This review originally appeared on mlsgregg.com
Pass go, collect two hundred dollars and get this book.
Seriously. This is not one you want to miss.
I had the joy of “meeting” Kate Motaung several years ago when she took over as the Fearless Leader of the Five Minute Friday community. (She did not give herself this title. I did. I don’t remember why, but it’s stuck in my brain). We have chatted via Twitter, Voxer and blog comments. As I’m sure others can attest, Kate has the unique gift of making one feel at home; I don’t doubt that, were I to show up in her driveway today, that I would be welcomed inside for tea and good conversation.
This is part of what made this book so fascinating for me. Kate writes of being torn between houses following her parents’ divorce and between continents after moving to South Africa in her early twenties. Her story is one of longing for home, of never quite knowing where or what that place is. Out of that longing, I believe she strives to give others a sense of comfort and security. Even those of us who have only connected with her through electronic means pick up on this and celebrate her gift of welcoming embrace.
Ultimately, and encouragingly, Kate reminds both herself and the reader that our true Home, the place our souls ache for, is not to be found in this life. We get teases, little glimpses, that give us hope and keep us going when things get hard, but we never get the full picture. We have to wait. So we sit in the discomfort, knowing that all is not as it should be, asking Jesus to daily give us the grit and the grace to navigate yet another bump in the road.
The pages of A Place to Land are full of honesty and humor. Kate looks unflinchingly at herself and allows us to do so as well. In that, we are given permission to be that honest. To acknowledge that we don’t always know the answers or do the right things. Her choice to tell her story in such a raw way is deeply refreshing. There are no neat and tidy bows, no pristine images of perfect kids and conflict-free living. There is, instead, a woman who consistently, constantly, preaches Jesus. His presence, His love, His guidance, His help. Over and over again, Kate finds Him in the middle of the mess. She shows the reader how to reach out for His hand.
God took the tug-of-war that waged in my soul, the thick rope that spanned across the ocean, and yanked from both sides. He cut it clean through the middle, somewhere over the depths of the Atlantic. And He made me look up. To see that the greatest and strongest pull is neither east nor west, neither here nor there. It’s the heavenward pull.
It’s the pull toward home.
I now know how to respond the next time someone asks me the simple question, ‘Are you heading home?'” Regardless of my earthly destination, and purely because of the grace of Christ’s sacrifice, I’ll be able to answer with confidence, ‘Yes. Yes I am.'”
– p. 266-267
To that I can only say, “Amen.”
Thank you, Kate, for sharing your story with us. Thank you for the hours you spend leading the ragtag FMF troop. Thank you for being who you are. Usikelelke.
I RECEIVED A FREE COPY OF THIS BOOK IN EXCHANGE FOR MY FAIR AND HONEST REVIEW.
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From the Publisher
Meet Author Kate Motaung
I moved ten times in ten years, bookended by transatlantic moves from Michigan to Africa and back again. I married a South African and had three kids in Cape Town, but struggled to feel settled while hopping from rental to rental in a foreign country.
Where was my home, anyway?
When my mom passed away at age 59 after a nine-year battle with cancer, I started thinking more about heaven and realized it’s so easy to want to establish roots here, to desire deep foundations in this temporary home.
But what would happen if we set our minds on things above, not on earthly things (Colossians 3:2)? What would happen if we lived each day with an awareness that eternity is but a breath away?
My prayer is that through this book, you would be reminded that these “light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all” (2 Corinthians 4:17).
Cancer. Divorce. Foreclosure. Loss. Grief. Pain.
Nobody expects or wants these realities to barge into their life. But they come anyway, uninvited. The question is, what do we do then?
It’s easy and common to look for satisfaction in this world—to strive and labor for happiness and fulfillment here and now. We long for safety, for stability, for security.
But we will soon discover that the pleasures of this life are temporary. They can be snatched away at any moment, often without warning.
When we learn the hard way that this life is full of hardship and trials, we need something more—something that lasts. Something eternal.
