Hard Is Not the Same Thing as Bad
The Perspective Shift That Could Completely Change the Way You Mother
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- $30.99
Publisher Description
A PUBLISHERS WEEKLY BESTSELLER
Bestselling author Abbie Halberstadt helps women see how God can use the everyday trials of motherhood to radically transform how they view hardship and grow them to become more like Jesus.
"Why me, Lord?"
Amid the toddler tantrums, the mealtime melees, and the backseat blowups, have you found yourself asking God that same question? Maybe even screaming it into a couch pillow? You're not alone.
Your most trying moments as a mother can quickly spiral into discouragement, hopelessness, and sometimes even resentment toward God or your family—partly because our culture has conditioned us to believe that anything this hard can't possibly be good for us.
Abbie Halberstadt, author of the bestselling M Is for Mama, shares scriptural wisdom and lessons learned from her own challenges as a mama of ten to help shift your perspective on the hardships of motherhood and of life, in general.
When you begin to see struggles as a necessary part of God's plan for your spiritual growth, you can discover supernatural peace and purpose, even when you're down in the deepest trenches of motherhood.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"All suffering is hard. But not all hard things are suffering," writes Halberstadt (M Is for Mama) in this heartfelt call for Christian moms to reframe their attitude toward parenting. The author, a mother of 10, recalls feeling emotionally wrung out after yet another toddler meltdown eight years ago, when she began to wonder if the "seemingly meaningless melodramas were not a punishment but a mercy from the Lord"—a way God was growing her empathy and patience. In brief, upbeat sections, Halbert outlines this philosophy, encouraging readers to "look for God's goodness when we feel stuck" and be grateful that God has "filled our mother hearts with an aching love that threatens to burst"; to "be the adult when we want to throw tantrums" by owning the "maturity... the Lord has entrusted to us"; and to "reflect God's integrity" by modeling moral behavior for one's children. Halberstadt's advice is animated by genuine religious passion, and readers will trust her warts-and-all parenting wisdom, which is leavened by flashes of humor that keep things from getting preachy ("You mean, we're not victims of our children's tendency to upchuck an entire lunch of undigested chicken quesadillas an hour into a road trip?"). Moms in need of a faith-based, can-do parenting approach will find it here.
