About the book
The Invitation of Motherhood: Uncovering the Spiritual Lessons of Parenting
The Invitation of Motherhood: Uncovering the Spiritual Lessons of Parenting is an award-winning book of honest, poignant reflections following the journey of growth and transformation of one mother as she navigates the early years of parenting her three young sons. What she finds is that the daily responsibilities and challenges of motherhood can also be a profound spiritual journey and that there are lessons to be learned and invitations to grow at every turn.
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A testimony to how motherhood can spark deep insight, this book points to the ways that our children, and the process of mothering them, can teach us some of the greatest lessons of life: how to love more deeply, how to be more present, and how to find compassion in the rough spaces.
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The Invitation of Motherhood was a finalist in two categories (Women's Issues & Spirituality) in the 2019 Next Generation Indie Book Awards, the world's largest not-for-profit book awards program for independent publishers and self-published authors,
Reviews
“The Invitation of Motherhood is a remarkable account of one woman’s journey into and through motherhood. Part memoir, part teachings, invitations, poetry, and prayer – this book is of earth and spirit. It embraces both the stars and the diapers. As someone who has been researching, practicing and teaching parenting as a spiritual practice for over 20 years – I am thankful for this beautifully written and moving example of just that, in action.” ~ Miriam Mason Martineau, MA – Parenting Coach & Educator
The story behind the book.
After my first son’s birth I looked for the fellow mothers writing about the deep inner processes at work during the transition into motherhood. I had a harder time than expected finding the words of wisdom that I so desperately needed. It was at this time that I took to writing myself to fill what felt like a gap in women’s writing.
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Why wasn’t there a ‘motherhood’ section at the bookstore? Why did it seem all the books fell into the categories of ‘parenting advice’ or ‘how to?’ Where were the writings on the vast spiritual lessons embedded in the motherhood journey? Where were the reflections on the ways in which our children call us to grow and transform?
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I wanted to know I wasn’t alone. I wanted raw and unfiltered accounts of the difficult spaces we can enter into when pushed to our limits. How do other mothers cope with being up six times a night? How do other mothers deal with difficult emotions while parenting? How do mothers deal with the loss of autonomy, the changes in body and moods, and the seemingly ceaseless demands for time and attention? And, perhaps most importantly, what were the lessons mothers were learning? How did motherhood spark growth and transformation?
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And so, The Invitation of Motherhood: Uncovering the Spiritual Lessons of Parenting was born.
Reviews
“The Invitation of Motherhood is a remarkable account of one woman’s journey into and through motherhood. Part memoir, part teachings, invitations, poetry, and prayer – this book is of earth and spirit. It embraces both the stars and the diapers. As someone who has been researching, practicing and teaching parenting as a spiritual practice for over 20 years – I am thankful for this beautifully written and moving example of just that, in action.” ~ Miriam Mason Martineau, MA – Parenting Coach & Educator
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"Deborah McNamara's book is much like finding a natural spring in the middle of a long trek through the desert: it is an antidote to the isolation, mundaneness, and struggle that mothers often experience. In this book, she shares her most difficult and most profound moments as a mother with the reader, and the intimacy of that is palpable. She also offers us her much larger view of life and spiritual growth, which infuses motherhood with the meaning and purpose we all know it has, but can be hard to find amidst the chaos. Through this profound book, Deborah brings the path of motherhood back into the sacred context that it belongs, and shows mothers at any stage of life and development how to do the same." - Ellen Boeder, MA, Psychotherapist & Author, Rearranged by Motherhood blog
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“From her most personal experiences as a mother and spiritual seeker, Deborah McNamara's poignant and wise reflections on the small joys and everyday challenges of raising children remind us that the very act of parenting is one of life's greatest callings – at once a crucible of personal transformation, sacred practice, and above all, a journey of deep compassion. This is an indispensable guide to approaching the art of parenting with humility, mindful awareness, and reverence for the abundant gifts present in each moment.” ~Tara F. Deubel, PhD, Professor of Anthropology
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"Deborah's book is such an inspiration and so needed for new and soon to be moms." - Sofia Diaz, MA, Hatha Yoga Teacher & International Facilitator of Women's Yoga Intensives
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"Reading Deb's writing is like taking a long walk with an old friend through sage scented hillsides, then sitting down to share some tea and continue the conversation. She weaves the beauty of the world with the pain and shadows that ripple under it all. I rely on her courage in looking deeply into things in order to better serve herself, her family and the light of us all. " - Devon Corbet, MA, Zen and the Art of Housekeeping Blog