Review: Essentials for Life by Marcia Ford

Marcia Ford's newest release, Essentials for Life, is all about the basics of living out our Christian faith. "They're called the basics for a reason," says the back of the book "You build everything on them." And this is exactly what the book encourages us to do: get back to basics.

So what are the basics of Christian living? Well, some of them you might expect. Like believing in God. :-) Having faith. Reading your Bible. Memorizing Scripture passages. All the things we're taught in Sunday School.

But there are some surprising additions that I really like, especially in the more practical areas of the book. I appreciate the whole "back to basics" idea. I do think that, in general (like the book says), when we get off-balance, or our lives seem to be spiraling out of control, we should return to our original programming. We have a good program. Get back to it. I like it.

This is set up more as a devotional text than a reference book, or something you would read all in one day. It's broken up into short, two-page segments for each of the basics that Marcia Ford outlines. It would be a great text to read every morning at the start of the day, alongside your Bible, if you do that. If you're struggling with how to regain some dynamic balance in your life, or how to refocus, check this book out. I found it to be very engaging, and full of digestible information.

**In accordance with blogging mandates, I received this book from Thomas Nelson in order to review it on my blog.**