Motherhood as liberation, redeeming technology, my new favorite song, etc.

Abby's Reading: 30

We passed the one month mark last week with the newest member of our family, Philip. I anticipated challenges and attempted to prepare, but what’s been hard this time around surprised me and Mike. The way out is through, and alongside the challenges, it’s been good, so good.

One of my favorite quotes about babies comes Hannah Anderson, and with each new baby Mike and I’ve welcomed into our family, I’ve seen this sentiment jump to life:

“I'm convinced that babies make the world go round. If we let them, they'll make us better people, stripping us of our disenchantment, sloth, & radical individualism.”

With Philip in my life, I’m being stripped again and in new ways of disenchantment, sloth and individualism. It’s humbling, and I’m thankful. 

All of that said, I’ve been percolating on a reading recap for the past several weeks, but writing a recap for a month+ feels like too much at this point. What feels less daunting is a snapshot of what I’ve recently read (or listened to or watched, ha!). So that’s what I’ll be doing for now.

excelsior!

Mother and Child in a Dining Room Interior | Carl Holsøe

Frozen River (book) by Ariel Lawhon.

I so enjoyed this historical fiction inspired by the true story of a midwife living and practiced in colonial America.

How Motherhood Liberated Me (article) by Raina Raskin.

I read this over Mother’s Day weekend and loved it, and recently revisited it. 

Motherhood isn’t the only path to accepting this, but for me, it was my daughter’s love that freed me from my delusions of grandeur. It liberated me from the tyranny of trying to prove myself. Since her birth, I feel calmer and more secure. I have a sense of security I haven’t felt since I was a young child, living with parents who unconditionally loved me. Now, I care less about what other people think of me, and my ambitions are healthier. Whatever I was chasing before—and it really varied from moment to moment based on my social settings—seems to have evaporated.

I don’t need to be chosen anymore, because I belong.

Redeeming Technology (podcast series) from Every Square Inch with Robert Cunningham.

All of the episodes are thought-provoking, filled with warmth and wisdom, and theologically strong, but I especially appreciated the parenting episodes. This series aired at the end of 2023 and into 2024 if you’re looking for them in your podcast player.

Dodds and MacDonald (TV show) from BritBox.

This has everything I love in a detective series: A strong sense of place, male/female investigative duo with a burgeoning friendship, and mysteries entwined with the setting or that play to the detectives unique stories. 

me in Bath nine years ago, doing my best Rick Steves pose at the baths.

I’m So Blessed (song) by Cain.

This is not my normal listening and I could put all sorts of caveats about how Scripture never asks us to gloss over painful emotions with trite phrases, but instead I’ll just say this song always puts a smile on my face, my daughter loves it, and it’s a needed reminder for those days that are just the normal kinda hard and frustrating. 

Drop in the comments a book, article, song or TV show you’ve enjoyed recently!