The Proverbs 31 Woman is a challenging topic as it makes many women feel inferior and some feel superior. This devotional was simple to read, quick, and to the point. I would recommend this in addition to your regular Bible reading or as a short stopgap after a new baby or another major life event.
When I ask what a mom does, I don't mean all the tangible things like laundry, dishes, baseball practice, and mopping the floor. While those are all important, I am talking about something infinitely more important.
What I mean is, what are the things that a mother does that bring extra life to her family?
There is an old Jewish Proverbs which says, "A mother understands what a child does not say".
I don't care what kind of mother you are, what your parenting philosophy is, or how you became a mother. Once you are a mom you have the ability (if you put down your phone and turn off the TV) to listen to the deepest longings of your children's hearts.
In my home you can periodically hear any one of my kids asking for "mommy magic".
I wish I could give you a clear definition of what that is, but I really can't because it changes every single day based upon the needs of my family.
Here are a few things mommy magic has been in our home:
Moms make magic so that we can answer the tiny unheard (and often unspoken) needs of our children.
Sometimes the worst behavior (especially in small children) is caused because they feel left out and unseen. Ephesians 6:4 tells us, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord.” This verse makes me think about how our heavenly Father ALWAYS meets us where we are with love and compassion.
For young children (and older children often!) love is letting them be children, allowing them to be silly, loud, and messy. God never fails to grant us mercy after a hissy fit or grace despite our shortcomings.
He grants us rainbows after storms and His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:23).
Lets do the same for our children.
Welcome back to my little corner of the internet.
Thank you for your patience, emails, and check-ins on social media. It really did my heart good.
I took about nine months off of writing anything at all and almost two years off of writing anything of real substance beside book reviews. A lot has happened for our family in the last 18 months so let me give you the cliff-notes version:
Of course any one of those things is challenging but to have all of them happen in 18 months?
We have had marriage struggles, health scares, political unrest, social unrest, but most of all?
Most of all we have had Jesus and I am so incredibly grateful. The last two years forced growth from me as a child of God, mother and wife that wouldn't have happened otherwise.
Some of you may have noticed that things look a little bit different around my blog and social media lately. I have dropped the Forgiven Former Feminist moniker.
I realized that while the name was catchy, it wasn't Christ-like and it didn't give me the scope to write about all the things I want to. I felt like everything had to be geared towards feminism and that left out things that I am really passionate about like:
...and frankly anything else that comes to mind. So, I have essentially re-branded to just my name across social media and here on the blog. I plan to write about anything and everything that I am thinking. Some things may really resonate with you while other things don't. That is totally fine, part of being an adult is learning how to get along with people you disagree with.
So on that note, I am going to sign off for today.
I can't wait to share more with y'all soon!
Welcome to Title Tuesday, my favorite day of the week! This day is dedicated to book suggestions, news, cartoons, and reviews. For 2020 I decided to structure my book reviews by breaking each month into topics. You can find my topics list here. This month we are covering womanhood. So lets jump in!
Today I want to talk about Made Like Martha by Katie M. Reid.
So full confession?
I actually bought this book by accident.
I was in a Bible study group that was doing another book on Mary and Martha and when I was in a sleep deprived state I accidentally bought this book by mistake.
Lucky me!
Ok, now that I have said that, lets get on with the review.
Let me preface this by saying that I am a self declared Martha and I have always thought that the church's teaching on Martha shammed people like me rather than allowing us to play the role that God has given us.
I have always HATED the conversation about the sisters Mary and Martha. It has been one of my least favorite parts of the Bible for a LONG time.
Enter author @katie_m_reid. Katie writes from a great perspective that re-frames our thinking of the often misunderstood pair of sisters.
As a self diagnosed Martha it is nice to see someone that doesn’t think we need to be fixed, but rather refocused on Jesus.
Katie uses biblical evidence and solid theology to show how Martha's can (and should!) be used within the church body to further show the glory of God and to help spread the gospel message.
Overall I give Made Like Martha by Katie M. Reid a solid 5 star rating!
If you are a fellow type A woman that is tired of hearing how you "should" be more of a Mary check out this book and be encouraged that you are not made wrong and that there is absolutely a place for you in the body of Christ!
