Growing Slow: Lessons on Un-Hurrying Your Heart from an Accidental Farm Girl

By Jennifer Dukes Lee

Enter a simpler way of living by unhurrying your heart, embracing the relaxed rhythms of nature, and discovering the meaningful gift of growing slow. 

We long to make a break from the fast pace of life, but if we're honest, we're afraid of what we'll miss if we do. Yet when going big and hustling hard leaves us stressed, empty, and out of sorts, perhaps this can be our cue to step into a far more satisfying, sustainable pace. In this crafted, inspiring read, beloved author Jennifer Dukes Lee offers a path to unhurried living by returning to the rhythm of the land and learning the ancient art of Growing Slow. 

Jennifer was once at breaking point herself, and tells her story of rude awakening to the ways her chosen lifestyle of running hard, scaling fast, and the neverending chase for results was taking a toll on her body, heart, and soul. But when she finally gave herself permission to believe it takes time to grow good things, she found a new kind of freedom. With eloquent truths and vivid storytelling, Jennifer reflects on the lessons she learned from living on her fifth-generation family farm and the insights she gathered from the purposeful yet never rushed life of Christ. Growing Slow charts a path out of the pressures of bigger, harder, faster, and into a more rooted way of living where the growth of good things is deep and lasting. 

Following the rhythms of the natural growing season, Growing Slow will help you:

• Find the true relief that comes when you stop running and start resting in Jesus
• Learn practices for unhurrying your heart and mind every day
• Let go of the pressure and embrace the small, good things already bearing fruit in your life
• And engage slow growth through reflection prompts and simple application steps

• Language: English
• Publisher: Zondervan
• Release date: May 11, 2021
• ISBN: 9780310360445

Jennifer Dukes Lee

Jennifer Dukes Lee lives on the fifth-generation Lee family farm in Iowa, where she and her husband are raising crops, pigs, and two beautiful humans. She writes books, loves queso, and enjoys singing too loudly to songs with great harmony. Once upon a time, she didn’t believe in Jesus; now he’s her CEO. Find Jennifer at www.JenniferDukesLee.com and on Instagram at @JenniferDukesLee.

Book preview

PART 1

SPRING PLANTING

For behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.

SONG OF SOLOMON 2:11–12 ESV

CHAPTER 1

PERMISSION TO BE UN-SPECTACULAR

I am an accidental farm girl. I never intended to live in a place where pigs outnumber people by a significant margin, stray cows trample your rosebushes, and the school hosts a Drive Your Tractor to School Day every spring. In fact, my intention as a child growing up in Iowa was to escape it!

I was raised in a small town, nestled down by the North Raccoon River. It was a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it kind of town. The closest McDonald’s or JCPenney was a half hour away. I wanted skyscrapers, streetlights, subways, and swarms of people on humming sidewalks. When I was eighteen, those dreams seemed within reach—with enough hustle, of course. My acceptance to university felt like a ticket to