Synopses & Reviews
What happens when idealism and reality crash into each other (and you)?
If you have ever passionately invested yourself in living your faith, championing a cause, or representing some noble ideal, you’ve probably experienced a faceoff between idealism and reality.
Society often recognizes its deficits—poverty, crime, divisiveness, anxiety, excess—yet it rarely celebrates the rise of people who want to change those shortcomings. Still, many of us chip away at the world as it is, believing that a better world is possible.
While in that place where we work to see good come about, we meet resistance almost daily: between dreams and disappointment, between wholeness and dysfunction, between past and future.
This can lead to frustration, bitterness, disillusionment, loneliness, and exhaustion. It can lead to people abandoning the church, faith, and God . . . or just becoming more passive, less passionate versions of their former faith-charged selves.
Don’t give in! This book is your survival guide. You can champion your cause and your faith, even in a broken and dysfunctional world. Stay in the race and take this guide along as source of fuel, rest, and encouragement along the way.
Review
The Well-Balanced World Changer is a breath of fresh air for leaders who need a crash course in the art of setting healthy expectations and pushing through disappointment to stay the course and finish well. This book is like a seasoned friend who has the guts to tell you what you need to hear to push forward in tough leadership territory. It provides dozens of sticky insights that will help you pace yourself so you can live out your passions and great ideas for the long haul.
Brad Lomenick, president and key visionary of Catalyst, author of The Catalyst Leader
Change is hard. Keep going. Read this book and you will be encouraged to pursue and balance your dream of changing the world. We all need this.
Jeff Shinabarger, author of More or Less, founder of Plywood People
Cunningham agains reminds me that I am not a rock star and neither are you. What a relief! Rather, we are more than enough. Together we are God's hands and feet placed exactly where He wants us for His purposes in our generation. Would-be world changers get a fresh idea of what this looks like in an ordinary yet intentional life.
Shayne Moore, activist, author of Refuse to Do Nothing and Global Soccer Mom
No one believes in your potential to change the world more than Sarah Cunningham. She's one of the most faith-filled and compassionate thought-leaders to come along in years. Yet her insights are grounded and her ideas will disrupt your long-standing beliefs. This is a must-read for anyone who dares to dream.
Ben Arment, creator of STORY and Dream Year
About the Author
SARAH CUNNINGHAM is an idea junkie who blogs about extraordinary friendships in a sometimes too ordinary world. She and her husband, Chuck, live in southern Michigan, where they serve as chief servants to the Emperor Justus, her 3 year old son and his newly-appointed chief of staff, the 5-month old, Malachi. She has authored three other books, does freelance event and communications work and attends a Wesleyan church plant that meets at her city's YMCA.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
1. Balancing Act (Expectations & Pace)
2. Open-Handed Living (Control & Surrender)
3. The Art of Belonging (Friendship & Support)
4. Protected Identity (Service vs. Martyrdom)
5. The Gift of Tension (Frustration & Vision)
6. In Search of Green Grass (Money & Security)
7. Falling Into Rhythm (Practice & Habit)
8. Ten Years from Now (Stagnancy & Growth)
9. The Long Haul (Perseverance)