USA Today bestselling author Tricia Goyer and her family of eleven embark on a yearlong quest to eliminate grumbling from their home and discover a healthier, more thankful approach to life together.The Goyer home–with two parents, eight kids, and one eighty-eight-year-old grandmother with dementia–is never without noise, mess, activity, and, often, complaining. And it’s not just the kids … complaining. And it’s not just the kids grumbling. After adding seven children in less than six years through adoption, the Goyer family decided to move out of survival-mode and into unity- and growth-mode. They decided to tackle the impossible: a grumble-free year.
With grade-schoolers, teenagers, and a grandmother who believes children should be seen and not heard, plenty of room exists for flunking the challenge. Add to that seven children being homeschooled together in close quarters, and what could possibly go awry?
In The Grumble-Free Year, the Goyers invite readers into their journey as they go complaint-free and discover what it looks like to develop hearts of gratitude. They share their plans, successes, failures, and all the lessons they learn along the way, offering real-life action steps based in scripture so that readers get not just a front-row seat to the action but also an opportunity to take the challenge themselves and uncover hearts that are truly thankful.
more
This is a great book for everyone to read. We all need to grumble less and to be thankful more. Although the “your turn” sections at the end of each chapter are geared mostly for parents trying to guide children, don’t disregard them if you are childless or an empty-nester. They still apply. Highly recommended.
I’ve noticed it, pretty sure you have too. It seems like nobody is happy, many are whining, complaining, belly-aching, and otherwise expressing dissatisfaction with even the smallest of things. Read a newspaper or watch the news, it’s hard to find good news. Social media is often more of the same.
It’s even creeping into our homes, into our relationships with spouses, with our children.
Why? Why so much grumbling and dissatisfaction? What gives? Author Tricia Goyer was disturbed by the amount of grumbling occurring in her large family; a family of two parents, biological children and adoptive children. One of the mainstays of any relationship, group or family is cohesiveness, and Goyer’s family was not exhibiting the kind of cohesiveness she wanted in her family.
After talking it over with her husband, both agreed to establish a grumble-free family and home, but how? A home-schooling mom, Goyer decided to use the time she spent both in the classroom and out, challenging the family to recognize grumbling for what it is and to replace grumbling with gratefulness, thanksgiving, cooperation, and increasing family unity.
First defining grumbling and even grumbling styles, Goyer then went on to try a variety of methods, with her children’s full knowledge, to decrease grumbling and increase gratitude. Employing bible verses, a gratitude jar and most importantly discussion, listening and encouragement, the author began to see small changes in how the family related to each other and the world. The year was not without its struggles, all families have them; with the variety of personalities, ages and abilities it can be quite hard to effect change.
The Grumble-Free Year ended up being successful for the entire family, even mom and dad. This is a book I would encourage all to read, not just those set in families, everyone. Were we all to employ the precepts in our own lives, working them to fit our own needs and personalities, along with those of our families…why, gratitude has the power to change the world.
Let’s start with ourselves. It didn’t take long for me to recognize my favorite style of grumbling, muttering! You know, muttering under ones breath; pretty sure not many of us mutter nice things under our breath. How about you…what is your go-to grumbling style? As for the gratitude jar, I rather think I’d like a Hope Jar for it is in expressing gratitude that hope is birthed.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and am under no obligation to write a positive review. All thoughts and opinions therein are solely my own, and freely given.
What I wouldn’t do to eliminate grumbling in my home. This book gives a great perspective on what can happen if we all commit to doing our best to stop grumbling. This is something that my husband and I want to do in our home and hope to incorporate what Tricia has outlined in this book at the start of the new year.
I received a free digital copy of this book. All thoughts above are my own.
I am so excited about this book. I can’t wait to incorporate it into our family as the new year approaches. It was amazing how much I was able to relate to the content of the book as Tricia shared her story. It was kind of like, “Wow, I could be writing this book.” It is so easy to fall into an attitude of discontentment without even realizing it, or become a grumbling martyr. I found so much in common with her.
I am still reading through my copy, because even though I could read through it quickly, I want to take it all in and be prepared to share the message with my family and incorporate it. Seeing the negativity in others is often so easy, but we fail to see it in ourselves. When does stating facts, or truth about a matter or situation turn into actual complaining and negativity and how to do we determine the difference? I know that’s something I struggle with personally. In trying not to complain, I end up sounding and feeling more like a martyr and often taking on way more than I should.
Tricia shares her heart and her family’s challenge to live a grumble free year more as a story than a self help book with tons of tips and advice. You’ll be challenged as they were to give thanks instead of complain, and when you start paying attention, you may realize you complain way more than you thought you did.
I am so thankful to be a part of Tricia’s launch team. I received a free e-copy of her book. However, I was not required to write a positive review of her book and all opinions are my own.
