Also by this author: Together Through the Storms: Biblical Encouragements for Your Marriage When Life Hurts
Published by Good Book Company on December 1, 2023
Genres: Non-Fiction, Christian Life, Parenting
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Devotional giving help and encouragement for Christian moms.
Motherhood is one of life’s most joyful yet most difficult gifts. We are eager to get it "right," yet parenting usually highlights our weaknesses and leaves us worried about our mistakes.
These hope-filled, positive devotions recognize the realities and pressures, joys and disappointments of motherhood and will give you a precious reminder of grace from God’s word to hold onto each day. They will help you to trust that God’s grace is enough for you and your kids. As the authors say in the introduction, “Our children do not need a perfect mother. What they do need is a mother who recognizes her need for a perfect Savior and understands that this is the greatest need of her children as well.”
As you focus on the work of Jesus rather than your own efforts, you will feel less pressure and more freedom and joy in all the ups and downs of motherhood.
Written by a mother-daughter combination (one with four kids aged 10-16, one with three grown kids and ten grandchildren) who are both grateful recipients of God's grace and faithfulness in the many seasons, situations, and realities of motherhood.
This 30-day devotional offers encouragement for Christian mothers as they deal with life’s challenges. Sarah Walton wrote this with her mother, Linda Green, and they each cover different topics from their own perspectives, speaking to mothers of both young and older children. Although many books like this only focus on the early years of parenting, He Gives More Grace also includes encouragement and practical applications for parenting older kids, teens, and young adults.
Each chapter begins with a Bible verse and a short summary line, such as, “It’s okay to be weak; my kids most need a mom who loves Jesus, not one who has it together all the time.” Each reading is typically about four or five pages long, and they end with reflection questions and journaling space. The authors write about common issues like feeling guilt over your imperfections as a mother, comparing yourself to others, and feeling unsettled in your current season of life, and each chapter teaches a foundational truth that is relevant in many different life circumstances.
Walton and Green illustrate their points with vulnerable personal stories, but someone does not have to identify with their circumstances to benefit from each day’s broadly applicable message. Unlike with many parenting books, the authors never assume that everyone else’s experiences will match theirs, and they specifically address the dangers of prescriptive parenting messages that assume that everyone is the same, or that you can get a desired outcome by following a set formula.
The authors also strike a great balance between sharing honest personal stories and respecting family members’ privacy, and the most detailed parenting stories are the ones that Sarah approved for her mother to write. My only critique is that it is sometimes difficult to tell which author is writing until you get to an anecdote with identifying details. The table of contents indicates who wrote what, but I think the author’s name should have also appeared at the beginning of each chapter.
Another valuable thing about this book is that it includes reflections about raising children with “extra needs” and dealing with your own chronic health issues. These reflections are honest, wise, and full of spiritual truths that Walton has learned in a deeper way through her family’s suffering. Again, she writes in a way that is discreet and respects her family’s privacy, but she opens up about tough themes that often get ignored in conversations and books about motherhood.
He Gives More Grace: 30 Hope-Filled Reflections for the Ups and Downs of Motherhood is full of wisdom and encouragement for mothers in a variety of different life stages and circumstances. This book will be a refreshing alternative to Christian parenting books that depend on your identification with the author or try to teach you a single right way to parent, and the authors’ grace-filled approach is very encouraging. I highly recommend this book to Christian moms, and because it is so generally applicable, this would make a great gift for new or struggling moms.
