Covenant Motherhood {Book Review}

Several weeks ago Stephanie Dibb Sorenson, who blogs at Diapers and Divinity, asked me if I would be interested in reading and reviewing her new book, “Covenant Motherhood.” I knew that she had been working on it for awhile and was excited to see the final product.

 The premise of her book is that motherhood, in all its many facets,  is symbolic of Jesus Christ. Mother’s through the work they do– creating, teaching, succoring, providing, cleaning, defending, loving, forgiving, and saving– are mirrors of the Savior and His mission on the earth.

One of her last paragraphs in the books reads:

” Motherhood is a monumental investment, and sometimes our offerings don’t make sense in the moment. When Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden and began their mortal life as parents, they made sacrifices and offering to the Lord. They did so to be obedient, but they didn’t really understand why. The angel taught Adam that these things were “a similitude of the Only Begotten of the Father, which is full of grace and truth.” So it is with motherhood. Much of what we do as mothers is an offering to our families and to our Heavenly Father because, like Adam and Eve, we love them and want to be obedient. Repeated offerings require sacrifice– big and small, some daily, some deep. All of these offerings are symbols of our Savior and are meant to point us to Him.” pg. 96

I really enjoyed reading all of Stephanie’s insights into how motherhood parallels the Saviors ministry and His atonement. I think that her book would be a big eye opener for mothers who are struggling to find purpose behind what they are doing. I think that many of us got into the mothering job because we want to be obedient to the instructions the Lord had given us, but like Adam, may not really understand the full magnitude of what we are engaged in. I know that reading this book has helped me be approach several aspects of my mothering– especially my housework and chores– with more spiritual eyes… which is good because I need all the help I can get on that front!

Overall I really liked to whole book but I think my favorite chapter was the first one, “Jesus Christ Creates”.  When I read this paragraph I got really excited because it  put something into words that I hadn’t been able to articulate:

” I had always thought that the concept of creation in womanhood was intrinsically tied to a uterus and reproduction and all the other wonders of baby-making. And it is, but that is not the only way in which we are creators. During a general Relief Society broadcast in 2008 President Dieter F. Uchtdorf taught that creation “is your opportunity in this life and your destiny in the life to come.” I began to realize that motherhood– all of of motherhood, not just the childbirth part– is simply creation in slow motion. We are literally shaping  souls like a potter shapes clay, building children  and instilling in them all the knowledge, skills, testimony, and power they will need to make successful  choices.”  (pg. 8)

I thought that was such a beautiful thought and wish that more women understood this; that creation is part of what it means to be a woman. Our Heavenly Mother is a creator, in the grandest sense of the word, and what we do as women here on the earth mirrors her eternal nature. Like Stephanie said, it is more than childbearing, it is creating and shaping souls. The most beautiful thing is that you don’t have to have children of your own to be a creator. Each and every woman is a MOTHER– a CREATOR– it is part of her divine nature.

I also loved what Stephanie said in her chapter “Jesus Christ Loves and Sacrifices” because I could SO relate to her: 

Amen to that. 

Covenant Motherhood is now for sale, just in time for Mother’s Day. You can buy it online and in LDS Bookstores!