A Place to Land challenges us to see beyond this life and to cling to the only treasure that will never spoil, perish, or fade—the hope and promise of eternal life for those who trust in Jesus.
A celebration of home, eternity, longing, and belonging
- Engages you in an interesting story and focuses your heart on heaven as home
- Addresses the common tension of living on earth until heaven is reached
- An appealing multi-cultural, multi-continent story of family and belonging
About the author
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A Poignant Memoir of a Young Girl's evolution into Godly Womanhood.
Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2018
Kate Motaung’s debut memoir, A Place to Land, is both honest and bittersweet. In it, readers will find a poignant history of a young girl who became a mature woman rooted in the grace of God, even when she faced difficult life storms.Motaung doesn’t shy away from speaking on the hard topics of family separation, difficult diagnoses, enduring heartache, and loss.If anything, Kate encourages her readers to look beyond their circumstances to the God who resides in a place where we’re all really hoping to land: Eternity.A Place to Land isn’t Motaung’s story alone. It’s the story of her mother, a woman of undeniable faith, who continues to love and serve her daughters and grandchildren well.A Place to Land is a memoir of a teenage girl with many questions and fears. Who is God? Does God still love me when my heart doubts and questions? Will God be faithful?A Place to Land is the story of a teenager who evolves into a woman of quiet fortitude and gentle strength…trying to understand some of humanity’s biggest questions when faced with life’s hardest moments: Why me, God? Why my own mother, God?Deeply humane. Full of fragile moments. Honest and heartfelt.A Place to Land doesn’t disappoint. It offers its readers a sacred reality, that no matter our plans, God’s grand scheme for our individual lives miraculously occurs, covered in deep grace.
Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2018
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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 29, 2020
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 17, 2018
Motaung doesn’t shy away from speaking on the hard topics of family separation, difficult diagnoses, enduring heartache, and loss.
If anything, Kate encourages her readers to look beyond their circumstances to the God who resides in a place where we’re all really hoping to land: Eternity.
A Place to Land isn’t Motaung’s story alone. It’s the story of her mother, a woman of undeniable faith, who continues to love and serve her daughters and grandchildren well.
A Place to Land is a memoir of a teenage girl with many questions and fears. Who is God? Does God still love me when my heart doubts and questions? Will God be faithful?
A Place to Land is the story of a teenager who evolves into a woman of quiet fortitude and gentle strength…trying to understand some of humanity’s biggest questions when faced with life’s hardest moments: Why me, God? Why my own mother, God?
Deeply humane. Full of fragile moments. Honest and heartfelt.
A Place to Land doesn’t disappoint. It offers its readers a sacred reality, that no matter our plans, God’s grand scheme for our individual lives miraculously occurs, covered in deep grace.
A Poignant Memoir of a Young Girl's evolution into Godly Womanhood.
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 17, 2018
Kate Motaung’s debut memoir, A Place to Land, is both honest and bittersweet. In it, readers will find a poignant history of a young girl who became a mature woman rooted in the grace of God, even when she faced difficult life storms.Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 17, 2018
Motaung doesn’t shy away from speaking on the hard topics of family separation, difficult diagnoses, enduring heartache, and loss.
If anything, Kate encourages her readers to look beyond their circumstances to the God who resides in a place where we’re all really hoping to land: Eternity.
A Place to Land isn’t Motaung’s story alone. It’s the story of her mother, a woman of undeniable faith, who continues to love and serve her daughters and grandchildren well.
A Place to Land is a memoir of a teenage girl with many questions and fears. Who is God? Does God still love me when my heart doubts and questions? Will God be faithful?
A Place to Land is the story of a teenager who evolves into a woman of quiet fortitude and gentle strength…trying to understand some of humanity’s biggest questions when faced with life’s hardest moments: Why me, God? Why my own mother, God?
Deeply humane. Full of fragile moments. Honest and heartfelt.
A Place to Land doesn’t disappoint. It offers its readers a sacred reality, that no matter our plans, God’s grand scheme for our individual lives miraculously occurs, covered in deep grace.
Images in this review
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 28, 2018
