Have you ever found yourself reading because it resonated with a season in your life? I’ve read less fiction lately and more non-fiction. This quiet season of winter promotes more rest and specifically, I’m reflecting on how my homeschooling role is nearing an end. My mom life is looking different. It’s exciting to see the end in sight and what the future might hold for each of our three kids. No matter where you’re at in your parenting journey the chances are you’ve prayed and petitioned on behalf of your kids at one point or another. You probably wear your heart on your sleeve when it comes to their well-being, whether it’s physical or spiritual.

About a month ago my Dad told me about a book called How to Ruin Your Life by 30 by Steve Farrar. My husband and I were intrigued as over the years we’ve purposely chosen to integrate literate-based learning for our kid’s homeschool curriculum. Well, after a quick description from my mom over a FaceTime call my husband stated, “buy the book, and make it required reading for the kids.” Is that a bold statement for a book he’d never read? Or is it the prompting of the Lord that we devour this book and pray that it will impact our children?

My copies arrived last week and I set them aside to look through knowing I would want to read the short non-fiction book before the kids do. However, I had other projects around the house and the book could wait a month or so. Late on Tuesday night my youngest son told me he had been sick to his stomach while outside and was going to take a shower. Taking into consideration how late it already was and that my son was in no shape to return back outside in -45F, and neither had he finished his job of filling our outdoor wood boiler … I went on a reconnaissance mission through the garage. Are we talking mom to mom here? You know what this means, right? There were remnants of his sickness in the garage on his shoes, his coat over by the door and much much more somewhere and I needed to find it. All this to say I was up late washing his clothes and picked up, How to Ruin Your Life By 30, and began reading. I could hardly put the book down.

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The striking narrative of this book is meant to startle you and get the wheels of your mind turning. Steve Fararr, speaks boldly to young adults but the wisdom is for anyone who will listen. I think we can all identify with our foolishness at times and the cause and effect of those types of decisions. Steve, drives home point after point of how we can quickly turn the trajectory of our life in a wayward pattern that we may regret the rest of our lives. However, with every solid, Bible-based reason he gives of how you can ruin your life by 30, he offers hope and tangible items that you can follow if you choose NOT to ruin your life by 30.

As a parent of three kids ranging from sixteen to twenty this book is a golden nugget that we hope will implore our kids to consider the costs, weigh the options, and choose wisely.

I can’t say enough good things about this 135-page book. Does ‘good’ mean enough to encourage you to read it for yourself? How about this book has the potential to impact your kids and save them from ruin if they choose to heed the Godly advice it outlines?

When my son was sick with the flu I wanted to help him get comfortable and have the rest he needed. But, more than anything I want each of my kids to love the Lord and walk with Him their whole life long. Will this book make an impact? Is there a morsel that they’ll chew on for a bit? I hope and pray they do. If you’d like a copy of the reading guide I created for this book I’d be happy to send you one when you email me at writealaska@mary-ann-landers.com.

Alaskan-based author Maryann Landers writes women’s faith-filled fiction based on true stories of extraordinary women of her magnificent state. She loves to showcase the unique north and give her readers a little taste of rustic Alaska. 

While writing in her log home in the woods she is also looking forward to her next adventure with her Alaskan husband, juggling mom tasks such as crafting homemade meals from moose and caribou meat, building DIY projects from scrap wood piles and guiding her teens in their homeschooling.