"We seldom get into trouble when we speak softly. It is only when we raise our voices that the sparks fly and tiny molehills become great mountains of contention."
Just in time for
Mother’s Day comes an assortment of books for anyone who is or
has a mother.
Young Women General
President Bonnie L. Oscarson’s What Makes Us Sisters
is for LDS women of any age. In fact, it’s based on the talk
she gave at the General Women’s Meeting in April 2014.
The attractive design
of the 6.5” x 6.5” book with its enticing color
photography and bordered pages enhances Sister Oscarson’s
uplifting words about how girls and women of whatever age and stage
of life can and do nurture, sustain, and encourage each other
(Deseret Book 2015, 50 pages in hardcover, $14.99).
Covenant’s
managing editor Kathryn Jenkins Gordon serves up a delightfully
personal and empowering message in the booklet Keeping It Real:
A Tribute to Everyday Moms. Having raised five adopted
children and become step-mom to five more, and now a grandmother of
five, she understands that not a one of us moms ever thinks we’re
good enough.
She speaks of “very
unheroic days when all that stands between you and chaos is a can of
Campbell’s chicken noodle soup — and the assurance that
you won’t get arrested if your kids go to bed in their swimming
suits.” It’s lighthearted but sincere encouragement from
one who knows (Covenant 2015, 12 pages, $2.49).
For Heart and
Soul is a collection of Heartwarming True Stories to Feed
a Woman’s Soul, thebulk of them related by the late
Lucile Johnson. This attractive gift book combines brief stories and
lessons with quotes about mothers and favorite recipes from
previously published cookbooks.
Kitty de Ruyter-Bons
shares how her mother stood up for virtue in a Japanese P.O.W. camp.
There’s Kyle Whittingham’s tribute to his mother and a
handful of other writers’ essays on accepting and appreciating
a step-mother, lessons their mothers taught them, and memories of
special moments shared with their mothers (Covenant 2015, 76 pages in
hardcover, $14.99).
Real Moms: Making
it Up as We Go is comedian/actor Lisa Valentine Clark’s
contribution to sane parenthood. With five kids, she’s never at
a loss for subject matter.
She tells it like it is
and goes the second mile with periodic “side rants,”
proving herself to be as wise and practical as she is smart and
funny. Acknowledging the never-ending challenges of motherhood, she
notes, “Crying over the children while they sleep is clearly
not an effective parenting strategy, but it’s a good coping
skill” (Deseret Book 2015, 188 pages in softcover, $16.99).
Richard J. Allen’s
Eternal Womanhood reaches beyond motherhood to Divine
Attributes of Christlike Women. Intended for in-depth study, the
book focuses on women of the scriptures (plus Emma Smith) as it
explores such attributes as divine majesty, loyalty, giving and
sharing, noble leadership, allegiance, joyful conversion,
hopefulness, and peacefulness.
The author includes
modern-day examples and several questions to ponder at the end of
each chapter, plus a good index (Covenant 2015, 115 pages in
hardcover, $14.99).
Laurie
Williams Sowby has been writing since second grade and getting paid
for it since high school. Her byline ("all three names, please")
has appeared on more than 6,000 freelance articles published in
newspapers, magazines, and online.
A
graduate of BYU and a writing instructor at Utah Valley University
for many years, she proudly claims all five children and their
spouses as college grads.
She
and husband, Steve, have served three full-time missions together,
beginning in 2005 in Chile, followed by Washington D.C. South, then
Washington D.C. North, both times as young adult Institute teachers.
They are currently serving in the New York Office of Public and
International Affairs
During
her years of missionary service, Laurie has continued to write about
significant Church events, including the rededication of the Santiago
Temple by President Hinckley and the groundbreaking for the
Philadelphia Temple by President Eyring. She also was a Church
Service Missionary, working as a news editor at Church Magazines,
between full-time missions.
Laurie
has traveled to all 50 states and at least 45 countries (so far).
While home is American Fork, Utah, Lincoln Center and the
Metropolitan Museum of Art have provided a comfortable second home.
Laurie
is currently serving a fourth full-time mission with her husband in
the New York Office of Public and International Affairs. The two
previously served with a branch presidency at the Provo Missionary
Training Center. The oldest of 18 grandchildren have been called to
serve missions in New Hampshire and Brisbane, Australia.
