Occasionally, I will hear a Christian mother say she can’t wait to get back to her career, because she is bored and unfulfilled as a stay-at-home mom. The pros and cons of staying home versus working aside, I am saddened when Christian mothers underestimate the extreme importance of their ministry to their children. They are molding the next generation of the Church and often its leaders, yet feel as if they are killing time until something better comes along.
I’m always searching for books that will help Christian moms understand the critical importance, not only of their role, but how they execute it. So, I was interested when given the opportunity to review {Why} Motherhood Matters by September McCarthy. The author is mother to a rather large number of children, spanning quite a few years. Her goal is to convince moms their work as mothers has “deep worth”.
I have to admit, my take away from the book is slightly different from the way it has been marketed. While the worth of motherhood may be an underlying theme, the book itself is more a call to put the extra effort in to parenting that is required to raise kids with a strong, godly foundation. The difference is subtle and the results may be the same, but it is less of an encouragement book and more of a great how-to book on Christian parenting.
The book covers a wide variety of topics from various motherhood myths to mothering attitudes to specific mothering issues and tasks. The book covers twenty-eight topics and the advice is solid and practical. I may quibble here and there with a couple of points (I would have been more specific in teaching the steps of godly conflict management and am not sure how realistic it is for spouses to always go to bed at the same time), but those are more matters of opinion and style rather than substance.
In case you become distracted by the personal stories and miss the actions she wants you to take, she summarizes them again at the end of each chapter. McCarthy also provides a couple of sentences summarizing the parenting principle she wants the reader to incorporate in parenting. I personally found the provided prayer a bit unnecessary (I’m not a fan of people telling others what to pray), but some may find it helpful.
Stylistically, I found the constant use of {Why} confusing and distracting. I kept wondering why the brackets were necessary and if I were missing some hidden joke. Once again, I believe the book answers the question “how” better than it does the question “why”. Ultimately, the “how” is more important to most parents, so I think this was more of a marketing issue than a content issue.
This is a great parenting book, covering a lot of the basics of Christian parenting rather thoroughly. The advice is strong (except I think the conflict management part could have provided a bit more specific guidance) and practical. It’s definitely a book that will help you on your parenting journey. I’m just not sure it will help you totally understand your incredible importance in the role of mother.
this book was provided to me for free in exchange for my honest review. An affiliate link is included for your convenience.