Before You Climb Any Higher: Valley Wisdom for Mountain Dreams

We long for mountaintop experiences, but they're difficult to achieve and impossible to maintain without the rest, nourishment, and strength found in lush, life-giving valleys. GRAMMY Award winner Jonathan McReynolds shows us why having a valley mindset is not what you think--it's about receiving God's grace, love, and encouragement as His beloved child.

Life is full of mountains to ascend, driven by our dreams, ambitions, and callings. But it doesn't take much for even the strongest climbers to grow weary or lose their way. It's important to have a "mountain mindset" to help us establish goals, to make steady progress, to achieve success, to do big things for God. A great mission requires from us a little grind, a little hustle, a little competition. But also plenty of time in the valley.

Most people equate valley moments with difficulty and pain, but a "valley mentality" is different according to Jonathan McReynolds. He's reached the mountaintop--GRAMMY Award, nationwide tours, millions of followers, and more--but he experienced more refreshment, rest, and encouragement from the Lord off the mountain. He writes, "The valley is not about finishing anything, studying anything, or doing anything, but simply being a child of God." In Before You Climb Any Higher, readers will discover:

• Taking breaks from climbing is necessary for your mental health
• Ways to find rest, renewal, and authentic community in the valley
• Identity should never be wrapped up in success and accolades
• How to prepare for the mountain climb with lessons learned in the valley
• It's possible to live abundantly in the valley and on the mountain

We are more than our accomplishments, more than our mountaintop accomplishments. We are sons and daughters of God, who is calling us to rest in the valley, to replenish our souls, to be formed by the Spirit, to discover abundant life that is found only in Him.

Jonathan McReynolds is a Grammy-winning multi-hyphenate that shares his often counter-cultural revelations in a variety of mediums. His Christian music career has produced several chart-topping songs and albums and garnered millions of fans around the world including the likes of Stevie Wonder and Justin Bieber. Rising pop superstar Jon Batiste admits he studied McReynolds in his own Grammy-winning single "Show Me the Way".

McReynolds's writing, both song and prose, is distinctly conversational. It is simultaneously profound yet unpretentious.

McReynolds, a Columbia College alum, Moody Theological Seminary graduate and Mensa member, has starred in several film and TV projects, most notably as a celebrity judge on BET's then highest rated show, Sunday Best. He has also been a Huffington Post contributor and adjunct professor since 2014.