“We yearn for a place of belonging and becoming. A lifegiving haven of warmth, rest, and joy that will bless everyone who enters it. A welcoming respite in an isolated culture. We long for a lifegiving home.”

With these words, beloved mother and daughter authors Sally and Sarah Clarkson invite readers on a journey. This journey leads down the path of creating a home filled with special memories and traditions that your family will cherish. Published by Tyndale Momentum early in 2016, “The Lifegiving Home: Creating a Place of Belonging and Becoming” is certain to inspire women who long for their homes to become places to flourish, love, grow and belong. For mothers, grandmothers, and women living on their own, this book will illuminate the heart of their homes of the present; but young and unmarried women still living under their parents’ roofs may discover a beautiful inspiration for their homes of the future.

Containing over 250 pages of small print, this in-depth book is divided into two parts: Thinking about Home, and Seasons of Home. In the first part, Sally and Sarah alternate authorship of four chapters, revealing their visions for the legacy, rhythms, and purpose of a truly lifegiving home. In the second, much longer portion, the ladies lead their readers through the twelve months of the year, sharing their family’s favorite traditions and practices that apply especially to that month, but are often universally applicable as well. While many of these ideals will provide excellent examples for families to follow, many others may prove a little, well, impractical. Poetic idealism is a strong point of the Clarkson family – basic practicality is not.

Without question, the authors of this book are to be commended for their beautiful portrayal of a home filled with love, learning, and laughter. With their words, Sally and Sarah paint a picture of a practically perfect home, one that readers can aspire to create in their own lives. At times while reading, however, I felt my aspirations becoming a little dubious. Was it even possible to create a home half as wonderful as the Clarkson’s? I felt doubtful. Although I don’t feel it was the authors‘ intention to make readers feel this way, they somehow still did. In addition, the language of the book, while poetic and lovely in short spurts, grew tiresome over time. This was especially the case with Sarah’s sections; she continuously used long, flowery sentences filled with big words to illustrate a simple point. Overall, I would recommend this book as a beautiful but idealistic portrait of a home that everyone can apply to their own lives in some way. Not all, and maybe not even most of the ways are likely to be relevant or possible for ordinary people. However, if we treat the ideas and ideals of the Clarksons as a nearly perfect pattern that we can incorporate into our own lives to a reasonable extent, I believe much benefit can be gained from “The Lifegiving Home”.

I was given a copy of this book, free of charge, in exchange for an honest review. I extend my heartfelt thanks to the Tyndale Publicity Team for sending it to me!