May BAMC

May's word was Mother. For this challenge, I read three books: Mrs. Frisbee and the Rats of Nimh (recommended by Drek) by Robert O'Brian, How Life Begins: The Science of Life in the Womb by Christopher Vaughan and I am a Mother (recommended by Kris) by Jane Clayson.

All three of these books had something very powerful to say about motherhood that can be summed up in one word: Miraculous.

Mrs. Frisbee and the Rats of Nimh is about the quest of a mother to save her little boy. Through faith and the love of a mother, Mrs. Frisbee accomplishes the impossible. She has adventures she could never had dreamed of and ends up better of than she could have wished for.

How Life Begins: The Science of Life in the Womb discusses that although scientists know quite a bit about how a sperm and an egg turn into a live baby, there is is much more that they don't know. It is not fully understood why a fertilized egg will turn into life with ease when done naturally, but in-vetro or artificial insemination has such a high failure rate. Nor is it fully understood why the mother's body doesn't reject the developing fetus , how the cells know what to become, or how the baby knows when to signal labor. Understanding these things would lead to miraculous scientific break thoroughs in organ transplants, infertility, stem cell research, cloning, and health care. Pregnancy in an of itself is a miracle.

I am a Mother is an LDS book about the divine roles mothers have. It's bases is that mothers need to stop saying "I'm just a mom" apologetically, and announce with pride "I am a Mother." The job of a mother is to rear children, sustain communities, shape countries and change nations. As a mother you have more power to change than world than any other job.

Reading these books changed my perspective on motherhood. I would highly recommend all three of these books. The first and third book are very easy reads, but the second one is quite technical, and may only be enjoyed by anatomy and physiology geeks.