The following is a book review by The Ameri Brit Mom. This post expresses the genuine opinion and experiences of The Ameri Brit Mom and is in no way endorsed by authors, publishers, and outside influences.
Title: For the Love
Author: Jen Hatmaker
Publisher: Nelson Books
Copyright Date: 2015
I am a member of a small ladies’ book club at my church which I co-founded. We call ourselves Women of the Word and we meet once a month at a local coffee shop. Every few months we like to find empowering books to read together and throughout our last term we chose For the Love by Jen Hatmaker. This book is taking bible studies and book stores by storm. I’ve seen it referenced on reviews, mentioned by famous female speakers, and sitting atop some best seller lists. I was really excited when we chose to read this book as a group because I was intrigued by all of its publicity. And it did not disappoint.
Let’s be clear from the start: Jen Hatmaker is hilarious!
When I began to read this book I immediately fell in love with Jen’s raw honesty. She isn’t afraid to tell it like it is, and she doesn’t ever fear stepping on others’ toes. Through her testimony and short essays Jen paints a picture of a life of the typical mom in western culture doing her very best to represent Christ in every avenue of her life. But, she isn’t afraid to show her mess-ups. There are no cover-ups in this book. Sometimes when I read books by women and for women I feel like the authors dress up their lives and paint their lives full of flowers and sunshine. Not Jen. She isn’t afraid to own her mistakes and use them to encourage other women.
I think what I found so empowering about this book is that Jen was a success story of Christ using her talents to reach others. I was encouraged that I don’t have to have myself together 24/7. It’s okay to slow down. It’s not a sin to take a little time for you.
This book covers a wide range of topics. Jen opens the book with a section entitled “Your Very Own Self” where she discusses the unrealistic expectations most women put on themselves, positive attitudes, and aging. All of her personal anecdotes are relatable and comical.
Next, Jen moves on to talk about family in a chapter entitled, “All These People Who Live in Your House.” This section is about motherhood from all different stages. It also touches on marriage in one of my favorite chapters “Marriage: Have Fun and Stuff.”
The third section of the book is entitled, “Friends, Neighbors, Strangers, and Enemies.” This portion is about interacting with other people in positive and negative situations.
The final section of the book is entitled, “Church, Church People, Not-Church People, and God.” This is one of the hardest sections to swallow for most. In this portion of the book Jen talks about relationships within the body of Christ. She touches on theology and the things of the world which can suck a once-godly relationship dry.
Throughout the book Jen inserts Thank You Notes which serve as a comic relief. I loved the timing of each Thank You Note chapter. They all seemed to fall right after a pretty heavy chapter which challenged me to think or act differently.
This is a fantastic book about how we as women hold the rest of the people in our lives together. And with that power comes the responsibility to be honest and forthcoming in our interactions. This book is anti-competition, anti-facade, anti-works based faith and is pro-loving each other as we all try our best at this balance beam act of life.
The Ameri Brit Mom
The Ameri Brit Mom 