What Am I Supposed to Do with My Life? Asking the Right Questions - Brouwer, Douglas J. Eerdmans, 2006. 111p. $14.00, paperback. ISBN-10: 0-8028-2961-9. ISBN-13: 978-0-8028-2961-0. 248.4 Vocation—Christianity. Christian life.

One of the most perplexing questions Christians ask is what their spiritual calling might be. Determining our spiritual vocation—what we’re intended to do to serve God—is a personal task in discernment, complicated by the fact that our skills, talents, and gifts change and evolve over time. Figuring out how to use them at each stage of our lives can be challenging.

In the early pages of What Am I Supposed to Do With My Life? Douglas Brouwer makes it clear that he does not hold the answer. In fact, no one can really answer this question for another. Brouwer does believe, however, that he knows some of the questions any individual should be asking when attempting to walk the path God intended.

Filled with anecdotal examples and thought-provoking insight, Brouwer’s book is both an excellent personal read and a wonderful resource for small-group discussion. Brouwer takes the reader on a step-by-step journey from the starting point of hearing God’s call, through establishing a vocational course of action, honing God-given gifts to better suit God’s purpose, handling the disappointments and setbacks that might lie in wait on life’s path, and finally to learning the peace of knowing one is walking with God.

Robert Lewis
First United Methodist Church
Martinsville, Virginia