Surprised by Motherhood: Everything I Never Expected About Being a Mom {A Book Review}
But as for me, I will look to the LORD, I will wait for the God of my salvation: My God will hear me. Micah 7:7 (RSV)
My family is in the thick of a move. However, there is a book that has captured my heart and touched a part of my soul these past few evenings which I have not been able to put down. So, I found a quiet spot in between packing boxes to read through to the last pages of Surprised by Motherhood: Everything I never Expected about Being a Mom by Lisa Jo Baker.
Perhaps it’s because I visited the beautiful continent of Africa this past Christmas, or perhaps it’s because I have lovely South African friends who have taught me a few words in Afrikaans, or perhaps it’s because Lisa Jo’s stories of motherhood (similar yet so different from mine) bond us together… maybe it is a combination of these three that cause me to smile, rest, and embrace the role I have been given.
To moms who are raising children on a different continent than where their roots began…
I know of no other recipe for making a good-bye bearable than the promise that the God who goes with us and stays with them will be the bridge connecting us, no matter how far or long the distance. Lisa Jo Baker, pg. 95
To moms whose faith is stretched in the early stages of parenting…
And what makes me happy is not necessarily what draws me closer to the God who knows my every nook and cranny. It turns out He loves me enough to say no when, as every parent understands, saying yes would have been so much simpler, with less call for temper tantrums. Lisa Jo Baker, pg. 100
To moms holding onto their babies in the worship sanctuary – who realize that this is how God holds us….
And to do this, the heavenly Father had to unwrap His arms from around His only Son. Unmake the closeness. Break more than the ties of flesh and blood. And heaven itself cracked open when He let go of His Son and reached for me. Lisa Jo Baker, pg. 129
To moms who move from house to house or continent to continent…
Lying next to him, holding his hand, tucked into the curve of his thigh, I am home no matter what country I am in – this love that cracks the lock on zip codes and time zones. Lisa Jo Baker, pg. 192
The story begins with a girl who has lost her mom.
Losing a mother doesn’t happen in a moment. It takes years to appreciate the impact of what is gone. Lisa Jo Baker, pg. 62
Lisa Jo’s heart is wounded and she decides she does not want children. God opens her heart, heals her, and blesses her with two boys and a girl. Her journey ends with a woman who has found a great understanding of herself through her children…
The woman who looks back at me from the mirror is someone I never expected to meet… The names she carries like so much dirt underneath her fingernails from digging into the roots of a family… We see ourselves in our children better than any mirror. Lisa Jo Baker, pg. 186-7
I have loved every stage of parenting, and Lisa Jo makes me fall in love with being a mom all over again. She understands the depth of a moms love and shares her story with such elegance. As moms across continents, our scars tell ours stories, our hearts beat as one, and the Spirit units us. However, this book is about more. It’s about the love of a Father which began so long ago.
This book has filled my heart with an even greater understanding of the Greatest love imaginable.
We love because He first loved us. 1 John 4:19
May your hearts be encouraged as mine was by Surprised by Motherhood !
Pray by Christa Wells and Nicole Witt
Basking in His Light
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