Books for mothers

[militantsparrow]

To the Orthodox mothers,
Are there any Orthodox books written for mothers and helping their personal prayer and spiritual life that you could recommend?

Thanks,
Lawrence

[Quinault]

There aren't a ton of books that I can recommend that are targeted specifically at mothers.

I did pick up the one by Molly Sabourin; "Close to Home". I personally wasn't real impressed. I gave the book away to another mother in our parish. A mother that has 1-2 children would benefit a great deal from it. But much of her practical advice seems a little "duh" to me now that I have 4 kids.

There is a great "speech" (it is available in booklet form) called the Quotidian mysteries that I enjoyed. It is about making the common tasks more sacred. The author is not Orthodox, but what she writes is really quite wonderful. Many of her other books are excellent as well.

"Raising them Right" was quite good. It is on the strict side of things being as it is written by a monastic. But there is some valuable information there. This isn't targeted at mothers as much as parents.

"Wounded by Love" is an excellent book. Although it isn't specifically about motherhood, or even parent hood, it is an excellent book.

"Our Church and Our Children" is a really good book so far. It is written from an educational standpoint. So if you homeschool it would be a great resource.



Honestly I don't think motherhood spiritually requires much of a different approach than any other position in life. In my opinion too often mothers are sort of talked down to. The best resource for me as a whole has been the writings by an Orthodox mother on a blog names evlogia. What she writes isn't earth shatteringly different than anyone else out there. But she has a way of writing that really touches upon the heart of an issue.

[militantsparrow]

Thank you very much, Quinault. I will pass this along to my wife.

[miaelizabeth]

Hi everyone
I'm pretty new to this forum..I have been reading and enjoying the discussions for many months (been a bit shy in contributing tho) and this place seems like a wonderful place to discuss issues from an Orthodox perspective. I have a similar question in regarding books for mothers. In my situaiton, I am an Orthodox stepmother, whose wonderful husband converted 6 months before our wedding in August 2011. He is immesely supportive of the position I hold within our family, which now includes a 5 year old girl, Lily, and a 7 year old girl,Violet. My issue, which is a fairly delicate one, is that the girls mother, is very much against the children being exposed to any form of religion, especially the Orthodox Church we attend. She has many diagonosed mental illness's and has restricted visitation in the past because of my husbands refusal to sign a paper stating that he would never, under any circumstances, bring the children to church. He refused to sign such a document and then didn't see his girls for almost 3 weeks She eventually allowed the girls to visit,after we got legal counsel involved. How do we handle this type of situation, and if there are any resources in the Orthodox world that would help and guide us in our journey. He is going back to court in April, to once again assert his rights and the rights of the children, in everything, including the right to go to church. Any advice would  be very much appreciated and I hope I didn't ramble too much.

God Bless you all during this period of Great Lent 
 
With love in Christ,

Maria

[biro]

I am sorry. Praying for you.

Lord have mercy.

[miaelizabeth]

Thank you Biro

Honestly, it felt really good to finally post something about the situation. Seems there are lots of books on stepparenting in general, but I'd really like an Orthodox perspective. Haven't found anything so far.

[LizaSymonenko]

Well, your issue isn't so much a "step parenting" issue, as it is a parenting issue.

I know a family where the mother is Orthodox, and dad is RC.  While he's non-practicing in his own Faith, he takes every opportunity to ridicule Orthodoxy and let the kids know that it's a waste of time and stupid.

They are married, living in the same house, and mom is trying to counteract dad's negativity and poor influence on their children.

Just reiterate the Faith in your home, when the girls are with you.  God isn't only found in church.  Start slowly at home.  Stand in your prayer corner, with lit candles and pray together.  Do charity work together, teaching the girls that Christ instructed us to care for others.  Read children's books about the lives or saints, or stories from a Children's Bible. 

Just do what you can with them at home. 

However, do tell them about church, about Orthodoxy, about Christ.  Go on the Web and show them photos, show them photos of kids standing in line for Holy Communion, having fun in Church School....try to create an interest, so the kids develope a desire to go to church on their own.

Have the children join you in praying for their mother, that God should soften her heart, and that she should know the joys that come with knowing Christ.
Don't say anything negative about their mom (that might backfire as kids are often protective of their parents), but, state that mom would be happier if she knew Christ.....one day we'll ask your mom to join us.....your mom would have such fun getting an Easter basket blessed.....be positive and upbeat.

Will pray for your situation and all the other families (and there are many of them) that find themselves in similar circumstances!

[miaelizabeth]

LizaSymonenko  : Great advice! We do include the children in prayers, and read to them (most of the time at their request) stories from the Children's Bible and they really love the Mother of God. The younger girl,Lily, will kiss any icon of the Theotokos she sees. We explain the importance of giving to the needy and loving and forgiving people. They understand and ask questions.

Whats especially difficult, is when they come to visit ( they visit 2x a week after school until 730 when they are taken back to their mothers) and every other weekend. After spending time with us, expresssing interest in Christ, icons etc, they come back from their mothers saying things like " Mama said people that believe in God are crazy" and " Mama said that "we dont like to pray"...we start over again, their father especially will take a prominent role in trying to explain why mama feels that way. Its weird because their mothers entire family is Roman Catholic, and she abhors God, Christianity especially and she tells the girls that the Orthodox Church "hates" women and is a bad example for them.

Its like banging our head against the wall every time they come over..

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