Customer Reviews

Disciplines of the Beautiful Woman

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(0)
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2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Disciplines of the Beautiful Woman is a well-written, down-to-earth approach to living the life of a "Proverbs 31" woman. Ortlund's style is very personal, leaving you feeing as if you've been talking to an old friend. She shares many anecdotes from her life and ministry, helping the reader to relate to her as a real person living a real life. Ortlund offers sound, useful advice in a caring, accepting manner. Her general education as well as her strong knowledge of the Bible and God's teachings is very evident. Ortlund also addresses physical beauty and its proper place in your life, as well as time-saving techniques for clothes shopping. In particular, her notebook system is perhaps the best plan for keeping track of your schedule and family responsibilities as well as your Bible and other studies. Disciplines of the Beautiful Woman is a blessing when our materialistic culture starts to skew your priorities, and one of the most inspirational books I have ever read.

This is a book that has literally changed the way I want to live. The author writes as if she is a friend, and shares from her own life. The book comments on many different aspects of life including organising your home and your private life - right down to your wardrobe! She focuses on the idea of "Eliminate and concentrate" and wants every woman to live a God centred and glorifying life. Definitely worth reading.

Anne invented the "Daytimer" before women were carrying them, knew instinctively that in a busy woman's life "Eliminate and Concentrate" is always the key, and totally changed my life with her personal and spiritual book. She manages the roles of mother and best friend all rolled into one and challenges us gently into living deliberately rather than haphazardly. I am so glad it is back in print! I recommend it everywhere I go.

Disciplines of the Beautiful Women holds true even in today's time. If you are a busy career woman or a stay at home mom her tips just on organizing your closet are worth it's weight in gold. Yet this book is so much more than just time management and how to take care of yourself including your appearance. We all know that we get a better response from our spouse and others if we put the time into our looks. Not to mention how we feel better about ourselves in doing so. There is just a small section with her tips on how she does so without vanity and lots of time involved. That way we have the time to work on "the inside" and get to what path God has for us or the the science experiment you may have found under your couch cushion courtesy of your kids.
The greatest treasure in this book I found to be her "notebook" (wonderful tips and much more than a daily planner) and how she writes down her prayers. When you go back over some of your prayers from the past you can giggle as you see how much you have grown and how the Lord is working in your life. Plus her filing system is a brilliant idea.
She never misrepresents in her title. It is indeed a discipline to commit to the methods yet she simplifies her time tested methods for us. Very rewarding and easy read. Just a note that there is a study guide in the back that you may want to do along with each chapter instead of waiting until you read the entire book.
She uses her life as a Pastors Wife,busy mom and public speaker for her examples and how these things help her with time and just enrich her life as it has so many others that have used her methods. Not to make anyone feel inferior or less than a devoted Christian than she. It worked for her so she is just sharing it with others. Most people that have read this book say the same thing. "It changed my life."

Praise God for books like this! Anne Ortlund has wonderfully shared golden nuggets of truths for any, if not for all of the women of the world, especially to those of the family of God. Her teachings are very practical and very attainable with the help of God Who dwells in the hearts of those who believe in Him and in His word. Indeed, a beautiful woman is not only with a beautiful face and body, but most of all, she has the Lord Jesus Christ at the very center of her life. That, is God's kind of a beautiful woman!Thank you Anne for sharing you life in a book.God bless you!

Anne invented the "Daytimer" before women were carrying them, knew instinctively that in a busy woman's life "Eliminate and Concentrate" is always the key, and totally changed my life with her personal and spiritual book. She manages the roles of mother and best friend all rolled into one and challenges us gently into living deliberately rather than haphazardly. I am so glad it is back in print! I recommend it everywhere I go.

I read this book just before I got married, and again during my pregnancy, learning so much more each time that I've gone out and bought about twenty copies each time I heard a girlfriend struggling with discipline in herself and her home. This is not just a book, but a great and wonderful tool. Thank you Anne Ortlund!!!!

