Authors: Nick and Laura Mendenhall

Genre: Christian Living

Books:

• Hidden Heroes: How God Uses Everyday People To Change The World: 10-Day Devotional,
• Almost Heroes: How God’s People Can Ruin a Good Thing: 10-Day Devotional,  
• Love Fast Live Slow

Love Fast Live Slow: Humanity is filled with distress, but God has good news: you don’t have to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. Just love fast and live slow.

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Love Fast Live Slow

Interview by Jenny Fulton

Nick and Laura Mendenhall are a husband and wife writing team. Before they joined forces to write their latest book, Love Fast Live Slow, Laura wrote and published two 10-day devotionals. Though they are now obsessed with pursuing a simple life, this wasn’t always the case.

The couple described their life and the journey that led them to write Love Fast Live Slow. “First comes love. Then comes marriage. Then comes baby in a baby carriage. This is the rhythm and dance we dream of and it is only as sustainable as the foundation we’re built upon.  Unfortunately for us, the foundation we had was layered in sneaky lies about success, community and priorities. After we walked through these rites of passage, life got noisier and busier than ever. Life, marriage and parenthood are wonderful gifts from God but when life is fast and more people require our devotion, the enemy will target us, tempting us with his dirtiest tricks to get us off track. That is what happened to us. We were both followers of Jesus and still got it wrong.”

Nick and Laura were spiraling. In the midst of their pain and exhaustion, they went before God and begged for rest and clarity.

“He told us, multiple times, ‘I’ll let you know what you need to know, when you need to know it. In the meantime, do what I’ve already told you.’ And what we knew we should be doing, rain or shine, clear or foggy, is to live like Jesus did. That is why Love Fast Live Slow exists. We wrote this book to help others discover the simplicity of living like Jesus in a stressful world.”

Though the idea for the book began several years ago, it didn’t manifest itself when or how they thought it would.

“We made a big hype about writing this book in March 2016,” Laura shared. “We submitted several videos to a ghostwriter for transcription so our book would have a skeleton. But it didn’t feel right. Little did we know, our life would turn upside down that Fall and the subsequent years would refine our family more than we ever imagined.”

When the dust settled, Nick and Laura felt called to revisit the book God had placed upon their hearts. Ultimately, they decided to scrap the entire first draft and start over.

“It’s been a labor of love and this final manuscript includes every word that God originally intended,” they said.

Love Fast Live Slow is written in a straightforward manner that is full of impactful lessons. It is designed so that readers will be able to determine what loving fast and living slow looks like for them personally.

“Two main themes intertwine through the pages like a heartbeat,” they told me. “To love fast is to love others as a gut reaction. Whenever you have the chance, love others. And to live slow is to be fully present in the moment and capture it in your memory with all five senses. Calm your pace and focus on what really matters.  If our readers come away with those two themes woven into their redefined mindsets, we will feel overjoyed.”  

“Is there anything else you hope readers come away with after reading your book?” I asked.

“We want our readers to walk away feeling a breath of fresh air. Feeling like they can take the weight off their shoulders and go to bed asking two simple questions: Did I love fast and live slow today? If yes, I did what Jesus would do.”

Nick and Laura also shared a very identifiable worry and source of stress for many people, me included.

“It’s paralyzing to constantly wonder if you’ve done enough,” they said. “It’s unsettling to question God’s purpose for your life. And it’s exhausting to overthink every decision. Through reading Love Fast Live Slow, we want our readers to unlearn the toxic mindsets that tell them happiness equals having more, getting ahead, and thinking of yourself first. Jesus didn’t do that. He had one mission. He kept it simple. And we should too.”

Interested readers  can learn more about joining Nick and Laura’s community & signing up for the book waiting list on their website: https://www.lovefastliveslow.com/takeaction

Book Blurb for Love Fast Live Slow

Humanity is overwhelmed with feelings of distress now more than ever. The world is looking for a solution to the angst. A trending solution to this overarching misalignment is to fill our lives with more. More stuff. More money. More exercise. More volunteering. More prestige. We look outward to satisfy our hunger for happiness. When the pendulum swings too far in our pursuit for more, it leads us to countering that busyness with a desperate evacuation: having less, doing less, spending less, conquering less. We see this trend expanding as shows like Tidy Up and the minimalist movement climb the charts. However, owning less or doing less is still an external solution to an internal problem. 

Have you ever come to God begging for clarity? I have. And He’s told me (multiple times), “I’ll let you know what you need to know when you need to know it. In the meantime, do what I’ve already told you.” And what we know we should be doing, rain or shine, clear or foggy, is to live like Jesus did. That is why Love Fast Live Slow exists.

Book Blurb for Hidden Heroes: How God Uses Everyday People to Change the World

This 10-day devotional shines a light on the lesser-known characters of the Bible and spotlights how their faith created a ripple effect. Through their obedience, they not only changed the course of their lives but history as we know it.

I like to think most of us can relate well (if not more) to characters in the Bible who lived behind the scenes. These men and women weren’t the wealthiest. They weren’t the hailed and chosen leaders of their nations, famous athletes or commerce leaders. And most certainly, they didn’t get a book of the Bible named after them. They were mediocre by current standards; the middle-class family next door, the acquaintance across town you run into at the grocery store, and the almost invisible mother just trying to get by. They were just the average Joe who happened to have a faith encounter with the right people at the right time. Which leaves us the privilege of learning from their lives still today. It’s important to not overlook these kindred spirits. They, much like you and I, were faced with daily decisions to walk in faith and become the hidden heroes God destined them to be. Let’s dive in!

Book Blurb for Almost Heroes: How God’s People Can Ruin a Good Thing

This 10-day devotional is shines a light on followers of God who made a few wrong turns and ruined a good thing. We are all one choice away from stepping off of God’s path. The characters discussed in this devotional faced a fork-in-the-road. They struggled with pride, greed, revenge, and fear, to name a few. These struggles ultimately led to their demise because they chose to follow their own instincts and worldly desires rather than to run from sin and push past temptation.

Thankfully, we serve a gracious and merciful God. He knows our hearts and measures the spirit of genuine repentance. God not only provides a way to avoid pitfalls, but if we happen to stumble, the consequences are not forever. God will always love us and welcome us back into His arms. However, not everyone turns from their sin. I hope at the end of our study together you recognize your inevitable shortcomings, and you choose to do what you know is right every time.

Purchase the Books

• Hidden Heroes: How God Uses Everyday People To Change The World: 10-Day Devotional
• Almost Heroes: How God’s People Can Ruin a Good Thing: 10-Day Devotional
• Love Fast Live Slow

Connect with Nick and Laura

• Facebook: www.facebook.com/CoachLauraMendenhall
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/lauramendenhall/
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/lovefastliveslow/
• Website: www.lovefastliveslow.com