Grit and Grace

My morning routine is very simple but changes just slightly every few months. Right now my routine is to pray for a reeeeeeally long time. I’m working so hard on getting healthy and I pray for a lot of help recovering from emotional pain I’ve spent years treating with bulimia and self-harm instead of actually processing and recovering from. I spend a long time each morning praying for help with these things, attempting to understand God’s answers, and processing. Then I get up and make myself a mug of tea or refill my water (mostly the tea right now, while it’s cold and snowy) and slip back into bed to stay cozy under the covers and tackle my stack.

This is a routine I love a little more each day, one that moms for years have wistfully detailed and which I couldn’t really understand and adore until I got here.

I am usually cozied up in a hoodie and a soft, fuzzy blanket. There’s a mug of tea (preferably chai rooibos, but any will do) beside me and there is a thick stack of books on my lap. My worn-out purple Moms Devotional Bible (my mom used this Bible for many years of my childhood and it was really special when she passed it on to me right after my first baby was born! Her handwriting is inside it and I sometimes tear up when I see it), my journal, my devotional(s) of the moment, and whatever book or Bible study I’m working through.

My current lineup is Breaking Free Day by Day (amazing devotional version of Breaking Free that keeps its teachings fresh in my mind and is insanely powerful for helping me BREAK FREE from my, I don’t know, mental health chains), Grit and Grace* (devotions for warrior moms, as the subtitle boasts), and a 2 Corinthians Bible study called All Things New.

I have been loving all three of my current morning reads but I’m here today to talk about Grit & Grace.

Grit and Grace: Devotions of Warrior Moms is such a nice way to start a morning full of mom-ing. And with four kids under six years old, you know I do A LOT of mom-ing.

The book is written by two moms (Suzanne Hadley Gosselin and Gretta Kennedy), which means you’re getting more than one perspective on motherhood. It’s written as personal stories rather than how-tos, by women who claim for zero seconds to have it all figured out. It’s inspiring, humorous, and real.

This is definitely not my first Christian mom book so I feel like I’ve got a good handle on them. Some things that stand out to me:

-The stories are a mixture of “everyday” mom moments (messes, mistakes, chaos), and deeper, scarier stuff (terrifying health problem of one’s baby)
-The stories touch on personal growth too, not exclusively motherhood-focused topics
-The verses included in each devotion are fully printed in the story itself (when I first started reading Bible studies and devotionals I was super lazy and flustered about having to pause in the middle of something and go find the verses in my Bible! Now I don’t at all mind it and actually kind of like it, but maybe you’re more like the me of yesteryear)
-There is great variety here… fears in motherhood, stress, parenting goals, actively pursuing joy, etc.

Aaaaand, because who doesn’t love a good giveaway… win a copy for yourself! 

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*I received a free copy of Grit & Grace from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.