Devoted: Great Men and Their Godly Moms

My wife and I both read this book and were greatly edified by it. We are preparing to receive our first baby so this book was very encouraging for my wife (and I) to read. We are amazed by the commitment, faith and love portrayed by the women that Challies' writes about.

Great for moms of all kiddos to be encouraged and spurred on to teach and train our children diligently while also leaning on the Lord heavily.

“Never could it be possible for any man to estimate what he owes to a Godly mother.”This was an awesomely unique book. It describes the influence of a Godly mother in the lives of some of the most influential men in church history, including: John Newton, Hudson Taylor, J. Gresham Machen, Christopher Yuan, William Borden, Charles Hodge, John Piper, Charles Spurgeon, Augustine, D.L. Moody, & Timothy.Challies wrote this book originally in article format on his blog until he was encouraged to compile these articles into a paper format. One of his goals in writing out these stories was to help mothers see that “your labor is setting a strong foundation for years to come... Through your training and your tenderness, you are displaying the love of the Father.”Some characteristics and habits of these women include:•exalting in God’s strength while bombarded with physical weakness•general prayerfulness and pleading for their children’s salvation (even to the point of raw knees)•faithful training of their children in righteousness, the Word, & sound doctrine•surrender of their children to potential death for the sake of missions•grace•patience•unconditional love for their wayward son (as many of these men were)My own mom’s faithfulness in discipling me undoubtedly shaped me into the woman I am today. From my childhood I fondly remember sitting on the front porch as she created hand motions on the spot to help me memorize Scripture, writing in a purple prayer journal together, blaring Bible verse music throughout the house, reading the Word together, prioritizing church, being the first one to share the gospel with me, and including me when she entered into full time ministry, which I get to participate in even next week. What a gift!

Challenging & encouraging words for mothers and grandmothers seeking to raise godly children! The examples given can be applied in most any situation.

I can’t say enough good things about this book. It’s short enough that you could read it in an afternoon, or you could read a chapter each morning and finish in a week or so. I love biographical sketches, but this book was more than that. In outlining the life of each man from church history, we get a look into the profound influence of the mothers that poured love, truth, and biblical training into them. I read this while watching my boys play in the backyard, and I wept more than once. I was especially moved by the stories about Hudson Taylor, Christopher Yuan, and John Piper—their conversions and callings. I think what was most convicting to me was that prayerlessness is an enemy I must fight daily.We live in a culture that begs us to look away from Christ—to look at anything that might appear more appealing than pleading with the Father for the salvation and sanctification of our children. It is true enough that I will spend more time scrolling Instagram than praying for my children today (more to come on that in a later post). What pierced my heart in both the best and worst way as I read about these ordinary women is that they didn’t believe they could mother their children completely on their own. Perhaps physically speaking they raised them alone, but truthfully, they depended deeply on the Lord to move in the hearts of their sons. They viewed a huge piece of their responsibility as loving mothers to be intercession. If you’re a working mom, single mom, widowed mom, poor mom, educated mom, disciplined mom, struggling mom, or a spiritual like-a-mom mentor, do yourself a favor and grab a copy of this book.

Sensible. Sound. Stirring. Supportive. Sympathetic. “Devoted” takes the reader on a tour through history to meet moms who influenced godly sons, and each chapter includes material for reflection contributed by two moms. Here is just one sample:“Augustine’s story will comfort all of the mamas who have a long-wandering child. It really is good evidence that when God is ready to save someone, he does it (and that is the real hope of believing in his complete sovereignty—there is hope for those who seem like they would never come to Christ.). Monica’s perseverance and prayer worked for her rebellious child. It may seem, when we look at Augustine’s rejection of Monica’s early teachings, that her instruction made no difference in his conversion. But, seeds of faith were planted even while he was a little boy, and God surely used those early learned truths to draw Augustine to himself. Then, Monica had the great joy of teaching him Scripture when he was in his thirties. Imagine Saint Augustine himself being instructed by a woman when he was a 33 year-old man! That is encouragement in itself for women of the church, and especially mothers. While our influence in our kids’ day-to-day lives lessens as they age, there is still opportunity to teach them the truths of Scripture and how to live according to God’s Word.”

A compilation of short true stories about some amazing (and also imperfect) moms. This is a quick, enjoyable read. Maybe 1-2 hours. Perfect if you are a mom feeling like you could use a little encouragement. Moms spend day in and day out not seeing a lot of fruit for their labors of caring for small children, praying with them and teaching them (also, endless laundry…)This book really helped me to zoom out a bit beyond the little years and be reminded that God has big plans for our children—so keep on teaching and praying, and know that you are doing mountains of kingdom work every day.

I love the compilation and acknowledgement of the role of the mother in a person's life. It was refreshing to see a book from the West and from a Christian standpoint noting the importance and value of a mother's role in her child's life. This book is specifically about the mother-son relationship. I found it very encouraging and helpful to see a compilation of stories of mothers who made a huge difference in their son's life. It was inspiring.Unfortunately, I didn't find the commentary and questions that were added to the end of each story helpful. I think they are meant to inspire mothers to go deeper with their children, however I found that they often seemed to send the message that the mothers in the stories were pristine examples of motherhood and the commentary and questions seemed to assume that we, the readers, were not, and focus on areas of improvement. Instead of feeling inspired and empowered by these stories of mothers who fought spiritually for their children, the questions leaves me feeling compared and focusing on how I've come short. I feel it would have been more helpful to me, as a mother, to have read stories of flawed mothers who were sincere and tenacious in their faith and were honoured by God for it. Perhaps the commentary and questions would be more helpful if it focused on identifying with the flaws of the mothers as well as the actions these moms took to trust God. Application questions could also focus on how we can take these steps of faith in our own lives. In my experience, people tend to be more empowered by stories they can relate to.Even with my feelings about the commentary and questions, I still enjoyed having a compilation of stories of mothers who were used by God in a powerful way in their children's lives. It's nice to have all these stories in one place. I hope this book inspires further literature of this nature.

I loved this book .... it is very encouraging and helpful for parents who have wayward children.I read it over and over again ...... always notice something I never noticed before!

Wow. I cried on almost every page. Such incredible stories of a mothers faithfulness and influence and Gods redemption in a mans life.

This is a wonderful book! The true stories of motherhood inspired me and made me want to be more faithful to teach our children and grandchildren from God's Word.I bought it for daughters and nieces and friends.I'm so thankful for this book!

It is encouraging and refreshing. It captivates you and don't want to put I down. It's practical. A big blessing.