Risen Motherhood by Emily Jensen and Laura Wifler (book review)

I've been an avid listener of the Risen Motherhood podcast for about three years, since it's beginnings or pretty close to it (maybe I was behind but motherhood affects my memory so forgive me for having bad timelines). Anyway, I love every second of the podcast, from the jingle to Emily and Laura's laughs and honesty. It's just everything I would want a podcast to be - quick, thoughtful, and about Jesus.

When they said the Risen Motherhood book was coming out, I jumped at the chance to be on the launch team. Emily Jensen and Laura Wifler are my BFFs that I've never met. I can relate to each of them very well in terms of motherhood, writing (although they obviously are more serious about theirs than I), and trying to be a mom/wife/friend/person who follows Jesus and looks at life through the gospel lens.

image via Risen Motherhood launch team

I received an advanced e-book copy of the book. It was very exciting to have the material but I learned one thing - I hate e-books. I just cannot make it through one as quickly as I can a hard copy book! I don't know what that is? It's very frustrating because I loved the material and writing in the book but had a hard time wanting to read it once I stopped because of the copy. As soon as I got my actual copy of the book - BAM, it was done! So take that for what it is, I prefer the book itself to flip through.

As for the material of the book, whoa - this is just one of the best books I could ever recommend. The format of the book is one of my favorite things. If you're familiar with the podcast, it follows the metanarrative of Scripture: the creation, fall, redemption, and consummation (which was a term I had not heard of prior to listening to their podcast). I like the familiar so it's nice to go through that expected format when reading.

image via Amazon

I couldn't pick a favorite chapter if I tried. The closest I could come would be the chapter on special needs children: "The Gospel and our Children with Differences." I feel both gals (who both have kids with special needs) do a terrific job of protecting the privacy of their children while also diving deep into the heart of what it's like to mother a kid with special needs. Having a couple kids with a couple different special needs myself, this chapter is just near and dear. It's not a topic a lot of people would tackle or tackle with such a positive outlook. This is not a "You can do it, you're super mom!" kind of rhetoric we get from the world, but this is a "God is good, even when this is hard, and He is with you" kind of message that we special needs moms really need. A can-do attitude doesn't help me when my son has seizures or anxiety, but Christ does help me. I need this perspective. Every mom needs this perspective. How do you mom without Christ? I couldn't.

The only thing I dislike about this book is that it's taken so long for it to be written. And it could be a million pages longer. I'm so thankful for this ministry and this book and these ladies bringing my focus back to Christ all the time.

Disclaimer: I did receive an advanced e-book copy of the book for being on the launch team but I bought my own hard copy to get that deal. All opinions are my own and may differ from your own. Some links are to Amazon Smile and if purchased through that link, you would be supporting Emmaus University in Haiti.