Here's an actual quote from the end of this book, where Ortlund imagines what her overwhelmed reader must be thinking about all the organization systems she's presented:

"But here I sit," you say, "with a girdle in the middle of the floor, dishes in the sink, and unanswered mail strewn on the bed. Where do I start?"

This assumption bothers me on so many levels, but it's the girdle in the middle of the floor that says so much about why I just can't get into this book. I truly would be bothered by the presence of a girdle on my floor, but not for the reasons she's thinking.

If you can get past the dated examples she gives (and the outlook they represent) and the privileged life she leads (as mentioned by a previous reviewer), this book could be useful to you if: 1) you feel your home and your schedule is messy and out of control and this bothers you, because 2) you accept the premise that your outward self ought to be organized, neat, and attractive because this is becoming to a woman of God, and 3) you are the kind of woman who cares a great deal about appearance (of your outward self, of your home and "personal space") and 4) you are looking for some ways (and a pep talk) to simplify and organize your life so that you can devote yourself more fully to personal devotion and to discipling more women.

While I found some of the ideas in this book useful and have even implemented some of them (albeit in my own non-fussy style), I have to give this book only two stars because there is a tone and undercurrent to the book that disturbs me--so much so that while I wanted to learn from her ideas, reading the book was for me a prolonged exercise in eye-rolling and repeating to myself "it is for freedom that Christ has set you free ... it is for freedom that...". There are an awful lot of "oughts" and "shoulds" in this book that don't seem to have any basis in scripture. Having been raised in churches with lots of oughts and shoulds, and having long since diligently and joyfully shed the underlying legalisms of all those voices in my head, I just balk at this kind of tone. When someone writes that dirty laundry is "unworthy of lying around, untended to, in the life of a child of God!" (both quotes, p. 75), I have to ask the question, "why is this presented as a moral issue?"

So unless you're up for being tisk-tisked into the virtues of tidiness, fastidious organization, and charm-school appearance and manners, you may, like me, take umbrage at the Sue Ann Nivens-ness of it all.

In the chapter on cleaning up and organizing your immediate surroundings, for example, she begins with the assertion that your closet, your bathroom counter, your bedside table "should reflect the order and peace of your inner life with God" (75). It should? Why? Are people assessing my inner life by the orderliness of my bedside table? And if it's messy, just what are they assuming this announces about me and my God? A cluttered table equals a cluttered soul? How about I just don't value tidy housekeeping as much as I value the books that are stacked on that table, and given a spare half hour I will almost always choose reading over dusting? How about if my husband and my boys find me way more interesting that way? As a matter of fact, maybe that overflowing bedside table does reflect my inner peace with God--and with myself.

In her defense, I have to say that the chapters on kingdom priorities and discipling show me that this woman's heart is in the right place. For her, the outward appearances are important, probably because of the way she was raised and the people she's around, and I really believe that she devised her organizational systems and wardrobe planning ("eliminate and concentrate") in an effort not to be bogged down by what she sees as the demands of good housekeeping and feminine grooming, so that she can get to the Kingdom work. But I am grateful that my in my generation, God's women aren't expected to wear coordinating outfits and have tidy bedside tables to be considered "beautiful."

This book changed my life 30 years ago and the principles are still the same. Instead of "taking life as it comes", Anne's practical ideas for daily discipline (based on Scriptural principles) were easy to implement. So easy, I'm still using them. Yes, my notebook is now a BlackBerry, but that's where I keep my goals, my lists, my calendar. I recommend this book to anyone feeling swamped and overwhelmed with fast paced shallowness in their life. Excellent for personal study or small groups.

I am so excited to have found this book! I am not the type of person to read a whole book. I start reading it then put it down and never pick it up again. This is the first book that I could not get enough of. I got it as a present years ago and lost it when I moved. I learned so much on how to be a Godly woman and a great wife to my husband. This book teaches how to look Godly and be more mature and organized so that God can use you as effectively as possible. You will not regret getting this book. It is so down to earth and practical, yet teaches Godly principles. Thank you Anne for writing such a wonderful book!

Lea