Ta Da!!! Brave Mom, Brave Kids Week and give-away!
This girl here was the first child who made me a mom.
And somewhere around the time she was fourteen I started saying that I hoped when I finally grew up that I would be like her.
She has a lot of her dad in her…
enough of me that we know I can claim to be her mom…
but she got a lot of her dad’s smarts and determination and steadfastness and all the good things that keep the rest of us on track.
So when she told me she had been accepted for a book launch, I knew it would be a good one and I purchased a copy for myself and two extras because why order one book when you can order three, right?
I gave one to another brave mom I know and I reserved one to do a give-away.
And since we are heading into Mother’s Day weekend…I figured now is a great time to do it!
So this week, I will be sharing some of my gleanings from the book and you will be excited to know that Rachel is working on a guest post…
in her free time…
To enter….one entry for each of these every day…I must be crazy to be giving entries away like this….=0)
- leave a comment here ( I won’t post it!!! unless you say “Ok to post”)
- sign up for email list on side bar
- like/comment/share on Facebook – extra entry if you do this from the Journey Onward page and not my personal page….bonus points <3
- like/follow the Journey Onward page on Facebook if you haven’t done it yet
So there are the details…and here is today’s gleaning from the book.
Lee Nienhuis, the author of Brave Moms, Brave Kids is so honest and real about the fear that can paralyze us all. Even if you are not a mom, the book is helpful in identifying where we are shrinking back because of the many forces that can oppose us as we try to walk out the teachings of Christ.
There are real occurrences that give us every right to be afraid…things that threaten our safety, comfort, acceptance.
And then there is our own track record that can cause us to wave a white flag and say…
You know…maybe we could just lay low…hang out here in our circled wagons and ride this whole faith journey out on the quiet side.
But that is not the stuff this world needs.
Lee says this world needs heroes…and how does she describe a hero?
“A hero is a faith-filled child of God who so believes in the goodness, worthiness, and faithfulness of God that she is obedient to His call on her life in public and private. …. They are courageous – not foolish, but courageous- when fear could swallow them whole. … Heroes roll up their sleeves and get to work no matter how daunting the task in front of them. They are faithful and can be counted on to do the right thing, to cling tight to the Lord over and over. This is heroism, and if it has ever been needed, surely it is needed now” Lee Nienhaus, Brave Moms, brave kids page 17-18
I would say bravery was not one of the ways I would have described my mothering style.
I had moments when I felt bold, but I had a lot of times where fear and dread all but side-lined me for good.
But as I read Lee’s definition I realize….yes…I felt fear breathing icy death into me many a day…but I never quit.
I couldn’t.
Believe me, I tried.
There were seasons where the losses seemed to be taking a greater toll than my mental, physical, spiritual and experiential self could withstand…
But God.
God would look at me as I attempted to hand in my resignation and smile and give me a pat on the head and whisper to my weary soul….
“Quitting is not an option. Now get back in there.”
I love how Lee points out…it wasn’t my abilities….my strength…my worth….that made me go back in the fight again and again and again….
it was my confidence in HIS goodness…worthiness…faithfulness.
I am excited about revisiting the pages of this book with you the rest of the week.
I hope you will play along…even if you aren’t a mom…and get involved with some comments/likes and shares. It would be nice for you to have a copy of this book or to give to a brave young mom you know.
So let the fun begin!
Happy Monday <3