This is such an incredible book! I wish I had had this book when my children were small. But I find that no matter what age we are we find ourselves grumbling. This book and the Goyer family experiment showed me that you can always find joy in every situation. I find myself looking to God in the tough times but I sometimes fail to give Him thanks in the good times. Tricia reminds me to turn to God in ALL times. If I have an attitude of thankfulness then I will be less likely to grumble. We need to share this with others. This is such a good message and it should be passed along. Everyone should read this book!
True confession: I knew I was grinching (as we call it at our house) on occasion. I didn’t like I was doing it—but only after the fact, of course. However, it was my multi-generational family’s grumbling that was really crawling up my spine. This book seemed to float down from heaven at the perfect time. Ironically, when I started reading The Grumble Free Year, my eyes were opened to how much I mutter, the “why” behind my anst, and how much it affects the people under my roof and those I work with.
Just when I thought she’d peaked with Walking It Out, Tricia Goyer has truly done it again! With her transparency, bravery, and heart for following Jesus, she shows us transformation is possible. Being grumble free goes from being an accepted impossibility we tend to shrug off to a positive reprogramming that invests in the people around us as well as ourselves. Did we intentionally start out as grumblers and decide to pass it on to those folks God has given us to nurture? Absolutely not, but like Tricia said, “There are so many big things that need taught, it’s the real stuff that too often gets overlooked.” With verses to back up her insight, she addresses this “faithless complaining” we’ve allowed to become ingrained in our reactive fabric and how it breaks God’s heart. With time, patience and a reliance on Him, we can embrace gratitude and shine Christ’s light brighter than we ever have before.
An example of “Preparing not to grumble when something is coming you know you will grumble about” is so practical. Many tips with doable steps are sprinkled through her family’s real life journey. (By the way, they deserve huge kudos for being willing to be highlighted in this adventure.)
It’s so comforting to be reminded “If this world had its act together, there would be no need for Christ.” Instead, He is there for us to lavish us in love and cover us with grace. And that is certainly nothing to grumble about.
Years ago, I fell in love with Tricia Goyer’s fiction. To this day, her Liberators series remains my all-time favorite World War II fiction! But, I don’t think I can say anymore that they are my favorite of her books. Last year, Calming Angry Kids made a strong impact on my perspective on all relationships, not just the parent-child relationship. I keep several copies on my shelf, ready to hand out to people who are working through relationships with angry people.
Then this year came along, and I began seeing references to The Grumble-Free Year. Had it been any other author, I would have expected idealistic suggestions presented in a cutesy format, as is often the case with books like this. But with Tricia as the author, I knew better. I knew this would be a lived-out, real-life, honest picture of what this “impossible goal” looked like for her family. And I wasn’t disappointed. What else can you expect when you see quotes like these:
“What was God asking us to give up? The right to ourselves. The right to say what we felt no matter how it sounded.”
Or, “We were eight months in, and I was at the point in our journey where I was starting to wonder whether this was a good idea at all.”
Don’t get me wrong. Tricia had the ideas. But, she hasn’t handed us a book of those ideas. Instead, she has opened the door of her home and given us a glimpse into the many ways those ideas slammed hard into reality. How some of them ended up working in the most unexpected ways. And how the journey ended up being very different than expected. I think my favorite quote in the whole book actually sums up the family’s year quite well: “I wanted an easier life, but God gave me what I really needed: full commitment and full satisfaction in him.”
And that’s the gem of this book. The Grumble-Free Year isn’t about sharing a list of “fool-proof” ideas that will stop grumbling in your home once and for all. Instead, it’s a book about how one family began a journey toward allowing God to transform attitudes and move their focus to Him instead of to their own complaints.
That’s what I love about The Grumble-Free Year. It’s not a book that leaves real-life families saying, “But, you don’t know my circumstances! These ideas won’t work here!” Instead, it leaves us recognizing that the power of God can work just as strongly in my life as it did in Tricia’s. It can mold the hearts of my children just as it did for Anna, Grace, Maddie, Alexis, Sissy, Aly, and Buddy. It points back to the power of the gospel in our lives. And that’s why I’ll joyfully recommend and share The Grumble-Free Year.
‘Grumbling is something we do by default.’
Author Tricia Goyer and her husband John set a goal to take their family of eleven through a year where no grumbling was allowed. The results of those twelve months can be seen in Goyer’s new book The Grumble-Free Year and it is enlightening, to say the least. This book has twenty chapters filled with great advice, inspiring thoughts, and above all, honesty. Goyer reveals their times of triumph but she is also very honest about the times when they failed and I found this reassuring. When a habit is strong, it is hard to break, and we can’t realistically expect to change it overnight.
