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was recommended to me by a friend, and it was an excellent. Written with grace and thoughtful insights into how to age well.

[Trace · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have thoroughly enjoyed all of Jean Fleming's books over the years and I thoroughly enjoyed this one as well!

[Leigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful book, very helpful. Will read again...

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I head into empty nesting, this was a great book to read. A great reminder of how to order my days with the end in sight.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great Biblical insights; little hard to process due to older style of writing- author very passionate and connected to God!

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very inspiring and practical book for determining life's priorities, especially in the last half.