A Story About a Book (and how you can get TWO)

As soon as I had my first child, I zipped over to the library to check out every book on motherhood that I could find.  There were lots of helpful hints on housework, organization, and child development, but I couldn’t find the one book I was looking for–the one that would show me how beautiful and exciting motherhood could be. The one that would help me to know that I wasn’t alone in all the struggles I was having.

After months of searching, I found Linda Eyre’s A Joyful Mother of Children at a bookstore.  Our budget was so tight that I didn’t think we could afford it, so I sat tucked in a corner for twenty minutes, speed-reading the book while my husband chased our toddler around the store.
Seeing the look on my face as I absorbed Linda’s words, my husband asked, “Do you want to buy this?”  Surprised, I looked up at him through watery eyes, paused to consider how much money I needed to buy groceries, and simply nodded.

We went home with the book. It changed my life. And then I had the privilege of meeting Linda, and she introduced me to her daughter Saren. Before we knew it, we were partners in The Power of Moms.

Sometimes I sit and reflect on events like this, and I wish I could go back and tell my former self that everything was going to be okay.

And then I'm pretty sure that my future self would want to say the same thing to me.

I went running this morning, and I did my best to take long, deep breaths.  Things are moving rapidly right now--so rapidly that I have to dig in my heels and skid to a stop in order to eat, sleep, exercise, and draw close to God.  But there is so much beauty happening along the way that I'm aching to record.  For the time being, I just have blog drafts, scribbled notes in my planner, and photos saved to special folders on my computer.  They're waiting for when the time is right. 

So for now, I'm off to prepare for the Mind Organization workshop in my home this Saturday.  (And my mom is coming to stay the night with me tonight!)  Spencer turned five, and we're planning his first "real" party.  The proof for our new Deliberate Motherhood book is on it's way. Alia is getting ready to go off to a science camp.  Ethan's pants need to be mended for Sunday. Grace had school pictures today and really wanted her hair straightened.  (Didn't you want to know all that?)

It's a precious life.

As a special note:

We're doing a giveaway of two of Linda Eyre's books right now at The Power of Moms.

If you'd like to read "A Joyful Mother of Children" and my other favorite of hers, "I Didn't Plan to Be a Witch," simply click on this image below.  I know you'll love them as much as I do.

Love,
April