Over a year ago, I requested to read and review An Intentional Life by Karen Stott on NetGalley. It seemed like a book I would enjoy and after receiving it, I would just look at it sitting on my ebook shelf and never got around to reading it. Then one day recently, I decided now is the time to go through this work. And in Gods timing, there’s no time like this as it touched my heart to read this!

Being on stay-at-home orders for COVID-19 has been a great excuse to catch up on reading when normally I would be commuting or doing other normal life activities. As I read An Intentional Life by Karen Stott, I realized it felt like I was making a new best friend. She shares about intimate details of times in her life and expressed hope God used that moment to speak to her.

As the reader, I felt like Karen Stott was conversing with me. She made me feel understood! how is it that sharing about her moments reminds me of my own? How is it that she brings up everyday moments that feel like mine? I swear she’s walked into my future and related my weaved my current life into her past.

Karen Stott is very intentional with her topics and descriptions as she shares how Good orchestrated her life to fit into this book just perfectly. Though each chapter, she describes moments in time and how God used that moment to draw her closer to Him. These moments intertwined with moments own. I felt so connected to her as I read her words! Ms Stott, you don’t know me, but I feel like your best friend now!

An Intentional Life by Karen Stott was provided complimentary in exchange foran honest review. I didn’t expect to meet a best friend in these words! I give this book five out of five tiaras!

I am always looking for more ideas about how to live an intentional life. Karen Stott shows us through her personal stories how we can strive to be more intentional as God’s daughters. She tells us to slow down and savor, nourish those in our circles of influence, and pursue our God-given dreams. I appreciated her honest stories of motherhood and friendship. She has taken an interesting journey of business building, and I enjoyed the peek into her story. Inspiring and uplifting for women who want peace and direction in their busy lives.

Favorite quote:

“None of us gets the life we expected, but if we surrender, we can learn to love the life He gives.”

I received a preview copy of An Intentional Life from Netgalley.

An Intentional Life by Karen Stott is an amazing new book that you can use as a devotional or just read through.

I loved it so much that I couldn’t stop with just one chapter each day. Karen’s conversational style makes you feel like she is sitting in your living room having a heart to heart chat with you.

As she points out, Proverbs 31 can be a wonderful model for your life, but it doesn’t mean you have to abandon any ideas of working or entrepreneurship. In fact Proverbs 31 specifically describes a woman who is faithful to her husband, supportive of her family, caring towards her children, and able to provide in her own independent way by seeking innovative opportunities to help your family. She asks the questions you have been wishing someone would ask you and then gently guides you through a process that leads you to the answers you seek.

As Karen says in her introduction, “Let’s adventure together and uncover the greatness behind those beautiful eyes of yours. For you hold more power, and wonder, and impact than you even know.”
Who Is This Book Good For?

You! Overall this book is one that you will treasure for years to come and will speak to you throughout all the seasons of your life.
But first, you need to get the book!

"Dare to follow your passions, dare to live a joyful life and don't be afraid of failure, because you can learn a lot from it". This is how I would summarize the main message of this book. Drawing from her experiences of starting businesses and ministries while also looking after her kids, Karen Stott has lots of wisdom and encouragement to share.

But she doesn't only talk about launching a business or ministry, she also talks about when it might be time to move on when circumstances or priorities shift. A very important point is also how to balance home, family and work and that you don't necessarily have to choose between these things.

I think she could have included a few more Scriptures, but overall, the book was nice to read and very encouraging. I liked that she shared a lot of personal experiences and what she learned from it. If you're looking for practical advice on how to start a business, this might not be the right book, but if you're looking for personal stories and spiritual encouragement, I would recommend this book to you.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

An Intentional Life by Karen Stott is a phenomenal book. I expected a book that would be a call to living intentionally and fulfilling my purpose, just as the title says. This book definitely did that. But this book is so very much more than that. This book is a call to live every moment to the fullest, to embrace the abundant life that God has given us. It is a call to make every moment with our children and family members count. I highly recommend this book to anyone. It is an important message for all. Pick up this book! You'll be so glad you did. I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher. These opinions are entirely my own.

Like the voice of a loving but realistic friend, Karen Scott spoke to me through an Intentional Life, and reminded me that I cannot do it all, but I can break free from the cycle of overwhelm and make time for the priorities that matter. This book encouraged me and gave me practical tips for putting my family and my dreams above the mundane busy cycle of every day. It's so easy to get caught up in the overwhelming pace of life, but this book reminded me to take a step back, take it all in, and keep my eyes on what matters most.

If you struggle at times with knowing what your purpose is, with living intentionally, and with balancing your responsibilities to others with the passions God has given you, this is a book that I'm sure you will find encouraging.
Karen Stott shares her story of attempting to live intentionally and it is full of encouragement and inspiration for others seeking to do the same.
The chapters are short and easy to read, and the anecdotes she shares cover various areas of life, including family, church and business. It is full of wisdom and it is very honest. The author is not afraid of sharing the lessons learned through her mistakes as well as her successes. Well worth a read.

Karen Stott's book was one I picked up on a whim - of sorts.
I had never heard of Karen or her ministry, but read the back cover description and was hooked.

I'm not going to lie - I read this book fairly quickly! Karen's writing made it easy to read and hard to put down. I would sit down to read a chapter, and end up reading five! The words just flowed on to the pages and in turn, into my heart.

