7 Favorite Books for Christian Mothers
As Christian mothers, our ultimate authority is always the Word of God. His Word contains all that we need for life and godliness! Being a mother is a huge and awesome task – one that will change the world, for better or for worse. God’s Word is always what we should base our thoughts on, read first, and read most.
And then, we thank God for the written word, for books! And for authors who love His Word and love motherhood and parenthood.
As a young mother with four children under 6, I treasure books that point me back to the Word of God, apply practical Biblical principles, and encourage me in patience, diligence, creativity, and love as a mother.
Here are 7 of my favorite books for Christian mothers – on Christian motherhood and related topics – and a little bit about why I keep them on my shelf to lend to friends and go back to. 🙂
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My 7 Favorite Books for Christian Mothers
I’m going to preface this list by saying that these are by no means the best books on Christian motherhood. They’re just the best ones on my shelf! I tend to gravitate toward slightly older books and experienced parents when it comes to these types of books. There are a lot of trendy books out there on motherhood, and I think it’s wise to consider two things when reading.
- Does this person have experience? Have these principals worked on their own children?
- Is this feel-good advice, or does it line up with the Word of God?
That having been said, here are some of my favorite books – not just about motherhood, but that have encouraged my efforts as a Christian mother, spiritually and practically (if the two can be separated).
1. “Don’t Make Me Count to Three!” – by Ginger Plowman
I have to say, I almost didn’t read this one because of the title (we are big anti-count-to-3ers over here…). But some of my most trusted friends recommended it, so read it I did.
After getting into the first few chapters, I found Don’t Make Me Count to Three! to be one of the most helpful and practical parenting books I’ve read as a Christian mother. The subtitle is , “A Mom’s Look at Heart-Oriented Discipline”, and Ginger does such a wonderful job of drawing out the heart behind so many common discipline issues and giving practical examples for how to point our children to Christ in their training.
(I should note, that she is also anti-count-to-3 ;))
2. Shepherding a Child’s Heart – by Tedd Tripp
Shepherding a Child’s Heart is another invaluable parenting book (for both moms and dads, really), that wonderfully combines the practical with the spiritual heart behind our efforts as parents. Tedd does a great job of looking much deeper than just behavior and into the hearts of our children.
“Parenting that focuses only on behavior does address the heart. The problem is that the heart is addressed wrongly. Changing behavior without changing the heart trains the heat toward whatever you use as your means. If it is reward, the heart is trained to respond to reward… If you address only the behavior of your children, you never get to the cross of Christ.” -Tedd Tripp
This is one sits on our shelf to go back to over and over. It’s full of both practical examples and deep dives into directing our children’s hearts toward the glory of Christ.
3. Teach Them to Work – by Mary Beeke
We firmly believe that work is a gift from God, and the home and family are the primary place where this gift of work and industry should be played out! Mary excellently explains and expands upon the Biblical idea of families working together and children developing a good work ethic, starting as very young children in the home.
In Teach Them to Work, she offers wonderful reminders that work is sacred and to be done to the glory of God, and each child has a place in the home and gets to enjoy the joys and benefits of helping! Throughout the book, she provides insight and practical examples of how to create a family environment where there is joy in working and where kids pick up on the fulfilling and rewarding gift of working together, which also trains them for life!
“…there are some who make work burdensome for themselves. It’s an attitude thing. It’s a cultural thing. It’s usually only found in flourishing economies. It’s a complaining spirit of our day, the “Thank God it’s Friday,” the live for the fun attitude, and the groaning when we have to get up for work or school. Let’s not buy into this. Work is a privilege. Having a job is a gift from God.” – Mary Beeke
This book is an excellent reminder not to deny children the wonderful gift of work and of being part of a family.
(As a side note, our family loves to work together! Whether bringing in wood, following Daddy out to the shop, or peeling potatoes. Working together has solidified our family so much, uniting us toward common goals and giving the kids confidence and purpose.)
4. For the Children’s Sake – by Susan Macauley
With my oldest in kindergarten, For the Children’s Sake has been an excellent resource to not only get a better understanding of Charlotte Mason’s principles, but honestly just overall develop ideas for creating a well-rounded life of learning for our children. I think that even if someone decided to pursue a different route of education other than Charlotte Mason’s, this book would provide a lot of helpful principles and ideas for instilling a love of learning in children.
She gives helpful advice and ideas about reading living books, teaching life skills, training obedience, and creating good habits.
As someone who felt overwhelmed with where to start in understanding Charlotte Mason’s methods, this book is an excellent beginning place!
5. First We Have Coffee – by Margaret Jensen
First We Have Coffee is a bit of a different genre than the others, but I had to include it because it might actually be my favorite book of all time.
This book is a true story about an immigrant family, written from the eyes of a Scandinavian pastor’s daughter. There are a few books I’ve read twice, and very few I’ve read more than twice, but this is one that I’ve read multiple times over.
The stories that Margaret tells of her mother have had a way of burning into my memory. Her warm, caring mother seems to be the glue that holds the family together – patiently training her children, scrimping by during tough times, making the house a home no matter how meager, treasuring her moments in prayer, and always welcoming strangers with a cup of coffee.
(If you love this one, Margaret Jensen has a number of other wonderful books as well! Some of my favorites are Lena and Prop Up the Leanin’ Side.)
6. Ten Ways to Destroy The Imagination of Your Child – by Anthony Esolen
This one is not specifically written to mothers, but it’s an ingenious book about children, written in long-form satire and full of irony, largely describing the ways in which our world fails at preparing children for life – and how we can do better. Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child was a book that was hard for me to put down!
More than just deconstructing the modern approach of living that kills our children’s imaginations – the breakdown of families, overload of screens and the indoors, and ignoring the distinctions between men and women, to name a few – Esolen is incredibly effective at pushing the reader to think about what it takes to raise capable, enjoyable, thinking children.
“If we loved children, we would have a few. If we had them, we would want them as children, and would love the wonder with which they behold the world, and would hope that some of it might open our own eyes a little. We would love their games, and would want to play them once in a while, stirring in ourselves those memories of play that no one regrets, and that are almost the only things an old man can look back on with complete satisfaction. We would want children tagging along after us, or if not, then only because we would understand that they had better things to do.” -Anthony Esolen
7. The Shaping of a Christian Family – Elisabeth Elliot
The Shaping of a Christian Family was a recent read, and I think it may have made the top slot for my favorite book read this year.
I haven’t read much of Elisabeth Elliot, but this one definitely turned me into a fan. This book is a collection of her memories and experiences growing up as a child in the household of loving Christian parents. She writes about everything from her parents’ life before marriage, to the way hospitality, order, habits, and vacations were handled in their home, to eventually the stories of herself and her siblings meeting their spouses.
It is always a blessing to hear about practical parenting techniques in the context of grown children – because then you know it worked!
“The ordering of a peaceful home is not possible without the application of eternal principles. It is, after all, mostly little, common things that make up our lives. This is the raw material for the spiritual life. If we despise small things, regard normal household duties as burdens, routines as boring, rules too confining, we will never learn, nor can we teach our children, to live a life of holy harmony.” -Elisabeth Elliot
