Creating Margin and Reordering Life Around Christ | A Book Review of Unhurried by Samantha Decker
- Amber Thiessen
- Aug 6
- 7 min read
Updated: Aug 10
When was the last time you sat still—without an agenda—simply to be with God?
Even our Bible reading and prayers, as important as they are, can get rushed. They become items to check off our to-do list rather than moments to truly linger with the Lord.
In Unhurried: An Invitation to Slow Down, Create Margin, and Surrender Control to God , Samantha Decker invites us to step off the treadmill of constant doing. This isn’t about clearing our schedules just to have more empty space. It’s about learning to live intentionally, with Christ at the center, so we can be fully present to what God is doing in and around us.
Creating Margin and Reordering Life Around Christ | A Book Review of Unhurried by Samantha Decker
Content
Content
Purpose of the Book
From the publisher:
This book is an invitation to rest, create space, and join God in the work He's doing.
This is the story of a God who knows how to rest. A God who has everything under control. A God who gave His only Son to save us from our sins and the bondage they bring. In Christ, there is freedom from striving, busyness, and hurry. Are you ready to take off these weights and follow Jesus?
Table of Contents
Part 1: The Problem of Hurry, Control, and an Over-Planned Life
1. In the Chaos
2. What Is Margin?
3. Why Create Margin?
Part 2: Make Room for Him
4. In Light of Eternity
5. The Lord’s Plans Prevail
6. A Call to Abide
7. Lord, I Want to Be More Like You
8. What About Work?
9. Using Your Gifts
10. Surrender Control
Part 3: Consider Your Ways
11. Little by Little
12. Know When to Hurry
13. A Day in the Life: Creating a Schedule That Makes Room
14. Grace Upon Grace: What Happens if I Start to Hurry Again?
Summary
Our busy calendars and the constant rush between activities have become normal, but in living this way, we risk losing sight of what really matters.
Samantha Decker divides Unhurried into three parts.
In Part 1, she lays the foundation for an unhurried life. She names the struggle of finding calm and purpose in the midst of nonstop activity and invites us to slow down and reconsider our pace. Here, she defines margin—and I especially loved her description: “Margin is the spare amount of time for God-moments.” It’s the intentional space we leave in our lives to be fully present, ready to obey when God interrupts our plans with His. She helps us see how prioritizing margin allows us to notice and participate in God’s work—both in our own hearts and in the lives of those around us.
In Part 2, the author turns our attention to eternity, reminding us that our priorities can easily drift when we’re living in a hurry. Through Scripture and personal reflection, she invites us to step back and view life through the lens of God’s eternal purposes, surrendering our plans to His will. An unhurried life, she writes, prioritizes abiding in Christ—spending unhurried time in His Word so that we might grow in Christlikeness. She challenges us to steward our unique gifts for God’s glory, not merely for personal achievement, and to release the illusion of control by entrusting our plans to Him.
In Part 3, Decker brings the journey toward an unhurried, margin-filled life down to the everyday choices we make. I appreciated her reminder that this isn’t about instant transformation but about taking small, faithful steps—“little by little.” She helps us see that there are even moments when hurrying has its place and that wisdom is found in discerning when to pause and when to move. I found her practical suggestions for crafting a schedule especially helpful—ones that take into account our unique roles, responsibilities, and season of life. And when we inevitably slip back into old patterns of hurry (because we will), she reminds us that God’s grace meets us there, inviting us to begin again. Living unhurriedly, she shows us, isn’t about achieving perfection but about daily dependence on God and choosing, over and over, to walk at His pace.
These chapters collectively guide readers from biblical reflections into practical rhythms and heart postures essential to living “unhurried” in a hurried world.
My Take: Making Front Porch Time
During our orientation to life in East Africa, we were reminded often that relationships were the focus of our church-planting ministry. Coming from Canada with a very Western mindset, my natural bent was to check the clock, make plans, and stick to them. But in rural Africa, life moved differently—by the rising and setting of the sun, by the rhythms of the community, by whatever needs came up in the moment.
It was an adjustment, to say the least, as we adapted to life on a multicultural team and a new cultural atmosphere. But slowly, we learned to keep our Western urgency in check, and see every “interruption”—the invitation to walk out to the fields, the request for help, the conversations on the road or at the market—as gospel opportunities. We wanted to make the most of every moment (Ephesians 5:16).
When we moved back to Canada, it didn’t take long to slip back into the familiar pace here. And like Samantha Decker writes, “Busy was the norm, and because it had become my norm, I wasn’t stressed or overwhelmed. And yet, I wasn’t present.” Those lessons from Africa have stayed with me, but I still need the reminders—especially if I get worked up about interruptions. In order to see gospel opportunities, we have to be present.
I think of the shock on the cashier’s face when I asked how she was doing. She clearly didn’t expect me to make eye contact, smile, or care about her day. Or the mom at the grocery store whose baby’s soother I picked up from the floor. She looked startled when I handed it to her and told her she had a beautiful family. Or the heavy conversation at a baseball diamond that turned into an opportunity to pray together.
Life is full, and I believe God wants them to be—using our skills and abilities for His glory and for the good of others. But when our pace is rushed, we’re neglecting time with the Lord, annoyed by interruptions or missing them altogether these are the warning signs.
That’s why I appreciated Decker’s idea of “front porch time.” She describes it as intentional and agenda-free moments where we sit idly to pray, to be attentive, to notice what God is doing in us and around us. I’ll confess, my first thought was, “Who has time for that?!” when I already spend time in the Word and studying.
But the conviction hit quickly: this was something I’d been missing out on last winter. That space to let my mind be still and to soak in the present with the Lord. It’s not about stopping everything or becoming inactive; it’s about reordering life around Christ while still living fully engaged.
Along the pages of the book, Decker takes us to Philip in Acts 8. In the middle of a thriving ministry in Samaria, an angel told him simply to go to the desert road between Jerusalem and Gaza. And as Decker points out, “He rose and went.” He didn’t stop and explain to God that walking to the desert wasn’t on his to-do list. He didn’t ask God for more specifics or details before he decided if he would go or not. He simply “rose and went.” Philip’s desire for obedience was more important to him than his to-do list, his plans for the day, and even his thriving ministry in Samaria."
That’s the kind of posture I want in my own life: faithful to the ministry God has entrusted to me, but open and available for the unexpected opportunities He creates in between. Because when we’re caught in the rush, it’s often people who get left behind. And if my life is truly for God’s glory and the good of others, then my plans need to stay in His hands.
So in my busyness, I’m learning to see “front porch time” not as doing less, but as putting Christ first. It’s intentionally making space to abide in Him—whether it’s time sitting still in prayer or simply walking without an agenda, open to His presence.
What might “front porch time” look like in your life? Where might God be inviting you to reorder your days around Him?
My Recommendation
This is easily one of my top reads on living with margin. Samantha Decker writes with a gentle, reflective tone that draws us toward a life centered on abiding in Christ. It’s not about doing less for the sake of it—we’ll still have full and active lives—but about keeping Christ first and letting everything else fall into its proper place. I highly recommend this one!
Quick Stats
# of Pages: 225
Level of Difficulty: Easy
My Rating: 4 stars
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Scriptures About Rest
In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. (Ps. 4:8)
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matt. 11:28-30)
And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” (Ex. 33:14)
And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. (Mark 6:31)
So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. (Heb. 4:9-10)
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*A big thanks to Moody Publishers for the complimentary copy of this book and for the opportunity to post an honest review!