Meet My Friend Lisa Jo

Sometimes I pray for writing opportunities, but then other times I'm like, "Lord, no, really, please please pleeeeeeaaase give me this opportunity."

Getting on Lisa Jo Baker's book launch team for The Middle Matters (releasing in July) was like that. I've been on a launch team before that went terribly (it's hard when you can't make out what the author is trying to say), but I've followed Baker's blog/emails/writing for the better part of four years now so I felt pretty comfortable with what I was getting into. 

So imagine my happiness when a little email slipped into my inbox last week telling me it.was.on. Over 500 fans had applied to team up with the girl who brought us Surprised by Motherhood and Never Unfriended, and true to form, Baker wouldn't turn us away and we were all invited to her launch party. 

My digital copy landed in my Kindle app the next day, and I dove in to the joy that is Baker's writing.

I'm currently in the midst of reading the book and helping with promotions via social media and all, but for right now, I just wanted to share a bit  on this blog why this is an author I can get behind and why you'll be seeing all the cheerleading and rah-rah's coming from my corner over here.

Less Self-Help, More Friend
I've read my share of self-help books (thanks, parenthood!), but I often get frustrated when I realize what I'm reading isn't from a professional or research-based position and is instead someone spouting what they *think* everyone should do. This is troubling especially in the Christian market. Baker isn't like that, though, she's more like company on the journey; less therapist and more girlfriend grabbing coffee with you. And let's be honest, isn't that what we crave most of the time? Of course there's time to see a professional for the aching cracks of our lives, but I love Baker's kind company on the womanhood/motherhood journey. She's the shotgun buddy you want on your road trip.

Less Fix Ya, More Compassion
When I became a mommy, I was completely, I mean, completely, I mean, so.far.gone. COMPLETELY unprepared for the sheer exhaustion a tiny human would wreak on my head and heart and spirit. Honestly, I felt a teensy tiny bit, okay, HUGELY angry that friends and even my church family didn't seem to understand that my life had been ripped apart and an eternal responsibility dropped on my shoulders. It was difficult for me to find resources to cling to to help in this physical, emotional, and yes, spiritual transition to parenthood.  A friend of mine who knew something about post-partum anxiety and depression dropped me a link to Baker's works on Facebook and I'm ever so grateful that she did. While I found myself in therapy eventually to help with my deeper issues, in Baker I found a kind spiritual sister who had a cool hand for the feverish lives of mothers. In her blogs she wrote honestly, openly, and best of all compassionately about motherhood exhaustion and the toll it takes on the spirit. I'm ever grateful for her gentle encouragement to remember we are eternally loved, but also to pick up a Starbucks as often as possible and eat chocolate cake more freely. 

Less Self, More We
As I've joined this launch group, and I think back to Baker's writings that have meant the most to me, I realize that Baker has a unique gift for friendship. In fact, it's kind of a shame that her books land in "Self-Help" because her writing isn't really about "self" at all, but more about "we"--the "we" that makes up our lives in the relationships of family, friends, work, church, online followers, and any other place that humans reach out for one another. Of course we are better in our "we's" when we're healthy individuals, but Baker unfailingly shares the message of sharing life with others, and she models it beautifully in her fun and funny social media engagement, her work with (In)Courage, and her writings which urge readers to move into the messy places of connecting with others in love. And of course, that's really what our selves long for the most--connection.

The Middle Matters is already proving a beautiful reflection of all that makes Baker's writing joyfully poignant. I'll wait until I finish the last word before posting my review, but already I'm finding Baker's signature candor, compassion and fun in what is a great encouragement to embrace the middle years of life with more gusto--and just as much chocolate cake-- than ever before.