Book Review: Everyday MAGIC

I love Mattie James. And when I say that, I mean I love Mattie James down!

Now, I’ve outgrown my teenage habit of idolizing celebrities, personalities, and influencers. I’m not talking about that kind of love. Life experience has taught me the dangers of placing people on pedestals, and I know now that wisdom means seeing everyone as simply human and dealing with them according to their character.

But Mattie James? … Yeah, I’m not gonna lie. I stan Mattie James from a distance.

It’s her teaching style. It’s her relatability. And Everyday MAGIC delivers both. I especially appreciate how she opens with the truth that we are already enough, confronting the toxic mindset that says we’re not.

One of the things I admire most about Mattie is how she’s unapologetically embraced who she is and what she enjoys, even the things we, as Christian women, are often told we shouldn’t express out loud. For example, Mattie likes nice things. She enjoys beauty and aesthetics. She appreciates quality. And she’s not ashamed of it.

The problem, as she points out, isn’t in having nice things it’s in the posture of your heart toward them. When materials become more valuable than people, you’re in trouble. But Mattie makes it clear: her people, especially her family, are her priority. She’s simply a woman who enjoys beauty in her life.

As someone who’s been rewriting my own narrative and leaning into the identity God designed for me, it’s freeing to watch that conversation unfold in real time. Because the truth is I like nice things too. I enjoy a certain level of quality when it comes to my hair, my skincare, and my surroundings. And I don’t need permission to embrace that. It’s part of who I am.

Back to the book, while I love Mattie’s teaching, I did take her advice from the introduction: Take what applies, leave the rest. I didn’t feel the need to absorb every single point. Instead, I pulled out the pieces that resonated most with my current season and skimmed through the rest.

Here’s one of many quotes that stopped me in my tracks:

“What leads to our being overwhelmed in our everyday lives is doing a bunch of things that take up a lot of our time but that have no purpose in our lives.” (p. 4)

Can you say conviction? Especially in her chapter discussing time.

She challenges the mindset that tells us anything is “too late,” reminding us that the choice to create a life we love is still ours. As someone who’s struggled with patience, because I get frustrated when I’m not where I think I should be, her perspective made me pause and rethink my relationship with time altogether.

I borrowed this copy from the library, so I couldn’t underline and mark it up the way I usually would. But trust me, there are plenty of moments I’ll be coming back to, especially when I step into motherhood one day. There are systems she shared that I’m not ready for just yet, but I know they’ll be invaluable later.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed stepping into the mindset of the amazing woman that is The Mattie James.

Now I’m curious — what were your takeaways from the book?