Summer Reading for Moms

Moms need book recommendations, too! Those of you who enjoyed the Faith, Fiction, and Fellowship Read-Along in the spring read through Christina Fox’s Closer Than a Sister. She mentioned one of her new books in the video interview we did. Today, we look at both Idols of a Mother’s Heart and her brand new, out-today book, Sufficient Hope: Gospel Meditations and Prayers for Moms.

Both of these books are outstanding reads and might be just what you need this summer as you sit poolside, watching your offspring frolic and splash.

Idols of a Mother’s Heart

Idols of a Mother’s Heart is a mix between a punch to the gut and a caring friend coming alongside, pointing you to the cross. John Calvin said our hearts are idol factories, but he didn’t just mean golden calves. Fox takes a hard, penetrating look at some of the idols we moms can latch onto, before we even know we’re doing so.

Idols of a Mother’s Heart is formatted very similarly to Closer Than a Sister: the first few chapters lay a solid framework for the book, focusing on our identity in Christ. The middle chapters each look at a particular idol in turn. The final chapters re-orient us back to Christ, calling us to examine our hearts and press on with our eyes on Jesus. As with all of Fox’s books, Scripture is woven throughout.

I identified with some of the idols in particular, uncomfortably so. At first glance, “Approval” or “Control” or “Comfort” didn’t seem that sinister or troubling. But after some soul-searching prompted by Fox’s clear text and the thought-provoking discussion questions at the end of the chapters, I was forced to confess that those are indeed idols of this mother’s heart more than I’d like to admit. This would be a great book to read through as part of a small group–perhaps the same group with whom you read Closer Than a Sister!

Sufficient Hope for Moms

I so much appreciate that Fox always points us back to Christ. Behind the scenes at Redeemed Reader, our team often reminds one another that, “books don’t save! Only Christ saves!”

It’s easy when we’re in the trenches of motherhood, home-making, book reviewing, school planning, loving our neighbors… to put our faith and hope in a new method or book or reading plan rather than in Christ. Fox’s newest book, Sufficient Hope: Gospel Meditations and Prayers for Moms, reminds us:

Motherhood reveals our need for a Savior. No matter the season our children are in—infancy and early childhood, adoles- cence, and beyond—we need Jesus to carry us through. We need Jesus to be our strength and wisdom. We need Jesus to redeem and rescue us from ourselves. We need Jesus to be our constant through the ups and downs of motherhood. In all the seasons of motherhood, the gospel becomes more beautiful to us in richer and deeper ways than ever before.

~Sufficient Hope, Christina Fox

Moms need the gospel just as much as their children and their neighbors do. But moms are also tired with a million and one errands, tasks, and responsibilities. This is not another self-help book for managing those real world, present-day concerns. It IS a book that will point you to Christ richly and succinctly.

Each short chapter is followed by 3 discussion questions and a “gospel prayer” that reiterates the chapter’s topic. Tim Challies recently discussed what was in his spiritual first aid kit, and recorded prayers were one of those things. If you’re a tired, weary, discouraged mom, this book will help provide some spiritual first aid.

Both of these books are available now! Remember, if you click through one of our amazon affiliate links, you help support Redeemed Reader at no cost to yourself. We are grateful for our readers’ support!