With a mixture of personal experiences and Bible scripture, Goyer reminds us how blessed we really are and just how destructive grumbling can be. She also offers Reflection Questions at the end of each chapter to help us gain deeper understanding of the text that has been shared. When you begin to read this book, I suggest that you keep a highlighter near by because there are so many quotes worth noting. Two that I especially loved are:
‘When we are grumble-free, we are the light of the world. We look different, sound different, and it is noticeable.’
‘If our faith is strong, we will not grumble. As we cease to grumble, our faith will grow stronger.’
I know that I have been blessed by reading this book and I believe that it will also bless others who read it. I recommend The Grumble-Free Year highly!
I was given a digital copy from the publisher but a positive review was not required. These are my own opinions.
I got the privilege of being on the book launch for this book and was able to read an advanced copy. I wasn’t quiet sure what I was getting myself into when I started reading this book. I am so glad I was able to read it though! I loved that Tricia’s children were a huge part of this book. Their personalities and Tricia’s writing made this book fun, interesting and thought provoking. I enjoyed the questions at the end of the chapters. This book was awesome! It was on time in my own life and really made me think about my own grumbling! I related so much to the authors attitude and thoughts. A great book for understanding what’s behind the grumbling and how God can teach you so much more, if you’re willing and allow Him to.
Glad I took a chance on this after i received an advance reader’s copy. It’s different from the Amish Fiction I am used to reading fron Tricia but worth reading. She shows how to take a negative and make it a positive
Tricia Goyer shares a year of her family’s chosen social experiment: Can all eleven members avoid grumbling? Can choosing to be grateful change a family’s outlook on the challenges we all face?
Throughout the book, Goyer shares how her diverse family managed to break old habits and begin new ones. The reader finds helpful suggestions, insightful questions for reflection and real life solutions to help reduce grumbling.
If you’re tired of the bickering and ungrateful arguments, perhaps “The Grumble Free Year” would be a helpful book for you. I know it has changed perspectives in my family.
This would also be a great book for discussion in a moms’ group or small group! There’s something for all families here.
I was an early reader, thanks to the publisher. All opinions are my own and I chose to leave a review.
This book was a great read that caused me to reflect on myself, my family, and our home. Grumbling comes in many forms but the good news is…. there are many ways to combat it. It’s a process (hence the twelve months) and it’s not easy (life won’t stop, slow, or give you only roses) but it’s worth it! I love Tricia’s openness through her family’s journey in this book: the ups, downs, and in-betweens, the self-reflection… I also love the reflection questions and “Your Turn” sections throughout the book. They make it easier to apply what the book teaches to everyday real life. I find myself saying “I have nothing to grumble about” in place of grumbling now, not because I’m convincing myself of this, but because it’s the truth and sometimes I just need to acknowledge it!
***I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I was (AM!) so excited to be a part of this launch team because my family needed this book! I am grateful to have received it and to be a part of it!
This is my first book to read from Mrs. Goyer. I heard about it through the grapevine of social media and I got interested in reading it. I was happy to have received a copy. As I read it I was hooked in seeing how they went about it.
Is a book on being more Thankful than complaining about things for a whole year. Being a large family she embarked them all into this challenge or better yet into this journey. Setting and focusing it in God.
As I read it it put me into thinking that yes we do tend to grumble without noticing. Some aspects of what she would go through hit home. And it made me more intrigued to read the outcome. One thing that I liked and had forgotten about was when she mentioned Pollyanna. I love seeing that movie and I recall the Glad Game. Of course like she mentions there is no better thing than to reach out to God….the Glad Game is a quick thing that you can think about fast when you feel some grumbling is about to happen.
But going back to her family, if a Big family can manage it for a year, why can’t a small one. Besides learning more about her family and how each of them noticed their way of grumbling, made me start to see how although despite of every thing everyone will still grumble because we are not perfect, we can see how we can react and change the situation for a better result.
I really enjoyed the book. And how it centered in God. With him everything is Possible. Is a tool that would be great in everyone’s library. A great challenge or journey to see how to work for a grumble free life, year or even a day by day.
I received a copy of the book for my personal honest review about it.
The Grumble-Free Year by Tricia Goyer is a powerful book that has the power to change your life. For a whole year Tricia Goyer and her family practiced being grateful and tried not to grumble. Their results are recorded within the book.
Grumbling can destroy relationships. It achieves nothing. Having an attitude of gratitude in us will build others up. This book explains what the Goyer family did and what they learned along the way.
Tricia Goyer writes in a personable way. The book feels like a letter from a friend as we eaves drop on the Goyer family. Each chapter ends with reflective questions and suggestions as to how we can live grumble free.
It is important to set goals. We can always choose our responses. So choose joy and do not grumble. Remember “our thoughts are just thoughts, not facts.” Do not let your thoughts drag you down.