Welcome to Title Tuesday, my favorite day of the week! This day is dedicated to book suggestions, news, cartoons, and reviews. For 2020 I decided to structure my book reviews by breaking each month into topics. You can find my topics list here. This month we are covering womanhood. So lets jump in!
Today I want to take a look at Fierce Women: The Power of a Soft Warrior by Kimberly Wagner.
Sadly I was mistaken.
This book is not a guide for women on how to be both strong and Christians at the same time. This is a marriage book geared towards softening a woman's personality and wiring to be less confrontational. While it may be titled Fierce Women, this book is all about becoming softer and less abrasive to people around you, specifically your spouse.
The portion of this book dealing with a husband's unrepentant sin just really put me off.
On page 224 after saying that it is ok to confront sin in your marriage, Wagner then follows that statement up with, "If you release expectations and find joy in your relationship with Christ, you will reach a level of surrender that provides contentment no matter what your husband chooses."
Those two statements counteract one another. How can you release expectations and confront sin at the same time? If you have no expectations then you cannot expect someone to stop sinning.
This to me is slinging a bunch of buzz phrases together about a topic that is sensitive and demands clear instruction and biblical discernment not platitudes that you would find on a a coffee mug.
This book doesn't address fierceness in terms of anything but as a wife. It is almost like this book was written in anticipation of the second book about loving fierce women. It smacks of the idea that a woman exists only in relation to her husband. In light of that, I have to give this book 2 stars. It is theologically sound and it is well written but that is about it. I would have liked to see a guide on how to be a fierce woman in other situations: work, school, with family, in positions of authority, volunteering, and the like. Women are multidimensional, even strong women in the Christian faith.
Welcome to Title Tuesday, my favorite day of the week! This day is dedicated to book suggestions, news, cartoons, and reviews. For 2020 I decided to structure my book reviews by breaking each month into topics. You can find my topics list here. This month we are covering womanhood. So lets jump in!
This book is a careful examination of the insidious ways that feminism has crept into modern day Christian women. Reissig talks in depth about the sneaky and subtle shifts in our thought patterns that stir up strife and cause discontentment in many Christian women.
I LOVE that even though Reissig is a wife and mom, she directly addresses the elephant in the sanctuary. What about women who are not wives or mothers? How do they fit in to the body of Christ? How do they honor God with their time? Reissig also makes some great points about how women that are wives and mothers can do more to foster relationships with the women that are not.
Reissig's chapter on submission is clear and well thought out. She tackles this delicate subject with poise and confidence that many teachers and authors fail to do nearly as well.
In short, Courtney Reissig's book The Accidental Feminist takes on major topics that are causing strife in the Christian church today in an honest, concise, and thought provoking way. I enjoyed this book so much that after listening to it on audiobook I went and bought a hard copy on amazon so I could re-read and annotate the book. This book is a solid 5 star, must read!
Welcome to Title Tuesday, my favorite day of the week! This day is dedicated to book suggestions, news, cartoons, and reviews. For 2020 I decided to structure my book reviews by breaking each month into topics. You can find my topics list here. This month we are covering womanhood. So lets jump in!
Let me start by saying that this is a book study on the story of Leah. This book has questions and things to ponder, but it is not a straight biography of Lea or a pure Bible study... it is an interesting mix of the two.
Loving Leah is clearly written by someone who admires Leah a great deal, and has spent a long time studying this portion of Genesis. This book can be a great encouragement to women that are dealing with unfaithful spouses or husbands that seem more dedicated to their jobs than to their wives as this was often the case with Leah's husband.
Overall, this book was theologically sound, and I would likely share it with a friend. But the many typos, grammatical errors, and publishing issues makes this book a 1 star because it can be difficult to enjoy the fruit of solid theological study when the brambles of poor editing get in the way.
Ok, now that the legal part is out of the way lets get on with this review. 
I am working on memorizing the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12) in the three months before our little girl is born. So I have created a plan for really memorizing and taking these verses to heart. The plan starts this week, so get ready to say your first verse on Friday January 19, 2018!