A few highlights from Karen's book:
1. The mixture of conversation about family & work. I loved the way that at times, she focused on important family habits, and at other times, she focused on work and calling. At first, I was a little confused by the fact that there weren't sections on "work" and then "family", but as I continued the book, I actually enjoyed the way the chapters flowed back and forth between the various topics - which I think is representative of the intentional life Karen advocates in her book.
2. There were so many good one-liners and tidbits of truth that I'll tuck away, write in my journal, or stick up on my wall. Many of Karen's thoughts were simple, but powerful. I appreciate it when a book contains great prose, but also powerful one-liners and simple sayings that can be remembered quickly.
3. Karen's honesty and transparency. I didn't feel like I was reading a book from an expert, but from an everyday woman who had walked the same path that I walked.

At the same time, my only qualm with this book is, as refreshing as Karen's honesty and transparency were, at times I found it to be a little overwhelming. There was so many ups-and-downs in her personal story that I sometimes found it hard to follow the personal narrative along with the teachable points of the book. This isn't to downplay Karen's story - which I think is incredible - but simply to say that perhaps it being arranged in a little more of a chronological way, or being reserved for certain parts of the book, may have made it read a little more clearly.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I thought it was going to be a book that encouraged me to pursue my dreams, but it was so much more than that. It touched on many different aspects of life, such as how we interact with our family, surrendering to God's will, and pursuing our calling. Some of my favorite quotes include:

"None of us gets the life we expected, but if we surrender, we can learn to love the life He gives."
"We must be willing to lay down the life we thought we wanted and pick up the one He has for us."
"Because I'm starting to think that our calling has nothing to do with the words that make up our job descriptions, and everything to do with who we actually are and how we go about any job or duty."
"Stop asking what could go wrong and start asking what could go right."
"I want people to stop in their tracks when they see Him on me."

Overall, this was a motivating and inspirational book that encourages us to pursue our calling, in accordance to God's will.

This book... I’m in total awe. Wow. I saw it on netgalley and knew I had to pick it up immediately. This year I’ve been reading more Christian books and this has to be one of my top books of that category. I was highlighting quotes on quotes on quotes from this book. ‘I don’t believe we were created to be go, go, go people all the time. God isn’t up in heaven right now preparing an obstacle course or a checklist for us when we see Him face-to-face. He’s up there, right now, preparing for us a home. A table. A seat.’

4 out of 5 stars.

This book is full of Karen's personal experiences and how she handled things in her life. How she has learned to be sensitive to God's promptings.

Something awakened in me as I read this book. I was reminded that I have lost a lot of what God spoke to me several years ago. I am starting to see that maybe the reason I haven't been happy lately is because I am not being obedient to what God has called me to.

This book reads almost like a personal journal. So if you enjoy that style of writing you will enjoy this.

Sometimes the chapters seems a bit short, I felt like it was just getting started and it was done and I wasn't sure what happened. But otherwise a nice read.


A copy of this book was given to me through Netgalley.com. All opinions are my own.

I really wanted to like this book but a lot of it just felt like a lot of "look how much I've prospered doing all of these things that I wanted to do and cost money and lost money on." I finished it but it was hard.

I chose this book from Net Galley because I liked the title. I thought it would offer suggestions on how to live a more intentional life.

An Intentional Life is not a how-to manual. It’s the story of a woman who has had a lot of experiences that she uses to guide her readers to greater intentionality.

When we think about something that is intentional, we think of something done on purpose or with purpose. Is that the way you’re living your life? Or are you, like me, sometimes sleepwalking through choices and life experiences?

The introduction starts: “Do you ever ache for more?”

Yes! Of course we do. We want what she has, or at least what social media tells us she does. The noise from the era we live in is so great that sometimes we can’t even hear our inner desires. We have learned to tune out the still, small voice that echo the desires of our Creator, the dreams that God has placed in our hearts.

An Intentional Life is divided up into three parts: Passion, Purpose and Presence. As you would expect, each section goes into detail about how each of the three Ps tie into intentional living. Karen invites us to change the way we think about our calling. No longer should we look at it as something static that takes forever to find and can only be done in the context of our careers. “A calling isn't a destination.” she says. “It’s a lifestyle.” Are you ready you involve your calling in every aspect of your life?

This was a good read. It showed me how to look at my calling in a slightly different way. A way that makes me see that I have been walking in my calling all along. And because I now understand what it is, I can embrace it instead of shying away from it.

I absolutely love this book!! It talks about pursuing your purpose and living it. We have dreams and desires yet we don't pursue them. This book gives insight on how to God can help us tap into our purpose and we live it.

I am so proud of Karen for releasing this book. It not only shows courage but also strength. This is a sister friend read and I love the stories she shares within. Our lives are intentional and we deserve to give and receive the very best from others and ourselves.

This book was exciting and challenging at the same time. It reminded me that God created me as an individual with a specific purpose, he put the passions in my heart that constantly draw me towards the things he wants me to be doing.. I am learning to lay down my pieces of dreams and gifts and pick up God's dreams for me, setting aside my preconceived ideas of what I thought was best. I know I have to enjoy this moment that God has me in and remember he will reveal all in his good time.