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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Exactly what I needed, August 16, 2005
This review is from: Lord, Please Meet Me in the Laundry Room: Heavenly Help for Earthly Moms (Paperback)
When my 3rd son was born with Down Syndrome I was in utter shock. I tried to find other Moms to talk to and figure out how they put Down Syndrome in "perspective." Then I heard about Barbara Curtis - whom I had actually met when she ONLY had 5 children. I immediately bought this book and devoured it. She not only offered me a beautiful, godly perspective about raising a child with Down Syndrome - she helped me see what a privilege and joy it is to raise children - period! She inspired me to be the kind of Mom that I always dreamed about being before I actually became a Mom and lost my vision. Loved it!
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Lord, Please Meet Me in the Laundry Room: Heavenly Help for Earthly Moms, July 1, 2005
This review is from: Lord, Please Meet Me in the Laundry Room: Heavenly Help for Earthly Moms (Paperback)
I ordered Barbara Curtis' book, Lord, Please Meet Me in the Laundry Room: Heavenly Help for Earthly Moms, with the anticipation that it would offer a light-hearted, humorous, scriptural view of one Christian mother's daily grind. With a title like that, how could it be anything less, right? In fact, it is much, much more. As a busy mom of 3, I looked forward to gleaning some words of wisdom and wit from this mom of 12! TWELVE! As Curtis states in her Introduction, she does not promise answers to the questions of motherhood, but that her book is about "sorting through the things that get in the way of finding joy in motherhood ... about seizing each day, squeezing every bit of joy from every peanut-butter-and-jelly-smeared moment, finding God in the hum of a washing machine or an unexpected bargain."
Curtis begins her book by backing up and weaves the learning moments of her past throughout the text. She gives a synopsis of her personal history, and the reader comes to understand why it was so very important that the "Angry-but-Real Frightened Little Girl" find her "Chapel of the Wash and Dry." In these chapters Curtis writes of the insecurities of becoming a Christian in her adult years, describing her first Ladies Bible Study, where she arrived late and smelling of spit-up: "I kept my hands folded to hide my scruffy, half-bitten fingernails, but there was nothing I could do about the rose tattoo on my right hand ...", to the concept of having a quiet time when she was "too pooped to pop." - "It loomed over my life with the gravitas of a Goodyear blimp, a constant reminder of yet another something I needed to do." As well, Curtis writes of the trials of her childhood, a shotgun wedding "based on two miracles," the blessing of her 8th child, and the healing power and love of a Heavenly Father in the absence of a physical father.
In her journey Curtis found Jesus, but even before her salvation she writes of the discovery that is the backdrop of this book: "While I wasn't yet a new creation in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17), God must not have wanted to wait four more years for me to become a better mother ... that there were no limits or boundaries to my motherhood, that I could become any kind of mother I wanted to be."
Curtis' exposes much more than her heart, she reveals the limitations of her past and present weaknesses and acknowledges that when she "instinctively reached for the Giver of Life" she found His mercy and love in His still small voice. In her active embrace of surrendering to Christ she found that "life is lived in between, in the little things. And most of these things you can't change." Her joy as a woman, wife, and mother comes in that surrender.
As one of the "less-than-perfect" mothers that will read this book, I found myself openly laughing, while also deeply relating to Curtis and her application of Matthew 11:28-30 to motherhood. "Let's face it, as mothers we're reminded several times a day at least that we will never be perfect. But our stress level can stay under control as long as we're conscious of that easy yoke and our perfect Partner."
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A REMINDER OF THE HIGH CALLING OF MOTHERHOOD, March 6, 2006
This review is from: Lord, Please Meet Me in the Laundry Room: Heavenly Help for Earthly Moms (Paperback)
This is a delightful book. It's the perfect length for busy moms, and oh-so-full of wonderful words of refreshment. The author finds deep, spiritual joy in the GREAT ADVENTURE of motherhood. She loves her family; she loves her life. And after reading it, you'll understand why - and you'll want what she has for yourself.
Lord, Please Meet Me in the Laundry Room is Barbara Curtis' life story - her long, drawn-out answer to the question she probably hears several times a day: "So, how do you DO it?" Barbara is the mother of 12 kids - 9 of her own and 3 adopted. What's more, she and her husband purposefully adopted three children with Down's Syndrome since one of their sons has this "little extra" chromosome. Need I say more about her qualifications to write a book?
In the first chapter, Barbara describes how her laundry room became the one place in her home where she could have a "Quiet Time," where she could pour out her heart to God as well as listen to the "still small Voice" of the Lord. She says:
"And so my laundry room became my prayer closet. For years it's been the place I meet the Lord each morning before my children awake, and at intervals throughout the day as I transfer clothes from baskets to washer, from washer to dryer, from dryer to baskets again ... I never have trouble finding God in my laundry room. He is always ready to receive my praise, my thanks, my prayers for family and friends, my joys and heartaches too."
Barbara's journey to motherhood has taken plenty of twists and turns - she didn't have a good role model growing up, as she was transferred between divorced parents and even in foster care at one time. She moved to California and went through a period of embracing the ideals of radical feminism. Then she discovered Christianity for the very first time while listening to James Dobson's gentle voice on her car radio, then through attending a Focus on the Family marriage retreat. From that point on, her life changed forever, and she's never looked back.
If you have a child who is a "challenge" or has special needs, this book is definitely for you. Barbara calls this "a little extra." She describes what it was like to be surprised on her delivery day when she found out her newborn son had Down's. While the nurses and doctors feared her reaction, instead she described the "joy and exhilaration" she felt at being chosen by God to raise such a special child who would always need her care. She shares how this "little extra" in some of our children motivates us to depend on God more.
She writes, "What a privilege to be so dependent, so connected to Him. And no doubt about it, it's the connectedness to God that's key in realizing that being a mommy is a completely worthy - and unique - calling."
--Heather Ivester, Mind & Media
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