This book, was my second read by Lysa Terkeurst. I enjoyed her book Uninvited so much, I began looking for others and this one caught my eye. The Best Yes walks through allowing us to learn that saying no doesn't make us less of a Christian, but using the power of the "small no" is actually a very thoughtful approach to most of life.
I'm one who feels that saying no to anyone may hurt their feelings or that they will think little of me if I do. People pleasing is a downfall of mine so this concept of using the small no to allow God to use me in the best yeses of my life was very interesting to me. It was uncomfortable but I figured, it couldn't hurt to read up and see what she had to say.
Her concepts of what our best yes looks like really hit home and made me think. She covers how people will react, to how God uses us better if we allow space to think things through, to asking ourselves questions like: "If we say yes, what else suffers?", "Can I do my best in all aspects if I say yes to this too?"
Terkeurst is very to the point with a great array of real stories and truth straight from God's Word. It's a book I'd strongly recommend to anyone, but specifically to the overburdened, overscheduled people-pleasers. The ones who believe the lies our world has created and that they should be able to do it all. They believe they can, when in reality their whole life suffers due to far too many yeses and the fear of the word no because of fear of rejection and judgment.
Since reading her book. I have found myself in more situations of having to ask this question, especially with the Christmas holidays upon us. It's so easy to become overloaded with the desires of "doing it all" through this season, and then the next thing I know, it's over and I am beyond tired and stressed instead of having been able to enjoy and focus on the truth that is in Christmas-God's Gift.
Instead I'm finding I actually think before spiting out my yes. And not just thinking about if I can squeeze something in but also asking myself, "Can I be my best self for God and for my family if I do say yes?" This has been hard, as I actually WANT to be able to do some of these things. But in reality, if I overload and overcrowd my schedule I become a hard to live with person and really don't like or appreciate the gifts I have had time for. It all becomes a blur and leaves me feeling depressed and stressed- and a little dizzy!
So if any of this sounds familiar, I'd highly recommend this read!
I haven't been paid to read and review The Best Yes, the above is simply me and my thoughts and feels on the book.