Marriage and Wives
The Great Balancing Act by Pat Harrison
- Finding joy as a woman, wife, and mother
This was a simple and encouraging book to help me with continued reminders of why God made me special, how to be the wife and mother that God wants me to be and how to maintain a balanced life. Nothing too earth-shattering, but some great reminders that we forget on a daily basis.
Doctrinally: I must admit, it's been a bit since I read this one but I do not remember anything wrong. And glancing through my notes in the book, nothing jumps out either.
Review by Valerie Johnson
Married to a Pastor by London & Wiseman
- How to stay happily married in the ministry.
A nice, light, personal read with some helpful suggestions and encouragement for my marriage. Written by two husbands and really building up and praising the wives who have supported and encouraged them. There were quite a few very practical insights into the unique aspects of the combination of marriage and ministry.
Doctrinally: Nothing really wrong that I noticed. Of course, this book focuses more on relationships than faith.
Review by Valerie Johnson
Hope for the Mom Who Needs to Breathe by Sarah Mae and Sally Clarkson
- Motherhood is a calling from God.
I really enjoyed this book. While written more specifically for Moms of very young children, I think there would be words of encouragement for any Mom. I often struggle with depression and feelings of being overwhelmed as a Mother, as well as boredom and discontent in the mundane every day life of being a stay at home Mom. The authors made me view motherhood in a completely different light (as a calling from God that has direct influence on the future of society - which makes sense but wasn't how I had ever thought of it before).
I tend to look for specific application instructions (eg, to achieve x, y, z results you must do a, b, and c.) when I am reading mothering books, and this has none of that (which they come out and state as being purposeful because they don't believe in formulas for mothering). That aspect leaves me a little floundering because I can look at a result I would like but have no idea where to begin to get there. Despite this fact, however, I still feel this book was incredibly helpful in my own journey toward a more contented existence in my home and as a mother and would highly recommend it to anyone struggling with depression, feeling overwhelmed or having trouble figuring out what the "right" way to parent is.
Doctrinally: Though I am not sure what denomination these ladies belong to, it was written from a solid Christian viewpoint and I didn't see any doctrinal issues in anything they had to say or suggest.
Review by Sarah Neuman