Have you every watched a TV show or read an article and thought to yourself, "If I knew those girls in real life we would be best friends"? Well those were my exact thoughts about Karen Ehman and Ruth Schwenk while I was reading Hoodwinked: Ten Myths Moms Believe and Why We All Need to Knock It Off. I have had the absolute pleasure in being a part of the Hoodwinked Launch Team. I have spent the past couple of weeks dissecting the myths that mother's place on themselves. The whole time I was reading I kept thinking "they get it... they really get it". Karen and Ruth do a fantastic job debunking these myths and leading us mothers to live a free, fulfilling, and faithful life. I don't want to spoil all of the goodness that comes from these pages but here are a few myths and excerpts that I found particularly inspiring...
Myth #1: Mothering Is Natural, Easy, and Instinctive
[In following the footsteps of women in the Bible...] "We let go of the race to replicate someone else's mothering experience and instead fasten our seatbelts and prepare ourselves for the unique ride that Jesus will take us on in this whole mothering experience." Did you hear that... unique ride! All mothers are not the same. I don't have to cook from scratch like the mother down the street, I can use disposable diapers unlike my best friend, my children do not need to be in every after school activity and I do not need to aspire to be the president of the PTA like the mother from my church. My mothering experience is unique and made just for me. "We [need to] get our eyes off of other mothers... and fix our eyes upon Jesus."
Myth #3: I Am "Just" a Mom
"God has set apart the home as his. Home is a place where his presence is to be felt and his purposes are to be pursued. He places parents in those homes as watchmen, pastors, priests, shepherds, teachers, and warriors who have been called and commissioned to pass on their faith to their children for the sake of the world. Motherhood is not an easy mission. But it is God's." How awesome to know that God placed us in our children's lives... We are not there to 'just' pack lunches, wipe noses, and fold little articles of clothing. We are to guide our children in their walk with the Lord for the sake of the world. That's huge...
Myth #7: Motherhood is Luck of the Draw
I recently began potty training my son and my hope was that I would just 'get lucky' and he would get it. I didn't know how to approach it, which method to use, how to respond to him, etc. How many times as moms to we just cross our fingers and hope that we get lucky? We hope that our little boys will take one swing at a baseball and hit it, we wish that our little girls are natural born dancers... There is nothing wrong with wishful thinking but do we do this with our child's spiritual well-being? We can't live a 'do as I say, not as I do' lifestyle... "If we want our children to be disciples of Jesus, then we must first be parents who are disciples of Jesus." We need to provide them with a Christ-life to follow. Will we make mistakes? Of course, no one is perfect, but even in our failures we can still set an example for them. Instead of wishing for luck, let's turn to the Bible. "As parents, our understanding of the right picture needs to be more biblically defined than culturally informed."
This book has been so refreshing to read. I feel like my 'hood' has been lifted. I can look at these myths now and take them for what they are... myths! I know the truth and I know where the truth comes from. To all moms... do yourself a favor and but this book on your Christmas Wish List! (It would look great peeking out of a stocking or wrapped up under the tree) You can purshase Hoodwinked Here
