Heaven in Her Arms: Why God Chose Mary to Raise His son and What It Means for You by Catherine Hickem

Catherine Hickem is a licensed psychotherapist with 30 years of experience, she is also a wife and mother. In the prologue, Hickem writes,“By getting a glimpse of His heart for Mary, women and mothers will be encouraged, challenged, and inspired to live out the same faith-filled, gutsy devotion that Mary’s journey called forth from her.” This is when I decided I was going to like this book and realized how much I needed it.

Do we ever really stop and think about why God chose our mother to be our mother or if you have children, why you are their mother? I hadn’t before now. I was drawn to this book as a mother and a woman who doesn’t have the best relationship with her mother. I didn’t really have a maternal role model and I honestly never considered that Mary could be one. We often just see Mary as the woman chosen by God to bear His Son and we rarely think of her as a biblical female role model. I think Hickem does a good job of leading the reader to think about  the story of Jesus and Mary (and their Mother-son relationship) instead of just reading over it as we typically do.

Each chapter begins with a Scripture from the life of Mary then goes on to talk about an aspect of Mary’s life demonstrated by the Scripture. The chapters conclude with earthly wisdom and experience related to the trait shown by Mary. The author shares much of her own life and wisdom, which I think keeps the book from feeling like a bible study curriculum.

I enjoyed this book. It was a quick read, I found it enlightening and inspirational. This book would be great for any mother or any woman who hopes to become a mother. I will definitely loan this book out and recommend it in the future.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”