Books

Second-half Calling

Former TCW editor asks women to seek purpose after kids leave home.

What’s next for women after bodies slow and children leave? Dale Hanson Bourke offers wise, compelling answers. Using the biblical story of the widow Naomi as a framework, Bourke—a former editor of Today’s Christian Woman magazine and one-time publisher of Religion News Service—leads women over 40 into the hard, exciting process of deciding what really counts. And then what? Step humbly into a meaningful present by putting God first, trusting that his call “from others to him” yields for midlife women a power and purpose “beyond anything we have experienced.”

SECOND CALLING:Finding Passionand Purposefor the Restof Your Lifeby Dale Hanson BourkeIntegrity Publishers221 pp.; $18.99

That’s a big promise. But Bourke, after a hectic, jet-setting corporate life, has become an AIDS activist who values friendships and—at age 50—finished her first 5k race. Her candid journey offers an appealing, powerful blueprint for midlife.

Or, as she says: “I am called to something so much greater than I can imagine that I pray for the courage to face the adventure God has for me in the second half of my life.”

Copyright © 2006 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Related Elsewhere:

Second Calling is available from Christianbook.com and other book retailers.

Our sister publication MomSense interviewed Dale Hanson Bourke.

More information about the book is available from Integrity Publishers.

Also in this issue

The CT archives are a rich treasure of biblical wisdom and insight from our past. Some things we would say differently today, and some stances we've changed. But overall, we're amazed at how relevant so much of this content is. We trust that you'll find it a helpful resource.

Cover Story

Hope in the Heart of Darkness

Isaac Phiri

Do It for the Children

Reviewed by Glenn T. Stanton

The Lure of Theocracy

Q+A: Michael Cromartie

Free Speech Fiasco

More than Logic

Reviewed by Louis A. Markos

Pro-life Feminists

Cutting Deeper

Ken Walker

Grand Illusions

Caleb Stegall reviews David Goetz's 'Death by Suburb'

Latter-day Complaints

Friday Night Fish Fry

Reviewed by John Wilson

Beyond Azusa Street

Reviewed by Chris Armstrong

Lost Missions

Robertson McQuilkin

What's Right About Patriotism

Hide Your Bible

Brad A. Greenberg

Crowded Out

Rob James in the U.K.

Belgrade Curve

Kristian Kahrs in Belgrade

Health Care, Everyone?

Madison Trammel

From Rape to Rebuilding

Isaac Phiri with additional reporting by Deann Alford

News

Passages

CT staff

Wire Story

Sky's the Limit

Kevin Eckstrom, Religion News Service

Excerpt

'Jesus Mean and Wild: The Unexpected Love of an Untamable God'

The Faith of Our Founders

Social Justice Surprise

Experiencing Life at the Margins

Born Again and Again

Isaac Phiri

News

Go Figure

Gospel Work in Time of War

Deann Alford

Glimpses of God in Africa

Timothy C. Morgan

News

Quotation Marks

Summer

Compiled by Richard A. Kauffman

Editorial

Beyond Yellow Ribbons

A Christianity Today Editorial

Editorial

Sex Isn't a Spectator Sport

A Christianity Today Editorial

Reforming Wayward Reformers

Reviewed by James D. Berkley

View issue

Our Latest

News

Facing Arrest, Cuban Christian Influencers Continue Call for Freedom

Hannah Herrera

Young people are using social media to spread the gospel and denounce the Communist regime.

Public Theology Project

Against the Casinofication of the Church

The Atlantic’s McKay Coppins told me about problems that feel eerily similar to what I see in the church.

Wire Story

The Religion Gender Gap Among the Young Is Disappearing

Bob Smietana - Religion News Service

Women still dominate church pews, but studies find that devotion among Gen Z women has cooled to levels on par with Gen Z men.

Attempts at Cultural Crossover

From Pat Robertson’s soap opera to creation science, CT reported evangelical efforts to go mainstream in 1982.

Just War Theory Is Supposed to Be Frustrating

The venerable theological tradition makes war slower, riskier, costlier, and less efficient—and that’s the point.

The Russell Moore Show

Karen Swallow Prior on Birds, Bees, and Babies

How should the church address infertility and childlessness?

Will the Church Enter the Guys’ Group Chat?

Luke Simon

Young men are looking for online presence. The church needs to offer more than weekly breakfasts.

Wire Story

Young, Educated, and Urban Pastors Are Most Likely to Use AI

Aaron Earls - Lifeway Research

A survey found denominational differences in pastors’ use of the technology, as well as widespread skepticism about its reliability.

addApple PodcastsDown ArrowDown ArrowDown Arrowarrow_left_altLeft ArrowLeft ArrowRight ArrowRight ArrowRight Arrowarrow_up_altUp ArrowUp ArrowAvailable at Amazoncaret-downCloseCloseellipseEmailEmailExpandExpandExternalExternalFacebookfacebook-squarefolderGiftGiftGooglegoogleGoogle KeephamburgerInstagraminstagram-squareLinkLinklinkedin-squareListenListenListenChristianity TodayCT Creative Studio Logologo_orgMegaphoneMenuMenupausePinterestPlayPlayPocketPodcastprintremoveRSSRSSSaveSavesaveSearchSearchsearchSpotifyStitcherTelegramTable of ContentsTable of Contentstwitter-squareWhatsAppXYouTubeYouTube