Atlas Girl Giveaway by Emily Wierenga
Today I’m excited to introduce my friend, Emily Wierenga. She is guest posting today about her just released personal memoir Atlas Girl.
It’s a beautiful and bold journey on finding home in the least expected place.
Be sure to leave a comment on today’s post for a chance to win one of 3 giveaway books.
Now meet my friend Emily.
Why We Never Have to Really Worry about Our Children
By Emily T. Wierenga
I pull out Mum’s recipe for chicken and rice, faded on a tattered piece of paper, and I don’t see the rips or the stains.
I see our wooden kitchen table, the oval one which fit six of us around, and Dad at the head with his leather Bible and the basket full of Christmas cards, praying over a different family every night.
Mum baked granola for breakfast each morning and bread for every lunch, and she dished up our plates every night—meatloaf and mashed potatoes, chili and rice, and always dessert—and at nine years old I stopped eating.
I stopped eating for four years and yet we never quit meeting around the table.
The Bible was read around that oval structure, even when I was thirteen and sixty pounds and dying.
And when I gave birth to my eldest son at 28, a miracle child the pastor had prayed over us to conceive; when I held him to me and fed him, his hand orchestrating the sky and his soft cheeks filling and emptying, I cried.
I held him and I cried for those years when I wouldn’t let Mum hug me. For all those meals, those plates filled with love, trying to save a child who kept getting skinnier.
But more than those meals, my Mum prayed.
[box] A mother’s prayers are like knitting needles; they knit God’s Spirit around her children, like the warmest of sweaters.[/box]My mum prayed deep into night, and it was her prayers that fed her four kids, that kept us alive, that kept us walking with Jesus, and we won’t always get it right.
Parenting is the most difficult and rewarding of journeys and maybe you have a son or daughter who is refusing to eat right now? Maybe you’re weeping into the night wondering what you did wrong, but friend? We serve a God whose Spirit wove your child into being. We serve a God whose Spirit is the placenta that cushions all of our children’s falls, no matter how old they get.
Our kids never outgrow the womb. Because the womb is simply this: God’s Holy Spirit wrapped tight around them, and even as they stretch and develop and move, the Spirit moves and expands with them. God’s voice nourishing and nurturing them.
There may be years when we cannot reach our kids. When they refuse to talk to us. When we feel helpless and scared, because even though we’re doing all of the right things—it feels like it’s not enough.
You don’t have to be enough. You don’t have to do enough. You just have to pray.
My memoir, ATLAS GIRL, is releasing this month, and I am excited to give away THREE copies today. Just leave a comment below to win!
From the back cover:
“Disillusioned and yearning for freedom, Emily Wierenga left home at age eighteen with no intention of ever returning. Broken down by organized religion, a childhood battle with anorexia, and her parents’ rigidity, she set out to find God somewhere else–anywhere else. Her travels took her across Canada, Central America, the United States, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia. She had no idea that her faith was waiting for her the whole time–in the place she least expected it.
“Poignant and passionate, Atlas Girl is a very personal story of a universal yearning for home and the assurance that we are known, forgiven, and beloved. Readers will find in this memoir a true description of living faith as a two-way pursuit in a world fraught with distraction. Anyone who wrestles with the brokenness we find in the world will love this emotional journey into the arms of the God who heals all wounds.”
Click HERE for a free excerpt. I’m also giving away a FREE e-book to anyone who orders Atlas Girl. Just order HERE, and send a receipt to: [email protected], and you’ll receive A House That God Built: 7 Essentials to Writing Inspirational Memoir — an absolutely FREE e-book co-authored by myself and editor/memoir teacher Mick Silva.
ALL proceeds from Atlas Girl will go towards my non-profit, The Lulu Tree. The Lulu Tree is dedicated to preventing tomorrow’s orphans by equipping today’s mothers. It is a grassroots organization bringing healing and hope to women and children in the slums of Uganda through the arts, community, and the gospel.
Emily T. Wierenga is an award-winning journalist, blogger, commissioned artist and columnist, as well as the author of five books including the memoir, Atlas Girl: Finding Home in the Last Place I Thought to Look (Baker Books). She lives in Alberta, Canada with her husband and two sons. For more info, please visit www.emilywierenga.com. Find her on Twitter or Facebook.
Thank you for sharing part of your amazing journey with us! It gives hope to all mothers, grandmothers and others. Praise God!
I would love to read this book. Thanks for the giveaway!
Praying so hard for my daughter right now; so afraid I am going to lose her and believing I am doing everything wrong. Thank you for reminding me not to lose faith.
oh Gracie, God is bigger… praying now, that He will wrap you and your family in his arms and hold you close to his beating heart. May you feel his love for you, and for your precious daughter…
A child never outgrows the womb. The Holy Spirit encircling our children. Beautiful picture! Thank you Emily! God’s blessings to you.
At the age of fourteen, my daughter was diagnosed with a rare disease. While not life-threatening, it came with several surgeries, chemo, steroids, self-esteem issues and deep, dark depression for her. It caused me to feel out of control. During this time, however, I learned to trust God, THE Ultimate Parent, and my daughter came to know Him in a very personal intimate way that a Sunday school teacher or I could never teach her. She is now six years tumor-free. She and I are very thankful for what God has done and is doing in our lives.
oh Andea. You brought me to tears through this. Praise God that your daughter is close to Him and tumor free! He is so good! e.
I recently came upon Emily’s blog, and I have read her posts with a hunger (pun intended), letting the Holy Spirit minister to me through the words he gave to Emily. Another great and timely post. Thank you so much.
This brought tears to my eyes Cherie. I’m so grateful the Spirit is speaking to you through me. Bless you sister. e.
I love the saying “A mother’s prayers are like knitting needles. They knit God’s Spirit around her children, like the warmest of sweaters.”
Thank you for sharing. This spoke to my heart today. These are words of Hope that a mother’s prayers are never wasted.
I’m so grateful this spoke to you Pam. Bless you sister! e.
What an amazing journey. Wow! Thank you for sharing. I look forward to reading this one. Be blessed.
beautiful writing!
Wow! I would love to read this book. If I don’t win, I will definitely be watching for it at my public library.
Sounds like something I need to read…thanks Karen!
Felt a sense of peace as I read the blog today and watched the video. Thank you!
I’m SO grateful Lori… Bless you! e.
Beautiful! Thank you…..
Beautiful post! Exactly what I needed for encouragement today. “it was her prayers that fed her four kids, that kept us alive.” Thank you for your words of hope!
Thank you so much for the reminder that we don’t have to be enough — because He is always MORE than enough!
“I dont have to be enough.” I’m just suppose to pray.
Needed to hear . Beautiful
May God bless you dear Jaydnn. e.
I love the statement that “a Mother’s Prayers are like knitting needles; they knit God’s Spirit around her children”
Thank you for this. I love the analogy of prayers being knitting needles. I so often feel like I’m messing this mothering thing up. This is such an important message for me,and all mothers, to remember.
So grateful it resonated with you Danica. You are not alone, friend. e.
I would love to read this book!
This brings tears to my eyes as mother’s we try to “fix” everything but only God can do it all.
oh Lori, yes–only Abba can truly fix. But we can be his vehicles of love. Bless you! e.
Thanks for sharing your heart. I had a rough morning with my kids and your post has reminded me to stop and pray over my children in the midst of all the crazy!
sounds very familiar to me… would love to read this book! thanks!
I cannot wait to read your book I too know the journey…..searching for God and finding Him in the least likely place, God heals!!!!
Welcome back to the arms of your maker!
Thank you so much Nancy :)
P.raise God you have found your way HOME