Writer April Farlow chats with me today about her new women’s Christian living book, Pieces of You: Knowing Who You Are in Light of Whose You Are.
During her virtual book tour, April will be giving away a $15 Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice) gift card to a lucky randomly drawn participant. To enter for your chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit her other tour stops and enter there, too!
Bio:
April Farlow has spent the last 20 years motivating audiences to get out of their comfort zone, speak up, and represent their values. In corporate environments, one piece is missed—the ability to talk about forming your identity in God. Today, as a speaker, author, coach, and non-profit leader, April is changing this by sharing her faith journey and helping others do the same with clarity and conviction.
In 2017, after speaking to a group of foster youth, April founded Lydia’s Place, a ministry serving young adults who have experienced foster care or homelessness. April and her husband have four girls and live on a mini-farm outside of Athens, Georgia.
Welcome, April. Please tell us about your current release.
Knowing who you are has always been challenging, and in today’s world, more and more voices are coming from more and more places telling us who we should be. The result? A broken sense of identity that we’re struggling to put back together.
In Pieces of You, April Farlow shares how she discovered her identity is formed by the God who made her. Along the way, she’s learned that if we want to put the pieces of who we are together in a real, lasting way, we have to look to Whose we are for help.
It’s time to take a look at the unique pieces that make up who you are …
The pieces you compare …
The pieces informed by the father figure in your life …
The painful pieces …
The pieces of your relationships …
The pieces on which you’ve built your beliefs …
The pieces that give you rules and boundaries …
The pieces that show what you value …
The pieces that give you purpose …
The pieces that help you build a vision for what’s to come.
As we work to put those pieces together, we’ll look to the God who made us, knows us, and loves us to guide us. Because when you take all your pieces—the good, the bad, the broken, and the beautiful—and place them in your Heavenly Father’s hands, there, you’ll find peace. There, you’ll find security. There, you’ll find a real sense of who you are and Whose you are.
What inspired you to write this book?
I have spent the last two decades coaching leaders in the corporate space. In a work environment, I am most often not allowed to talk about faith. I believe this is a missing piece in helping anyone find their identity and live out their values. Pieces of You is written to help women, whether their work is in the home or at an office discover how to live on purpose by looking at their relationships, experiences, beliefs, rules and values. I am excited because in this book, I have combined the years of experience in teaching about these topics with my faith journey. I believe this book will help readers understand not just who they are, but Whose they are as well.
Excerpt from Pieces of You: Knowing Who You Are in Light of Whose You Are:
As it turns out, relationships are complex, wonderful, and constantly changing. Whether it’s a relationship with a spouse or significant other, a family member, a coworker, a friend, or just a neighbor we cross paths with occasionally, we don’t always appreciate the complexity or influence these relationships have on the pieces of who we are. We don’t always see how they shape not just how we see who we are but how we see who others are, too.
Relationships are complex. They’re made up of people who are flawed and imperfect, and we will inevitably get it wrong a time or two. And that means they likely deserve way more work and attention than we give them. After all, relationships can influence who we become. They leave a permanent tattoo on our skin, our personality, and our ability to have other relationships. They’re strong enough to give us a common bond yet powerful enough to tear us apart.
But you don’t need me to tell you this, do you? You experience the complexity of relationships in your life regularly.
I mean, even science is backing us up here. Social psychologists have claimed that our identity is often shaped by what we think other people think of us. If the people we’re in relationship with label us as beautiful, we believe it. We hold on to that if they say we’re smart, personable, or athletic. We think it about ourselves. We let it become a piece of who we are.
What exciting project are you working on next?
Next, I hope to write about my bonus daughter, Maria who joined our family from Legos, Nigeria. Maria came to the United States with $7 and a big dream to go to school. In the most incredible way, God knit our family together. Maria is currently working on her PhD at the University of Houston, but our family has learned a lot along the way as well. We are excited to tell our story together.
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I decided I wanted to write a book in my early twenties. A lot of the classes I lead are about story telling and I have heard some incredible stories along the way. I wrote the book focusing on overcoming adversity and it was intended for young adults to see their potential.
Here is an excerpt in the book about it:
“Once I worked up the courage to ask a friend who had published a book to read a draft of something I was working on privately for teenagers overcoming hardships. I asked him for feedback and sincerely appreciated his willingness to give it. It took him several weeks to respond, but when he did, his honesty stung.
“I don’t know how to tell you this, but the book is not very good.”
Though he offered helpful critiques after that, I was stuck on that sentence alone. I took his word for it, tucked the book away in a file and never showed it to another person. I let his words become a belief and held onto it for nearly a decade.
It wasn’t until I was sitting in a meeting with the students at Lydia’s Place that I realized what I was believing and how it was holding me back. I shared this example with the students, telling them how I’d never be able to write a book. One of the students quipped, “Miss April, do you find it strange that you tell us that we can do anything, but you don’t think you can write a book?”
She was so right. The beliefs I’d bought into were holding me back. So, I had to let go of them if I wanted to go forward. I had to lean into the tension to see that it was stopping me in my tracks. And well, here I am!” p. 97
Do you write full-time? If so, what’s your workday like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
I am a speaker and do training/consulting. So, when I am working, it is very intense, but it also allows me free time when I am off to write.
What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
Most of my stories have been dictated while I am driving and then I typed the ideas into the book.
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
My mom became an instructor for Dale Carnegie when I was 8. She practiced teaching her courses to me with my baby dolls lined up on the couch. I remember when I went to the first graduation she led, I was so amazed seeing my mom speak in-front of so many people and make them feel special. I took my first Dale Carnegie Course when I was 14 years old and I was hooked. So, it is cliché to say, but I am living my dream. I taught Dale Carnegie for 17 years before going out on my own as a speaker, corporate trainer and consultant.
Thank you so much for featuring PIECES OF YOU today.
It is an honor to work with you both!
This looks like a fantastic read. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you! I hope you will read the book!!
This sounds interesting. Thanks for sharing.
It has been an incredible to write the book and I hope you enjoy discovering your own “pieces” as you read!
This looks like a fantastic read.
Thank you! I hope you will enjoy!
Sounds like a great read.
Hope you will read and enjoy!