Last week in the span of two days I had two different friends ask me for my recommendations on books related to Motherhood. One request was very specific, “I want something about the character of God, marriage, and motherhood.” My first thought was, I have not read that many books about motherhood, but as thought about it I slowly started to think of books I had read over the last year. And due to my slightly over-achiever nature, I also rented five new books from the library on the topic.
The first of these books was Risen Motherhood by Emily Jensen and Laura Wifler. Emily and Laura actually started a ministry by the same name and have a podcast. I had listened to the podcast once, so I thoughts, sure, I’ll give this book a go.
What I loved most about this book is that it is a perspective shifter and re-aligner. What I mean when I say that is that there is so much Gospel Truth in this book. It helped me to recognize lies I was believing and helped me re-align with Christ. Confession, I am a young mom, my oldest child is 16 months old, so I am relatively new to this parenting thing. I felt like Emily and Laura were speaking specifically into the season of having littles, you may not like it as much if you are a more seasoned mom. However, applying the Gospel to your hard moments of motherhood is something ANY woman can do!
This book covers a multitude of topics and really dives into the truth from the Gospel regarding each of them. Here are a few of the topics discussed: Marriages, Mundane Moments, Postpartum Body Image, Relationships, Traditions, and more.
I am very sensitive to the women of the world whether single or struggling with infertility that would like to be mothers but are not at this time. This book is not for you. If you would like a book about the Gospel and our calling as women to mother, which includes all women, I recommend Missional Motherhood by Gloria Furman. The authors make a great effort to speak directly to the fostering and adoptive moms/women. There is mention of the struggle of infertility, but I still don’t think this is the book for anyone walking through that painful season.
I listened to this book on audio, so I got to enjoy both Emily’s and Laura’s real voices, which I think really added to the beauty of the book. Both women have experienced some really difficult moments in parenting including parenting children with exceptionalities, and during these moments I could hear the emotion in their voices. On the topic of children with exceptionalities, both authors’ children have undefined struggles with unexpected diagnoses, and both authors speak candidly about the Gospel in the midst of those situations. I thought they did a beautiful job of navigating such a painful and difficult subject.
Another thing to love about this book is at the end of every chapter, the ladies included great discussion questions. It made me wish I was reading this book with a friend. (Call me if you want to read it and be friends). The questions really have had me thinking all week, and I could see this book being great for personal study or discussion with a small group.
“Motherhood is made up of a million tiny moments for worship.” Risen Motherhood
Rachel Schwandt
Rachel serves on the Diocesan Women’s Ministry Team is married to a very tall priest named Michael. She has one daughter, Margaret Yael, and her son is due November 5th. Rachel is currently in mourning for the sleep she will lose in November and December. She enjoys reading by windows and creative art projects.