We all go through difficult times. “How to be thankful when life is hard and how to love when we’re overwhelmed… it’s not easy.” In the difficult times we need to lift our eyes to God. Our circumstances may not change but our perspective will. “God was worthy to be praised, no matter what.”
It is important to have open hands and hearts towards God. If we are closed, we cannot receive from Him.
When life is good – pray. When life threatens to overwhelm – pray. Prayer is powerful and changes lives.
Tricia Goyer talks about the Glad Game from Pollyanna and suggests playing it. She says “faith is trying to be glad and see the good because God is in control.” There is also the suggestion of having a gratitude jar.
It is good to review our progress. Suggestions that will help are:
• “Things I changed
• Things I still need to change
• Things that helped me change”
Trying to live grumble free may not change our outward lives but there will be an inward transformation. Instead of being destroyed from the inside out by grumbling, develop a joyful, thankful spirit.
The Grumble-Free Year was a powerful book. It was also a book full of common sense. There were scriptures quoted as Tricia Goyer unpacked the heart of God for His children. This is a brilliant book to work through as individuals, as families or in connect groups.
Banish those grumbles and pick up a grateful heart.
I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.
Have you ever been around people who grumble and complain all the time? It is not pleasant and makes you want to scream. What if your family was the one grumbling all the time? In this book the author takes us on a challenge and journey to freedom from grumbling for a year.
As in everything that is different from your routine, this book will motivate you into rethinking how you react to every day life. I would love to have been in the family meeting when the author suggested this eye opening exercise. I know I grumble a lot and yes I have even been called a nag. I decided that I was going to try this book out on myself. I will begin it in January and see how it goes.
The author’s house is full of people from different ages and I loved how she shared their experiences. There are scriptures included and at the end of each chapter a reflection page. It was so fun to take this journey with the author and her family. I laughed as one of them hoped to get famous through the book, while another wanted to know if a famous author would be following them around for a year. I think they forgot that they live with a very famous and gifted author.
I really enjoyed each chapter and loved how the author and her family slowly changed their thinking as they became more joyful and less stressful. In reading the book one of the key ingredients to a grumble free life is our heart. We need to look at ourselves inside and deal with any bitterness that is preventing us from being happy. It is important to look at all the good that is in our life and focus on what God has done for us. Another point that the book made was how important communication was. How will our spouse know what is wrong if we don’t let them know? Keeping things bottled up brings out bitterness which leads to unhappiness.
I loved getting to know the author and her family as they took a journey that showed them how to be thankful, joyful and content. I learned through the book to be happy where I am at in my life and to thank God each day for His unconditional love. The book is filled with scriptures and examples in the Bible that helps us see how a grumble free life can bring peace. The author does a great job of being transparent throughout the book and I appreciate her sharing this journey with her readers. The challenge now is for us to decide if we want to be grumble free.
“Change must always start with our hearts.”
“God doesn’t expect any of us to be perfect, but complaining is something He takes seriously.”
I received a copy of this book from the author. The review is my own opinion.
I was very pleased with this book. It is full of helpful tips and questions at the end of each chapter. This book made me realize that I spent more time grumbling than I did being thankful. This is a book I will read more than once. Everybody can learn something from this book. I received an ARC copy of this book and was not required to write a review. All opinions expressed are my own.
The Grumble-Free Year: Twelve Months, Eleven Family Members, and One Impossible Goal by Tricia Goyer is an inspirational, self-help book with quotations from scriptures. Ms. Goyer incorporates scriptures with everyday life and common sense. She uses real life actions to help readers incorporate a grumble free heart and to have a more grateful heart. An educational and inspiring Book. Ms. Goyer’s experiences are real life.
It was a blessing to follow her and her family to having a more grumble free life.
A well written book which gives readers insights, into a grumble free life for themselves. I enjoyed how she incorporated her desire to have to a grumble free year with everyday experiences. At the end of each chapter, Ms. Goyer gives the reader questions for reflections. A “Grumble Free Year” has been a blessing to me, as I’m sure the reader will enjoy reading and learning to live a more grateful heart. Thank you, Ms. Goyer for writing this powerful, educational and using everyday realities, that the reader can understand and incorporate into their on lives!
“I voluntarily received a complimentary copy, however, these are my honest opinions. I was in no way required nor compensated to write a review.”
Rating: 4.5
Heat rating: N/A
Reviewer: AprilR
Reading this excellent book reminded me of the blessings and joys in life. I am pausing to think of how many times I have “grumbled” recently. What a great reminder to be thankful for each moment and to praise God in our joys and our concerns. This book has questions for reflection at the end of each chapter. This book has blessed me in many ways. I received a complimentary copy of the book. No review was required.