Book Review - Do Hard Things by Alex and Brett Harris

Taking a que from a new friend and fellow children/youth worker Jared Kennedy (SojournKids blog - listed on the left) I will start sharing with you some of the things I am learning from what I am reading. Thanks Jared for the reminder share the learning process.
I was given the title of this book by my Pastor, Joe Thorn (blog also on left), after asking him for some suggestions for something to read. He had heard good things about it, and since I am running the youth program these days, thought it would be good for me.
I liked it so much am actually getting ready to take the youth at Redeemer Fellowship (Sojourn) through the book Do Hard Things by Alex and Brett Harris. These twins at the age of 19 wrote this book that inspires youth to do just what the title says, do hard things. The authors rightly assert that there is little to no expectations put on youth in our culture. Youth, of today, are expected to have all the fun with none of the responsibility they can because this is the best time of life. The authors reject that outright and basically through down the challenge to get off the couch and do something, something hard that will ultimately grow and change the youth of today.
The book centers on five things that are considered hard by our culture. When these five things are overcome doing hard things gets done. The authors call them the "five kinds of hard". The five things are:
1. Getting out of our comfort zones.
2. Going beyond what is expected or required.
3. Do things that are too big to do alone.
4. Doing the small hard things that don't pay off.
5. Going against the crowd.
The authors make it clear throughout the book that one student's "hard thing" will probably be different than another's. One student may struggle with getting out of their comfort zone, while the other doesn't. Helping student's find their "hard thing" is the key. This is where parents and to a lesser degree youth workers can help.
This is a thought provoking, "change your prospective" kind of book. It is written by teens for teens. I was challenged by it even though I am well past my teen years (at least physically). I would recommend it to anyone with a teen, working with teens or have kids approaching those years. It's an easy read, hard to put down, and if applied rightly, will challenge youth do great things for God, community, and the world.