BOOK REVIEW: Lord, Please Meet Me in the Laundry Room

When is the last time you read a book (besides the Bible) that you know was God appointed, and just what you needed to read? I was given a book to review, and not anticipating it to be what "I" needed to hear. If you are just a mommy overwhelmed with the daily life of caring for your family, your home, your husband and everything else that is thrown at you, then this is the book for you! Lord, Please Meet Me in the Laundry Room, is a wonderful, encouraging book, by Barbara Curtis, mom to 12 children - ALL her own. Nine came to her biologically and 3 through adoption. Her 9th child was born with an "extra chromosome", thus leading her and her husband to adopt three more children with Down's Syndrome. The first page captured my heart:

"This book is about spending some time together sorting through the things that get in the way of finding joy in motherhood. It's about getting real about the past and mistakes we've made . . . 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."

Finding joy again . . . it's what I need more of. I read on. My heart was already moved.

Her laundry room became her "prayer closet". She was searching for where she could go to be alone with God and pray. She was asking God this while sorting through laundry, and God pressed it on her heart she IS praying, she IS having quiet time. It's made me think of my laundry room. I think it will help me to look forward to doing my laundry more - praying for my children as I go through their clothes, and being thankful for quiet time there.

I could relate to so much - from a child arriving at church with no shoes on to leaving a child behind at church. She spoke of how we moms worry about perfection - worry about how we look, how our children behave (or don't behave), and how we can pull ourselves down just in this thinking. With encouragement she says "we need to stop running from our worries and start running toward God. He's the only one we can trust to accept us as we are - even when we can barely accept ourselves. He won't push us aside to reach for the most perfect and spotless specimen behind. "

God has impressed on my heart a lot lately, the verse, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28). Sometimes this verse would really make me cringe, especially if someone would say this, that would not really know what we are going through. Barbara shared this verse too . . . and showed how good did come together, even from mistakes, sin, and pain. She is a "real" person, with "real" problems, and shares her heart, even when she was ready to give up and run away from it all. She did not come from a perfect upbringing, nor did she have a role model of a mother, and yet, she found the Lord as her Savior, and God showed her how even her mistakes can bring glory to Him. After she was saved, she found how the things she did wrong, God brought joy from it, starting out with her first child that was conceived before she was married, which made her and her husband commit to marriage, and eventually finding God. They don't hide the date. It shows her how God was working with them from the very beginning.

Her writing is personal, and for a purpose - to encourage her readers. She really does care for them. She wishes she could take their hands and and say:

"May God bless your motherhood as He has mine. May He give you the courage to see your mistakes and the assurance that He can use every one of them to His advantage. May He give you a vision of the glory of your motherhood, so that even while doing the lowliest tasks, you will not forget the privilege of your calling."

This has been my favorite read for this year, and I am very thankful to God for Barbara Curtis and sharing her life.

NOTE: As a Mind & Media Reviewer, I was not compensated for providing this review. I received this complimentary book in order to review it and am thankful for this opportunity.