I was privileged to receive a copy of
Passionate Housewives (Desperate for God) from Vision Forum to review. I hardly know what to say about this book. It's amazingly rich and very powerful in its presentation, yet simple and encouraging. Jennie Chancey and Stacy McDonald offer personal testimonies and, more importantly, Scripture to show in a convincing manner that God's plan for marriage and the home is the only plan that will work. Period. While this book is convicting, it isn't harsh. These ladies don't beat up on the reader or stick their proverbial noses in the air while spouting self-righteous cliches. Instead, they lovingly encourage the reader to live to their fullest potential in the light of God's Word; to embrace their high calling as women, and especially as wives and mothers.
I don't usually mark in any book except my Bible, but I found myself underlining and "starring" over and over in this book. Here are a few of the quotes that I found especially inspirational:
"Biblical motherhood means sacrifice, selfless love, and faithful dedication. It means impacting future generations by our faithfulness now." p.21
"Instead of crucifying the passions and desires of the flesh (Galatians 5:24), too often we go with the flow and listen to the smooth marketers who tell us we desperately need what we don't have--and, furthermore, convince us we need more of what we already have." p.22
"I realized right then and there that feminism's empty charm had tugged on my heart--that even as a Christian woman, I was vulnerable. While I had a "choice" of whether to tend to my home or to seek outside pursuits away from my family I recognized that I was prone to wander whenever I let God's grand vision for womanhood slip from my mind." pp. 29-30
The book addresses feminism truthfully and without apology. The discussion of male and female roles in chapter 7 was especially insightful, as well as the admonition for us wives to allow our men to be men; to stop competing with them, to avoid putting them down publicly, and to build them up in their God-given role instead of tearing them down.
I echo the cry of one lady in the book, "Where are the Titus 2 ladies who are supposed to teach us?"
I will say that there were two topics in the book on which I may differ from the authors. However, I won't get into those differences here. These ladies are far more learned than I am and until I have the opportunity to study into these areas further, I won't state a strong opinion.
I would highly recommend this book to any woman, married or single, and especially to young women at home who are preparing for marriage.
From the book description:
Do you wrestle with cultural messages that demean the homemaker's calling and exalt instead the emotionally androgynous power-woman--the wife whose worth is measured only by the degree of her ambition, the shape of her body, or her money-making skills? Such is the image of the "desperate housewife" that the modern media, culture, and feminism are promoting with great energy.
In a delightfully honest way, this book addresses these issues head-on and provides fresh vision for the hopeful homemaker. Hear a former "Christian" feminist share how she went from a die-hard homemaker-in-training to a dedicated career woman and then back again--after God gripped her heart. See the hollow counterfeit of whitewashed feminism and "me-ology" destroyed. And consider the beautiful picture painted in Scripture of the truly fulfilled homemaker who glories in the hopeful calling God created for her.
Pull up a chair, dust off the cookie crumbs, and join Jennie Chancey and Stacy McDonald as they lay aside stereotypes like the "Stepford wife" and dispel such myths as the 1950s "perfect homemaker." Discover what it means to be a passionate housewife "desperate" for God alone!
The Giveaway
Vision Forum has graciously provided a copy of this wonderful book to give away to one of our readers.
To enter, just leave one comment under this post for EACH thing you do from the list below:
Comment on a post on Joy Ever After's
Facebook page, or write on the wall.
Share this giveaway on Facebook, Twitter, or on your blog. (One comment each).
This giveaway ends Thursday, December 22, at 9:00 EST.
To read our disclosure, click here.
Jennifer Self is a disciple of Jesus Christ who loves following His plan for her life as a wife to the most wonderful man in the world and mama to four little blessings. Her days are filled with spending time with her man, homeschooling, preparing reasonably healthy meals and keeping the dust bunnies and the clutter monster at bay with a little blogging mixed in. After her family has been taken care of, she dabbles in her other passions of reading, health and music. She blogs about her life, her Heavenly Father, marriage, parenting and home at 