I was excited about this book (Mother by the Book by Jennifer Pepito) because it combines two of my favorite elements of life- motherhood + the literary world. Perfect!
I know what the subtitle and back cover copy say but I still went into this book anticipating a collection of fresh-faced essays about read-alouds being so fun, a mama telling her children what wisdom they could glean from each story, and of course a few lists of favorite books for a specific subject.
Instead I am being met with SO MUCH MORE.
I'm not very far into this book yet at all but I am already seeing my heart and mind opened in so many beautiful ways.
I, like so many people, have long struggled with feelings of being unloved. So many times I've been crushed, feeling like I love and care about a friend far more than she loves or cares about me. I'll feel like a person only sees one small portion of me and doesn't seem to be interested in getting to know the rest of me, or even like they're intentionally ignoring a portion of me because they don't like that part of me. I'm currently struggling with this in one specific relationship in my life and I read something this morning that was so powerful and was exactly what I needed to read!
"When our core belief that we are unloved manifests, it causes us to drive people away, confirming that we are unloved. Our fearful behavior causes a tumultuous cycle of craziness that makes us alternately hard and needy as we try to grasp love."
Gosh, yes.
But then...
"When you know you are loved, when you have overcome the fear that you aren't beloved, then you can love your children with the pure, joyful love of Jesus. You can be a safe place for them, and in the warmth of your love, they too can overcome fear."
Maybe that one relationship will never be what I want it to be. It's pretty possible that I really do love and care about that person far more than they love and care about me. But that doesn't change how lovable I am. I was hand-designed on purpose by a God who loves me exactly as I am, who made me this way on purpose because He thought this would be a great way for a human to come together!
I am lovable and I am loved. Regardless of, no matter what, always and forever. I can rest in that truth and use it to share that pure and joyful love with my children (and husband!) instead of dwelling on the sting of words said or unsaid from another.
This is why I read. Somewhere deep inside me already knows this, logically. But I get distracted by a sink full of dishes and a hamper full of laundry, by an unexpected bill in the mail and a hole in somebody's favorite jeans, by a long to-do list and a missed call all mixed up with homeschool and dinner prep work and a few things I'd like to do just for fun.
Sometimes our souls need to be reminded of a truth we've forgotten we know: I am lovable. I am loved.
