Do It Anyway: Don’t Give Up Before It Gets Good

Grammy-winning gospel singer Leonard debuts with a rousing call to “follow God when the way seems impossible” or unclear. Crediting her pastor father with teaching her perseverance and reminding her to “stay at the feet of Jesus,” Leonard cites examples from her own life, including when she heeded God’s “instructions” to move to Atlanta without a job or place to live, and eventually joined the church that kick-started her singing career. Elsewhere, she urges readers to trust friends and family to “help us see the gifts that... we have inside us,” noting that friends encouraged her to record her debut album, and to keep one’s head above water in periods of crisis, guidance she illustrates by describing how, about a week after her father’s death, she steeled herself to go to the 2014 Grammy awards ceremony, where she won for best gospel/contemporary Christian music performance. While Leonard’s advice can feel somewhat trite (“Even if the direction you’re headed seems crazy, do it anyway!”), her passion for “taking risks through faith” is infectious, and the inspiring account of her rise to gospel stardom is full of serendipitous breaks, hard-won successes, and spiritual breakthroughs. “It felt like God had just opened a door and I walked right through it,” she recalls of her first time singing solo to a congregation. For gospel music fans, this hits all the right notes. (May)