The Calling Journey: Mapping the Stages of a Leader's Life Call - A Coaching Guide

This is the first and best book I would recommend for anyone who is struggling with Christian Calling, especially people over the age of thirty, and most definitely people over the age of fifty. Most books about Christian Calling help the reader to discover his/her spiritual gifts, talents, and passions, and how all of that connects to the world's need. That approach is indeed helpful for anyone at any age, but it is most helpful for younger people. When Christians hit difficult times of Christian Calling in later life—after discovering our gifts, passions, etc.—there aren't many resources to help with those unique struggles.What's different about this book is that it recognizes and describes three predictable Calling Valleys that most Christians experience. The author discovered these Valleys by studying the lives of biblical characters and the author's hundreds of coaching clients. What a relief to discover that our agonizing times of Christian Calling are not only normal, but they uniquely prepare us for the next great stage of growth in Christian Calling!I am a Christian life coach, author, and speaker, specializing in helping people find and fulfill their Christian calling. God continues to work through this book to transform my own life and the lives of my coaching clients, readers, and conference attenders. I could not recommend Tony Stolzfus books any more highly. God speaks powerfully through him. I believe God will speak powerfully through him to you as well. God bless!

I found myself at a crossroad in life and work. This resource was suggested by a friend and has provided timely help. It’s a great processing tool. I recommended it to another friend who has also benefited greatly.

I'm writing this review as I hope it will benefit those on the journey seeking understanding about one's personal vocation or "calling", especially from the Christian perspective. This is a journey of faith of course. After many years of journeying and researching about this subject, I discovered Tony's book.I also used key sections of this book at a multi day personal retreat with my retreat director. The insights about "inside preparation" and "outside preparation" were valuable to me. There are many more insights found in this book.This book is filled with wisdom especially from the stories of the many characters that Tony has used to illustrate key sections of the journey (biblical, historical and from contemporary times) .Through this book I encountered the feelings of hope, faith and some peace as I continue in my journey.I wish to share 2 excerpts from the book as to why someone should understand their journey better."Understanding the calling journey lets you take your hands off the wheel, knowing that in success or failure, expansion or demotion, dryness or overflow, Jesus is steering you through exactly the experiences you need to do what you were born to do.""Those who journey with the perspective of fellow travelers travel well."

I discovered The Calling Journey during a particularly difficult season in my life. I was growing in my spiritual walk and loving my ministry role at a local prayer center. The future was bright! Then, a series of events occurred that changed everything. I was incredibly perplexed and hurt about what God was doing at this point in my life. As I read The Calling Journey and mapped my life, Tony’s explanations of each calling stage brought me new understanding of my current situation.Anyone who reads the Calling Journey will relate to and learn from the many stories from the bible and Tony’s coaching clients that highlight each stage. Because I am a process person, I particularly enjoy Tony’s clear explanations, his summary of key characteristics, and the questions and exercises for each stage. I discovered that I had enjoyed great success and growth in the Releasing stage, but that God transitioned me into the Valley of Identity with the loss of my ministry role. Now, several years later, I continue to refer to the Calling Journey as God refines me and I move towards the Fulfillment stage. If you are eager to see how God weaves together the pieces of your life to accomplish His purposes, the Calling Journey is for you!

As always, Tony Stolzfus's books are well written, well edited, and the layout is a treat. He knows how to open, tell a good story, and wrap up at the end of each chapter.The Calling Journey takes biblical and secular figures and maps out their life journeys, all the while adding in his perspective on where they were in their life journeys at each peak and valley. Stolzfus then shows the reader how to create his own timeline and look at the highs and lows from differing perspectives, with the end goal of seeing one's life as a whole, not in parts--the whole being that everything in life matters. Everything grooms you into being fleshed out to live the life you were born to live, and to leave a great legacy.I gave the book 4/5 stars, because at times the content was a little repetitive, but nevertheless, this book is well worth adding to your coaching library.

The Calling Journey was a book that gave me hope in the midst of a struggle. It helped me to take a look backwards and see that my life was not just a series of mishaps, but that there was a "method to the madness". I could see how the pattern that Tony identified, played out in my life personally. It gave me understanding, as to where I was (Valley of Identity), and assurance that there was a purpose; that God was working something in me. I refer to this book often when I talk with other people who are struggling with their place in life. I highly recommend this book.

The Calling Journey was a fantastic resource for me as I was going through a transition time in life and wanted to have a better idea of what stage I was in. Just mapping out my journey has been a great resource for me. I now use it with my coaching clients at different stages in life and this has proven to be a great tool for them. Thanks for coming up with this easy to use resource.

This is a great resource that reflects an evidenced based developmental path for effective spiritual leadership and in secular research. I would recommend this to anyone seriously seeking to understand their unique calling!

This book has confirmed many things for me and has opened my eyes to so much of what has happened in my life! Highly recommend for any leaders or Christians wondering on what is going on and what season they are in!

Having served in a Christian ministry role I found it very difficult when I found myself 'out of ministry' and lacking any clear direction for the future. I first read Tony's earlier book (Christian Life Coaching Handbook) as I've had a growing interest in Life Coaching for many years. An insight from the Life Coaching book is that life has 'downs' as well as 'ups' and sometimes things are tough. Tony explains why this is not only normal but really important in developing us as individuals and preparing us to be more effective in serving others in future. While many other Life Coaches just encourage you to have a dream, go for it and promise that "everything will turn out well for you", Tony appears both more realistic and insightful. (Sure, there's plenty more in the Life Coaching book that's useful but that's what impacted me most.)Anyway, The Calling Journey draws on these principles and helps to make sense of life, particularly for anyone who has been developing in a leadership role in ministry, business, or elsewhere. He maps out and explains the ups and downs using many case studies from both the bible and his own (extensive) coaching experience. It has helped me understand why things haven't always worked out as I expected, plus I recognise more clearly what phase of life I am now in and what's coming up next.If you're feeling confused or frustrated because life isn't working out as you expected (especially in business or ministry), Tony has some useful insights for you. It's also a really helpful book if you are involved in coaching others as it gives you an overview of phases that people may go through in their personal journey. You can then adapt your coaching to suit the needs of your clients more effectively.Thanks Tony, you've helped bring more clarity to my life at this challenging time...

Great just what I was after

Une réflexion très intéressante pour mieux comprendre son cheminement de vie. A conseiller notamment à tous les leaders et responsables !