A Review: "The Passionate Mom" by Susan Merrill

Using the book of Nehemiah as inspiration for the material in this book, I was definitely excited to pick up this book. "The Passionate Mom:  Dare to Parent in Today's World" by Susan Merrill did not disappoint! The entire book is a treasure trove of fabulous principles that moms at all stages can implement to help parent confidently.

I loved the idea of creating a parenting book using the example of Nehemiah, a former cupbearer to the king of Babylon turned wall-builder for the city of Jerusalem. Just as Nehemiah's focus was on rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem for the protection of his people, Merrill likens the role of moms to be a wall builder for our families and our children. There are ten different "bricks" that we can use to build the wall for our kids, including perception, passion, prayer, planning, and preparation. She discusses each brick at length and includes some ideas for "mortar" that we can use to help hold those bricks firmly in place. She also includes a wonderful chapter about the different "gates" (opportunities for our children to be tested in independence) that we open and close as necessary. That chapter includes a number of Scripture prayers that moms can pray as we begin to open those gates. At the end of the book, she includes a number of resources which can be found on her website, iMOM.

Overall, this was a fantastic book that is well suited for moms at all stages. This would be a great book to go through as a women's Bible study or a book club. There are so many wonderful application points that discussion would really be helpful to fully process all that you learn through this book.

(I’ve received this complimentary book through the BookLook program in exchange for a review. A positive review was not required and the views expressed in my review are strictly my own.)