Surprised by Motherhood by Lisa-Jo Baker

About the Book:

A lawyer with a well-stamped passport and a passion for human rights, Lisa-Jo Baker never wanted to be a mom. And then she had kids. Having lost her own mother to cancer as a teenager, Lisa-Jo felt lost on her journey to womanhood and wholly unprepared to raise children.

Surprised by Motherhood is Lisa-Jo’s story of becoming and being a mom, and in the process, discovering that all the “what to expect” and “how to” books in the world can never truly prepare you for the sheer exhilaration, joy, and terrifying love that accompanies motherhood.

Set partly in South Africa and partly in the US (with a slight detour to Ukraine along the way), Surprised by Motherhood is a poignant memoir of one woman’s dawning realization that being a mom isn’t about being perfect—it’s about being present.

My Thoughts:

Lisa-Jo is the kind of author you feel you know by the time you finish her book.  She is very transparent, and writes in a lyrical style that holds your attention and paints a portrait of the places she's been and the things she's seen.

I admire her greatly for writing "Surprised By Motherhood".  It's important that women know not every female is born with the deep desire to become a mother.  Life, events, anything really can take away the urge and replace it with fear, or simply no sensation or need to have a child.

And that's not a sin.  Unless you allow it to become one.

For instance, if you make a woman's desire for children a condition of God's love for her.  That's a sin.  Or if you know God is telling you to have a child and you're ignoring him.  That's a sin.

But watching your mother die before you turn 19, and mothering your younger siblings out of love and necessity, and longing to have a meaning that transcends the simple, the everyday...that's not sin.  Surrendering all of that to God can leave you with His desires for you.

That's what Lisa-Jo found out.  And now she's been "Surprised by Motherhood" three times over.  And it's a beautiful, hard, messy life.  But she's living it for Him.  Honestly.  Daily.  Sometimes in her own strength, sometimes in His...but with love and devotion to Him, her family, and her Father.

My thanks to my friends at Tyndale House Publishers for my advance copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  I recommend this book, and I'm so glad I discovered Lisa-Jo Baker.  She's my kind of woman of God.

Happy Reading!





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